Minis On The Edge Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 And remember, you have all of us to cheer you on!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Ya know, Susan, one thing we forgot to mention. If you buy a lighting kit, you get all the tools you'll need including the wire. For instance, for tapewire, when you buy the itsy-bitsy kit, you get 15 feet of tapewire -- that's enough to light wire 2-3 houses or more depending on how it's set up. You get the test light, pilot punch, etc. and you don't need to buy those again for a long, long time. So when you go to do the next house, you just need to buy your junction splice, leadwire and transformer. The real cost of lighting is in the fixtures and transformers which can easily cost more than the largest wiring kit you can buy. Just a thought :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shy Spirit Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Susan, I don't know how to light a house either, but I would like to learn. I'm not too worried yet, as I haven't got my "dreamhouse" - just a few small cottagey houses so far. The only lighting I've done is in some playhouse/roomboxes that I've given away. The playhouses have mini Christmas lights (clear ones) in the ceiling. One "rabbithouse" has lights poking through a foam core ceiling. I tested it before giving it to my cousin's little girls. The lights don't generate more than a slight - very, very, slight - heat, and it didn't affect the foamcore in the least. The wiring was hidden between the foamcore, and the real ceiling. On a nursery roombox, I used small bridal lights for illumination. A wizard's room has more of the clear Xmas lights, stapled to the ceiling. I love the way lights make a setting come alive, so I'm sure that I shall learn to use the proper lighting kit sooner or later! Just do whatever your heart desires, and you can't go wrong. :lol: Charlene, I'm so glad you pointed out the fact that a basic kit will start you out with extras you can use for future lighting jobs. I hadn't considered that - it makes the cost seem more reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I lighted my Lily, my first build, but didn't the Coventry Cottage or the Creekside Cabin I'm working on now. The hardest part of lighting, for me, is handling those tiny tiny brads to make the connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I highly suggest (as others have done) to read Darrell`s lighting tutorial. I also bought the book Dollhouse Lighting Electrification in miniature by Barbara Warner. I was lucky to nab a copy at a used book store for $3.00 but I have seen them on Ebay. Her instructions were right on and helped me so much that I dont even need to look at instructions anymore. I electrified my HUD house and the MHM. I didnt light the Orchid and now I am kicking myself. Maybe one day I will go back and do a re-do on her and electrify her like she is pouting about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaimieMarvon Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I lighted my Lily, my first build, but didn't the Coventry Cottage or the Creekside Cabin I'm working on now. The hardest part of lighting, for me, is handling those tiny tiny brads to make the connections. Yes, That brads are tiny and a bit hard to handle. I drop them constantly and then can't find them in the rug so I have to get a new one, then the ones that fell get vaccumed up later on. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvDylan&Holly Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 This is something I have contemplated as well. The lighted houses look so beautiful, and I would hate to have to rip stuff out of my Beacon later on down the line if I change my mind, but so far I have decided that electricity is a no-go for me. Granted, this is my first house, but I tend to turn projects into something that mimics an old I Love Lucy episode, so I chickened out. Stacey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 I don't plan on lighting a diecut house. The wood is simply too thin to hold any kind of real connector, brad or eyelet, with real purchase. I may wire the lower floor of the Garf, running the wires through the foundation, but otherwise it seems like a lot of work with questionable and short lived results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 I don't plan on lighting a diecut house. The wood is simply too thin to hold any kind of real connector, brad or eyelet, with real purchase. I may wire the lower floor of the Garf, running the wires through the foundation, but otherwise it seems like a lot of work with questionable and short lived results I wasnt going to respond...was glad to see Doogster post.... been gone a while...BUT dude how many of these houses have you actully wired and lit up? How many houses have you seen in person that had lights? did you ask how it went and how it lasted? because I have. and I have electrifed 2 of my diecut houses with no significant problems. other than my usual nutti self. and 2 of the ladies whose house I have had many pleasant times enjoying have had their homes lit for almost 15 and 20 yrs with nothing more than a few bulb changes. and that is using the older wiring....have you seen that? I have some and it aint pretty...I wouldnt even try to wire with that stuff. yes the die-cut house is a thin house....but this is a GOOD thing in my personal opinion. have YOU tried putting those brad and crap into one of them big suckers? well we have. the MHM has nice thick wood with milled siding which will have to be drilled through for the 2 coachlights the daughter has picked. I also think the smaller wood makes sense for the scale of things the MHM is a good compariason. a