working windows for Rosedale

[permutations]

I thought about doing that (and I have stained glass supplies for the top window on the door), but I can't see how it would make the curved-top problem any easier for the windows that I want to open. I'd still have to cut a piece of glazing in a half-moon shape then somehow put a sash around it, or it won't match the bottom. Am I missing something?

[fov]

The exterior trim plus the front of the house create an edge like this:

 

 

Get a piece of strip wood that's the same width as that edge, and glue it in across the bottom of the curve (which is the top of the rectangle). This will create a frame for your casement window -- the house + window trim create the two sides and bottom of the frame, and the piece of strip wood is the top of the frame.

 

Make the two panes for the casement window the same way you tried already, and pin hinge these into the top and bottom of the frame.

 

Then for the top piece, use the thin acetate that comes with the Rosedale (either the decorative part or the plain part). Glue it to the inside edge of your interior window trim and then glue the window trim into the house.

 

When viewed from the outside, the curved part will be farther inside the house than the casement windows, but I can't think of an easy way around that. If you add vertical pieces of thin strip wood to the front of the curved part, to create the illusion of panes (like in the apartment window), it might be less obvious that the top window and the casement window aren't exactly lined up.

 

It won't look exactly like the window in the picture because the top part of the window won't have trim going around the inside edge, but I think it would look okay without that. Especially if you do something to the top window like add panes or stained glass, to set it apart.

 

Hope that makes sense. It does in my head, anyway.

[havanaholly]

If you don't want to try pin hinges yet, you can use wee strips of chamois, rather than cloth.

[Sable]

For the window frame, wet strip wood and form the curve around a can of paint. Rubber band the curve in place. Use a brick to hold the tension until dry. I'll try to attach a picture.

Sorry, the picture refuses to upload.

[permutations]

I see what you're saying, Emily. The other thing that would make it look different is that the glazing I was using on the bottom is much thicker than the thin film I'd have to use on the top. Maybe I can use clear film for the glazing on the bottom, too. I'm not sure - I'll have to try it and see how it looks.

 

The other possibility I've been thinking about it to just put clear film in these windows (I really dislike those white lines), and then make a custom wall to close the dollhouse and put real windows into that. I'm fighting the kit in trying to put in working windows with these arches, and the result probably will never be good enough to satisfy me. I've been wanting to put "cupboard doors" on the dollhouse anyway to keep out dust. I thought about a sheet of plexiglass, but if I make it a fourth wall, then I can play with windows all I want. Square ones!!

[permutations]

I figured out a way to do this that works! I had to make the top portion fixed, as Emily suggested, but I did it in a slightly different way. I'm putting together a prototype and will post pictures when I'm done. The one piece I'm still unclear about is the hingeing. Pin hinges would not work (can't get access on the top) and I couldn't nail in brass hinges (not enough wood), but I could glue on brass hinges. Epoxy can securely glue wood to metal.

 

If you don't want to try pin hinges yet, you can use wee strips of chamois, rather than cloth.

 

What's the reason to use chamois rather than some other kind of cloth? I think it might be just as easy to glue on brass hinges and they would look better, but I haven't gotten to the hinges yet, so I'm not sure.

[havanaholly]

Chamois is leather, so no threads to wear and ravel over time.  Real door hinges (at least the ones in all the houses I've lived in) are flush mounted to the inside edge of the door and the frame; I have yet to do this successfully with the mini brass hinges using the wee brass "nails" because the tops are thicker than the hinges and cause the hinges to bind so the doors don't close in a realistic manner.  I wish you better luck with epoxy glue..

[permutations]

Here's my prototype. Everything is stuck together with double-sided 1/8" tape. I have pictures from both the inside and the outside, open and closed. The casement windows are 1/16" thinner than the bar below the arch because it's late and I don't feel like adding the last layer right now.  I might buy some 1/8" thick wood so I don't have to do this. The one problem is that I can't do the curved part of the sash at the top (the ongoing problem), but it seems okay otherwise. What do you think?

 

[Selkie]

Came out very nice.

[permutations]

I have some 1/16" x 1/16" strips that I could probably bend around the arch after soaking. At that thickness, they won't buckle like the u-molding (I don't think). The rest of the sash is 1/8", but I don't think I could bend that. Maybe, if I buy some 1/8" square strips.

[permutations]

The hinges I bought from someone on eBay in China are so super-cheap that the bar keeps slipping out. I think I can glue the ends to fix that.

