Anya Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Well........ I have decided to dedicate this post to any mistakes that I or anyone else has made making minis and what we have done to try to correct them. There is (and quite rightly) alot of posts on how well we make something but what about the things that don't turn out as well as we'd hoped for? I would have posted pics BUT for some reason Greenleaf won't let me. Well here's my list. 1 - My warped Beacon Hill wall in the 3rd floor bedroom. http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/i...si&img=1606 This was a nightmare it has never been straight and I don't think it ever will be. 2 - The time when I cut my mini floorboards too short and I had to start all over again. 3 - Super gluing my fingers to a kit I made. I had to run my finger and my kit under a hot tap :thumb:. Both kit and layer of skin on my finger were destroyed in the process. And why I chose to use super glue on a wooden kit I shall never know. Impulsive maybe? I shall think of more.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggyquade Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I started building the Pierce staircase backwards! It was a good thing I caught it before the glue dried! I also put one of the pre-milled exterior walls of the B'Ham Farmhouse on upside down so the lapped siding went the wrong way! The directions tell you to check and double check but I still put it upside down...and nailed it in so it was there to stay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Oh I've got to be the queen of the "do-over". It seems like the rule measure twice cut once is interpreted for me meaning measure at least five times. I really can't mention all the things I've had to take apart and reglue or remeasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovecats Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Hmmmm...to many things to mention The biggest thing...gluing and nailing the second floor of the federal in place, the wrong way (i can't remember now what the problem was but the back wall panel didn't line up)...did i mention i put the side walls (exterior) in wrong as well? The side walls were just how i wanted them tho so i kept them as they were. I had to take a hammer and bang the house to detach the second floor tho, it had to fit a certain way or the front hanging doors would have been messed up. Fortunately the glue wasn't dry and i only did a little damage. That's probably my biggest mistake. I've had to recut trim, i've hung wallpaper upside down (again in the federal in the blue bedroom...i kinda like it that way now)....i'm sure i can think of more things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I am working on my first house and the first thing I did was sand and prime all the big pieces...including the floors which I was going to stain!! I guess now I'll get to try different flooring options! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Oh yea - I don't ever do anything right the first time.. and so far I haven't done the same project twice so - that means everyone one is a mistake LOL The Lafeyette - I turned the spiral wood staircase into a spiral stone staircase which warped the staircase it was built over.. so Ihad to add an extra step at the bottom The Orchid Chappel - the edging blocks around the small windows at the top of the entry way in the front didn't turn out right.. I still need to rip them off and redo them.. only they really don't want to come off And After I did the big round windows... I got grey paint on one of them grrr and It dried before I realized it was there blah! I'm going to have to redo the entire window... I'm putting it off till I try every other method of paint removal. And on the outside I repainted the chappel so many times trying to get the color right that finally I ended up taking a sanding block and sanding the paint off the paperclay lol - it worked though The Tiffani Santa House.. I had to completely repaper the upstairs twice! ..with the Same paper. And I cut the wood flooring wrong - fortunately the part that had to be patched is covered by a tiny shelf and it doesn't show but that really irked me to miscut that flooring. The Skill Craft Collonial I messed up the wiring in - it went in beautifully and then I decided to solder the tape wire instead of using the eyelets... ooops. I need to buy more tapewire. LOL :thumb: Always an adventure -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I always thought having to do everything over was normal, so I'm afraid I've never kept track of the boo-boos! My absolute worst thing (and the thing that ALWAYS goes wrong) is wallpaper. I just automatically buy twice what I really need just to allow for the mistakes :thumb: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adallae Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 On my Glencroft, I sealed and primed all of the shell parts prior to gluing them in place. Obviously, this expands the wood. None of the parts fit exactly, but nothing was so far off that I was alarmed. The tiny gaps between the wall and floor will be covered with flooring and wallpaper, right? I also figured I was being smart by leaving the back roof off while I decorated the top floor, for easy access. So it wasn't until the walls were wallpapered, floors were laid, and baseboards glued in place that I set the back roof piece on - only to discover that those tiny gaps added up to one large gap on the roof! Math was never my strong point. I am in the process of doing some creative shingling to cover it. Has anyone else ever had this problem?? To avoid it, I sealed and primed my Laurel after it was glued together. :thumb: It worked beautifully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leslie Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Oh yea - I don't ever do anything right the first time.. and so far I haven't done the same I got grey paint on one of them grrr and It dried before I realized it was there :thumb: blah! I'm going to have to redo the entire window... I'm putting it off till I try every other method of paint removal. I spray painted some of my car once (dont ask) and got some on the window and took a rag and dabbed a little gas on it and POOF! all gone! Was way to easy... :dry: Now, for little plastic don't know if it would harm it or not, might wanna check on a scrap piece first but it worked wonders on a car window Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyclyff Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I put a Bellingham wall on upside down too. But luckily for me, the glue wasn't completely dry when I realized it and I was able to bang it back out and fix it. I almost took a sledge hammer to my Orchid after I shorted out the tapewire in 3/4 of it. I forgot to unplug it before I installed a fixture. I had already wallpapered the whole house and installed the flooring and molding on the first floor. I really did cry. I've made plenty of other boo boos, but the wiring in the Orchid was the most traumatic for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I spray painted some of my car once (dont ask) and got some on the window and took a rag and dabbed a little gas on it and POOF! all gone! Was way to easy... :dry: Now, for little plastic don't know if it would harm it or not, might wanna check on a scrap piece first but it worked wonders on a car window