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Garfield - Pintrest


squirrelnutmofia

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I am afraid at the moment i am a man with Pintrest envy and do not know what to do about it. My Garfield kit is on the way but am uncertain what is different from this build (found on pintrest) and the kit i will be receiving.  Is there a slate grey stain somewhere online, and where do you find those 'ridge caps'?  The spindles on the turret seem new, and the balcony has a little roof made (seems simple enough).  Also i have no idea how much siding i need to order.... in all it does not seem that different than the kit, however its the minor details that make it more interesting to me.  Any help would be appreciated!  Searching through the posts on this site has not yielded the best results yet. 

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That is Jo Med's Garfield, she is a member here. You can check out more pictures of her beautiful house in her gallery. You could also send her a message to ask specifics in what she used. You can buy gray stain. And the Greenleaf store I believe tells you how many bags of siding to purchase on the product page. Have fun!! :)

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Jonathan, when you find time, please post an introduction in the Newcomers' Forum.  If you click on the "shop" button at the top of the page you can look at a picture of the Garfield as it looks on the box, to see what has been added by way of embellishment.  There are all sorts of ways to tweak the Greenleaf kits to personalize them.

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Hello Jonathan, Thanks for your appreciation of my Garfield. This was my first dolls house build and it took me the best part of a year. It taught me so much.

The ridge tiles are not actually ridge tiles. This photo was taken before it was finished and the shingles are just glued right to the top so that is what you are seeing. I never did get round to putting the gingerbread trim on the top but hey, maybe one day I will. As for grey stain. I just masked off the roof area and sprayed it with grey primer. Then I mixed a couple of different shades of grey acrylic paint, one lighter than the primer and one darker and painted random tiles to give the mottled effect. Yes I added the roof to the balcony which as you say is quite easy to do and the railings on the top of the turret are just plastic rails from any mini shop. I can't remember how many packs of siding I used - sorry but a quick note or phone call to Greenleaf  will give you the answer to that one.

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Wow i didnt expect to actually come across so many knowledgeable people here, let alone the person who created it!  I was wondering how you were able to produce the nice variance of colors, and you figured all this out on your FIRST doll house?  Do you have an art background by chance?    My grandfather loved model trains but unfortunately passed away long before he could teach me his tricks on adding texture and age to color (let alone all the woodworking knowledge!). Did your acrylic paint have a satin finish to it like people on here seem to suggest, and did you prime it after gluing it? Your (free sculpted?) Wisteria vine and espelir pear tree are simply amazing additions!!!  Honestly i'm building this for children but in reality i am living vicariously through it; i'm glad you showed me the gardening and greenhouse addition to these small homes.  

 

 Still it is nice there is a community for all this.  Personally i think it looks more like a real home without the excessive gingerbread on top.  I like the addition of the little spindles riding the seams of the turret, where did you happen across those?    I didnt mean to imply that your additions were 'too simple', in fact its often the little additions that make it much more authentic.  Mimicking your build will teach me a lot without a lot of costly trial-and-error!    

I just received an email from greenleaf and for all future reference Garfields require:   "twelve bags of siding and fifteen bags of shingles. The kit does not include shingles or siding"

I'm tempted to order the 'speed strip' laser shingles just to make it all go smoother.  It would be nice to get this all done in my one month lay off period for work to give to the family while i'm away.  With nothing else to do there is hope!!!  Thank you all for the help.   Jo Med i'm sure i'll be bothering you with questions soon. :-)

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6 hours ago, squirrelnutmofia said:


 

I'm tempted to order the 'speed strip' laser shingles just to make it all go smoother.  It would be nice to get this all done in my one month lay off period for work to give to the family while i'm away.  With nothing else to do there is hope!!!  Thank you all for the help.   Jo Med i'm sure i'll be bothering you with questions soon. :-)

Jonathan, the speed shingles are worth every penny!  They're lasercut birch so there's minimal sanding and they go on so sweetly and easily.  I've built two Pierces (just slightly smaller than the Garfield but with the same roof line) and it took almost two weeks to single the first one using individual shingles.  I used speed shingles on the second one and it took less than two days.  If time is an issue then speed shingles could be your new best friend.  

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Yes definitely go with the speed strip shingles. I used these on my Russian Lodge and it was so much faster.

I built the Garfield with the help and advice from the people on this forum so although I was a complete novice, I had a panel of experts covering my back.

