Beacon Hill Builders: The Next Generation

[havanaholly]

...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

Whether it's afrikaans or English or Bantu, those are the *magic* words that help the build. The reason I do dry fits of all the main kit pieces is to shave those tabs (lellies) and sand whatever needs sanding; and I go ahead and stick them together with masking tape, rather than glue, whilst I figure out the instructions; and then I let it sit there and show me the difficult-to-reach spots and to tell me what it wants to become and how it wants to look.

...I finally invested in one of those mallet hammers to give things a good but gentle(ish) tap if needed...

I use one of my two claw hammers and a piece of scrapwood to wham those pesky bits together!

[Blondie]

Holly, I know you are a dry fitter, but I couldn't dry fit this whole shell -- it's HUGE! :yikes: To each their own, I suppose. I'm popping in to share that I did a bold experiment last night and flipped the BH upside down to prime the ceilings. OH MY. Once again, :yikes: ! It was kind of funny. I put a picture of it in my gallery if you want to see.

[havanaholly]

I dry fit the entire Pierce after I took it all apart to remove all the hot glue; it's a bit bigger than the BH, because I've seen KathieB's BH in dry fit. I have to go through the ordeal of dryfitting an entire shell when I build, because I'm not intuitive enough to figure out ahead of time what I can and can't access or bash once the glue is on.

Figuring out to turn the house upside down IS a flash of intuition! LindaC taught me that trick as part of wallpapering, and I used it a lot (along with many *magic* words) on my first "rehab", the Storybook Cottage (it wasn't really a rehab, since I couldn't get it to come apart without smashing it to bits). One of the reasons I use staples to reinforce the edges of my houses once I do glue them is because I flip them onto their various sides and roofs so many times in the course of a build. You rock!

[Blondie]

It was definitely an experience. Hahaha! Maybe I don't dry fit because I don't bash. I haven't come that far in my mini life to want to change a lot of things. For me, the BH rooms are just fine the way they are, though I am in love with what others are doing to change them.

[Elize]

Mallet hammer. Next buy. Turning table - wish list.

[Blondie]

I just used my mallet hammer again last night -- it's a great tool! Also, I answered your question about the porch in the gallery picture. Basically, I did the facia wrong. Or the soffit. One of those. I've never heard these words before, so I mix them up. LOL. Clearly, I don't know my architecture.

[Elize]

I just used my mallet hammer again last night -- it's a great tool! Also, I answered your question about the porch in the gallery picture. Basically, I did the facia wrong. Or the soffit. One of those. I've never heard these words before, so I mix them up. LOL. Clearly, I don't know my architecture.

About never heard these words before. Being Afrikaans have made me reading some of the instructions over and over again without understanding exactly what they they are trying to tell me. Which is the reason why I am building on instructions/forum pictures/commin sense - I suppose somewhere I am going to get to a spot where I glued something I shouldnt have (but the mallet will sort that - hahahaha!)

[Blondie]

Even as a native English speaker, the directions can be VERY confusing to me. I am a "visual learner," so pictures really help! I'll remember to take more process photos for you. In my Real Life, I write educational materials for ESL students, so I understand!

[Elize]

You have no idea how much your pics are helping me already. I am sure I am almost always the last person watching your pics showing up on the right side of your computer. Please know that I am not secretly stalking you! LOL

Edited January 27, 2013 by Elize

[Blondie]

Stalk away!! I don't mind at all. I stalk all the BH galleries!

[WyckedWood]

That looks like a great work room Kathie.

Elize,youre right at home here, I love what youre doing so far with your house. Im also non traditional, Im sure some people shake their heads at why I purposefully make things old and grungy looking. ....each to their own for sure. I didn't add lights to my house until it had been built and "finished" (although I totally redid the interior) for several years. I wish I had thought ahead more, for where I might want a light, so I could have made some channels in the wood for the wires before it was too late. Im not generally a "think ahead~er" though. Gets me into trouble a lot with this hobby. But anyways if I had thought ahead I wouldn't be having to find creative ways to hide my wires.

