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The Spooky Fairfield Endeavor


LeFemmeFatale

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Hey everyone! I am new to dollhouses and miniatures (and this site). I have already posted in the welcome/introductory forum, but I know I will have a bunch of questions, so I thought I would start my own thread here. I have been reading and researching non-stop about the Fairfield, and how everyone has done it. I have read so many blogs, and forums, and looked at pictures until my eyes felt like they were going to bleed. I think what overwhelms me so much is how everyone is just like, "there are so many ways to do it, just do whatever you want!". That is not how I operate lol. I like to know exactly what I need to do at what time to get the best results. I don't like experimenting and "trying as I go" so this is going to be tricky for me. 

Anyways, I digress. I have already started putting together my dry fit, to try and figure out which wallpaper I want in which rooms, etc. I don't plan to "bash" this kit as I'm already overwhelmed enough, but there are a few cosmetic things I know I'd like to do to make her a little prettier. I do not have a miniature store near me, so shopping in person is out of the question. I have gone to a few sites suggested in many of these posts, but I am finding that each of these stores seem to only offer a couple of things. None of them have all the things I think I need. So, in order to try and simplify this process, and not spend a million dollars in shipping from 5 different stores, I was wondering if anyone could recommend an online store that has a very large selection and may carry all (or most) of these items. 

So far, what I am looking for (in 1:24 scale):
- brick paper 
- siding sheets
- interior doors
- baseboards and moulding
- stair handrails, spindles, and newel posts
- beadboard
- ceiling carvings / textured ceiling paper

For example, miniatures.com has the staircase items, doors, and the brick paper, but none of the other stuff

Thank you so much for your help! :)

Edited by LeFemmeFatale
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Siding sheets come in various increments for the clapboard. You can get it in 1/4 inch which at 1:24 scale would be six inch lap boards, 1/2 inch would be the equivalent of 12 inch lap boards in 1:24. I hope this makes sense. I work almost exclusively in half scale and tend to choose 1/4 or 3/8 inch siding sheets. Beadboard can be found in sheets too.

Doors are available from several suppliers. Housework’s is one of the major ones.

I look for small patterned textured scrapbook papers for ceiling papers. 

Baseboards and moldings are more of a challenge in half scale. I’ve used 1:12 chair rail for 1:24 baseboard, and there are 1/4 rounds and moldings which work well.

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You sound very well informed despite your apprehensions! I would recommend writing a list of everything you want and asking a miniatures retailer to order everything in for you. I like Miniature Designs, I find Bev really helpful. Then you will only need to pay one lot of shipping.

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Rachel, I am probably of no help to you; I started out wanting 1,2,3...directions, also.  Sometimes creativity doesn't work that way.  The dry fit will show you the methods that work best for you and when the kit begins to talk to you and tell you what it wants, that will make it easier.  Rather than buying everything, you could try making some of the things.  There are a few items in my Fairfields that were bought; I made almost all of the furniture because the sets I had bought from HBS turned out to be closer to 1:32 scale and didn't work at all with the true 1:24 scale items I'd made from kits. 

7 hours ago, LeFemmeFatale said:

...So far, what I am looking for (in 1:24 scale):
- brick paper 
- siding sheets
- interior doors
- baseboards and moulding
- stair handrails, spindles, and newel posts
- beadboard
- ceiling carvings / textured ceiling paper...

You can make siding strips and beadboard strips either from iron-on wood veneer edging, cut to size, or from cardboard.  You can make bricks from sandpaper and color them with chalk pastels.  Turned toothpicks, which you can find in liquor stores with the hors d'oeuvres items, make lovely 1:24 balusters and legs for various items of furniture & fixtures), and so do handles from cocktail picks.  I found lovely white plastic channel molding at a local hobby shop.  Google Micro Mark and check out their wood section.  Newel posts are easily made from a piece of square strip wood and a fancy wooden bead.  Flattened bead caps and motives cut from paper lace doilies make terrific pargets and bits of ceiling roses.  The more things you make yourself the more your mind will work outside of the box.  I molded white polymer clay around a small metal spice box for the kitchen sink with an individual white plastic serving packet for the basin and various shaped earring backs for the tap and handles; the legs are plain toothpicks and the drain's a bit of paperclip.

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This is the siding you want: https://www.miniatures.com/14-Lap-Width-x-12L-Clapboard-Siding--P17157.aspx

It comes in different lengths -- if you had a very long wall you would want a long piece of siding to avoid a vertical seam, but the Fairfield doesn't have any walls longer than 12" so you can get the 12" siding. Miniatures.com sells it in 10-packs which is probably more than you need, so you might look into getting individual sheets from another retailer.

I'm using a Northeastern Scale Lumber product for beadboard in my 1:24 Victorianna. I'll have to check the label to see exactly what it's called. Here's a photo of it (before I painted it). The bottom is 1:12 chair rail and the top is some other 1:12 trim (maybe picture rail?). If you can get to a miniature store that has trims for you to look at, that can be very helpful for visualizing how you could use them in 1:24 scale.

victorianna1124.jpg

 

EDIT: Turns out I don't have the packaging anymore, but it's one of the "scribe sheathing" products: https://northeasternscalelumber.com/shop/scribe-sheathing.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

Two more pics to help you visualize - the smaller one is 1/4" and the bigger one is 3/8". I think the 3/8" is too big but the 1/4" looks about right if you're going for a chunky exposed beam look (like on a vaulted ceiling).

IMG_3688.jpg.5da812b757180c3a0bb133c419dIMG_3687.thumb.jpg.be20ff3d290a44722cd28

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1 hour ago, fov said:

Two more pics to help you visualize - the smaller one is 1/4" and the bigger one is 3/8". I think the 3/8" is too big but the 1/4" looks about right if you're going for a chunky exposed beam look (like on a vaulted ceiling).

IMG_3688.jpg.5da812b757180c3a0bb133c419dIMG_3687.thumb.jpg.be20ff3d290a44722cd28

Thank you so much! That helps a lot! The 1/4" looks just like what I was picturing in my head! 

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