HeatherY Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Thought I’d chronicle my work. Can’t post pictures yet.... hopefully soon! I saved up to buy the Cambridge when I was around 10 years old. My dad wasn’t so thrilled. My mom found it in the garage and sent it to me. It was all there. Ive built the base and floor. I’ve dry fit the first floor walls. Now I need to paint them before moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 Here’s the dry fit. Wish I’d thought to photograph my brick making. It was a hot mess. My chimney is a total disaster. I might need to just paint it all white. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 If anyone is reading this, what do I do with the insides of the walls? Since it’s tongue and groove they are not flat. Spackle? Or is coving with thin cardboard better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Either spackling compound/ joint compound/ drywall mud and sand it baby's butt smooth when it completely dries, or thin cardboard, whichever floats your boat. A trick I learned with the brick mix is to use equal amounts of brick powder and Elmer's all-purpose white glue and enough water to the consistency of frosting. Another thing that helped was to work in small sections and not to wait but a minute to remove the stencil paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 It is looking good Heather. You have 5 posts, so you can start an album. Here is a thread about how to make an album, sometimes the site is picky if the picture file is too large.(there are various ways to resize the file) You will run out of room if you put pictures directly in your posts, but if you link them from an album you will be okay. http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=40441 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shareb Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 I would probably suggest you use thin card with your wallpaper/paint etc on that. I am getting better at spackle but if you're a perfectionist like me, it takes a lot of practise to get it right! I know Holly is Queen of Spackle but for us mere mortals it's a tricky material to work with! If you look at my Apothecary all the walls are panelled which means that every wall has been covered in card. Now it's not overly thin as I needed it to stand out - especially the panelling, however it does show how it can work with card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbnmini Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 If you aren't good at doing the spackling, there is another option: wallpaper liner paper! I grew up in an old house and every time my mother had a room papered, they would use this heavier paper liner over the wall first to smooth out the imperfections in the 100+ year old plastered walls. Spackle first the best you can...and then apply the liner paper like you would regular, RL wallpaper. Once it is dry you can now paint it (yes! it takes paint very well!) or apply your mini wallpaper. **Note: one roll purchased at a wallpaper store will last a miniaturist FOREVER! LOL So share the love with a friend or use it on your RL house! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NellBell Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 13 hours ago, Shareb said: I would probably suggest you use thin card with your wallpaper/paint etc on that. I am getting better at spackle but if you're a perfectionist like me, it takes a lot of practise to get it right! I know Holly is Queen of Spackle but for us mere mortals it's a tricky material to work with! If you look at my Apothecary all the walls are panelled which means that every wall has been covered in card. Now it's not overly thin as I needed it to stand out - especially the panelling, however it does show how it can work with card. Spackle is not easy and if you try a new one like I just did it can really be a bummer. The house I'm doing now I'm calling it the old world texture. I would not recommend the it drys fast and no shrinkage type. WHY because it has some type of plastic in it for the no shrinkage and is really tough to use. Though it is feather light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shareb Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 2 hours ago, jbnmini said: If you aren't good at doing the spackling, there is another option: wallpaper liner paper! I grew up in an old house and every time my mother had a room papered, they would use this heavier paper liner over the wall first to smooth out the imperfections in the 100+ year old plastered walls. Spackle first the best you can...and then apply the liner paper like you would regular, RL wallpaper. Once it is dry you can now paint it (yes! it takes paint very well!) or apply your mini wallpaper. **Note: one roll purchased at a wallpaper store will last a miniaturist FOREVER! LOL So share the love with a friend or use it on your RL house! I've never heard of this Jackie - so I'm not sure if it's available here. I have decorator friends so I'll have to ask them next time I see them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 There are two types of spackle; the white fluffy kind and the creamy gray kind. The grey kind is like drywall compound. The white fluffy kind is the worst thing to use for full coverage. This is why I only recommend drywall compound and never recommend spackle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 Thanks for the replies. It’ll probably take me a month to just get paint on the outside! Do I have some time to decide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 I’m in paint hell. I decided to to skip the interior walls. I’m getting very annoyed with the five thousand edges of everything so I rigged this up today. I dipped the parts in the van and brushed them off. It seems to be going ok And I fitted all the walls together. Yay! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Way to go! The trim is sooo monotonous. I love the Cambridge, I have one waiting to be built. I am going to enjoy watching your progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 Third floor! These windows are really supposed to open and close?!?! *eyeroll* Mine might be glued shut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 41 minutes ago, HeatherY said: Third floor! These windows are really supposed to open and close?!?! *eyeroll* Mine might be glued shut... They open & shut a whole lot better than the ones on the SF555. That sliding door, on the other hand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 Oh no. I need to sand a ton to even think about them opening. How bad is the sliding door?!?! I don’t really like the porch railings that come with the kit. Any suggestions where to buy replacements? I’d rather have a stick railing than this curly fleur de lis style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 The problem I had with the sliding door was to keep it squared in the opening so it would slide. It fit loose in its track. If you want a simple railing you might consider getting some dowel lengths and cutting them into sections the height you want. Hobby shops and the big box hobby and hardware stores are my go-to places for dowels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 Good idea. I have a hobby lobby about 30 minutes away. I’ll check that out. I think this sliding door will be the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannonc60 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 There are plenty of turned railing options. Check out some of the online miniature stores: https://miniaturedesigns.com/ https://www.dejouxminiatures.com/ https://www.miniatures.com/ These are just some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 On 6/21/2019, 5:20:56, shannonc60 said: There are plenty of turned railing options. Check out some of the online miniature stores: https://miniaturedesigns.com/ https://www.dejouxminiatures.com/ https://www.miniatures.com/ These are just some. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted July 5, 2019 Author Share Posted July 5, 2019 Double hung windows are all in I figured out it wasn’t the windows but the opening itself wasn’t big enough. Lots of sanding Slider door was easy fortunately. The bay window directions were incomplete so that was fun but I figured it out. The swinging windows..... what a pain. Massive amounts of sanding. Also, the front door opening is waaaay too small. Asked my husband to bring his dremel up to widen it. I see why people get into this. I already want to build another one to fix all my mistakes in this one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Just wait until you start building a Greenleaf kit; 'way easier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannonc60 Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 It’s probably not a bad thing to start out on a harder build as you will learn lots of stuff you wouldn’t on an easy small build. And it looks pretty good from what I can see from the photos. Opening windows aren’t a deal breaker for me it’s something else to go wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherY Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 5 hours ago, havanaholly said: Just wait until you start building a Greenleaf kit; 'way easier! Really? In what way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 10 hours ago, HeatherY said: Really? In what way? The walls are in solid pieces, for starters. The windows are simpler. The wood is thinner, so if the house wants something different it's 'way easier to bash. I started out building two Dura-Craft kits (the Cambridge was my second one) before I discovered Greenleaf and Corona Concepts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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