[Sable]

I think you can bend the 1/8" as I suggested earlier. Just do it slowly, in increments. Wet the wood with hot water, bend around a can, wait a couple of hours, wet it again, bend some more.....keep repeating until you get the shap you want.

[permutations]

I wish I could bend a 1/8" by 1/16" strip the long way, but I don't think that would be possible.

 

I soaked the u-molding for several hours, but I probably tried to bend it too quickly.

[havanaholly]

Are you going to paint the trim?  If so, why not save yourself some grief and frustration and use card or matt board for the top of your arch?

[Cheverly]

Those windows look great! Perfect solution.

 

I like Holly's suggestion about the mat board. You could pre-fab the archway with layers of the board and acrylic and then affix it to the framing.

[permutations]

Are you going to paint the trim? If so, why not save yourself some grief and frustration and use card or matt board for the top of your arch?

Yes, that's a much easier solution, and if it's painted, you won't be able to tell. Actually, I have some thin balsa wood, and I might be able to cut that the same way.

There is already glazing on both the top and the bottom, but it's so transparent it's hard to see.

When I woke up this morning and took another look at the window from the outside, it seemed to me that the window was in too far. But it's just where it would be had I used the kit glazing. I used transparent film of the same thickness.

Maybe it just looks that way because the sash is missing on the top of the arch. I'll fix that after work and see how it looks.

When I do it for-real, I'll glue rather than tape. Then I'll be able to align things better, and sand the sash so it's smooth and looks better. I'm going to paint it white (like the casement windows in my home - I live in an old building).

[permutations]

Hmmm... I think I'll have to make the arch taller (and casement panes shorter) if I add a sash to the top of the arch.

[Dalesq]

It looks good. Is it one inch scale?

[permutations]

Yes, 1" scale. Half scale would really be really hard!

[havanaholly]

I cut curved tops from 1/8" basswood for the arched doors in the Pierce I was trying to rehab before it got destroyed in our last move.  I just used my Stanley utility knife to cut them out; I also used the same materials to make new surrounds for the oval windows.

[permutations]

Great to hear - proof of concept! I'll try 1/8" basswood.

I really appreciate this forum. You all think of things I don't think of on my own.

I'm so sorry your dollhouse got destroyed! That must have been awful.

[permutations]

Holly, did your oval windows open?

[KathieB]

Holly, did your oval windows open?

I've been thinking of making the oval windows in my Pierce/Bohemian Inn operable by pin hinging horizontally in the center, so they'll tip outward. Not sure I'll do it ... but thinking about it.

[permutations]

I've been thinking of making the oval windows in my Pierce/Bohemian Inn operable by pin hinging horizontally in the center, so they'll tip outward. Not sure I'll do it ... but thinking about it.

 

Great idea! I was thinking of hingeing one side so it opened like a one-pane casement window, but maybe a horizontal pin is more realistic. Do full-size oval windows open this way? I'll do some googling. Realism is important to me.

 

I looked at a lot of buildings when I started working on the Rosedale, and from browsing around I learned that the style is Second Empire Victorian. I found several examples of full-size buildings in this style - I'll attach some pictures. I want to modify the kit to include some details that are missing. For example, the attic in these buildings always included dormers, so I really want to add some dormers (though it seems daunting). Also, these houses are usually raised slightly on a brick foundation with stairs to the front door and a basement that's only partially underground. This dollhouse is so tiny that I have been thinking about adding the basement so I have some more space. I have a lot more furniture than can fit in this dollhouse. I bought the furniture before the house - based on what was delightful, rather than what would fit. I uploaded pictures of some of the furniture in the album for my miniature collection.

 

I'm also including a picture of a pretty window that is similar to what I'm trying to do (stained glass on the fixed arch portion). None of the houses I found have oval windows.

[permutations]

It occurs to me that if I cut the sash out of balsa wood rather than trying to bend strips around the arch, I can go back to my original idea of having the entire window open in one piece, sort of like the one in the attached picture (minus the muntin strips).

 

I googled "oval windows" to see what they look like in full-size houses. The ones that rotate are virtually always around, not oval - perhaps because a round shape is more forgiving if the hinge isn't exactly dead center. Oval windows are usual just decorative and don't open - though I'd think you'd want a bathroom window to open. The only example I could find of an oval window that opened had a hinge on one side - Italian architecture. That's just FYI... Of course, full-size building standards don't have to dictate what a miniature house looks like.