Buttercup issues

[SamBates]

A few days ago I started trying to glue the front entry left onto the house. I had already wallpaperde the pieces prior to putting them together, and I triple checked to make sure I was putting the wallpaper on the bad side of the wood.

When I went to put the piece on, the tabs were all funky and didn't line up at all. I flipped the piece over and with the primed side facing inward, they lined up. So I stripped off the wallpaper, put new on the other side, and tried it again. I still could barely fit it in. I ended up having to sand down the tabs and the slots so everything fit together, and I had to push some pieces into place with the back end of a screwdriver.

So I checked the front entry right piece, and it looks to be the same as the left... It only fits with the bad side of the wood facing out. Luckily I hadn't wallpapered those pieces yet, but is this a common issue, to have pieces that are hard to fit together even when they should?

[rbytsdy]

Had that exact same problem with my Buttercup, Sam. Actually I ended up installing those pieces good side out, dremeling in new slots for them to fit into; that's why I trimmed the outside joints so heavily, to hide those huge gaps I ended up with:

[Muriel]

Yes, with the older dye cut houses there tend to be some slots and tabs that just don't fit properly. This is another important reason for the dry fitting step, so you can get everything sanded/cut to fit in the slots as needed before you've got glue on the pieces! It can most definitely be frustrating, but also I think part of the 'fun' of tab and slot houses. I think with the new laser cut houses that problem is avoided.

Keep at it and don't be scared to cut/sand where needed, just double check before you cut too much off to make sure that piece really goes there Spackle will always help cover an extra gap or three or four!

[SamBates]

Finally managed to force those sides on, and they didn't look too bad. Until I tried to stick the front wall on...

There is a gap on either side of the front wall about this big. I have no idea what to do about it.

[havanaholly]

I've built about four Buttercups and it seems to me that the right and left sides of the entry are pretty much mirror images, so if the the side you put on the left fit "wrong" side out, perhaps that was actually the right side piece? I just merrily dry fit the whole thing before decorating, gluing or anything else, both to get the tabs & slots to fit together, and to make sure I have the correct pieces where they go. I had one Buttercup mis=cut and that led to my first adventure in bashing. Somewhere about the time I started to decorate the interior of the second one I began to notice there's no interior trim...

[minime]

I've never built the buttercup but I did notice that rbytsdy's picture shows the front piece in front of the sides, yours shows the front piece inside the sides. I looked at the instructions in the downloads area and checked, the front goes on like rbytsdy's.

[havanaholly]

The tabs are supposed to fit into the slots; that's the main reason I got started doing a dry fit of everything bwefore I touch the glue.

[SamBates]

I guess I will just have to fill in the open places with putty or something. Any suggestions on what I could use? Wood filler, spackle?

[havanaholly]

Either one will work.

[Sherry]

If the front piece is supposed cover the edges of the sides, and you don't do it that way..the roof will probably not fit right, as the front will be too wide. Have you tried putting the front part over the side parts yet, to see if it will fit that way?

[havanaholly]

Another good reason to do the dry fit. You can use stripwood or "l" molding to fill the gap in the roof peak.

[SamBates]

After many months now of glowering at the house every time I go into the basement, my mom told me I had to clean everything up because she needed the space. The Buttercup is now in a box. Maybe I'll come back to it later, but right now I don't have much space.

Instead I've turned my eyes toward the Primose. I made an agreement with my boyfriend that I'd play Starcraft 2 if he would help me build this time.

[Chris P.]

There were some imperfect fits with my Aster. I shaved a little off the tabs with an exact-o knife or carved a little out of the slots. I also discovered my new BFF - wood filler. I just smoothed it into the places that didn't fit exactly. On the inside, I used drywall compound instead.

[Wovenflame]

I'm glad I did my Buttercup's dry fit before I painted or applied wallpaper. I thought I had everything right, and labelled correctly, but somewhere along the line I ended up flipping one of the pieces to get all of the pieces fitting. Now whether I had mislabelled or accidentally flipped something in the first place, and needed to flip it back, or whether there was some kind of error in the kit, I do not know. I do know though, that once all the pieces were sitting correctly, everything fit together very well. I did need to shave a small amount off of the some of the tabs, but they were in the right location, nothing drastic.

[Kabrina]

Hopefully taking a break will help and when you come back you'll get that "ah-ha!" moment and it will all work out. Good luck with the primrose and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Any ideas yet?

rbytsdy your Buttercup is beautiful. I thought the trimming was supposed to be that way on the corners when I looked at it. :thumb: Would never have realized it was to cover anything, great job!

[rbytsdy]

Hopefully taking a break will help and when you come back you'll get that "ah-ha!" moment and it will all work out. Good luck with the primrose and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Any ideas yet?

rbytsdy your Buttercup is beautiful. I thought the trimming was supposed to be that way on the corners when I looked at it. :thumb: Would never have realized it was to cover anything, great job!

Thanks Kabrina! I tend to like trim on the corners anyway-- I think it gives a finished look... (Besides, my corners usually need hiding... )

[SamBates]

I decided to start over with a half scale Buttercup instead. Can I just say, why didn't I pick a lasercut the first time time? Wow! The pieces are going together somewhat easier than last time, too. I've only had to cut a tiny bit off the entry wall tabs to make them fit. I AM having a little trouble with the right roof gable. The left goes on easy, but the tab is crooked looking for the right one. Here are the pictures so far.

[fov]

So cute! For the tab that doesn't fit, I'd just cut it off (or sand it down if you have access to a power sander). Sometimes that's easier than trying to make it fit into the hole, and it should be easy enough to glue the gable directly to the wall.