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House of Miniatures Info


kathi17

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Since there a several HOM threads on here right now, I thought it would be a good time to post a link to a really good website. http://www.houseofminiatures.info/

This site has a list of all the HOM kits, plus PDF's of the instructions for some of the kits. It also has PDF's of several catalogues and other information, as well as a link to a blog about building their furniture. I just found it tonight. If you are an HOM fan, it's really worth visiting!

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When I looked at his building blog, I see he hasn't made a post in over a year. I'm hoping that he is still keeping up with the site, since it's the best one I've found about HOM. I saved those PDF catalogues in case the site disappears. At least I will still have them for reference.

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I'm drooling over that coronation series they did! Wish it came up for sale on ebay more often. Of course, a seller might not know what they have if they didn't keep the box it came in...Must keep a sharp eye out to find them. Oh, and that mcintire glass. Must be rare, as I've seen it for sale maybe once and that was nearly 10 years ago.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I satin first because it's easier, plus you don't have to worry about glue not taking the stain. A lot of people don't because the glue doesn't stick as well to stain, but I haven't had any problems with sticking, so I still do it first. For my furniture, I normally use the actual HOM stains that came with the kits way back then, but I also use any stain that works for real furniture. I add varnish after it is all done.

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Stain first, wipe off the excess and let the pieces dry thoroughly/  I use a good carpenters' wood glue sparingly to assemble them,  If you glue first any glue residue will be a barrier for the stain (I learned this first hand).  I use Min Wax, although lately I have been using the Cabot stains our Habitat for Humanity ReStores sell.  The kits are high quality and I wish someone would start making them again *sigh*

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3 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

Stain first, wipe off the excess and let the pieces dry thoroughly/  I use a good carpenters' wood glue sparingly to assemble them,  If you glue first any glue residue will be a barrier for the stain (I learned this first hand).  I use Min Wax, although lately I have been using the Cabot stains our Habitat for Humanity ReStores sell.  The kits are high quality and I wish someone would start making them again *sigh*

Actually, Mini Mundus does sell some of the exact same furniture as HOM, as well as other furniture kits, but they are pricey. I agree, I wish someone in this country would redo the whole HOM line. (Mini Mundus is in Germany, and I don't know whether it makes the kits more expensive because of that or not).

Go here and scroll down the page until you come to the furniture. You'll see a lot of pieces you recognize!

http://minimumworld.com/brands/mini-mundus.html

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58 minutes ago, pawsplus said:

OK--what about this--where do you put the tiny pieces to dry? Lean them up against something? If I lay them down on newspaper they'll get smudged. How do I avoid smudgling with my fingers? Tweezers??

I stain mine assembly line style. I always have a piece of wax paper on my work surface, and stain parts that I don't have to hold onto, then I wipe them with a rag, and lay the unstained, (or dried stain), sides on the wax paper. doing parts of each item, rather than the whole thing at once gives other pieces time to dry before you stain another section.

For instance, if I am doing a table top, I go all around the narrow edges, the next step would be the top, then the bottom, working on other pieces in between the steps on the table top.

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4 hours ago, kathi17 said:

Actually, Mini Mundus does sell some of the exact same furniture as HOM, as well as other furniture kits, but they are pricey. I agree, I wish someone in this country would redo the whole HOM line. (Mini Mundus is in Germany, and I don't know whether it makes the kits more expensive because of that or not).

Go here and scroll down the page until you come to the furniture. You'll see a lot of pieces you recognize!

http://minimumworld.com/brands/mini-mundus.html

I built their ladies' work table and their upright piano & bench:

gallery_8_305_9917.jpg

 

58 minutes ago, pawsplus said:

OK--what about this--where do you put the tiny pieces to dry? Lean them up against something? If I lay them down on newspaper they'll get smudged. How do I avoid smudgling with my fingers? Tweezers??

I scavenge styrofoam blocks from packaging and for fiddly things like furniture legs I stick a straight pin into the middle of the bottom of the leg and after it's stained I stick the head of the pin into the block.  For flat pieces I take a paper towel and lay it on a piece of waxed paper, being careful to lay the piece so the inside part is the down side.

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I use water based poly on mine when I don't use the HOM gloss coat. The poly I use is gloss, but the first coat of poly really soaks into that old wood and pretty much disappears. When I add the second coat, it looks more like a satin finish. I think my poly is from Minwax, but don't really remember. I poured it into small glass jars so it would stay fresh longer.

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4 hours ago, pawsplus said:

I'm trying to decide whether to use poly or not. I always think that shiny miniatures are more likely to LOOK like miniatures. Do I use satin finish poly? Does anyone use no poly?

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think shiny miniatures tend to look like miniatures, plus the shiny surface reflects every little imperfection. If I use poly, it's a satin finish. I have used wax on some pieces and liked the results. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, eh? :)

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I don't use poly on anything miniature.  I crumple a piece of brown paper bag until its soft and rub and rub the wood surface with it until the wood is smooth and soft as a baby's butt and the wood has a lovely patina.  I used lacquer on my Chippendale dining table and chairs, my first flirtation with HoM kits, and didn't like the shiny finish; one day after I had discovered about using the brown paper I gave the dining room furniture a rub down with it and while still somewhat shiny, it's not nearly as glaring.  I don't know if it would work with gloss poly, though.

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I don't like a really shiny finish either, but this is how mine look with poly

medium.rlentryway.jpg.d5cd1a1d9754e94c97

As you can see, they look more satin than shiny. I use very thin layers, and the kits are so old that the first coat sinks into the wood completely.

edit:These are actually Realife Miniatures, but the effect is the same on my HOM kits.

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1 hour ago, pawsplus said:

I can't see Holly's. <pout> The link just goes to her profile. I can't figure out how to see people's galleries easily. Help?

The only way I can get to their galleries is to click on their avatar, and then click on albums. I wish there was a link to their albums under their avatar.

1 hour ago, pawsplus said:

Kathi--yours look great. Do you sand between poly coats?

Thanks, it depends on how smooth the wood is. On flat surfaces, if they need a second coat, I frequently apply it, (just a tiny bit at a time), with my fingers rather than a brush. It comes out really smooth that way, and the water based varnish washes right off my fingers. :-) On some kits, they don't really need a second coat on everything, it depends on how much the first coat sinks into the wood.

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