IndiGhost Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 I have not made any doll houses before, so I am pretty excited. Does anyone have any quick tips about how to start? - Indigo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 What house will you be building? Do you have any tools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Hello Indigo. I'm new to building dollhouses as well. Before I started, I gleaned as much info as I could online and from books. There is a wealth of information. I never realized popular this hobby is. Have you picked out a house you may want to build? I am starting with the Laurel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndiGhost Posted April 1, 2017 Author Share Posted April 1, 2017 Whoops- sorry for response time. I chose the Fairfield for my starter. My grandmother is a dollhouse enthusiast and suggested it. I have most of the tools so far, but I am still looking for a certain type of stainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Hi, Indigo. Welcome to the forum! What kind of stainer are you looking for? With the small size of the Fairfield bits and pieces, I'd lean toward stain pens. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndiGhost Posted April 1, 2017 Author Share Posted April 1, 2017 Cool- I'll keep that in mind! I guess I was only thinking of the larger pieces when I said that. That could have ended really badly. Thanks Kathie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesp2k Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Hi Indigo, welcome! The Fairfield is one of my favorites. ...wish it came in 1/12 scale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Welcome to the little family, Indigo. I built two Fairfield kits to be halves of a bar Harbor summer cottage, so I built one of them inside out (I used the rough side of the wood to show). Basically I used the same procedure I use with 1:12 kits; read over the instructions, put the sheets of plywood in numerical order (I go over the numbers on the sheets with a black Sharpie pen), look t the schematics sheet whilst putting the plywood in order, reread the instructions, grab my roll of blue painter's tape and put the kit together with that first (called the dry fit), and figure out what will go where (the house tells me this, but I've been listening to these kits for a while). During the dry fit I sand/ shave tabs, slots & edges to get a more perfect fit. I take the house apart and in the case of the Fairfields I scribed "boards" into the wood of the floors that I'm not going to paint to look like marble, stone or linoleum: : I mask off what I'm going to glue or stain and prime the surfaces I'm going to paint or paper, and I stain the floors. Then I build, using Probond or Titebond, whichever good carpenter's wood glue I happen to have on hand. I use clear-drying white all-purpose Elmer's for the clear acetate window & door inserts. I hinged the Fairfileds' doors with strips of chamois sandwiched between the two pieces of the doors. With the 1:24 kit I found that the "1:24" furniture sets I got from HBS were closer to 1:32; they looked miniscule with the pieces I either built from kits or scaled down from 1:12 patterns, so I ended up making all the furniture I put into them (I lucked out & found bathroom fixtures under a pile of stuff in Hobby Lobby's mark-down section in a back corner). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndiGhost Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 I was wondering- is it possible to add the foundation later on? I mean, the Fairfeild's entrance is off the ground, slightly elevated. Could I take out those pieces that make it off the ground if I simply don't want them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 9 minutes ago, IndiGhost said: I was wondering- is it possible to add the foundation later on? I mean, the Fairfeild's entrance is off the ground, slightly elevated. Could I take out those pieces that make it off the ground if I simply don't want them? The porch is not even with the rest of the house and if you lower the porch the gingerbread trim won't be tall enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndiGhost Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Thanks Sable. Gosh- I hate being clueless sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Miniature Madness Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Welcome to the forum, Indigo! Dollhouses are a great indoor hobby for us Washingtonians! Have fun with your exciting new build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndiGhost Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Ok- so my friend and I just started our dollhouse and realized we forgot glue. What brand of glue would you suggest? Anyone? Thanks again, - Indigo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 1 hour ago, IndiGhost said: Ok- so my friend and I just started our dollhouse and realized we forgot glue. What brand of glue would you suggest? Anyone? Thanks again, - Indigo Any good wood glue is good for gluing raw wood to raw wood. To glue painted or stained surfaces, a good white glue is good, like Aileen's Tacky Glue, for example, or Elmer's white glue. Not Elmer's school glue, though; it's a different formula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 2 hours ago, IndiGhost said: Ok- so my friend and I just started our dollhouse and realized we forgot glue. What brand of glue would you suggest? Anyone? Thanks again, - Indigo I have to keep things very simple. I use carpenters' wood glue to glue bare wood to bare wood (so I split tape into 1/4" widths to mask off the edges I'm going to glue before priming) and I use Elmer's white al-purpose glue to attach the clear plastic inserts for the windows & doors because it dries clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndiGhost Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 (edited) Thanks Kathie and Holly! I will take that into consideration. Just basic glue will work on paint? Great. I used up wood glue for that. XD Edited April 5, 2017 by IndiGhost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I don't use any glue on paint, I use wood glue to glue bare wood to bare wood, so I use narrow strips of masking or painters' tape to mask off where I will glue kit pieces together when I must decorate an area I won't be able to fit my hands or brushload of primer once it's together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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