Painting before glueing

[Drew928]

Hi all,

I’m a virgin to building miniatures and I am about to embark on building the Harrison Dollhouse.  I read on a different site where someone suggested painting pieces before glueing.  Any thoughts on that?  Also any suggestions on a paint set I should purchase, or is purchasing individual paints better?  Enamel or water based?   I’ve purchased a hot melt glue gun and a sharp knife set.  Is there anything else I will need to get started?  
Thanks for any assistance.

[havanaholly]

Welcome to the little family, first of all, Andrew.  Second, return the glue gun and purchase a good quality wood glue such as Titebond; I use the red label version for building dollhouses.  Over time the hot-melt glue will either deteriorate or soften in a warm/ hot climate and let go.  I rehab hot glue-built houses.  Bare wood adheres best to bare wood. 

Along with the wood glue, do invest in  some rolls of blue painters' tape or beige masking tape.  It's fiddly, but I use the tape to assemble at least the main parts of the kit in what we call the "dry fit".  In addition to making sure I understand the instructions, building the shell of the house without gluing anything allows me to shave or sand the slots and tabs for a perfect fit, if needed.  Once it's together it will begin to tell me its story and how it wants to look.  With a pencil I draw along the corners where the walls abut, and when I take the house back apart I also lay the door and window trims over their openings on the walls and trace around those.  I proceed to cut strips of the tape into 1/4" wide strips and mask the wall edges and door and window frames and prime the surfaces I will either paint or wallpaper, being very careful NOT to get any on those surfaces I shall want to stain, like floors and parts of windows.

I prefer a sturdy utility knife, such as the one Stanley makes, with a handy supply of new,sharp blades and a steel, cork-backed straight edge, but I am elderly and whilst my craft knife is pretty, it is just not sturdy enough for my arthritic old hands.

I use a flat interior latex paint as a primer and flat or eggshell finish interior latex paint for painting.  Some of the national paint brands sell small sample jars, and one of them will do nicely for an entire house.  I have a strong preference for paints I can clean from my brushes with soap and water.  When I built the Glencroft (another Tudor-type house) I pasted sandpaper "bricks" on poster board templates to glue on the walls between the timbering on the exterior first floor, and spackling compound that I washed with diluted raw sienna acrylic paint from the tube and diluted with water for the second storey:

Once you have made five posts you can make an album in the Gallery of your build.

[Drew928]

Thank you so much for your informative response Holly.  I canceled my glue gun and purchased Titebond instead.  Your advice was really appreciated.

[Mid-life madness]

Welcome Andrew

Holly gave you some great advice.

If your directions call for you to do the window assemblies at the beginning, wait until the end. it is so much easier to leave them off.  Paint the house then paint the window pieces and attach them at the end.

[Drew928]

Thank you so much.  Never having done this before any and all assistance is deeply appreciated.  I'm building it for my granddaughters.

[havanaholly]

Ah, Andrew!  That's how I got suckered in started.