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Building A Dolls House

10-Nov-2009

Dolls House Construction Tips

The most important thing is to take your time.

It is not difficult to finish up with a beautiful Dolls House which can give pleasure for years and generations.
Follow the written instructions carefully and mistakes can, generally be rectified.

You may find it best to spray paint rather than brush paint but you need to find a safe place to spray where it is well ventilated and where the spray will not cause a problem covering other things.
Papering and painting are best done before building, if possible.
When papering, for clean edges, we have found that a sanding block achieves best clean cut results.
Lighting holes and slots are best prepared before assembly (see separate notes.)
Roofing papers rarely match exactly in either pattern or colour shade.
As you build use masking tape to hold parts together and for a trial dry run. (Do not, us masking tape to hold papered pieces.)
‘Offer up’ all pieces joining together before gluing to ensure they do fit and are the right pieces. Also you then know exactly where each piece goes and how it fits.
Applying shingles, slates or roof tiles you may want to glue a thin piece of wood across the roof at the lower edge (where you start laying). This gives the right angle for following rows to pay properly. (We have always been quite satisfied with the result without that.)
Mark the roof with pencil lines so that you get the rows straight. The lines will be a little over half tile distance apart to give the right overlap. Glue the shingles/tiles one row at a time using a PVA glue to stick to roof and lower row.
To cut a shingle use a craft knife. To cut a tile score one side using a craft knife and ruler and snap over a straight edge (practice may be needed). To cut a slate score both sides and snap over a straight edge.
At the apex of a roof, glue or grout a ridge tile into position.
Remember to off-set tiles on each row, start the first row with a full tile and start the second row with a half tile and repeat up the whole roof.
Having decorated the outside walls and the ground floor, you can put these in position and carefully mark the floors on the back plate for papering/painting so that the floors when in position will cover the joins. Also any mid wall points will need to be assessed and marked, again for papering/painting.
Having done all your preparation of the walls, prepare the floors above the ground floor after fitting any ceiling lights (see separate notes).
Have patience with spray paints several very thin coats are best.
Before painting or papering it is best to seal MDF wood with a mixture 50% PVA glue/50% water.
When painting it is also best to use a primer first.

Enjoy your building and good luck.

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