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InfamousZim

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Hello everyone! As the title states I am new to this, but I have just purchased a partially finished Victoria’s Farmhouse. It’s basically a shell. 

However, I have lots of questions!

•What tools should I get and invest in? Are there ones you wish you had when you were starting or one you can’t live with out? 

•The dollhouse is missing a piece! What should I do, is there a way to get a replacement? 

•The walls were not glued flush. There are gaps in a couple of places and the piece that is missing wouldn’t set flush if I had it because the roof would but up against it. There is one that is not glued on one side. How can I fix these?

•The entire outside is pairing a deep blue with bright trim. What is the best way to paint over it. I want white trim with a lighter exterior color. 

•All the dowels and railing pieces are painted as well. Would it be best to sand and repaint or buy new dowels. There are over 150 pieces that are painted, mostly dowels. 

Any help or resources would be appreciated!

I am trying to figure out how to post pictures but they are all to big. Any help there would be great as well!

 

Thanks,

 

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Hello Dakota! Welcome, I'm pretty new to this too and I'm loving it! There are very helpful savvy minds on here. Others will weigh in on your questions. The one I can confidently answer is that I use Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer, you can paint it over gloss and varnish and the paint over it with any type of paint you like (I still like to sand the surface lightly beforehand though).

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Welcome to the forum Dakota.:wave:

You can try to disassemble the house and then re-glue. You probably can get the missing piece from Real Good Toys.( https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0164/0860/files/JM1065_A4_6-17.pdf?5646145962560229785)

Usually heat and a putty knife can soften up the glue. I am sure other members will have suggestions for you in this area. I like Kilz primer, it comes in spray and quart sizes, but I imagine the Zinsser is just as good.

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Welcome to the little family, Dakota.

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2018‎ ‎6‎:‎46‎:‎09‎, InfamousZim said:

Hello everyone! As the title states I am new to this, but I have just purchased a partially finished Victoria’s Farmhouse. It’s basically a shell. 

However, I have lots of questions!

•What tools should I get and invest in? Are there ones you wish you had when you were starting or one you can’t live with out? 

Utility knife, masking tape, emery boards or  sanding block and sandpaper.  You cannot have too many clamps.  A good carpenter's wood glue.  The one I wished I'd had starting out that I'd rather not live without is my Miter Master:  https://www.micromark.com/Miter-Master

•The dollhouse is missing a piece! What should I do, is there a way to get a replacement? 

Carie answered that one.

•The walls were not glued flush. There are gaps in a couple of places and the piece that is missing wouldn’t set flush if I had it because the roof would but up against it. There is one that is not glued on one side. How can I fix these?

If it were me I would take it apart and refit it.  If it was built originally with hot glue a hair dryer or heat gun wil soften the glue enough to scrape it all off.

•The entire outside is pairing a deep blue with bright trim. What is the best way to paint over it. I want white trim with a lighter exterior color. 

If it's oil-based  paint I'd take some orange goo paint stipper to it and follow that up with a good sanding.  If its interior latex I'd sand off as much as will com off and prime it with something like Kilz.

•All the dowels and railing pieces are painted as well. Would it be best to sand and repaint or buy new dowels. There are over 150 pieces that are painted, mostly dowels. 

Oh, heck, why  not get off as much of the old paint as you can and prime and repaint?  If you don't like how it looks, Google "spindles and balusters" to find online suppliers (I checked HBS and came up empty).

Any help or resources would be appreciated!

I am trying to figure out how to post pictures but they are all to big. Any help there would be great as well!

My Pictures on my computer lets me resize the photos I upload so I can post them to my albums here.  When you have made five posts you can also make albums in the Gallery.  There is a bandwidth limit to how many pictures you cqn post from outside directly into your posts, but none for the Gallery, and you can either link to your album or copy and past your album picture into your post.

 

Thanks,

 

 

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Thanks for all the advice! I think this person used wood glue to join the pieces, I had tried prying gently, but didn’t want to break anything. I tried a hair dryer, but maybe it needed more time!

Thanks for the suggestions for the primer and that tool looks awesome havanaholly. 

I am using my iPhone so I will have to upload some of the pics to my computer. 

Mans Marcy I found tons of really cool designs, mine were just tiny dowels, but some of the ones I found know were really ornate!

 

Thanks again! If you think of anything else let me know!

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19 minutes ago, InfamousZim said:

Even on wood glue? I was also wondering what everyone’s work stations look like. I have this huge dollhouse sitting on the floor in my office. And It’s a little out of place. 

Ha! You really don't want to see what my workplace looks like!!!! I do a big cleanup at least once a week (usually more because one pesky piece always gets mislaid) but it just ALWAYS seems messy, but it's so much fun. Be prepared for this hobby to take up quite a bit of space :/

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1 hour ago, InfamousZim said:

...I was also wondering what everyone’s work stations look like. I have this huge dollhouse sitting on the floor in my office. And It’s a little out of place. 

The one that shows in my photos was the sunroom off of our bedroom in our old house, and my work surface was an old desk and a workbench base I built the houses on my DH (Dear  Husband) made me.  After we moved he had us a workshop built and I have a regular workbench for building components and lots of shelves, as well as access to his power tools.

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I have used vinegar to soften wood glue. Apply a liberal amount to the joints, kind of trickling it down from a sponge.. Let is sit for a while then use something to gently pry between the joint like a butter knife, I use an old metal paint scraper.

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The previous picture is what the previous owner painted it. It is way too loud for me!

 

This is what it was looking like when I finally got it all apart.

14jszgz.jpg

This is what it is looking like now! I got this desk for $40 from Facebook just for this project!

vox0th.jpg

 

I am currently working on making hardwood floors. I am making them out of vinyl planks! I got the idea from this:

https://www.littlevictorian.com/dollhouse-flooring/

 

Has anyone else tried making floors from vinyl planks?

 

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4 hours ago, InfamousZim said:

This is what it is looking like now! I got this desk for $40 from Facebook just for this project!

Wow nice desk for $40 - storage drawers too! Your setup is WAY neater than mine, no matter how much I tidy it up it always looks cluttered again 5 minutes late !)

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I'll have to try that, havanaholly. I managed to accidentally delete the first picture from the hosting site. :cry::cry::cry:

westPaces, I got the dollhouse for $50 on facebook too! Although I almost wish I bought it new. It's been a mess getting apart and it's missing a piece. Not to mention that paint color is too much for me. 

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