Hi from central North Carolina

[Deema]

My name is Dee. I'm recently retired and tired of my old crafts/hobbies. I just received my first dollhouse, the Fairfield. My only miniatures before this were 4 of those 1/24 scale room kits purchased on Amazon. I'm excited to build this dollhouse. 

[Mid-life madness]

Welcome to the group Dee,

The Fairfield is a lovely house. Quite a few members have built it.

Enjoy the build. and ask questions if you get stuck.

Carrie

[fov]

Welcome! The Fairfield is a challenging house, but so are those 1/24 room kits! It's one of my favorites. There are some beautiful Fairfields in the gallery here, that you can look at for inspiration. As Carrie said, feel free to ask questions if you need any help.

[havanaholly]

Welcome to the little family, Dee,

[Deema]

Thank you for the nice welcomes, Mid-life madness, fov and havanaholly. 

[FurMama]

Welcome Dee! I'm below you in central SC. Congrats on getting a Fairfield. Enjoy. 

[Deema]

Thank you. I’m originally from SC. 

[chatoiement]

Welcome, Dee! I'm Veronica. Enjoy working on your Fairfield! This forum is really helpful if you ever have any questions. 😊

[Deema]

7 minutes ago, chatoiement said:

Welcome, Dee! I'm Veronica. Enjoy working on your Fairfield! This forum is really helpful if you ever have any questions. 😊

Thank you.  I've finally figured out that I have to "quote" when I reply to someone .

[chatoiement]

1 hour ago, Deema said:

Thank you.  I've finally figured out that I have to "quote" when I reply to someone .

Love it! It's fun to play around and figure out all the neat things you can do on the forum. 😁 Looking forward to seeing and/or hearing about your dollhouse as you build it. 

[Deema]

1 minute ago, chatoiement said:

Love it! It's fun to play around and figure out all the neat things you can do on the forum. 😁 Looking forward to seeing and/or hearing about your dollhouse as you build it. 

So far it's been sanded, taped together, reverse engineered with more sanding to make sure things fit properly. This may take a long time.

[havanaholly]

Denise, shy do you have to quote everything when you post or reply?  I don't use any device other than our Chromebook to play online, so I'm just curious.

[Deema]

1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

Denise, shy do you have to quote everything when you post or reply?  I don't use any device other than our Chromebook to play online, so I'm just curious.

Hi, I was talking about when I reply to people here on the forum and clicking Quote so that the person will know I am replying to them. I had not noticed that "quote" until today. I'm on a MacBook Air. I don't usually see a quote on most forums these days. 

[havanaholly]

I hadn't thought about that.  Thanks for filling me in.

[chatoiement]

3 hours ago, Deema said:

So far it's been sanded, taped together, reverse engineered with more sanding to make sure things fit properly. This may take a long time.

That's awesome! I'm finally getting started on my Beacon Hill (I know, I know, I've been saying this for months). I'm focusing on planning and finding the right wallpaper at the moment. It'll be a while before things arrive, so as funny as it sounds, I'm glad to know the sanding will take some time! 🤣

[shannonc60]

Hi Dee! I didn’t realise you were working in 1:24 scale. I have started rehabbing a Fairfield which was a real mess. The person who put it together did everything wrong - wallpaper on tabs and in slots, hot glue, no sanding, nothing is aligned, parts are crooked. It’s a real mess! But it’s a cute house so hoping I can make it passable.

Also I make my own range of 1:24 furniture and accessory kits if you were in the market for them: www.redcottageminiatures.com.

I look forward to seeing progress photos.

[Deema]

That sounds like a big job. I did another test build today to make sure all fits. I'm using Aleene's tacky and also Aleene's quick dry. Thank you for your link. 

[havanaholly]

Denise, I use blue painter's tape or masking tape to hold things together until I'm satisfied it all fits.  When I glue I use Titebond (red cap) because when it dries the wood has bonded to the other wood parts.  Even so, I think I refit the first Fairfiels I built (the right side out one) at least three times; I lost count on the one I built inside out (to make a mirror-image with a few subtle changes, since they are halves of a single Bar Harbor "summer cottage").

[Deema]

Hi Holly, I'm using masking tape and green frog painters tape for my test builds. No blue tape at the stores I was at or I would have bought that. I was too lazy to go to even more stores.I usually go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  Even masking tape is in short supply here right now. I finally found some masking tape in office supplies at the local target. They only had 4 rolls in the entire store. I bought 2. I think I'm finally ready to start building this one. I don't want to work on more than the stairs and the ceilings until I get some lights and decide where to run the wires. I copied the stairs so I can make more to go to the attic. I haven't heard of Titebond. I'll look into it. So far the only things I've actually glued was stair risers and bay windows. Nothing is glued to the house except the foundation to the floor.

BTW, at target, in schools supplies I found a tablet called Mondo Llama artist canvas. I'm wondering if that has ever been used for anything by anyone. Each sheet is the size of notebook paper but thicker. I like the texture and am trying to decide how to use it. I'm thinking it would make pretty textured wallpaper or maybe used for stone flooring or bricks. Maybe even lamp shades. 

Also, thanks to your "Queen of Spackle" Title, I went ahead and bought some.  I know I'm going to need it. 

[havanaholly]

Once you open the spackle container, cut some plastic store bags about 1" larger than the top of the container and lay it on top of the opening when you're ready to reseal it, and hammer the lid down over the piece of bag plastic to keep the remaining spackle from drying out.  I get beige masking tape and Titebond and spackling compound at the hardware store, although sometimes you can find those things at WalMart.

[KathieB]

30 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

Once you open the spackle container, cut some plastic store bags about 1" larger than the top of the container and lay it on top of the opening when you're ready to reseal it, and hammer the lid down over the piece of bag plastic to keep the remaining spackle from drying out.  

I go one step further and gently push the plastic down against the surface of the spackle to protect from the air that will dry it out.

[chapchap73]

I buy the brand of spackle that goes on pink, but dries white. It prevents me from making a bigger mess of things by not letting me sand too early😉

[Deema]

@ Holly and @ Kathie,

Thank you to both of you. I do that with shampoo and stuff when traveling, to prevent leaks, but never thought about doing it with the spackle.

Also, when I mentioned that art canvas; it's actually called Mondo Llama painters pad. There's 10 sheets, 9x12 each sheet. It's textured on both sides. Just wanted to correct myself. I know I'm not always clear about things. 

[Deema]

@chapchap73 that's a great idea too. Thank you.

[havanaholly]

Sarah, I got a container of that kind of spackle, last time before I switched to joint compound, and you're spot on about that color change letting you know not to try to sand too early.