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Help with 1/2 scale things...


minifan

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I'm trying to find out what kind of siding I buy for the Fairfield...is it the same as the regular scale or is there a special scale for this size house? I was going to order it direct from Greenleaf, but there really is no information on it...any help?

Also, what size flooring do you use? I cheat and buy the Houseworks wood flooring, but I don't know if the size is right for this sized house.

The Houseworks floors are nice because they have a sticky backing on them, but when you look up 1/2 scale flooring, it just says paper,(this might sound dumb but) is that like just a piece of paper or is it the same thing? :)

(The price is definitely not the same, 1.50 compared to 16.75, that's why I ask!!! :p )

And lastly, where do you get furniture? I checked Ebay, and there really is not much out there, I also looked at HBS, and there didn't seem much to choose from...but pictures in the gallery show BEAUTIFUL pieces of furniture... B)

Thanks for any help!!! :)

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My Fairfields are stuccoed exterior. Were I to use the 1:12 GL siding the first thing I'd do is split it in half along its length and side with it. I'd also hunt down some 1/8" "L" molding to cover the corners.

When I scribed the floors in the Fairfield I did them 1/8" wide X 3" long. When I used the RL wood veneering that you can iron on I cut them into 3" lengths and split them into 1/8". The first method is free and the second yields you a nearly infinite supply of floorboards (for 1:12 cut 6" lengths & split them into whatever widths you like for the look you want, at least 1/4").

HBS sells some 1:24 scale furniture you can play around with to personalize, like I did here:

gallery_8_34_262921.jpg

For La Casita, the white wire sala set and the bathroom set were ready made, I made the two kitchen chairs and the stove from "scratch", and everything else was made from kits. For the two Fairfields I have the diningroom and some other furniture that's ready-made; I'm making most of the rest. If you can afford it I know that Bespaq used to make some 1:24 furniture. I have several books with 1:12 furniture directiions that I halved the measurements to make the items in 1:24.

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I sided the Fairfield with Houseworks 1/4" lap siding. Miniatures.com sells two lengths of this - a longer one and a shorter one. For the Fairfield, I found the shorter one to be fine (and it's cheaper). They mistakenly list the scale on the longer one as 1", but it says right in the product description that it's good for 1/2" buildings, which is how I remember which siding to get!

The Greenleaf siding is applied strip by strip. So you could use that, you'll just have to leave a smaller space between strips than you would with a 1:12 house. Holly's suggestion to split the laps in half is good. Using corner trim is also a good idea. I luckily have a dollhouse store nearby that has a large supply of trim, so I tend to go there and "eyeball" the corner trim as well as the crown molding and baseboards. I'm not sure if what I'm buying is technically half scale or not; I just get stuff that I think will look proportionate to the rest of the house.

For the floors, you might consider laying your own hardwood floors using coffee stir sticks or skinny sticks. Here are some pictures of mine, which I did with stir sticks I grabbed from a coffee shop. (I later felt guilty about it, and I bought a package of skinny sticks to use in my puzzle house... still a great bargain!)

The Houseworks floors have some texture to them, with veneer that looks like little boards on a paper backing. I used some in a 3/4" house and it was fine, but I think it would be too big in the Fairfield. I haven't used it, but I'm assuming the half scale flooring that says "paper" is just that - paper with a floorboard design printed on it. It might look fine but wouldn't have the uneven texture of floorboards. You could just as easily print out a hardwood floor texture on your computer.

Here are some semi-recent threads about half scale furniture that might help:

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/i...showtopic=23290

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/i...showtopic=23144

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/i...showtopic=22868

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/i...showtopic=21016

The Michael's puzzle house is roughly half scale - you can take a look at this massive thread to see what some people have done with this house (or check out the galleries, of course!)

Recently I tried my hand at scratch building some half scale ladderback chairs and was really happy with the result. I'll probably try some other half scale scratch builds in the not to distant future. You can take plans for 1:12 furniture and cut all the dimensions in half.

Whew. Hope that helps!

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WOW!!! Thank you all for the advice and help...I kind of have some directions of where I want to go with the house...I'm really excited about it, but nervous too because it's sooo small...I guess I'll have to wait and see just how small it really is when it arrives!!! :)

Thanks again!!! :)

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I used 1/2 scale siding. Used regular HW 1:12 flooring. Bought furniture kits mostly from www.thegoldenloon.com for my FF

Where did you buy 1/2 scale siding? Or should I use the 1/4 scale that pp said?

THANKS for the furniture website!!! WOW, those pieces are beautiful!!! :)

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The one I posted isn't 1/4" scale siding -- it has a 1/4" lap, which means it's made up of strips that are 1/4" wide.

1" scale (1:12) siding usually has a 1/2" lap or 3/8" lap. So 1/2" scale (1:24) siding has a 1/4" lap - half of that.

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Holly had asked what I use for trays for the 1:24 and 1:48, so here link to my album.

To answer the question for 1:12 you can use flat buttons, Jewelry findings, Frames with faux Mirror or even mirror it self, also smaller tiles, broken lockets, watch parts etc. For 1:24 I use the same if I can find them to scale...However for the 1:48 I find that a jewelry finding to make Pierced earrings works best. They are flat, have the post you can set one 'bottle' on, and the come in silver or gold.....and are the right size. Enjoy

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/i...i&img=49366

post-2191-1263420466_thumb.jpg

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