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New and wondering how best to get set up?


ellyssa

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Hi Everyone,

I'm new and super excited and a little overwhelmed.  My Beacon Hill kit just arrived and I've never done anything like this before.  I'd love some tips as to how to get set up as far as the workspace.  For example, should I get a piece of plywood to build this on and if so what size is recommended? Are there any suggestions for a table I could buy maybe at home depot, etc. that would be a good workspace for this?  What does everyone else do to prepare for this type of build?  Thanks!

Best,

Ellyssa

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Welcome Ellyssa!!!

Any sturdy table will do. Do you have a folding table put away somewhere? I suggest carving out a space for yourself that you don't have to put away all the time. This allows you to work whenever the mood strikes you. Some people use their dining room table.

At the beginning you only need sandpaper, painter's tape and a craft knife since you should be doing the dry fit. Make a mental plan on how you are going to stay organized.:wave:

 

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Welcome to the little family, Ellyssa.  In our old house I had a teensy little sun room off of our bedroom and I built on top of an old desk.  The hubs eventually made me a shortie workbench with no top and I used a piece of 1/4" plywood for the build that I later et the house on and landscaped.  We moved and he built me a workshop and I'm using the top off our old RV dinette table on the shortie workbench, plus I have an actual workbench from Harbor Freight to build furniture.  Not all of my houses have landscaped bases; I got carried away with the farmhouse and made a farmyard for it.

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You don't need to dry fit shingles.  You dry fit the pieces of the kit together by building it using masking or painters' tape instead of glue, as this lets you find where you need to sand or shave tabs and slots to get a more perfect fit; it also helps in understanding the building instructions and trying out different ways that might work better for you (without committing to glue and later having to pry it apart) and once the shell of the house is together you and it can discuss paint, stain and other treatments.  I get a bit OCD and do a lot of tracing during the dry fit and cut lots of 1/4" widths of tape for masking off areas I want to glue together later (structurally I find bare wood sticks better to bare wood).  I also find areas that I will never fit my hand into, much less my hand holding a paintbrush or piece of wallpaper, once it's glued together.

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Ohh! Okay, so would you suggest I skip the shingles for the first step and build the rest of the house with the painters tape?  I'm sorry, I just have no idea where to begin.  I didn't realize it would come with soooo many pieces, lol! 

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Welcome Ellyssa.  I highly recommend Gina's blog, More Minis Dollhouses, which is now on Facebook (but you do not need to log into Facebook to read the blog).  If you don't want to click on the link below, just do a google search for More Minis Dollhouses Beacon Hill.

moreminis.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-beacon-hill-dollhouse-blog.html

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Yes, they can be very intimidating!  Just take your time and ask plenty of questions- the folks on this forum are very helpful! :D

A good sturdy table is a necessity.  Near a window is great for ventilation- or even better is having outside or garage access.  At this point I am working on a folding table I have covered with plastic table cover (the kind available at the local hardware store or fabric store by the yard).  I have a floor lamp craft light that helps these poor old eyes see things better.  ;)  A craft box or tool box helps keep things organized.

The dry-fit of the house structure is very important, like Holly said- it helps you understand the directions, understand how the house will fit together, where adjustments need to be made, and where you will need to do some painting or wallpapering prior to final assembly.  Once the house is all taped together in dry-fit, take some time to make decisions on how you want to decorate it...make templates, take photos as reference, etc. Then you can move forward to masking off floors that may be stained or places that need to be glued and priming your interior walls. Some spray-paint the entire thing with Kilz, others brush paint with a latex primer (or even a matte latex paint or Gesso). 

Tools at this point are: painters tape, craft knife, metal ruler, various types of sandpaper, carpenter's wood glue, Aileen's craft glue, small paint brushes, good quality artist brushes (I use a couple of widths).

Take your time and have fun!

 

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Wow! Some nice suggestions! I, too, feel overwhelmed. I have decided to begin crafting furniture and accessories. Mainly to learn the techniques of cutting, sanding, painting, etc. The whole kit seemed a bit much to start with. I also do not yet have a designated work area. I've been using my kithen table. I suppose I will begin by making a template of the structure to help me plan wallpaper, etc. There are so many mediums to potentially work with!! It is very exciting, though!!  I'm happy I found you guys.

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For a dry build or dry fit, what do you tape and what do you glue?  I'm starting at the very beginning of the instructions, wondering if I should tape things like windows and stairs as well as walls and floors or should I be gluing some things along the way?  

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I don't fool with the doors and windows until after I've begun the decorating.  Tape for the dry fit.  Once you have sanded// shaved your parts that need it for a perfect fit and you & the house have reached agreement about how it wants to look, you can begin prepping any areas you will need to decorate before gluing (like stairwells).

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I''m starting with step one,, the foundation and support beam.  Those too are just taped?  I'm having trouble keeping them on there so I'm wondering.  I like your idea of setting the doors and windows aside until the end, perhaps I"ll do that with the stairs too, they look tedious.

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I go ahead and sand the door and window frames and stain or prime them (lately I've been making my own doors and windows and installing those instead) so that when all else is done I can put them in.  You can work on those and the stairs whilst you're waiting for paint or glue to dry.  If you know what floor treatments you're going to use and they can be done after the foundation is glued together, you could go ahead and do that.  I haven't built the Beacon Hill, but several of our members have who need to weigh in and let you know what they did and how it worked out for them.

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9 hours ago, Sable said:

Personally, if the foundation is looking good, I’d go ahead and glue it up and let it dry overnight. Then dry fit the rest of the structure. Use long strips of tape if you have to and wrap it around the structure.

Be sure the foundation is squared up properly. If it is even a little off-square it will cause problems later.

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I built my Beacon Hill on my kitchen counter.  I think I built the foundation and then the stairs. I usually follow the instructions. I wouldn’t try dry fitting the entire house. Just a few steps ahead to make sure everything is fitting. The sections are easier to keep track of when they’re still in their plywood sheets.  

 

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