Hey it's a thought anyway :thumb: I mean if I'm going to have to replace the entire window anyway it couldn't hurt to try it right? - Thanks Marg -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue_moon992 Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 This is a cool topic! I missed an entire wall in my fairfield........the wall that has the kitchen door and the back of the staircase on the 1st floor I totally missed that one.... I was putting in the 3rd floor (yeah, took me THAT long to notice) and I was checking out the pic and stuff and saw the kitchen door and looking and couldn't figure out what was missing.... finally, after like 15 minutes of pondering I realized I missed the whole dang wall So, after some bending and shoving and flipping and cursing I was able to cram it in there and you would never know that I was a moron! :thumb: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 Too many to count! I post the goofs in the blogs on the team builds. I think of mistakes as steps UP the learning curve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 After finishing the trim work and wallpapering of one wall in my Orchid I realized that everything was crooked. I had held the wall wrong in my hand while putting the trim and paper on. I was so frustrated... had to take everything off. It was a work of a few hours... Another mistake I made was using only one nail a time to connect two endings of tape wire. Now the light isn't working dependably... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 Wow .. there's the beginnings of a great "How NOT To " book here! Haven't been working with miniatures long enough to have had a real disaster. Most of my mistakes are cosmetic, and I forget 'em as quickly as they are fixed. And I've found that there are no end of ways to fix li'l booboos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhatter Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 When i first started the arthur i put the front shingles on slanted, you could not tell if you looked straight at it though. But one of my friends was very kind to point it out. LOL Well i ended up anyways taking off the porch roof that was slanted and turning the arthur into a shop. Other mix ups siding not matching, even after i measured. Probally not enough. LOL There is so many more but i find that so many mistakes can be fixed or covered up by something. jenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 This is a cool topic! I missed an entire wall in my fairfield........the wall that has the kitchen door and the back of the staircase on the 1st floor I totally missed that one.... I was putting in the 3rd floor (yeah, took me THAT long to notice) and I was checking out the pic and stuff and saw the kitchen door and looking and couldn't figure out what was missing.... finally, after like 15 minutes of pondering I realized I missed the whole dang wall So, after some bending and shoving and flipping and cursing I was able to cram it in there and you would never know that I was a moron! :viking: Ahh, I just htought it was a way of redecorate things, you know the open space solution that is so in right now??? Hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan555 Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 I spray painted some of my car once (dont ask) and got some on the window and took a rag and dabbed a little gas on it and POOF! all gone! Was way to easy... :dry: Now, for little plastic don't know if it would harm it or not, might wanna check on a scrap piece first but it worked wonders on a car window Nail polish remover also works on the plastic windows - I used it on my Haunted House and got the purple paint off the windows with no trouble at all. Nail polish remover also works for getting several coats of dried primer off your hands. Just in case you ever get into THAT predicament too... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 The "ooops" that I've laughed at the most was putting together the spiral staircase for that cursed lafayette. Now, I'm spatially challenged anyway (no depth perception and that causes me all kinds of problems), so it's not surprising that I found out the reason the staircase didn't look right was because I assembled it upside down. Talk about "Up the Down Staircase!!" Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAK Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 WD 40 a dollhouse builders best friend. Gets glue off of everything without damaging. :wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharon Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 The major mistake I made with my current first dollhouse was to sand, primer and paint the walls of my Bellingham before assembly. Big mistake-they do warp. After a trip to Harbor Freight for large clamps and a big roll of duct tape I finally got the shell assembled. It was a challenge though. I learned my lesson for the second house. :wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 The Skill Craft Collonial I messed up the wiring in - it went in beautifully and then I decided to solder the tape wire instead of using the eyelets... ooops. I need to buy more tapewire. LOL :wub: Always an adventure :lol: -David David, you have a Skilcraft Colonial? Do you have pictures? My HUD house is a Skilcraft colonial. Woohoo. Mistakes....I made a few...but then again too few to mention (yeah right)..I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption...I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway...And more, much more than this, I did it mmmmmyyyyy wayyyyyy! (Thank you Frank Sinatra!) The HUD house second floor was glued on backwards so I had to reconfigure the entire room set up. Paint mistakes..Papering mistakes...Flooring mistakes...glue mishaps....I got a million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALLACO-Karen Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 Mistake #1 (one of many I will encounter I am sure as this building adventure progresses), I did not paint the wall before I glued the stairs to it!!! Ya I took pictures of the masking mess I did to paint, and then got the bright idea to varnish the banisters. I will post them when I get a few more, I am in total amazement they have survived, sturdy little things. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Color Me Holly Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 I am sure I have made hundreds, but can't recall any (except for last nights glue inciedent) I guess I just work around them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniMadWoman Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 My FIRST mistake was getting into miniatures in the first place ;) . . . I didn't realize it would become an obsession (one I thoroughly enjoy though!!) Wallpaper is my biggest nemesis . . . however, discovering Mod Podge has tamed that beast. Those gawd awful 'jujube' stones on Mother Goose's Cottage (aka The Orchid) and putting the bay window wall on the wrong side of the house. We won't even talk about super glue . . . Gluing the base of the Haunted House on flat instead of on the edge . . . I'm sure there are hundreds of other little things, but once the house is done and you stand back and look at how great it turned out . . . all the negatives somehow disappear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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