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Hi from Australia


iamjillian

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Hi my name is Jillian. I'm from Australia.

I'm just about to start on my first proper large house (I've only ever done tiny little 1:100 kits like these before: https://www.littlebuildingco.com/shop/?category=Australian+Series

I have ordered the laser cut Diana in 1:12 full scale so very excited to get started when it arrives. 

A quick question while I'm here - does anyone have recommendations for lighting kits that would plug into Australian power? 

Cheers.

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Hello, Jillian, and welcome to the forum. The tiny kits are fascinating. When you have made 5 posts you will be able to open an album in the Gallery and share photos with us. We have a few Australian members here who will be able to answer your question regarding electrifying your Diana. The Diana is a beautiful little house. We will all look forward to seeing what you do with it. 

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Hi Jillian. Welcome. We have a few mini stores here. Fairy Meadow Miniatures in Port Kembla can help you out with connecting your lights to a transformer. Lorraine is brilliant. I have the things to do it and she showed me once but I can’t remember so best ask her! It looked easy though... You could give her a call.

https://fairymeadowminiatures.com.au/

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Hi @shannonc60 Thanks for the recommendations about Australian sources for miniature supplies. There are so many lovely things for sale on USA websites, but I have already blown the budget just getting my dollhouse kit sent here, so I will probably need to find things locally. 

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for materials for making your own weatherboard / clapboard siding? Would cutting basswood into strips work okay? 

 

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2 hours ago, iamjillian said:

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for materials for making your own weatherboard / clapboard siding? Would cutting basswood into strips work okay? 

It doesn't have to be wood. Mat board is suitable. Once painted, no one can tell if it is wood or not. Cardboard, like cereal boxes, would work every bit as well, and it's free. 

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13 hours ago, KathieB said:

It doesn't have to be wood. Mat board is suitable. Once painted, no one can tell if it is wood or not. Cardboard, like cereal boxes, would work every bit as well, and it's free. 

Thank you! I just had a look at some mat board and it seems perfect. (I’m not a big cereal eater so I don’t have any of those boxes to hand!) 

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4 hours ago, iamjillian said:

Thank you! I just had a look at some mat board and it seems perfect. (I’m not a big cereal eater so I don’t have any of those boxes to hand!) 

As you continue in this obsession hobby you will find yourself asking friends and relatives to save things for you, like cereal boxes, paper egg cartons (makes great bricks and stone), and other items that will occur to you over time. :D 

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1 hour ago, iamjillian said:

I’m also interested in everyone’s views as to whether to choose wired or battery lighting? 

I find fiddling with the tiny switches on battery lights to be troublesome and time consuming. When I want the lights on in a house, I want the lights on with the flick of a switch. My ideal is to have the house dust-resistant by adding a Plexiglas sheet to close it up, so removing that to reach battery lights would be cumbersome.

However, that said, I've used touch-on lights from Walmart as hidden back lights in a room box instead of wiring. Reaching it involved lifting the roof of the room box -- easily done. See it here.

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I have some battery lights. I think they can be useful in some situations, especially if you have a completed house that you can’t add additional wired lighting to. Dollhouse wiring is a bit of a pain for me though!

If you were interested, I wrote a little turorial for using the cheap battery operated LED string lights to light a house:

https://www.redcottageminiatures.com/blog-1/2018/12/17/lighting-your-mini-house-using-led-string-lights

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I like battery LEDs  and have done them in a whole house with the wires running in the fireplace. You can add  up to 10 LEDs  on one switch. The same house has 10 more going to a swith in the attic . 

I have some new LEDs and they have a clicker to turn them on and off. Haven’t used them yet they’ll go in the next house. 

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Quick question. 

I noticed the pieces of my laser cut kit have a smooth 'finished' looking side and a rougher unfinished side. 

Is there a right or a wrong side to the pieces? (I am thinking like the sewer I am, where there is a right and wrong side to fabrics!) 

Do the pieces need to be faced inwards or outwards? Or is it just according to how they fit into the tabs/design of the model. 

Might be a silly question, but thought I would ask before starting any assembly. 

Thanks! 

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There are no silly nor stupid questions if you don't know the answers, Jillian.  Yes, the wood has a "right" and a "wrong" side and the photo on the kit usually shows the finished item built "right side out".  I built two Fairfield kits to be halves of a single large house, so I built one of them "inside out".  Since it's laser cut, your pieces have sooty edges that you will want to sand very lightly to remove the soot.  Since you're going to be finishing both the inside and the outside of the item it's up to you; just don't mix the pieces up during the build.

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House assembly going great! I think that I have found a new hobby! The Diana is a great first house because it is quite straight forward to put together but is also very beautiful.

Re lights - after getting started I have decided it’s best if I don’t try to do it all with my first house. So I think that battery lights will do just fine for this one. 

I think I’ll aim to fully electrify my next one. 

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:wave: Hi Jillian, 

Another Aussie here. You can also try Ryan’s Realm, Tom Thumb Miniatures & Custom Dollhouse Australia a try for stuff. If you head over to my blog I have a resources page, which has an Australian sites section. We Aussie have limited resources, but what we have is good stuff. Oh also, Lavenderbelle miniatures on Etsy is in WA. Postage is reasonable.

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