new build

[crowley]

Hi i just thought i would introduce myself. Im Simon and i live in the UK.

About 10 years ago i bought and started building a Deacon Hill Kit, i had most of the outside frame built, but then things in my personal life went south... My now ex wife left my dollhouse outside in the rain so that it was ruined and that as they say was that.  But i never lost interest and my dream was always to have another one. I am finally in a position to start over having just sent my last project (a car) off to the paint shop i can now start thinking about my new kit.

This time i have purchased the Garfield (the house i originally fell in love with) and plan on doing something a little crazy with it.   Having built the frame of the Deacon Hill i was a little un impressed with the thin walls so the plan this time round is to use the KIT as a template and make the frame out of MDF of the correct thickness that i can then fit working windows and doors into the frame.  It also means that i should be able to either scratch build or buy working windows to fit the kit and adjust the window apertures to fit whatever is available. 

Having thicker walls should also make it easier to run wires for lights in a grove but thats still very much in the thinking about stage atm.

I doubt i will actually get started much before the new year but between now and then i want to find out as much as i can from people who have built this kit and how they have finished it. I will also be trawling the internet for ideas for finishes etc so that when it comes to time to start i will hopefully have a large "scrapbook" of ideas to plan my build around.

 

 

[havanaholly]

Welcome to the little family, Simon.  Unless you plan to have someone stick your Garfield out in the rain, you'd be surprised how well that "thin wood" holds up; an awful lot of people build and light the Greenleaf kits without resorting to MDF.  If you MUST go with thicker material and your template plan, why not stick with wood?  As for seeing what other people have done with the kit, might I suggest you open either the blogs or the gallery and do a search on "Garfield"?

[thresadep]

I agree with Holly. Seems unnecessary really.  Greenleaf leaf dh are quite sturdy once put together.  With thicker walls, I wonder if the rest of the house would match up exactly?  

Maybe look into buying an mdf dh? Whatever you decide, this is the place to get your scrapbook of ideas. And almost forgot...

Welcome

[Summersethomes]

Im in agreement with everyone else, personally I would just build the house and wire it for lights...if you have your heart set on thicker walls find some plans on the web and build your own DH, That's what some people do...one that comes to mind is Gregs Miniature Imagination, he's always building DH's from scratch.

 

Good luck and welcome to the family, Im sure you'll figure this out

[Selkie]

One super important thing to remember when building the Garfield is to measure your interior and exit doors before deciding where to construct the house. With the porch and roof trims and L shape, it often will not pass through them.

Folks have left them behind when moving or just hacked them up. Others have redesigned them to be built in 2 sections to begin with.

As to the mdf, consider your final weight for moving before selecting mdf. It's a terribly heavy product. Using the higher quality "select plywood" would be lighter if you are sure you are going with something thicker.

There used to be a Houseworks working window kit specifically made for the Garfield. I have one so I they exist. You might search ebay for one. It was designed for the thinner wood. They made one for the Pierce as well, back in the day. 

Good luck. It's my favorite of the GL line. 

[Sable]

Use cabinet grade birch plywood, not MDF.

[wormwoodz]

Hello Crowley and welcome!

Congratz on your new project, I also looked up several builds from other people before I started working on mine, it's a wonderful source of inspiration and ideas ;)

Regarding the kit's wood thickness, I can say I had no problems wiring my kit using the default walls and wood. I've used the roundwire method and despite it looking 'thin' it had enough space for me to safely carve groves all over the walls and floors. I've used thin wire thou, which is a bit annoying to work with sometimes as I can barely handle it with my fingers, but I think even if you go for a thicker option it will still be okay. I covered the groves using thin wood templates about (0.4 mm) and applied the flooring on top. You can also use thin wood sheets to reinforce any wall in the house by permanently gluing them to the structure, this way you don't need to cut a whole new kit if you just want a thicker structure. But if that doesn't suit your purpose, by all means go ahead and use thicker wood

Sad to hear what happened to your Beacon Hill, that's one of my favorite kits. I saw one that had been left outside for ages and broke my heart, even thou the structure was still holding together the wood was rotting and was infested with bugs, a really sad sight But other than being directly exposed to the elements, these kits look pretty sturdy. If you plan on remaking them in thicker wood make sure to measure and test how the components fit together, a few milimetres extra can change the layout and proportions a lot. Best wishes for your project and hope you have fun!

[mesp2k]

Hey Simon, welcome from the other side of the pond!

[amyole]

Welcome to the forum. 

My 2 cents: MDF is very heavy and may not work well with gingerbread trims, stuff that is delicate and comes out nicely in a GL house. Another thought could be to make paneling for the interior of the walls and you can put your wires behind them and also build some thickness into the walls. I'm pretty sure that someone recently did this to a Glencroft, but I can't remember his name. 

Enjoy your house! 

[Emerald]

Hello Simon!!!  Everyone has different ideas of types of construction materials.  I am certain everyone here will be a wonderful help to you.