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Grandpa's new project


BigC

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Colin there are some DHE houses on UK ebay and the prices are very low. My Grosvenor Hall cost me almost 1000 sterling, there is a finished one on e bay for 200 and it has a best offer option. that is an incredible price and there are many more

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Jeannine..I take its Dolls House Emporium to which you refer.

I want initially to make a Georgian style dolls house from scratch mostly from 9mm mdf (thicker base)..I want it to be a tallish structure (arround 3 foot overall) that would give me around 3 good floors with 9 inch ceilings plus the roof. which would probably just lift off...I haven't yet decided if I want the door to the left of the building or a more central uniform position this in-turn will dictate window placement and split opening. As I mentioned earlier I wish the bottom third or first level facade to have an alabaster block look and the top 2 floors to be red brick with quinion stones at the edges. The windows will be one row of 15 or 12 paned at the bottom , then a row of  9x6 paned working sash across the middle followed by another row of 9 paned across the top floor...Ideally the roof will have perhaps three 4 paned dormers.

Thats as far as I've got with my train of thought at the moment in this planning stage (from a newbie standpoint) As for other stripwood embellishments such as breakers in the stone finishes and roof underdraw section with plain corbels thats still pending but I'm pretty sure will be included if not essential to obtain the required look.

This being my first house it could possibly lead on to other kit forms..I've seen a few american styles I really like and also with my wife (incidentally from Yorkshire, born and bred like yourself Jeannine) She is a great lover of The Waltons TV series I would dearly love a life like model of their homested...that would be awesome.

So thats the story so far as I gleen more info for the Georgian build from the good folks of this great forum, I thank everyone for your contributions thus far. they have been amazing

Regards

Colin

 

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1 hour ago, NellBell said:

Can you get the slate in the states are you buying it from the UK?

Yes NellBell, I can purchase real mini slates from here in the UK, expensive as you mention but essential I would say they tick all the boxes.

Thanks for sharing this information

Regards

C

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These will be my mid floor working sash opening windows..I hope they look correct lol

Incidentally the bottom section has 9 panes and the top section) which you see in front) has 6 panes... slipped in packaging

there is also clear acrylic supplied for the glass effect.

 

20171203_125107.jpg

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Ok folks I decided to make a start today on the Georgian build albeit a small one...I had one half sheet of 9mm MDF lying around so I built the base, the back, and two sides.

all glued, squared up and pinned....I need another half sheet to complete the externals including the roof...not a bad day all in all and although its not much to look at, at the moment, I'm pretty pleased with the situation thus far...So may the purists please go easy on me :)

The structure is 24 inches wide, will a set of three hinges on one side hold the weight of a front opening house or is it best to split the frontage with hinges on both sides 

DH1.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Sable said:

Do you have a router so you can make grooves for the second and third floors to sit in? 

Yes I have two, a plunge router and a smaller palm trimmer....sounds like a plan Sable. :) 

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1 hour ago, Sable said:

Do you have a router so you can make grooves for the second and third floors to sit in? If not, Wall dividers provide good support when the floors are nailed in. 

Caution with that foaming Gorilla Glue.

I'm not using the Gorilla Glue. Sable, it just happened to be in shot hahahaha...I'm using ordinary carpenters wood glue (white and dries clear) The Gorilla glue is far too messy for this job and leaves, as you say, a horrible over spill residue which would be very hard to remove....

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4 hours ago, BigC said:

 

The structure is 24 inches wide, will a set of three hinges on one side hold the weight of a front opening house or is it best to split the frontage with hinges on both sides 

 

That’s a good question. MDF is very heavy.  Another factor is clearance. Will you have space to open the door out 24 inches?  Will the house want to tilt forward as the door is opened? Your design wants a full door but practically speaking it might want to be in two pieces if you can hide the seam. This is a good question for MikeUK. 

Edit: I sent MikeUK  your question.

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1 hour ago, MikeUK said:

And here he is! not that I've much to say on the matter!...........I hate hinges! They should be banned. Whoever lives in a house with 3ft brass hinges screwed to the wall?......The only house I've hinged is the 'Lake View' and then I boxed the hinges on both sides. All of the other houses have removable fronts held in place by magnets.......mainly because when folk look inside they suddenly seem to forget the all to vulnerable wings so I simply remove the danger. Plus I think it looks better......if you're looking at the front it's unblemished and if you're looking at the interior it's cleaner! Also and if you look at my 'Kensington House' I put so much extra plasterwork on the front it would be way too fragile to be swinging about!

If that all sounds a load of 'cobblers' it probably is!............How about 'Piano Hinges'? If the Gods above had, had to use hinges to hold up the sky I'll be they'd have been Piano Hinges!

Magnets it is then.. Mike,  so many reasons in there to defer from old skool hinges :)  Thanks for your much valued input.

What type of magnets would be best Mike small rare earth like the link or otherwise?? drilled and set flush into the walls and facade...??

Magnets

Regards

C

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36 minutes ago, BigC said:

What type of magnets would be best Mike small rare earth like the link or otherwise?? drilled and set flush into the walls and facade...??

Magnets

That would be my choice. Keep it tiny &  tidy. Depending on how heavy the panel is, I might put a lip on the base of the house so it would have something to rest on.

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KathieB...I'm thinking the plan may be to have a street level with railings and lampposts and your comment is something that I should be aware off, anything to keep the front steady and tight and not fall away would be of help... I'm guessing that the amount of magnets I will have to use to accomplish this will have to be balanced against both adherence to the main structure and ease of removal. Ultimately, at the end of the day I may up-cycle a piece of second hand furniture such as a hall table, fit a new top and use this as a display. (something similar to the image below) yet undecided.

eeb061c92a72e025e6136247cd01b63f--table-tv-hall-tables.jpg

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16 hours ago, Sable said:

Wall dividers provide good support when the floors are nailed in.

Sable...I was going to slot the mdf interior walls together and utilise Cornice and Skirting Board trims as slots around the edges etc.

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This morning I sanded down all the excess wood glue and punched the panel pins down into the mdf, I then filled the small holes with wood filler. I made a few drawings of what I would like the front windows to look like...It will have three levels (ex. roof)

The first level I hope to have the door in the centre flanked by 2 opening sash windows (not sure if I should make this centre section protrude a little like 3D effect that means I could incorporate all the stairways in the centre of the house ...any thoughts???

The second level A Georgian arched window with balcony in the centre again flanked by 2 opening sash windows

The third level will have 3 fixed 12 pane Georgian windows

As for the roof I hope to incorp, some 4 pane dormers somewhere

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Sounds good to me Sable.. I need to visit the DIY store this week for another half sheet of 9mm MDF bringing the total spend on sheet materials to around £20 GBP or $27 USD.

Not bad if it gets me the basic structure....I think I'm enjoying making my own from scratch (albeit purchasing windows etc)..very satisfying... :) 

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 Please take a look at the image below....(behind the bath caddy)

Do you think the sash window is too large for the ground floor given the size of the door (they are both reputed to be 1/12 scale) I was thinking its maybe a little too much and perhaps would suit a smaller window perhaps a 12 pane fixed.then utilising the sash type on the next floor up....any thoughts?? I just dont want it looking out of proportion.

your comments appreciated as always

Regards

C

first coat sml.jpg

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