Can it be done? Change the RGT milled mdf exterior?

[Jrzeegrl]

Wondering if anyone knows of a way to fill in the milled MDF exterior siding with putty or something in order to create a brick or stone look? I realize the built-in siding is a "desireable-feature" but the Country Church is just begging for stone.. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Sherry]

My trading post started out with milled in siding, but I just covered it with spackle until the sides were level. It is a bit heavier now, but the spackle worked great. Check my Duracraft bash for before and after pictures.

[Jrzeegrl]

Thanks Sherry, awesome job! Do you have any thoughts on paper-clay vs spackle?

[Sherry]

I've never even tried paper clay. I know a lot of people like it, and they are more qualified than me to comment. I know you can't beat the price of spackle if you're covering a lot of house.

[MerriMagic]

I'd go with paperclay! It's light, and very sturdy when dry, and could really be squeezed in under the ledges of the clapboard.

My first wedding was at Sacred Heart Church, in Glyndon, Maryland. Here's the link...it's a stone chapel just like you're thinking about.

Sacred Heart Church, Glyndon Md

[minikelli]

Don't know if you've already gone ahead with the stone, but I had a section of milled in siding on my Petite Dreams house in mdf... Unfortunately the way it was made the siding went into one of the rooms -- don't think someone was paying attention to detail on that plan. As is though if you have anything like the Dremel Trio, I have the generic equivalent made by Genesis that does all that that does -- anyways point being that you can get a flush cut saw blade that goes with them. I was able to use it to remove the siding very easily in the section that didn't make sense, now it looks very much like it was never there to begin with. In your case then you could go ahead and do spackle, paperclay, whatever strikes your fancy w/o having to fill in all the gaps.

[judithfa]

Kelli,

How nice to find another Petite Dreams dollhouse builder. I love mine (I bought it at Target, on sale $50) so much I bought two and bashed them together ("The Original Rowbottom Manse").

I, too, was able to remove the siding-I found that my long, thin ham slicing knife slid in under the siding and removed it in a reusable sheet. This was good because some of new walls were outside walls but turned inside out (so to speak) and now needed the siding on the outside.

I never found out much about the manufacturer, either.

[minikelli]

All I can say after looking at your webshots album -- WOW! That's some great work on that, I actually saw one of the kits come up on ebay a wk or two ago for $250 and laughed though, more reasonably priced I would've though along the same lines. I do have a question for you, since you had the kit and instrucions can you recall what the point of the hinges was for? Normally I would presume opening, however for as much glue was used on this kit I have to wonder... lol

[judithfa]

I removed the hinges-- they were bulky and not easy to hide. I thonk they are only there to help hold the sections together while the glue dries. The instructions didn't say anything, one way or the other, about the hinges.

I keep looking at eBay for any Petite Dreams items. When my sister bought me the kit, she also bought a house full of furniture, curtains and capets, and "little people". If you look at the original family, the Rowbottoms, who orginally lived in the house and now live in the Georgian, you will see them.

I love the Petite Dreams stuff. I found (at least what I have) extremely well-made.