Shareb Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Whilst I've been doing minis for a few years now, I still find knowing which order to do things in perplexing. To give an example....In my apothecary building, I did the floors first, then did the outside walls, then put it together and began the inside. Now, obviously doing the floors first made sense at the time and created lovely tidy flooring, but when I came to do electrical I had to work around not being able to hide anything underneath the flooring. That worked out okay though. Now I've decided that instead of a regular old attic I'm going to create Raymond's 'secret room' up there instead. I wasn't going to have any lights in the attic, but now I will - so I did think my wiring was complete - but now it's not. Obviously I can't do it the way I did the first and second floors which was to run the wires down the walls behind the panelling and out the bottom. So then I thought 'a-hah!' I'll put on spouting/down pipes etc and hide the wiring coming out of the back wall in that, run it all the way down and solder it at the bottom like the rest. I'd like to get this done before all the decorating - ie placing all those blooming miniature bottles! That way I can turn it onto it's side without worrying about what's happening inside (even if I do glue the bottles to the shelves which I intend to do). THEN I thought....hmmm....I need to ensure the outside is completely done BEFORE putting the spouting on, before finishing the electrical. SO.....I had thought the outside was done, but of course when I built it, there are seams/gaps on the corners. So I've decided to do quoins down each of the back corners. I'll use thin card so that it won't be too thick compared to the rest of the walls.....but I may need to then re-do the walls anyway depending upon how it looks. It almost seems like you're getting there but then you have to go back several paces, then forward, then back.....etc. Am I the only one who has this issue?? Is there a tried and true way - a step by step guide, to doing this? Or, is it just like I've been doing, seeing things at various times. Each step I have tried to think thoroughly before doing just in case....especially before I glued in all the panelling!!!! Have I completed everything I need to do to this point? I'd love to hear from you expert lot about your experiences!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 One time I tried dry fitting everything to figure out the order, and the house thumbed its nose at me; so if it doesn't work in the order that goes best, the house doesn't waaant it and I gave up arguing with the darned things years ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaJKK Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 You are not alone, Rebecca. My current house, the keepers house that goes with the lighthouse, is nearly finished. It needs to be done because I've promised my sister the Duracraft San Franciscan (555) by Christmas and this one needs to be finished and out of the way. Anyway, I am currently having an issue with lights. I thought I had it all planned out perfectly, but apparently plans are only good until you put them in action. I am installing coach lights on the exterior beside the front door, and wall sconces in the interior. My plan was to wire the coach lights using adapters and running the wires through a drilled hole to the interior and soldering to the tape wire. Then hiding that under the wallpaper and behind the sconces. Well, I forgot that plan and papered before wiring the outside lights. Now I am working on plan "B". After building and placing the kitchen (a wonderful set of kits for a 1950's kitchen by ELF Miniatures, by the way), I discovered that the kitchen window needed to be raised about 1/2". That required raising 4 other windows by 1/2" also. Not an easy task since it's an MDF house and the exterior was already painted and finished. So, cutting out 1/2" from the top of the hole, filing in 1/2" in the bottom of the hole, spackling, sanding, respackle, resand, etc, etc, and finally repainting. This caused further problems in one room that has a lower ceiling than the other rooms. Modifications to window and cove moulding ensued. So, again, you are not alone. John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbnmini Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Ah yes...best laid plans.... You are certainly not alone! I have always marveled at several of my mini friends that are able to complete a project in what seems like record time. I have concluded that they A) are retired/don't work so they have endless time to work on projects compared to my little snippets of time here and there; B) They are not concerned with things like 'details' and 'quality' so they can zoom thru a project- just to have a finished project. I know that this is not really the case, but it is how I rationalize how ridiculously long it takes me to finish a rehab project! Like you said- one step forward and three steps back! AAACK! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Each house is different. I always do multiple dry fits. The first one helps me determine what I’ll be doing with the house, and give me a rough idea of the assembly order. But there’s always something! One thing I’ve learned as I’ve started adding lighting to my houses is to decide where the lights will go in advance so that I can plan construction steps. I try to plan where the wires will run and where the battery pack will be hidden. But things change and I try to be flexible. I’ve made changes after the fact, which is harder, but be patient and it will all go together. I also use checklists on my iPad so that I can move items on the list around when a sequence changes. I’ve also written down the steps for a particular installation (like the staircase on the Chanticleer) which was installed last, so that I know the order when I return to that part of the project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 I find that staring at it for at least 1/2 the time it takes to build helps me to map out all the steps needed. It sits at electrical for a very long time until I’m completely satisfied and that there will be no going back. