Handgemalt Cottage: Part 3, Sticks and More Sticks!! - Real Good Toys, Children's Choice, 1 Country Lane CC1 Front Opening Kit

Sticks! Long, Laborious, Sticks!!!

So the batons that run vertically on the front of the wee Handgemalt Cottage, what a pain!!

I realized, after marking the 1" spacings per the instuctions, that RGT's 1" spacing, well, was dumb! But of course that realization did not come to me before I had glued up the window trims and shutters! Duh!!!!! None of the baton sticks lined up with the middle of the windows or the peak of the front porch!!! Argh! So I ended up erasing the original spacing guidelines while all that trim and shutters were on, and made new spacing lines to satisfy my need for symmetry! Geesh!!!

Cutting and gluing up every stick!

Another frustration, the sticks for the batons were not long enough to span the longest areas! Another reason I decided to use shutters, a desperate attempt at making the fewest scarf joints as possible! I only had one scarf to make, to be exact, using my "new" spacing and shutters. Originally there would have been at least four.

Even then, I was anxious all the time, hoping all the batons would line up proper when it was all done. Lot's of measuring, cutting sanding and gluing alright and since the front is stained,  I couldn't use filler to hide mistakes!

In the meantime I was planning for the sides of the house. To stain, to paint? My brain was a-tizzy!

________________________________________________________

Fabric To the Rescue, Again!

Well, after all that thought, I decided to use the last piece of fabric I bought to match the house that I found at a thrift store. I'm not sure it was such a good idea, but its different!

I used ModPodge to apply the fabric, directly over the wood. I didn't prime it or anything. Once dry, I applied a coat of H2O poly to it and that made it stick solidly. The machine finished edge, I wrapped and glued under the house's bottom floor.

I also decided, instead of cutting the fabric off at the top sides, I would wrap it over, into the interior attic sides. It doesn't have a noticeable pattern and less trim to cover the raw edges!! Yay!

Exterior side fabric wrapped up and over, edges sealed with a bit of trim.

I think it came out rather smart!

_______________________________________________________ 

Finally, the Front Peak!!

At last I could put on the front peak! This just really makes the dollhouse come alive in my book.

And of course, I had to test the front wall to see how the whole thing is gonna look when its done!

And yes! I did finish all those sticks and they look pretty OK to me!

Apply the gingerbread trim, another brush of stain on the whole thing and some poly and it will be good to go.

Now I have to prep the shingles and finish the inside attic roof treatment. AAAAAAA! I'm insane!!!

Retrofit the Kit Tudor Dollhouse: Part 9 Push On - Real Good Toys Country Tudor CC15

Continuing the Door Wall...

 

Adding the Side Trim Of the Door Wall

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: I added a small piece of trim to flesh out the thickness of the Door Wall side trim. The Door Wall sides' trim depth needs to equal the kit's included trims' depth plus the depth of the trim I added over the wallpapers. This extra trim insures the Door Wall will lay flush to the home's body.

• Upper pict: The extra trim piece and side trim glued and clamped to Door Wall sides.
• Right pict: The sides of the Door Wall after clamping and gluing all the trim pieces; side, extra and front trim. The front trim goes beyond the wall, it will be cut off.
• Bottom Pict: Slicing off the extra length of the Door Wall's front side trim with the angle of the Door Wall's roof peak (The kit's instructions don't show this, but it's advertising picture does). Careful!

 __________________________

 

Prepping the Roof Parts

 

Preparing the Chimneys

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: Tossed the included chimney parts and used a Houseworks set.

• Left pict: Painting the chimneys. Dan cut the proper angle off the bottom of the chimneys for me. This is very important or the chimneys will stick out like big ears!
• Bottom pict: Gluing the brick paper to the chimney using Yes Glue. The brick paper wasn't quite the full widths of the chimneys, so painting the side edges of the chimneys made for a nice, crisp look without having to cut the paper to odd size bricks.
• Right pict: Slicing the excess paper off.

Finished chimneys, polyed and drying.

 __________________________

Shingles and My Kitchen Sink

 

Note the stainless steel sink. If you use an enamel sink, you'll have to bleach it to regain it's color. DON'T EVEN TRY A PLASTIC SINK!!! Remember, you can always use a big bucket!

• Left pict: The hottest H2O, salt, vinegar, 1 black, 2 brown and 1 gray Rit dye. This dye mixture was a big guess, and all the dye I had! Oh and rubber gloves! I had to soak the shingles about 2 hours, stirring every now and again.
• Right pict: The shingles dried and counted into 5 lots of 100 count one 38 count pile (538!). I needed to find out the count to insure enough for all three roofs!! This pict also shows figuring the size of the shed roof for the Door Wall.
• Bottom pic: My trim cut tool taped to 1/2". This makes the under layer of shingles easy to cut and consistant. The under layer of shingles go under the first row of shingles to provide the correct depth so they lay properly.

