Arthur and the shell build

[moonberry]

I started assembling the shell and saw that the one wall's underside was full of little grooves, giving it a very rough texture. So I, a Spackle virgin, opened the little tub I had bought from Ace (their own brand and Lightweight).

Wowza! The stuff looks nearly good enough to eat!

It was so light and fluffy, it was actually a pleasure to spackle the entire section. After about 40 minutes, it was completely dry, I gave it a quick sand and could do the shell dry fit.

Most of the tabs had to be trimmed a little bit on either end to get them to fit properly in the slots, but there were no other issues.

As I was wrapping the lot in painter's tape, I notice the front right corner join of the right outer wall and the middle floor section just wouldn't quite meet tightly, in spite of the tape.

So I had to improvise, lay the entire house on top of that right outer wall and I put a 16 ounce bottle of acrylic paint on top of the (now vertical) middle floor to put pressure on the entire section.

And then I glued that sucker really good and left it overnight.

This morning - perfect fit!

Yay, now I can continue the shell's gluing with better fitting pieces.

Even my husband is impressed with my new-found carpentry skills.

And me.....well, I'm looking for any excuse to use Spackle again! :wicked:

[GirlPiper]

Gotta love spackle--it's so versatile.

[morgansmith]

Great story, Lene. Your Arthur is an interesting fellow already.

[havanaholly]

Ah, Lene! If you think your Ace spackle looks nummy, just wait until your first tub of the Dap that's frosting pink when it goes on wet and bright white when it dries! Also, Thanks to our own Tracy (Minis on the Edge) you can use it with the wee brass stencils to make pargets and other "plaster" features.

[moonberry]

Ooooo that is an interesting tip! I have a little box full of brass stencils that I bought in the 90's and never really used for embossing.

Hehehehehe... I can already picture myself stalking the Spackle aisle and mumbling "mine, mine ALL MINE" if anyone else dares to LOOK at the few pots on the shelf!

I just glued the top half of the front wall - as soon as that dries properly, I'm going to Spackle the entire shell to fill all the odd gaps and then it's time for painting and wallpapering - yay!

I succumbed to temptation and ordered some furniture....... red 2 seater leather couch, a plain white wooden kitchen set (that I will paint red and green), a gorgeous reindeer and a little poinsettia in a pot - hehehehehe, I bought a few real-life ones on Wednesday. Christmas just isn't Christmas without some poinsettias in a pot!!!!

I'm thinking of skipping a bathroom entirely and making the upstairs small room a workroom with Mrs Clause's sewing machine and maybe some toys and some wrapped gifts - Santa probably brings work home just like my husband does!!!

At the store today I found a few little plastic silver bells - they look just the right size to become light shades hanging from the ceiling.

My friend told her husband, another friend told her daughters - and now I have about a dozen people who are waiting for the big reveal before Christmas Day.

Talk about pressure!

[Roxxie2]

Good job Lene! Spackle has a lot of uses I have learned. I even used it to "frost" a mini cake! Hey! I think I will start a new thread.......

[Dalesq]

Don't forget photos for us when it's time for the big reveal! We love eye candy, and holiday houses are so sweet!

[havanaholly]

...Spackle has a lot of uses I have learned. I even used it to "frost" a mini cake!...

I've done that. I've also used it for morter, plaster, stucco, tabby & stonework. Following Sherise's tip about piping drywall mud, I have thought about piping spackle for architectural features; but it's probably too lightweight and the mud might be better... BTW, is drywall mud different from joint compound?

[KathieB]

Drywall mud is joint compound. The terms are interchangeable. I usually use both as I think they are somewhat regional & don't want to confuse anybody (more than I usually do).

[havanaholly]

Thank you, Kathie; that's what I thought, but was among the confused. Anyway, I think the texture would work better with a pastry tip than spackle.

[More Minis Dollhouses]

Spackle again, saves the day!

[Just One More]

I spackled the whole lower floor walls in my First Willow. Spread it around with my fingers so it looked like some tiny person plastered them. I've used it on ceilings too. The light weight white spackle is easiest for me to work with. It's great to use as plastered wall on hard to wallpaper dormers, etc. I used it a lot in the Glencroft.

[kat57]

Pat,do you have photos in your gallery of the Glencroft that I am missing?

[moonberry]

Made some progress and have now done a dry-fit of the roof and gables. I see there is a large groove where the two gables meet at the top of the house.

Does the gingerbread trim fit in that groove? Or must I spackle the whole groove closed and then glue the trim on top of it?

[havanaholly]

Try to get your roof pieces as close together as you can. You glue the trim there, but you want the roof's edges to fit tight to the trim because you have those finials that straddle the peak at either end of the roof. When I build my Arthur 2.0 I'm going to have to have a long chat with it on the subject of its gingerbread...

[moonberry]

Thanks Holly, I've been wondering how on earth one could bash it without the trim, but unless you put a kind of cap over the gap, it will remain an ugly spot.

I guess mine will just have to "live with" its trim, whether the house likes it or not!

[Roxxie2]

Lene, I built the tiny quarter scale Arthur and forgot to put the gingerbread work in the roof grooves so I ended up shingling the roof without them. Next time when I build a regular scale or half scale Arthur I want to make sure to put the trim on the roof! I capped the space at the peaks.

[Roxxie2]

I stopped putting bathrooms in my houses. I prefer to imagine they are out of sight and use the room for something else. A craft room would be fun!

[moonberry]

Roxy, I like that idea! I do want to keep the kitchen, because my Mrs Clause is a resin standing figure, holding a tray of milk and cookies.

The big room upstairs is just too small for a double bed - and a single just won't look as nice.

So I'm thinking that maybe upstairs could become Santa's workshop in the bigger room and Mrs Clause's workshop in the smaller room.

I do have a lot of little toys that can stand around, ready for loading the sleigh.

Then the "bed & bath" can be in the invisible cut-away portion of the house.