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shareb Posted May 11, 2019 Author Share Posted May 11, 2019 Thanks all! Very glad to know that I'm not alone!! 1 hour ago, Sable said: I find that staring at it for at least 1/2 the time it takes to build helps me to map out all the steps needed. It sits at electrical for a very long time until I’m completely satisfied and that there will be no going back. Lol - yep, I spend ages looking at it thinking that I've got it right! Now I'm wondering about the 'roof'! 13 hours ago, Dalesq said: One thing I’ve learned as I’ve started adding lighting to my houses is to decide where the lights will go in advance so that I can plan construction steps. I try to plan where the wires will run and where the battery pack will be hidden. But things change and I try to be flexible. I’ve made changes after the fact, which is harder, but be patient and it will all go together. I also use checklists on my iPad so that I can move items on the list around when a sequence changes. I’ve also written down the steps for a particular installation (like the staircase on the Chanticleer) which was installed last, so that I know the order when I return to that part of the project. I planned the electrical for my Pierce but didn't think too hard about it for the Apothecary. I don't think I could be as organised as you with the checklists - I have tried something similar before but hasn't worked overly well! 18 hours ago, jbnmini said: Ah yes...best laid plans.... You are certainly not alone! I have always marveled at several of my mini friends that are able to complete a project in what seems like record time. I have concluded that they A) are retired/don't work so they have endless time to work on projects compared to my little snippets of time here and there; B) They are not concerned with things like 'details' and 'quality' so they can zoom thru a project- just to have a finished project. I know that this is not really the case, but it is how I rationalize how ridiculously long it takes me to finish a rehab project! Like you said- one step forward and three steps back! AAACK! Lol - yep, must say I look at peoples projects on here and wonder how they're able to get so much done! I don't work - although I somewhat homeschool (my almost 17yr old does it all himself now through the NZ correspondence school), but even so I can't seem to get much done during the week! On 10/05/2019 2:30:00, havanaholly said: One time I tried dry fitting everything to figure out the order, and the house thumbed its nose at me; so if it doesn't work in the order that goes best, the house doesn't waaant it and I gave up arguing with the darned things years ago. Love it! Yep - understand completely! On 10/05/2019 5:16:09, PapaJKK said: You are not alone, Rebecca. My current house, the keepers house that goes with the lighthouse, is nearly finished. It needs to be done because I've promised my sister the Duracraft San Franciscan (555) by Christmas and this one needs to be finished and out of the way. Anyway, I am currently having an issue with lights. I thought I had it all planned out perfectly, but apparently plans are only good until you put them in action. I am installing coach lights on the exterior beside the front door, and wall sconces in the interior. My plan was to wire the coach lights using adapters and running the wires through a drilled hole to the interior and soldering to the tape wire. Then hiding that under the wallpaper and behind the sconces. Well, I forgot that plan and papered before wiring the outside lights. Now I am working on plan "B". After building and placing the kitchen (a wonderful set of kits for a 1950's kitchen by ELF Miniatures, by the way), I discovered that the kitchen window needed to be raised about 1/2". That required raising 4 other windows by 1/2" also. Not an easy task since it's an MDF house and the exterior was already painted and finished. So, cutting out 1/2" from the top of the hole, filing in 1/2" in the bottom of the hole, spackling, sanding, respackle, resand, etc, etc, and finally repainting. This caused further problems in one room that has a lower ceiling than the other rooms. Modifications to window and cove moulding ensued. So, again, you are not alone. John Those kitchens are gorgeous John! What a hassle you have had to go through though!! Wow - I think I would have given up sooner - although not sure I have the skills to do what you've had to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 13 hours ago, Sable said: I find that staring at it for at least 1/2 the time it takes to build helps me to map out all the steps needed. It sits at electrical for a very long time until I’m completely satisfied and that there will be no going back. This is so true! LOL, although sometimes I just give up and plunge in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 Oh, Lord, if I electrified my builds they'd take forever! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyole Posted May 12, 2019 Share Posted May 12, 2019 I am so glad to read that other more-experienced builders have this problem! During the school year, I often forget my plan from the previous weekend and have to take time to re-orient myself as to where I left off. And that's without changing/adding something. I'm also scribbling notes (incl. paint colors) on the directions & towards the end I write a punch list so I know I am close. This year, due to changing schools, I did not have the chance to work on the house for about 3 months so those notes came in handy. Lately, if I wake up in the middle of the night, instead of thinking about all the stuff I have to get done at school, I think about what I am going to do next on the house (it is calming and I easily go back to sleep) and it helps me stay on-track, too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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