great house...impressive as heck when done. with big rooms for deorating. it looks like a toy. on because of the wood it seems better for a child to play with than for a serious collecter.....ok stop....I love this house for those reasons....its a great house but in person...tting next to a Garfield with its graceful lines and thinner wood...the MHM looks chunkier. ok now I will come down off my lil stool! it really is nice to see you posting again Andrew I hope you havent been absent because you are working to much. nutti I beg all of you proud MHM owners do not stone me for my remarks...I really do like the MHM its a fantstic house...ok? seriously I have alwys admired it. and love what each you have done with yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 I don't plan on lighting a diecut house. The wood is simply too thin to hold any kind of real connector, brad or eyelet, with real purchase. Hi Doogster -- Glad to see you're posting again Not sure why you feel that the brads or eyelets wouldn't last in a diecut. I've wired 6 in the last 15 years and they're all fine -- have replaced some bulbs but the electricial systems are still up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Andrew...that is why I didnt light the Orchid. I started to wire it and the connector points went right thru the floor! I was swearing at it for two days trying to figure out where to put the connector so that it wouldnt puncture thru to the other side and maybe make a bad connection down the line. I gave up and didnt light it for that reason. I could have probably figured it out but I am persnickety that way... By the way..I have a package for you Andrew. It has been sitting in my livingroom waiting to be mailed but since I havent seen you, I held onto it. Do you still want to plastic sheeting from my HUD house? It is all addressed and ready to go! Clunky or not, I love my MHM! Love Love Love it.. And yes getting brads in is a witch! I have to pre-drill the holes for them to get in there. But it is a keeper. I could kill a burglar with it, it could survive a nuclear blast, and it is just so darn pretty. But I know what you mean Nutti...no hard feelings.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missymew Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 My dad wired my Beacon Hill in 1994 and he just used wiring from those miniature Christmas tree light sets. He picked up sets of these lights from sale tables after Christmas. Ray wired the Orchid using the tape wire. He found the tiny brads too difficult to handle, so he just used thumb tacks. In places where the tacks went right through, he just filed or cut off the tips. It works real good. He was getting too frustrated trying to hold onto those tiny little brads. So, he improvised. Glad to see you back, Andrew. Have you been busy at work, or holidaying? -Susanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Ray wired the Orchid using the tape wire. He found the tiny brads too difficult to handle, so he just used thumb tacks. In places where the tacks went right through, he just filed or cut off the tips. It works real good. He was getting too frustrated trying to hold onto those tiny little brads. So, he improvised. The pound-in outlet pins went right through the outer wall of my Orchid. So did the grommets for the plug-in sconce adapters. I snipped off the tips and added a little stucco to repair the spot. They work fine. I haven't had many problems with the brads since I figured out you don't have to use a hammer. I use the little punch to make a pilot hole in the tape through to the wood. Then I grip the brad firmly in the tip of my needlenose pliers and just push it in. The head of the brad is still sticking out a little bit after I let go with the pliers, so I use the end to push it in the rest of the way. (Or if I'm going to wrap wire around it to solder in a lighting fixture, it's sticking out just the right distance.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 I'm very late to the party here, but I don't light my houses. Why not? First and foremost is probably that I don't aim for realism in my houses, so there's not much incentive for me to light them. In a practical sense, our current apartment has so few electric outlets that plugging in transformers for dollhouse displays is out of the question. And having not grown up with lighted dollhouses, I just don't care about that option. As a result, my half-scale lighthouse doesn't have a light! I put a patio where the light is supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladybug324 Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 I really want to light my Pierce. I even bought a tape wire kit. But I am so afraid of doing it wrong! I am so very glad though, for the pictorial-tutorial that Darrell put up here. I am definitely going to be referring to that guide extensively when I do it! Cross my fingers, I hope I get it right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I have a Cambridge that I have no idea how old it is, but I do know that the original owner built it for his daughter and gave it to my nephew when she went to college, and my nephew stored it in his attic for at least 5 years before he gave it to me. It was wired and the only problem it had was where mice had chewed into it in a couple of places. But over half the lights still lit up. Now saying that I did rewire it, mainly because I couldn't trace the wire and couldn't track down the specific breaks to fix. Just guessing though, I say this house is probably somewhere between 10 to 15 years old. In my Lily to help keep the connections, I soldered the connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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