 __________________________

Finishing the Door Wall

 

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: Of course the bay and it's roof continue to be an instruction deviation. The whole Door Wall is one!

• Upper pict: I had to cut and glue little triangles to both sides under the bay roof to cover the open space where the shed roof meets the bay.
• Bottom pict: Applying the bay roof shingles and the bay side and bottom trims.

A few more pieces of trim and the Door Wall is basically, done (!). I will be adding the transom window over the door, curtain rods and a couple decorative circles from the fabric wallpaper.

Finally I am onto the big roof! So close now!!

Retrofit the Kit Tudor Dollhouse: Part 6 Leaps Of Faith, the Second Floor - Real Good Toys Country Tudor CC15

The second floor is problematic but exciting. Lowering the ceiling, adding a bay and moving the stairs to the back of the dollhouse all require a consortium of measurements, thought, much deviation, testing and patience. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving break. It increased my chance of getting a bunch done!

__________________________

 

Preparing the Front's Components For Determining Ceiling Height and Bay Cut

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: (This step actually comes later in the instructions but I figure I need to do this so I can get accurate measurements). As per the instructions, I glue the front peak parts together and install it to the front sides of the house.

 

I prop the front up into the peak so I can test where I want the ceiling height to be, making sure to include the height of the crown moldings with the height the bay components.

__________________________

I glue the bay parts together, to insure accurate measurements and placement for the bay cutout.

__________________________

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: The second floor bay cutout.  

 

 

After placing the new bay component on the inside front, insuring it clears the floor and making my marks, I cut out the bay using a jig saw. Oh my!

__________________________ 

The Stairs, Determining Their Height and Placement

I realize I have to construct the stairs to get an accurate measurement for the height of 2nd floor ceiling and the stair opening. Here are the original kit's stair parts and the added items used in constructing the stairs; stained and marked for cutting.

The pic shows:

• stained wainscot panels.
• the kit door, being repurposed for the landing, stained and marked for cutting.
• the kit stairs, the upper marked for cutting.

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: The kit's door is cut and repurposed into the landing and the stairs are cut for the shorter ceiling height.

Keep the stair cut parallel with the stair treads. This is very important to maintain the angle of the stairs and it's squareness.

The left pic shows:

•  Fitting the landing and preparing to cut the base molding for it to fit properly.

Right pic shows:

• the two stair sections glued together.
• the stairs glued to the back panel, and the inside "stringer" glued to their side.
• the work table face and it's side used as clamping stops to insure squareness.
• the ruler clamped to the top, forcing the stairs into the back, insuring even pressure to insure there is no stair or panel bowing.

__________________________

 

After drying I remove the clamps and check for squareness. I was lucky! That clamping concept worked out well! Now I cut the angle on the decorative stringer so it matches the tread angle. I glue and clamp it to the stair component.

 

 The left pic shows:

• the joint in the stairs where the stair parts are glued together.
• the back panel glued in and sliced off to the outside stair side.
• the outside decorative stringer, ready to be glued on.

The right pic shows:

• the decorative stringer, glued and clamped to the outside stair side.

__________________________

Voila! The stair component, finished with the exception of trimming top and the bottom. Goodness! That was a lot of thought and work!!

Upper pic: the top of the stairs. Bottom pic: under the stairs.

__________________________

Determining The Stair's Opening Cut In the Second Floor Ceiling 

I cut spacers to test and set the floor/ceiling height and to figure where the stair opening will need to be. I clamp them in place and prop the back up to mark the stair and it's angle.

The baseboard has been cut for the landing and the landing is glued in.

__________________________

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: Stair placement and new floor piece.

Since I decided to move the stairs to the back of the home, my hubby had to cut me a new 3rd floor (2nd floor ceiling). The one that came with the kit has it's stair's opening cutout for the side of the house.

The left pic shows:

• the "new" floor being prepared for the stair opening cut.
• the original kit's floor stair opening used to determine the cuts on the new 3rd floor.
• the difference in lengths of the back and the side of the dollhouse, necessitating the creation of a new 3rd floor.

The right pic shows:

•  the new 3rd floor, stained.
•  the new 3rd floor with the stair opening.

__________________________

"Now Is the Time To...." Decision: the 2nd Floor Ceiling

Sometimes in a project you have to make exceptions. Now is the time, I realize, to do something with the 2nd floor ceiling. Less construction hassle if I do it now than with the home is completed!

 So I glue, paint and trim the ceiling. The stair opening is sliced out in the paper used for the ceiling.

__________________________

With all these steps done, I glue and nail the 3rd floor/2nd floor ceiling in.

Crossing my fingers that this will all pan out when I  add the front and it's bay! Yiksees!!

__________________________

 

Dreaming and Planning: Outside, Front Panel. Which One???

So, of course, one must play. Mind candy is extremely important!!

Since I've finished the bay component I'm going to experiment with a couple of thoughts for the outside of the front panel.  Here they are:

What do you think????