My Foray Into the World Of Quarter Scale: The Mini Arc Dollhouse, by 3StarStudioArts

I have admired "The Arc", a 3/4 scale, kinda abstract mid century feeling dollhouse from 3StarStudioArts, for a very long time, but found it hard to afford. So when I discovered they were offering pretty much a 1/4 scale version, The Mini Arc, I figured it was time to quench my want for an Arc and experience the thrill of 1:48 dollhouse building!

It arrived in a firm envelope, which fit in my mailbox, a big perk in shipping a dollhouse kit for sure. The Mini Arc itself had eight parts and came with some tiny furniture pieces. I immediately got to work, I mean fun!

The window in the upper left is to show the scale between the Mini Arc and a 1:12 scale dollhouse element.

Gluing the wee puppy together was a bit more challenging than I had anticipated. The parts didn't fit together as well as I would've liked. There were gaps at the seams and tab slots, no matter how hard I tried.  My original "vision" for a sparse, mid century abode, was not possible with the open gaps I found myself with.

I realized I was going to have to trim it out a bit, and sliced the width down of some paper thin wood trim I had. I think the trim turned out OK and in fact gave it a bit more realism.

The "before and after" of a little bit of trim. Slicing the width down for the "base molding" was challenging!

Trimmed out.

The furniture that came with it was a little big, I thought, for my 1/4 scale MC world. I went ahead and assembled the bed, the coffee and dining tables and the little stools, which I used as side tables. I ordered some awesome 1/4 scale mid century furniture kits, but I didn't need much. I thought it was more important to suggest a home rather than outfit as a real house (I'm always that way!).

I ordered 3 set of chairs and used two sets to make a couch.

The dining chairs are from the Octagonal dining table and 4 chairs kit from sdk miniatures LLC, the lovely Brasilia credenza is from FaithIcus, the room divider and the Danish chairs are from Small Scale Living.

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Ta Da!!!!

As you can see my Ultimate Frisbee Roman dude is happy to have some company! That place on the shelf always looked a bit needy for some MC action.

I'm glad I found the little brass pedestal, I think it helps with the Mini Arc's presentation.

Now where's that Mini Arc again???

Miner Industries "Rooms-in-miniature", room boxes, 1960s

These lovely 1/2 scale (1:24) room boxes were produced in the mid 1960s by Miner Industries, Inc., New York, NY. The furniture was made in Japan and I’m unclear whether the room box parts themselves were made by Miner Industries or in Japan. In the great dollhouse reference book, “Dollhouse & Furniture Advertising, 1880s-1980s” by Dian Zillner, page 111 shows the Sears Christmas 1964 Catalog advertisement for the three, beautiful, yet fragile, room boxes.

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Big old box, finally!

The directions are easy to understand and use, thank goodness!

I had been collecting Miner Industries’ Rooms-in-miniature furniture for quite sometime before I realized what it was. A piece here and a piece there would come up and I’d purchase it, if I could afford it. Then one day I saw and was able to purchase a complete bedroom set, in its box and a partial living room set, in its box. 

The grey, bland little box labeled “Made In Japan for Miner Industries, Inc.” on the side holds the most lovely, fragile furniture, pre-assembled, made with fabric, laminate and solid woods.

One of the joys of this set is the reversible, cardboard, wall panels. One side is painted and the other has a wood paneling effect. Plastic bottom and top frames provide the floor and wall support for the panels.

The shelving system seems to be a miniature version of the Mid-Century Danish modern designer Poul Cadovious’ teak Cado Shelving. It has long wood supports with holes to insert brackets that shelves and cabinets are placed on.

Completed room box, minus the clear plastic front and top -I like the look of both the paneling and painted walls together.

The plastic shelf supports flex so they can be inserted into the floor and ceiling frames.

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Living/Dining Room 

I had dining furniture already and decided to meld it with the living room furniture as so little of the living room furniture I have is useable.

The table actually spreads apart in the middle to accommodate a separate leaf. Amazing!

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Bedroom

I’ve never been too fond of pink, or green, but these pieces are just lovely together.

The dresser's drawers open and close. Just a lovely piece!

I love the little typewriter!

The back display the opposite choice for the walls. Still quite lovely!

Keep your eyes out for these lovely sets and pieces. No kids allowed, however!

