Arthur roof issues

[kemck]

Hello,

I've been reading all the construction blogs on the Arthur. Many show the roof magically appearing or show it easily going together. Mine is not going together at all now, and has been a challenge from the first dry fit. I finally (thought I) had things working, and to be forward thinking I had dry fit the back roof to the house every time I glued other parts of the house together, thinking this would ensure that it fit later. (I may or may not have put this part on upside down by accident during the early stages, so maybe that messed things up??)

Well it doesn't fit now. On my current dry fit of the roof (the main part of the house is assembled and glued) I can place the front roof together with one of the two sides lying flat on the gable and the other a little raised (not sure what's preventing the other from lying flat , but that's a smaller issue), and they meet nicely in the middle.

Anyway, If I then add on the back roof I can only get 1 or 2 of the tabs to line up at any one time with their respective slots (3 if you count the tab that the center wall goes in) and the others are always about 1/4 inch from where they need to be, and if I manage to get one tab in slot on each side the front roof pops apart (so I'm guessing I shouldn't glue that seam at this stage during my particular build??. Ideas??

Also, (sorry this is getting long) I'm planning to add electric, and wondered if I don't put lights on the ceiling in the upper floor,is it too early to do now and then wallpaper with the roof off, or am I likely to damage things if I tried given that the house may shift while I fiddle with the roof and porch etc.

Thanks for any advice!

Kim

[Minis On The Edge]

Hi Kim, I wish I had exact pictures but from what it sounds like, you may have to either down the tabs to make them shorter or you may have to open up the slots to make them longer. Use your pencil to mark off where the issue is before you decide.

[Minis On The Edge]

I thought that happened to me before and I blogged it. It may have been a different house though

[jdodyd]

It can be a bit tricky to get those tabs and slot to behave! I believe that when I did my Arthur's roof I felt that I needed four hands I did have to widen up the slots on at least two pieces to get the roof to fit and still had some gaps, which I covered up with shingles. Good luck.

[nuttiwebgal]

you can widen the slots or cut down the tabs so they will fit together smoothly

remember any alteration of the wood...paint..wallpaper...changes the shapes a bit...

if you feel we are not understanding the issue...please take some photos and some one will get right back with ya!

I love the Arthur!

[havanaholly]

Kim, about half the houses I've built I trimmed the tabs and slots to fit perfectly in dry fit, and had a gap or so when I glued it up. Sometimes it's the finishing and sometime it's fitting things upside down and sometimes it just seems like the roof parts are being contrary. I have taped the bejeezis out of the roof along the top and used heavy duty staples between the tabs, and I recall a couple of roofs I still had to cut a strip of scrapwood from one of the punched-out plywood sheets to fill a gap and tidy up inside with a fingerful or so of spackle. I only ever finished two kit roofs like shown on their boxes; one was the Woodville and the other was the Arthur.

[GSnail]

I had to trim down the sides of the front gable and the straight part (above the square window) to make it lay down. I still need to trim more, actually, because it still isn't perfect. I think that may be why it comes with top of roof trim.

[kemck]

Thanks everyone, I'm feeling a bit better now. I had my husband fit it with me, and it just took two people to get things lined up, though the front roof had to gap to make the back go together. (phew). I do have one more tab to cut down in the back, but I'm more encouraged now. I may just have to wait to glue those back roofs at the center. You did that, Holly, right? Did you have to do anything special to get them to stay?

[havanaholly]

...I may just have to wait to glue those back roofs at the center. You did that, Holly, right? Did you have to do anything special to get them to stay?

I had to go back and read my entiries in the Team Arthur blog to see what I did and was delighted to see that the roof went together and pretty much stayed put once the glue dried. I did put the fancy schmancy gingerbread roof trim on that one, since it was my first Team build and all that (and it was going to a little girl), so when I shingled the roof I didn't have the shingles meet at the top and left a space for the trim to drop into. I used masking tape to hold things together until they dried. One thing I do remember is that it took several tries before I got the roof gable pieces going right way up and right side out. I have a lot of "duh!" moments when I build...

[moonberry]

My Arthur's roof wasn't too bad. I remember having to slice off little bits of the edges of the tabs on either side to make everything easier to assemble (without pulling the walls too much in other directions). It is easier to cut some of the tabs shorter, than it is to try and mess with making the slots bigger (and splitting the wood of the roof in the process).

Mine is covered in scrapbook paper, as you can see from the photo:

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=96197

I still have to attach the two small back sections, but the front came out well enough.

[More Minis Dollhouses]

The tabs never line up with the slots of the roof. You should insert them one at a time, using a mallet and clamping with masking tape so they don't pop out while you insert the next one. Once the roof panels are in, they force the walls straight at the top. Yes, there is a gap at the top between the front and back roof panels where the roof top trim goes. That's just the way the cookie crumbles. It is easily hidden with shingles. Butt the front roof shingles to the back roof ones to hide the gaps and non alignments. Leave some space so then roof trim can be inserted or better yet, insert it first and then shingle.

[havanaholly]

Or leave the roof trim off and use scrapwood from one edge of the punched out wheets to fill the gap, and cover it up with shingles.