Thread: Neighbouring Doll's houses WIP

These two doll's houses were meant to be part of our Christmas present to our two grand daughters to go with some 'Sylvannia Families' dolls. Alas even after devoting a couple of weeks to this as a priority they are still not finished just on the list.

The design is meant to be two houses side by side for 'neighbouring' play. The houses will be on a sloping base with a short path from each door to the front gate and fence of each. That's why the doors are at different and relatively high levels.

most of the construction is with 9mm ply and radiata pine and is coloured with 'Jo Sonja' paints. I've tried to let the timber grain show through as much as possible and have rubbed the colour back with paper towels ( very slightly abrasive and will polish acrylic paint to a nice smooth to touch surface and a soft sheen ) to get a slightly distressed finish before finishing with satin polyurethane well thinned down and wiped on. I'll finish with a wax later and am aiming at some thing that will feel pleasant to touch, will be tough enough to play with, will wear gracefully and double up as a decorative item.

The scale is roughly three quarters of an inch to the foot and meant to look toy-like and chunky. Already there are lots of things that i wish I'd done differently or better but that's how it is when you design as you go.

At some later date I would like to draw the design up properly, streamline the processes, improve a few things and construct a new version documented as a step by step tutorial project. But first I need to finish this and a whole lot of other things.