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Beacon Hill Builders: The Next Generation


Blondie

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  • 2 weeks later...

Laser-cut houses have charring on their edges from the laser burning through the wood.  You will want to sand it off carefully so as not to sand away material that will effect the fit.

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Excellent thread btw, I'm trying to read through everything and check everyone's gallery, a well of useful information here!

I'm trying to decide what kind of wiring I will use, does anyone have pictures of their tapewire circuit instaled in the Beacon Hill? Did you glue together the whole assembly before instaling the tapewire, or did you leave some walls open to work on the interior details? If I understood correctly, I will need to finish the staircase before adding the tower front wall... I'm trying to figure out how to plan this step with the wiring, I would like to add some lights to the porch as well. 

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I remember that I ran the tape wire up the stairwell in my Beacon Hill before I put in the stairway.  That is what I used as my main electrical line for the 2nd and 3rd stories.  I got that suggestion from someone else.  I did put my whole house together, with the exception of the bonnet which I put on after I finished decorating.  I decorated the inside of the house after I finished building it.  I did have some issues with the lighting and if I was to do it over again I would use the technique used in the video below, because a couple of times I cut thru the tape wire when I was cutting the wallpaper on the wall after installing an interior wall sconce.  Ooops!   This was the first house I ever built, and boy did I learn a lot from building it.

Someday I will post pictures of my finished house.  I just never seem to take very good pictures of it.  The house looks better in real life than in the pictures I take!

I saw some else already posted a link to this video on dollhouse wiring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaswR0TcQRE&index=1&list=PLiE23lN7cb8Kg-Z4xuiOdpPHHv62lBhEt

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Hi Wormwoodz,

I used tape wire for all the main wiring in my build and installed it after main construction was complete.  There are several pictures of it in process below and in my gallery: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=6890

Its easy to slide the stuff through the slots where the walls attach to the floors, which is ideal for running up walls.  I chose to error on the side of too much wiring as opposed to too little.  Unfortunately some cheaper thinner wallpaper doesn't cover the wiring adequately.  Thicker wallpaper especially the stuff with the built-in adhesive does a good job of covering up the wiring.  My attic is currently detachable so I'm working out a connector system so that I can get wiring up there too.

If the pictures don't show it adequately, I ran wiring above the front door and drilled through the wall to get wire to the porch light.  And regarding the question on access after the front walls on the Beacon Hill is complete, yes, the access to some areas is very limited.  I suggest leaving off the second floor patio door until the interior is complete.

IMG_3962 Wiring First Floor Kitchen.jpg

IMG_3968 Wiring Third Floor Left.jpg

IMG_3961 Wiring First Floor Ceiling.jpg

IMG_3301 Wiring Third Floor Bedroom Ceiling.jpg

IMG_3300 Wiring Third Floor Bedroom.jpg

IMG_3296 Wiring Third Floor Bedroom.jpg

IMG_2404 Wiring First Floor.jpg

IMG_2356 Wiring First Floor.jpg

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5 hours ago, 1martinimomma said:

I remember that I ran the tape wire up the stairwell in my Beacon Hill before I put in the stairway.  That is what I used as my main electrical line for the 2nd and 3rd stories.

It seams like a good idea to keep the tapewire away from the floor, but I'm afraid if it ever needs repairs that area will be a pain to access later :s This is what I find more challenging... taking the tapewire from one floor to another.

3 hours ago, dkumpula said:

Its easy to slide the stuff through the slots where the walls attach to the floors, which is ideal for running up walls.  I chose to error on the side of too much wiring as opposed to too little.  Unfortunately some cheaper thinner wallpaper doesn't cover the wiring adequately.  Thicker wallpaper especially the stuff with the built-in adhesive does a good job of covering up the wiring.  My attic is currently detachable so I'm working out a connector system so that I can get wiring up there too.

If the pictures don't show it adequately, I ran wiring above the front door and drilled through the wall to get wire to the porch light.  And regarding the question on access after the front walls on the Beacon Hill is complete, yes, the access to some areas is very limited.  I suggest leaving off the second floor patio door until the interior is complete.

Thanks very much for the pictures! Gorgeous floors btw, I'm going to do parket as well. I don't think you used too much tapewire, it's wise to have the circuit running along the skirting in case you need to instal more sockets later. I like your suggestion for the porch wire, think I'll do the same. I'll be using templates for the walls, I think I'll do panneling on the parlour area and wainscot for the tower and stairs area... this might help with hidding the tape around the skirting.

I also want to use templates for the ceillings, I hope I can make them work with the tapewire. In my last dollhouse I used a roundwire system so my wiring was running under the floor (not the ceilling), my circuit was something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVzUit3hsPM

But my partner was suggesting I should try the tapewire this time, it might be easier to instal and require less modifications to the structure. I am also checking a tutorial on how to mix both methods: tapewire and rouwire, to make a circuit with the tapewire running under the floor templates. I guess my fear is that if I make the ceilling templates really heavy, I might have trouble keeping them in place :hmm:

I have to think this carefully, I am also thinking about changing the walls of the 1st floor. Like your example there David, looks so awsome that whole open space. I always felt the curved wall on the corridor was obstructing the view for the room on the right too much, I might try to change into a straight corridor. I just hope that won't compromise the stability of the house, I'm not sure if that curvature on the wall is structurally relevant to support the upper floors. 