The acrylic paint was not satin finished, it was bog standard cheap tubes of paint from a craft shop. Yes I glued all the shingles on with a glue gun then masked the roof off with sheets of newspaper to keep the walls clean and primed the roof with a flat coat of grey. When it was dry I added the 2 different grey tones randomly just with a paintbrush. When everything was dry I sprayed the whole roof lightly with a stone effect spray paint http://www.diy.com/departments/rust-oleum-grey-stone-effect-spray-paint-400ml/128271_BQ.prd This blended the different tones of grey into one another to lessen the patchwork effect. If you do this, practice on a bit of old wood first so that when you do the roof, you get a light and even coating through which you can still see the different tones of grey.

 

I made one big error which almost caused me to abandon the whole build so I'll mention it here to make sure you don't fall into the same trap. I put the siding on with a hot glue gun and followed the instructions with the siding which said to run a line of glue across the top of the siding strip and stick in place. This looked great until I painted it (with ordinary matt household paint) and then every piece of siding curled up from the bottom and the house looked as if it was wearing frills. At this stage I think my language was rather colourful to say the least and I was ready to abandon the build altogether. Some inner reserves made me carry on though. I removed all the siding and redid it. This time I applied hot glue to the whole of the siding strip in a wiggly line so that all of the strip was in contact with the house walls. When it was painted a second time all of the siding stayed firmly in place and has remained so.

 

The spindles are available in most mini supply shops. I bought mine from Dolls House Emporium - I'm in the UK - as it used to be just a few miles away from my home but has since closed that outlet I am assuming you are in US? You can get them here http://www.miniatures.com/Porch-Spindles-P17128.aspx .If I was doing it again I would try porch posts instead of the spindles as they are longer http://www.miniatures.com/Lilliput-Porch-Posts-P20014.aspx

There is no blog post, I'm not disciplined enough to blog but I'm happy to help out with any questions you may have as you get into your build.

Good luck with your schedule. It can be done in a month as I seem to remember someone on here building one in even less time but it is ambitious. Things like the plants etc which take quite a bit of time can be added later.

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1 hour ago, Cathy :) said:

Jo, thank you for sharing your photos and building experience with us.  Your Garfield is absolutely beautiful!

You are very welcome Cathy and thank you - nice to meet you by the way.

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I've always loved your Garfield Jo, I think it's probably the prettiest one I've ever seen. So many beautiful touches on it.

I do remember seeing the ruffled shingles in your album. Good for you for not giving up!

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Seeing how your dollhouse is displayed in a solarium with a seemingly beautiful garden in the back, it makes sense you are from the UK.   With all the 1000's of posts on this site it is easy to get lost in the multitude of opinions and experiences.   For instance, are you saying you have used hot glue on the whole dollhouse and never any wood glue?  Doing construction myself i rely a lot on epoxy, and have read many articles on how not to prime the exterior before you  wood glue and clamp the details on, such as siding and shingles.   As long as it holds up to being well loved by 5 small children I am up for attempting any of your suggestions!

I would have never guessed you used any sort of stone effect on the shingles, maybe that is why they seem satin or dull finished from the pictures. Your choice of color offset is remarkably accurate, i live in Ohio so slate shingles are common on turn of the century homes and what you have done on your Garfield is wonderful. I'll still make sure to practice!!! From some other posts i've heard that a satin finished exterior paint is best for being wiped down and keeping the 'grimy fingers' look at bay from handling. 

I see what you meant about the roof peak being simple shingles, in fact i like it better than the gingerbread it makes it feel more real.  The 'cap pieces' i was referring to are what hide the roof seams over the turret.  another ingenious invention of yours?  I can find balsa wood at a local hobby store to experiment with on my own. Its difficult not having a woodshop at the moment!

If you have a link to this  Russian Lodge of yours i would love to see more of your work!  I've found building small homes, etc is rather therapeutic while i save up for the real life projects i'm striving to afford. 

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56 minutes ago, squirrelnutmofia said:

For instance, are you saying you have used hot glue on the whole dollhouse and never any wood glue?  

No, no, no, Jonathan. Use wood glue to glue the raw wood to raw wood throughout the construction. Do not use hot glue in any area of construction that requires structural strength -- corners, floor and ceiling joins, etc. Over time hot glue will loosen. Many members here have had fun disassembling houses built with hot glue in order to redo them with the proper glue. Some of the poor houses almost disassembled themselves.

Hot glue is okay for the shingles, as there is no stress on them once in place.

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If you click on Jo's username at the top left of her thread it will take you to her profile page where you can click "Album" to get to the pictures of her Russian summer lodge.

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7 hours ago, squirrelnutmofia said:

Seeing how your dollhouse is displayed in a solarium with a seemingly beautiful garden in the back, it makes sense you are from the UK.   With all the 1000's of posts on this site it is easy to get lost in the multitude of opinions and experiences.   For instance, are you saying you have used hot glue on the whole dollhouse and never any wood glue?  Doing construction myself i rely a lot on epoxy, and have read many articles on how not to prime the exterior before you  wood glue and clamp the details on, such as siding and shingles.   As long as it holds up to being well loved by 5 small children I am up for attempting any of your suggestions!

