Thread: Building Crowies Dolls House - A slow WIP

Wow OtakiriLad, It's sure starting to look really very good....Well Done plus the photos are great, thank you.. Cheers, crowie

I missed this! Great build & WIP, keep up the great work. It's frustrating looking at all this fine work & not being able to doit myself.

After a slow week I managed to cut the hole in the floor and installed the ridge pole and rafters . . .
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. . . and made and installed the ladder-style stairs . . .
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Next I created the ‘bay’ window . . .
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. . . before moving on to the attic area. This needs a small wall cut into the rafters so as to fill in the too small space between the pitch of the roof and the floor.
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This allows the pre-painted (on the underside) roof to be installed, one side with a cut-out that will be hinged to allow access. The dormers will be cut into both sides as the next activity.
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Great work, you've done well

Hi This is going to be a very nice house when you have it finished well done I can not put a smilet in they just freeze the computor, so three thumbs up for you.

Eddie.

It's been a good one to follow.

No, I haven’t completely disappeared – it’s just that I have been working on the dormer thingies and they are sods to do with non-standard angles everywhere. I cut the rafters (and saved them) from the roof access hole, then araldyted the cut-out to a piano hinge and the hinge to the roof. Offcuts of ply went to make up the dormer roof and walls on both sides.
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In my haste I forgot to pre-finish the interior of the access portion but it’s not too bad to get at being hinged.
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The fixed dormer got painted up and has yet to have the window engraved and timbered.
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Not much to show for a lot of fiddly work! Roof cladding next methinks.

Hi you are getting near the finish,and you got over the awkward parts on the roof sections,I was wondering what you will use for the roof finish and the chimney stack,the house is looking very smart and you have done a good job with the building of it ,I congratulate you on a nice Build.


Eddie.

Thanks for the comments team.
And now for the roof. Because it’s a ‘toy’ and not a model I have decided to represent the roof with strips in a clinker-built style. So, taking some salvaged 200mm x 50mm pine. . .
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. . . a table saw and a little time I ended up with a goodly number of approximately 50mm wide and 3mm thick strips.
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I planed the edges to remove the roughest of the old paint etc and have started gluing and tacking them to the roof.
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A fascia board will hide the ends after the roof has been painted.

Looking great now the main build must be near completion, will you be making furniture for it or buy it

After another week has fled past I have finally finished the roof covering.
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I have agreed with SWMBO that the roof will be polyurethaned rather than painted so as to leave a rustic effect.

The access panel on the other side has had to be ripped out as by adding the roof covering the hinge is too far below the outer surface and so does not open properly. The removal took some doing with heavy blows from a mallet and chisel which means the araldite was definitely the way to go! The hinge will be re-glued between the roof ply and the covering. Next week will see a move of the edifice out of the basement and upstairs into the light for the final touchup paint job. Tasks to be completed before then include the front door and the bracket supports underneath the bay window and ‘arcade’ area.

Digger (and others), I am still in two minds about furniture. My daughter presented me with a miniature mirror and painting (of La Giaconda) as a belated father’s day gift so it appears the expectation is for furnishing it. If so I will build my own rather than purchase but it may be a while before that happens – I have a jewellery box on order for an ex workmate who wants one for her 6 month old grand-daughter for Christmas!

That roof certainly make the house look complete great job all round..
Picture are easy to make some dolls house moulding which can be brought in strips or make your own (I am fortunate that I have a complete set of dolls house router cutters) take a thin piece of card attach a picture (reduced on the computer and then printed) make a frame from the moulding and mitre the corners one picture. Add that personal touch and put a picture of your self and family in the house

Nearly finished and you have done a very good job of the house, and what a shame having to rip out the roof opening, Its a learning thing, But you have made a good job of the roof to give it that old character feeling It certainly makes the house, and away from the usual tile roof,a very well done project..


Cheers Eddie

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Well, its done – well as far as I want to go at the moment. At some point in the future I will have a go at building a bit of furnishing but at the moment I want a break from dolls houses (back to trucks I think).
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Lessons learnt.
1 It’s a lot bigger (and heavier) in reality than my imagining from the plans. Next time I will do a mock up from cardboard cartons to get a better idea of things.
2 Even with pre-finishing most of it, ongoing activity meant re-painting to eliminate drips and knocks which got fiddlier as time progressed.
3 You can build almost anything out of scrap.
4 Jigs are worth the effort.
5 When you’ve glued or painted something, walk away from it and give the glue/paint a chance to set/cure/dry.
6 There’s always another way to do something!
Thanks to everyone for your comments and encouragement along the way.