I used a full sized hammer and a staple gun on this house...that roof...yikes what a pain that was. I also cut off tabs with a utility knife if I needed to.

[havanaholly]

Full-sized claw hammer, heavy duty stapler and utility knife are part of my toolbox.

[Minsanity]

I sure someone by now has suggested Gina's beacon hill blog to you but in the event they have not, she kept my bh from ending up on the curb. my brain is not designed for these instructions. her blog is http://moreminis.blogspot.com/2007/02/my-first-beacon-hill-day-1.html?m=1

[WyckedWood]

I remember trying to do the stairs and it took me forever to puzzle out those directions. Then suddenly it just clicks. More (and better) pictures in the direction sheets would be so helpful.

[Elize]

Thank you for the link Cynthia - I have put it on my favourites. I had a huge setback tonight, but it could have been lots worse - my daughter could have gotten hurt. She slided the glass door closed and when she tried to open it again, it got loose from the rail and fell (partly on my dollhouse). I will put the pictures in my gallery - it was just glass everywhere. Luckily its fixable just gonna take some time.

[WyckedWood]

Uh oh. Thank goodness your daughter wasn't hurt Elize. And I hope the house wasn't damaged too badly:(

[KathieB]

Oh, Elize! What a tragedy that could have been! Thank goodness your daughter wasn't hurt! It's a lot easier to tape and glue wood splinters together than human flesh and bones. That must have scared the chittlin's out of your daughter and you.

[KathieB]

Somehow I find I have no patience for following instructions these days. I am sort of referring to them, but only casually. There are a lot of Do not glue messages that I seem to have glued when last working on the house. I'm just blithely ignoring them and soldiering on. The front door wall has been gessoed and is drying prior to gluing in place and now I'm working on the chimney. I think I'll try painting bricks on it. I can always cover them over with egg carton bricks or paper clay if I don't like the effect. Another thought is to slap on a layer of Spackle and pretend it's covering a brick chimney.

[Blondie]

Oh no! Am also so glad no one got hurt!!

I think some of the parts are intuitive once you have made enough houses. I didn't read the direx for the porch. Of course I put it on a little low though... Lol. I also left off the top of the porch until I have the siding above it painted. It is handy to lift it off right now!

[GirlPiper]

Elize--glad neither of you were hurt. You just keep going your own way and make that house yours.

[havanaholly]

...I think I'll try painting bricks on it. I can always cover them over with egg carton bricks or paper clay if I don't like the effect. Another thought is to slap on a layer of Spackle and pretend it's covering a brick chimney.

You can leave patches of your bricks showing, like plaster falling off of the bricks: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=47448

[Elize]

Thank you all, and yes Kathie when I work on the broken pieces of the house I think about the fact that it could have been my daughters face looking like this. Or if one of our dogs (children in the house) was on the wrong side of this falling door they could have been dead. The noise was something else.

Can anyone of you people tell me why everyone leaves the kitchen side panel out and do not put it in and glue it? The piece with the three windows? I am feeling like closing it up there but I see on all the forum pics that you all leave that piece out at first. Why is that?

[Elize]

Somewhere on this forum (cannot remember where), someone said its good to do the sidings with hotglue. Which is best? Hot glue or woodglue for the sidings?

[wytchy]

Hi Elize,

Referring to your remark on english instructions - If it helps I have a dutch instructionguide to building the Beacon Hill. The company that used to sell the kit in the netherlands has put in a translated version. I could scan it and sent it to you?

And this new Beacon Hill thread is a great idea. My Beacon Hill is making a slow slow progress.. It needs a lot of attention still, but I am lacking the time to get to it. Also I am stuck on the first floor terrace doors. Somehow I can't get them in the right order to fit..

[NanF.]

Elize...I used wood glue for the siding. This topic makes me wish I was still working on my BH. It was my first build and I had not yet joined this group. It sure would have helped Everyones BH builds are beautiful.