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On Fri Jan 25 2013 22:28:28 GMT-0600, Elize said:

Hi Kathie, heat should not be a problem, I bought a five meter strip of ledlight and a transformer, it should cover the whole house and does not get hot. But I have started building last night and I teached my mother who is visiting a whole lotta extra afrikaans swearwords!!!! The fricken lellies are to big for the slots and nothing but NOTHING slides and glides in like in my perfect dreams. Ive only built a few walls which dried during the night but will this morning first cut off and make the slots larger with my carpet knive. May I have some fingers left at the end of the day! Hehehe

My LED strip lights have been on (Becan hill) for a year, I can't get to them to turn them off.  There is no heat. ....I checked today.  Lol

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22 minutes ago, L Swearengin said:

My LED strip lights have been on (Becan hill) for a year, I can't get to them to turn them off.  There is no heat. ....I checked today.  Lol

Lawanda, do you have pictures of your Beacon Hill lights in place? I'm leaning toward hidden mood lighting for my own BH, sort of what MikeUK does with such success, and LED strip lights could be the answer.

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Sorry, I wasn't very explicit when I said I ran it up the stairwell.  The stairwell and the staircase are different.  What I meant is I ran it up the wall that goes all the way to the top to the 3rd floor that the all the staircases are next too.

Edited by 1martinimomma
make explanation more clear after reading first post
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3 hours ago, KathieB said:

Lawanda, do you have pictures of your Beacon Hill lights in place? I'm leaning toward hidden mood lighting for my own BH, sort of what MikeUK does with such success, and LED strip lights could be the answer.

Pinterest.   Sorry.  Can't get pics to load when I'm on the phone.

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50 minutes ago, L Swearengin said:

Pinterest.   Sorry.  Can't get pics to load when I'm on the phone.

Thanks ... the lighting system isn't very clear but I really like the way you've decorated. 

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1 hour ago, L Swearengin said:

Pinterest.   Sorry.  Can't get pics to load when I'm on the phone.

Lawanda are those leds on the outside of your Lily? It looks awsome!

 

I have another question (not LED related) how many 12v bulbs would be necessary to proper light up a room in this house? 

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The led strip on the Becan hill is set on a 2in piece of trim from home depot. I added decorative trim to hide the strips.  I'll try and get my big behind in there for a close up.  Have to wait for my phone to charge.   The lights on the Lily are battery mini Christmas lights. I got a case of them at walmart in Biloxi on clearance.   Most if my houses have lights on the outside.   They are on timers.  On 6 hrs, off the rest of the time.  They come on automatically. 

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7 hours ago, L Swearengin said:

I loaded a few more on Pinterest. This tablet takes up too much space.

Thanks ... I think I see what you've done. So the lights are like footlights on a stage? 

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17 hours ago, wormwoodz said:

It seams like a good idea to keep the tapewire away from the floor, but I'm afraid if it ever needs repairs that area will be a pain to access later :s This is what I find more challenging... taking the tapewire from one floor to another.

Thanks very much for the pictures! Gorgeous floors btw, I'm going to do parket as well. I don't think you used too much tapewire, . . . But my partner was suggesting I should try the tapewire this time, it might be easier to instal and require less modifications to the structure. I am also checking a tutorial on how to mix both methods: tapewire and rouwire, to make a circuit with the tapewire running under the floor templates. I guess my fear is that if I make the ceilling templates really heavy, I might have trouble keeping them in place :hmm:

I have to think this carefully, I am also thinking about changing the walls of the 1st floor. Like your example there David, looks so awsome that whole open space. I always felt the curved wall on the corridor was obstructing the view for the room on the right too much, I might try to change into a straight corridor. I just hope that won't compromise the stability of the house, I'm not sure if that curvature on the wall is structurally relevant to support the upper floors. 

Thank you for the kind words!  Working on the parquet floors while my daughter plays with the house is a nice way to spend time together (its been a work in progress for three years now).  She's been massively patient with Daddy sitting in front of the interior of the house much of the time. :)

The roundwire with templates looks more time consuming and difficult as compared with tapewire.  Other than one room's too thin wallpaper, the tapewire has worked out well for me, but I'm sure there are advantages to going with other approaches as well.

For the first floor parlor area, I saw other folks taking out one or more sections of this wall and liked their approach.  Copying ideas from experienced masters such as KathieB or MikeUK is easier than me coming up with things myself! ;)  In my experience, the stability of the Beacon Hill did not suffer by removing these interior walls.

Good luck whatever direction you go and be sure to share pics!

-David

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17 minutes ago, dkumpula said:

Thank you for the kind words!  Working on the parquet floors while my daughter plays with the house is a nice way to spend time together (its been a work in progress for three years now).  She's been massively patient with Daddy sitting in front of the interior of the house much of the time. :)...

David, just wait until you start building Mommy's house, or your own...

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6 hours ago, havanaholly said:

David, just wait until you start building Mommy's house, or your own...

Heehee!  Mommy's house is the 1:1 scale and it already takes me more time than the little one's 1:12 scale.  I suppose my house is the 1/144 scale Beacon Hill that's been sitting on my desk for 3 years now waiting to be painted and assembled.

-David

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LOL! Now that I think about it, my 1:1 scale house is in dire need of a "rehab"... a fresh coat of paint... and a portion of the floor damaged from a water pipe leak a couple years ago. If only I could just store all the furniture in a box, I'd feel more inclined to get to work on that 'build' :unsure:

On topic: I'm making a list of materials I need to buy, anyone has some nice victorian color sugestions? I can't get "violet" out of my mind, I'm feeling inclined to use a dark violet/crimson on the siding, something like this:

Latevic-front-new.jpg

What other colors could go well with that for the trims? I'm not finding many pictures of houses with siding in this color on pinterest :headhurts:

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31 minutes ago, wormwoodz said:

...

Latevic-front-new.jpg

What other colors could go well with that for the trims? I'm not finding many pictures of houses with siding in this color on pinterest :headhurts:

That blue-gray and white combo is very pretty, perhaps a dark shade of that blue rather than black.

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