matthsa Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Hi everyone, I have never built a dollhouse before but as I have been lurking I see I have come to the right place for help. I inherited from my mother's garage a Dura-Craft kit for the Oregon trail pioneer house. My 11 year old daughter and I are gearing up to put it together. I skimmed the instructions and have just a couple initial questions... 1. The instructions never seem to mention staining and I see the gigantic box of wooden sticks are not stainied and I think they should be in order to make it look more pioneer-like. Do I do that NOW or after I build it????? 2. It appears from the instructions that the majority of this house is kept together by glue. It says to use "tacky" glue. What sort of glue do you recommend? My mom sent along some Allene's Tacky Glue. Is that what I am supposed to use to keep this together for years???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLyn M. Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Welcome Sarah!! You're right- this is a great site.Expect many answeres to your questions soon!! As to the glue?? I just ordered some tacky glue but I usually use plain ole Elmer's Glue,and Elmer's Wood Glue and masking tape..always masking tape to hold stuff together for drying.Works great! Many kits will tell you to use a Glue gun..but many,many people here will tell you that after a while that glue gets too dry and brittle and stuff starts falling apart!! Phooey on that! After you make 5 posts you can start an album of your work!!! Believe me everyone loves checking out the "eye candy"Good luck on your project..sounds great! PS: I would probably paint/stain the cabin after it was put up but I would paint/wall paper the inside before it was glued-just remember to mark what wall is what (inside/outside)-light pencil marks work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Welcome Sarah! There is a lot of excellent help on this site. Just ask and many people will give good advice and opinions. I am in the process of gluing a house together and Titebond II woodglue was recommended. So far it was easy to use and it appears that everything is holding. Tacky glue works great for me also! Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Hi, Sarah, & welcome. When you have a minute, pop in over at the Newcomers' Forum to introduce yourself to everyone. Because stain doesn't work through glue I would stain the logs and let them dry THOROUGHLY first. Sand the surfaces you're going to glue together and have at it. Because it's wood & I'm somewhat simple-minded when it comes to kit building, I went with carpenter's wood glue & haven't yet had any compelling reason to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Hello and welcome to the forum Sarah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamie Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Hi and welcome Good luck with you house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthsa Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Thanks you so much for all the wonderful responses. I have a wave of confidence as I now begin to tackle this project. I think I will stain first since this is a log cabin and the outside and inside will be the same stain color. I LOVE the idea of painting/wallpapering the inside before gluing...I would have never thought of that!...duh...but since this a log cabin I think I will stain all the "logs" first, let dry and then glue together. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennywren Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I just bought a carpenter's wood glue for paint and stain at AC Moore. It claims you can stain over it. I have not used it yet so I can not say it's so, but it might be worth a try out on some scraps. I bought it to try out on some furniture. Anyone else tried it.....I believe it was Elmer's? Good luck with your cabin, can't wait to see pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 It didn't work for me, neither did the "stainable" wood putty; if I were you I'd smear a little bit on a corner of a piece of scrapwood and then when it's dry, stain the piece of scrapwood to see how it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamlynn Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Hello Sarah, and welcome. I've been a member for two years. I am getting ready to build the Oregon Trail Log Cabin also! I think this may be easier than my first project, which was The Laurel, which I built for my daughter. I'll post pictures as I go along. I hope I can be of some help, or maybe you'll end up helping me. Who knows! Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamlynn Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Dear Sarah, As I stated before, I also have the Oregon Trail kit. Mine came without the 6~ 13 1/2 in. logs. I had to have my father-in-law cut them for me out of a piece of pine stipping I bought at Lowe's and I'm now just finished putting the correct arc on them to make them look like the others. They're currently in the garage drying. I was wondering if all the parts to your kit came with, or if you had similar problems. I haven't posted any pics yet, but will do so in just a minute. Good luck! I look forward to hearing of your progress. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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