I would have never guessed you used any sort of stone effect on the shingles, maybe that is why they seem satin or dull finished from the pictures. Your choice of color offset is remarkably accurate, i live in Ohio so slate shingles are common on turn of the century homes and what you have done on your Garfield is wonderful. I'll still make sure to practice!!! From some other posts i've heard that a satin finished exterior paint is best for being wiped down and keeping the 'grimy fingers' look at bay from handling. 

I see what you meant about the roof peak being simple shingles, in fact i like it better than the gingerbread it makes it feel more real.  The 'cap pieces' i was referring to are what hide the roof seams over the turret.  another ingenious invention of yours?  I can find balsa wood at a local hobby store to experiment with on my own. Its difficult not having a woodshop at the moment!

If you have a link to this  Russian Lodge of yours i would love to see more of your work!  I've found building small homes, etc is rather therapeutic while i save up for the real life projects i'm striving to afford. 

Hi Jonathan,

I used white carpenter's wood glue for the construction of the house for strength. Hot glue is great for shingles and siding but not for the structural elements. I primed all the pieces before I started to assemble the house but I was careful not to get any thickness of paint in the areas where there would be joins because even a coat of paint on an edge can make the difference between a snug and a badly fitting joint. I used a small paint roller to prime with and that helps to control the amount of paint. After assembly you can touch up the joins if there are bits of bare wood showing. One thing I did when building the Garfield and I'm not sure about the approach others take but I assembled the ground floor and before adding the ceilings, I decorated the rooms and added things like window seats and curtains in areas that are very hard to get to when the ceilings are added. The Garfield has areas like this on each floor - the corners where the staircase and landings are and the little area by the kitchen/back door. This was the same for the bedroom floor before adding the attic floor.  If you are adding electricity you need to have a wiring plan before you begin to decorate so that you can install tape wire or which ever method you prefer. Others build the whole thing and do all this later so there is no right or wrong way its just whatever suits you. The Garfield is a complicated shape so I would suggest you do quite a bit of sitting, staring, thinking and planning before you start. I found that doing a dry fit with it was not really feasible because the floors and staircases do take a bit of forcing into place and when they are in place, the same amount of forcing back out again.

I used matt household paint because my house wasn't for a child but I can see why people would recommend a wipe down finish such as satin. I wouldn't use a gloss paint personally as it detracts from the realism but satin would be fine. In my eyes there is nothing wrong with a bit of grime and grubbiness, it can add to the realism sometimes but kids always seem to want to write and draw on walls with felt tips so that may be your biggest problem.

 

I used Versi  tiles on the turret and on the veranda and balcony roofs,  here is the link http://www.richardstacey.com/versirf.html#sridge

If you click on my name at the top of this post and go to my profile you will see a tab marked "albums" where you can see my other builds.

 

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8 hours ago, Cathy :) said:

Nice to meet you also, Jo!  I have a small dollhouse that needs shingled.  I am tempted to try your spray paint and dry brush technique.  

Go for it Cathy and good luck.

 

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  • 1 month later...

HI everyone.    I did the tape wire in my Bellingham years ago and just took it out of storage.   At that time I did not paint the walls, floors or ceilings before I put down the tape.   My question is can I paint and wallpaper right over the tape now ? I think I read somewhere I can put scotch tape over the tape wire ?  Just plain old scotch tape ?   

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I use Liquid Nails for my siding. A bit overkill but since it is non water based you are assured no warping. Any non water based adhesive will work.  

I could never manage a hot glue gun successfully.

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  • 10 months later...
On 2/28/2016, 3:41:58, squirrelnutmofia said:

I am afraid at the moment i am a man with Pintrest envy and do not know what to do about it. My Garfield kit is on the way but am uncertain what is different from this build (found on pintrest) and the kit i will be receiving.  Is there a slate grey stain somewhere online, and where do you find those 'ridge caps'?  The spindles on the turret seem new, and the balcony has a little roof made (seems simple enough).  Also i have no idea how much siding i need to order.... in all it does not seem that different than the kit, however its the minor details that make it more interesting to me.  Any help would be appreciated!  Searching through the posts on this site has not yielded the best results yet. 

3ad6ddf9b36289d64e1aed62529be37e.jpg

811f19f9f465915fb9c5f4974ecdc0bf.jpg

It's been year since you've posted this. How has your progress gone? I ask because I'm renovating a Garfield to look similar to this stunning and dream-like Garfield. 

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