Christmas Kingston Castle - ArtMinds' Wooden Craft Castle Dollhouse

My grandson turned 3 this last year. He had always been enamored with the wee wooden castle that was on the burn pile, marked for extinction (too many mice had made it their home and it had been outside for a year)! "No Ben no!" I would call out, "Too much mice poop!". And the poor little mug would look at it wistfully, and toddle off. He's such a good kid.

But then it occurred to me, I could clean that thing and bring it to life for Ben's Christmas present. It already had a great patina from enduring the out of doors and was still in great shape. I don't know what ArtMinds makes these castles out of, but the wood and glue held together through sun and snow...

So I got to it and laid claim to it, to heck with those little mousies!!

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Kingly Remodel

I stained the stairs, "gilded" some internal walls and polyied the whole thing. Of course, I just had to use fabric for some of the room walls. I made card stock backings to glue the fabric to, and then wood glued and clamped the panels into place.

I'm glad I started in October as the expanse of time made it a joy to work on. I never felt pressured and just let my mind, and the fabric, do the talking. Just what an old, working grandma needed!

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Tra La La La!!

It was done by the middle of December and I had already begun my quest for furniture and knightly items!

I discovered that Playmobil Medieval people and accessories were the perfect size and afforded so many dueling options! I also purchased and painted a couple of wood treasure chests and a wood jewelry box (used for the dastardly dungeon) at Michaels to hold all the accessories. A couple of my old dollhouse finds and we were in the castle business!

Kingston Castle, outfitted for travel.

Open sesame!

Kingston Castle, set up for play.

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Merry Christmas Little Dude!

Yes, it was and is a big hit and when it's put away it makes for a nice display. 

Kingston Castle, who knew?

Handgemalt Cottage: Part 5, Finished and Very Happy, Mr. Groundhog - Real Good Toys, Children's Choice, 1 Country Lane CC1 Front Opening Kit

 

Finished!!!

 

Oh my!

I've finished my third of four dollhouses from the RGT Children's Choice collection, the 1 Country Lane. Take a look, its definitely the "sister" of the RGT CC Tudor, just a change of the exterior trim package and the "bash" I did on it... https://happylittleworlds.blogspot.com/2014/02/retrofit-kit-tudor-dollhouse-part-12.html.

In any case, I'm very pleased with Handgemalt Cottage's results as I kept within a very sparse budget and only bought special "beams" from my favorite miniature trim provider, www.manchesterwoodworks.com.

Yes, fabric sides. I can't help myself!

The back, of course!

The stairs and the banister are removable.

 First floor. If you look very close you can see the wee nails for pictures and such.

Second floor. 

All the "wallpaper" throughout the home is fabric.

 Attic

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So the whole thing was designed for the vintage, German, Handgemalt furniture....

Well, before I can begin the fourth and last of the RGT, CC dollhouses, 333 Franklin St. dollhouse, the last of the four, I must do my taxes.

Boo hoo!

 

 

Handgemalt Cottage: Part 4, Hang Out Your Shingle and Get To the Top - Real Good Toys, Children's Choice, 1 Country Lane CC1 Front Opening Kit

Everything seems to be leading to the roof now...

 

Even the wee banister I've made with craft sticks:

 

I think I'm not going to glue the banister down. Just like the stairs, you can leave them out. Just hope you have a dolly piece of furniture that won't fall through!!!

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I Hate Shingles!! 

Not really, but yes!!!

All the dyeing and drying before one can do a thing!! I feel like Lili Von Schtupp in Blazing Saddles, "I'm so tired!!". 

I usually end up with about two dye baths per roof to get the color I want. I use Rit Fabric Dye and salt. Three colors this time. Scarlet, Dark Brown, and a tiny bit of Black. And I never rinse the shingles. The final color? Its a crap shoot really.

The first dye with Rit Dye, Scarlet. The final dye with Dark Brown added and a little Black.

 

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The Stuff Before the Roof Goes On

While all that dyeing and drying was going on I had to figure the angle and cut my beams for the attic ceiling. I am a glutton for punishment!! 

I made a template of the attic peak area by putting the dollhouse on its back and drawing its profile.  Then I cut my beams on the perpendicular to the angle for the top and where the beam meets the attic wall. I messed up a couple of times!!

Look! Half a roof on already!!

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And finally.....

 

The First Rows Of Shingles!

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!

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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!

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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!!!