Before I show my Rosedale build progress, this programming note!

Whilst mini-blog-hopping, I recently discovered this blog: Architecture of Tiny Distinction http://tinydistinction.blogspot.com/ It isn't cited on many mini-blogs that I have noticed, but this one stuck out to me because of the careful and polished work that the mini-builder is putting into her decors. I love the wall and floor treatments that she is doing, as well as furniture-- check it out, it's very nice work!

And now to our regularly-scheduled ramblings:

I started out with the Staircase Wall/Left as instructed; primed with white acrylic and wallpapered first, then started mounting the risers:

I am still trying to get the hang of photographing half-scale; I think I may have to break out the tripod. I went ahead and installed the oval window interior trim (with black enamel applied with a toothpick to cover the white lines printed on the transparency) as well as the 2nd floor wallpaper. The steps are stained in Minwax English Chestnut; they came out a bit light for the stain but I like it. The risers and trim are painted in Americana "Warm White" acrylic; this is a bit of a change for me as I usually paint these items in latex semigloss, but the acrylic is more to scale here.

Aren't the little stairs cute!

From there, I went to adding the rest of the staircase assembly and mounting to the 1st floor.

I found it necessary to clamp everything really well because this thin wood is so curvy. Luckily, the house is so small that my clamps can reach from one end to the other. You can also see where I reinforced the kitchen doorway side with a skinny stick-- the stick is not glued on but it is clamped so that the post doesn't give way while the Staircase Wall/Right is being clamped to the 1st floor.

Then I went on some travel, and came back and apparently installed the 2nd floor though it looks like I didn't take photos of that process. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I had originally made it out to be, because one twists the 2nd floor out of its plane to get it around the staircase railings. Once I realized that, it was pretty easy. Here, I have also installed the front walls and the left wall.

Then I decided that I better install the front door and its interior trim before gluing on the right wall and losing access. I decided to pin-hinge the door (because I wanted it hinged), so I pinned the top of the door to the interior trim and made a hole in the floor to pin the bottom of the door after placing the door-trim assembly.

This worked moderately well, though installing the bottom pin was a bit hit-or-miss. You can see that I forgot to paint the transparency white lines with my black enamel paint before all this, so I had to go in afterward and do it; not the neatest job! <_<

The front door was a bit curvy (still is) so I clamped it in place for a while. You can also see that I am installing the kitchen bay, using some "cheaters" to help clamp evenly.

So here, I have glued on the right wall and the front bay, and installed the staircase trim.

I decided to assemble the roof before priming; you can see my "helper" is napping on the job there!

I was taking advantage of Hobby Lobby's sale plus free shipping, and got their little bathroom set; when I got it in place, however, one can see that it is something less than half-scale. Oh well, it only cost a couple dollars.

And here we are so far, with exterior window trim installed (I installed it first then painted):

All my careful clamping has paid off; though there are still a few slightly-curvy spots, like the front porch. I went ahead and installed the front step pieces to try to stabilize that front step which was curving mightily downward and affecting the parlor floor. I set the house to one of my MDF work surface boards and clamped the front step to the board so that the ground level of the house would remain as flat as possible.