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Newbie from Fort Mill, SC


dkumpula

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Hello, mini-makers,

My name is David and I've been lurking in this forum as I began my Beacon Hill build. First let me say that the artistic and creative skills demonstrated by the members of this forum are truly impressive. I can't tell you how many times I've thought "WOW!"s while looking at the work you've posted.

I am new to building minitures, but I've thought for some time about building a dollhouse for my daughter who just turned two. As I've done a bit of precision and 1:1 building with metal and wood, my original intention was to design and build something from scratch. While looking on-line for inspiration, however, I saw the Beacon Hill and quickly determined that a detailed mini like this one was best addressed through a kit. Not to mention, I wanted to have the finished product in my girl's hands within weeks as opposed to decades! :)

I jumped in with both feet at the end of April and thanks to a great kit, great instructions and awesome advice from this forum's members, I completed the initial assembly in under two months. (Originally, I was hoping to complete it within two weeks, but obviously I was clueless.) ;0

post-61126-0-22135400-1403370926_thumb.j

In the near future, I will incorporate some 'personality' and other customizations into the mini with the advice of the skilled artisans of this forum.

Oh - and although I originally had no intention of building more than one mini, I've already purchased the 1:144 scale Beacon Hill.

Many thanks for your support!

-David

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Welcome to the little family, David; you're by no means the first gentleman to become lured into the world of the tiny, whether by a daughter, granddaughter, or just plain fascination with making scaled down things.

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Welcome to the forum, David!

That is a wonderful house - did you already do the interiors? There are tons of advice here to help out if you have any questions.

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Thank you both for the warm welcome!

I have yet to start on the interior other than the stairs which went in stained and clear-coated. I will start posting pictures as soon as I have the right to do so.

I do have tentative plans for some of the rooms including evolution over time as my daughter gets older, but every moment I spend on this forum reading makes me want to increase my efforts. For example, yesterday I saw some parkay floors and thought, I could something cool and custom with with the leftover siding! I highly suspect this project isn't ending anytime soon! :)

-David

Welcome to the little family, David; you're by no means the first gentleman to become lured into the world of the tiny, whether by a daughter, granddaughter, or just plain fascination with making scaled down things.

Welcome to the forum, David!

That is a wonderful house - did you already do the interiors? There are tons of advice here to help out if you have any questions.

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Wonderful Beacon Hill! It's going to be exciting to see what you do with it to customize it :) I'm hoping for more pics!

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you, Dalesq! It's quite basic compared to the builds I've seen here, but enthusiasm and impatience had me forging ahead with the materials provided in the kit. I only made a couple very minor mods so far, but I do have some fun planned for the interior including a functioning disco.

Now to figure out a safe way to implement a fog machine to 1:12 scale . . . hehe

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Ah-h-h ... never ending is about what it comes down to around here. First there is just one idea and before too long it has grown exponentially. Don't fight it, it isn't worth the effort. Just go with the inspiration.

Welcome, and please do post lots of pictures as you go along.

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as I mentioned in another post (in another topic) if your little girl is very young you might want to wait until she's older to install the doors and windows. Little children like to poke their hands through the door and window openings to play with the houses.

Someone mention disco balls? I found a pack of mini mirrored balls, mini ornaments, in a thrift store, and hung one in each of my White Orchid's rooms:

gallery_8_2916_18545.jpg

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Welcome! Your build looks incredible. I can't wait to see more pictures of your progress.

My sincere thanks for the kind words from all of you. My first build is pretty by-the-book at the moment, but I hope to add some unique personality to it shortly. Pics of my build to date have been posted in the gallery if anyone is interested. :)

-David

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Oh, I love the picture where your little princess is trying out the house. I think she'll be fine with it!

Thinking about your patio doors, leave the canvas hinges and glue the wee brass hinges to help hold them on.

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Oh, I love the picture where your little princess is trying out the house. I think she'll be fine with it!

Thinking about your patio doors, leave the canvas hinges and glue the wee brass hinges to help hold them on.

Now that sounds like a great idea! My only problem with the canvas (albeit they haven't made it through "beta testing at the kiddie lab") was their appearance. I will trim down the canvas on the exposed side (the door) and cover with the real hinges, possibly screwing the hinges through the canvas on that side to reinforce the weaker connection point.

If the cloth hinges still fail in the kiddie world, I'll ditch the doors until she's a bit older.

Thanks again for the sage advice, Holly!

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Many thanks, Cheverly!

I just spent an hour or more of this morning looking at pics of other peoples Beacon Hill implementations with wide-eyed amazement. The attention to detail that this crowd has is truly impressive!

I wonder how many more hours of filling and sanding until I can finally begin painting and staining . .

-David

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Welcome to the forum, David, and welcome to the magical world of minis :) Nothing quite like a real-life (RL) miniature - a.k.a. daughter - to add inspiration. She's a lucky little girl. Somewhere on this forum is a thread something like, Would you part with your first dollhouse? (Sorry, don't remember the exact title) Many have mentioned they would NEVER part with their first house because Daddy, or Grandpa, built it for them when they were little. You are creating an heirloom for her. :flowers:

One word of caution regarding the 1:144 Beacon Hill you just got. Be very careful. That scale can become extremely addictive!

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Thank you C J for those sweet words! I am sure she will like it, but I have to admit I'm having enough fun for both of us at the moment doing the build! :)

Funny you mention the 1:144 BH. It arrived in the mail yesterday and is now sitting on my desk begging for attention. Its only 8 boards instead of 30+, so it should be a quickie build, right?? (Famous last words, I know!) ;0

-David

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