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Houseboat in half scale


KathieB

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Well, the Bullrush frog family arrived today and they are two cute for words. They are also in 1:24 scale. The houseboat is, of course, in 1:12 scale. I'm figuring this project is so wacky that it will probably never succeed, so I may as well share the fun and reap the benefits of your observations and suggestions.

Have any of you bashed a kit to the point that the scale changed? All hints welcome! :birthday:

I've started the blog. Not much in it yet. Expect to spend some time sketching and watching the frogs hop around in the kit components to get a feel of how they fit together.

(LOL!!! I just noticed an option to create a poll for this post. I don't believe I want to know what y'all think about the state of my mind. I'll just fiddle along in my own little fanatasy land here. ... oh, meeeee!)

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Converting the houseboat to 1:24 would either involve shortening it to accomodate two stories or making a Noah's Ark out of it (hmm, now THERE'S a thought...).! If you make a poll I'll vote. We all understand where some of your thoughts come from, even if we don't all go there...

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Hey Kathy you are not alone with changing from one scale to another

Cat did this with the primrose and it turned out to cute!

I know you can do it!

I cant wait to see how you decide to do it!

sounds like a fun project!

nutti :birthday:

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I had a house half bashed to make it 1/2 scale. Changed my mind and now have to unbash it. I had used a smaller scale staircase, lowered the 2nd floor (the original attic was low and small) so both floors were equal. I left the front door alone. There are houses at the end of the street with 10 and 12 foot tall doors. I made an extra front porch step. I have furniture that would be fine for either scale. I think scale is all in the accessories. My house has both 8' and 10' ceilings. My daughter's house has 24' ceilings.

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I'm thinking there will be two floors inside and the top deck will be converted into a conservatory/master bedroom suite. I have my eye on some cute 1/2 scale door/window components at HBS, including a little bay window for Lydia's kitchen, for her potted herbs. I'm going to get the components with some of my prize money, so I need to work out a pretty accurate inventory.

Holly, the Noah's Ark idea sounds like great fun. Go for it, gal!

Deana, I think you're right about the scale being in the details. Just look at the Keebler elves and their oak trees! LOL!

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i think you can, i think you can. :ohyeah: why not? from what i've seen, the No. 1 Ladies can do just about anything.

and anyhow, who's to say what scale is right for frogs? hey! that's right, you are who's to say.

ps: i don't have any hard evidence to support this Keebler tree theory but i think that it is very likely that tree magic is involved.

those trees are much, much roomier inside than they appear on the outside, and are similar to the wizards' cars and the camping tents in Harry Potter books.

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Holly, the Noah's Ark idea sounds like great fun. Go for it, gal!
Not I, but anyone planning to enter this year's Creatin' Contest who hasn't been slapped upside of the face with an idea, you're welcome to that one!

those trees are much, much roomier inside than they appear on the outside, and are similar to the wizards' cars and the camping tents in Harry Potter books.
And Dr Who's Tardis.
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  • 1 month later...

Okay ... a month later, and I think I have a plan. I've spent the past two days dry-fitting and sketching and measuring <ooooooh, my head hurts just thinking about it!>. This li'l houseboat now has a baker's dozen rooms give or take, and I have some scale drawings to work with. I scanned my drawings and put them in my blog. It will be fun to see how close this initial inspiration comes to the finished project. :p

I'll be adding 2 inches to the walls and putting the wheelhouse on the top deck. That will give the equivalent of 10-foot ceilings. Very elegant for a houseboat.

Lower deck:

Foyer

Parlor

Dining Room

Kitchen

Pantry/Laundry

Library

Ballroom (2-stories high, with a skylight!)

Middle deck:Master Bedroom

Bath

Nursery

Boy's bedroom

Hallway

Music/billiards room

Balcony for musicians (overlooking the ballroom, of course)

The upper deck:

Wheelhouse

Landscaped area (potted flowers & vegetables)

BBQ area

Playground for the children

Now that I know how many windows and doors I'll need, how much baseboard, crown molding, etc, I'll need, I can sharpen my pencil and get the list going for HBS. That gift certificate is going to come in handy! And it appears I'm going to be doing some serious shopping in Chicago, too! :yikes:

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Kathie -

Your ideas for the houseboat sound wonderful. I especially like that the upper deck will be landscaped and have a play area for the little froggies. They'll need lots of green space to play leapfrog. :yikes:

-Susanne

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Kathie, yous plans sounds absolutley grande, and I can't wait to see the building progress. Major envy (in a good way LOL) for your trip to Chicago show, and also looking forward both hearing of and seeing what you might find there!!!

Hugs

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Was the issue ever in doubt? Better than being in your left mind.

:wave: When I was in college, I was the darling of the psych students when it came time to find guinea pigs for testing. On the right brain/left brain tests, instead of being skewed to the left or right, my graph turned out a perfect bell curve. One of the professors called me in and tested me herself, as she was sure the students must have been making some kind of error. They weren't!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've found nursery, kitchen, bath furniture, kits to make a library table and chair, and some other odds and ends. I can see it taking shape in my mind. Bought a laser-cut kit for a wonderful Victorian bed and a round table for the master bedroom. Can't wait to get back home and start in again.

Found a lady who has half-scale kits for making lamps. I have some nifty beads for bases, so making those should be fun. :wub:

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  • 2 weeks later...

The fun continues ... see the rickety mock-up staged in the newest Houseboat blog entry. This really is more fun than ought to be allowed by law. :)

Edit: Sorry, the blog was set to Private. I've opened it up to the world now. :)

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oh, ooooooo, they're wonderful!

and whew, am i glad to see those drawings! when i'd looked before, i could not find them and i looked and looked, to no avail...

so i figured that i was doing something wrong :blink: and said that the plans sound wonderful, b/c i couldn't actually see them.

your drawings and written plans are exciting! and the photos of the staging and progress all seem to be coming together well - give or take a pontoon cover. ooo, i am very curious to see your Davinci Code pyramid, too!

this is fascinating fun. :(

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well thats what you say but I still dont see anything new.

picture of boat and the froggies

wassup?

nutti :(

Look in the Houeboat Blog. The Gallery has only boat & froggies.

And my apologies to those who earlier looked in vain. I overlooked the tick box that opens it to the public.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I bit the bullet and used the gift certificate from the Creatin' Contest to buy a lot of goodies for the houseboat, mainly components (windows, doors, siding, etc) and lighting fixtures. A LOT of lighting fixtures. Tricky me waited for the 20%-off sale, so I got 20% more bang for the buck, so to speak. Two big boxes ... like Christmas! (Not all houseboat stuff .... also got the room boxes, windows, and furniture to start on the seasonal room boxes. More about that when I get started on them.)

The pontoons are finished but for a bit of pinstriping, and the main deck is glued into place. The main deck has a stubborn warp, but gluing it to the struts and weighting it down will gallon cans of paint seems to have done the trick, except for the extreme stern, which still turns up a bit if you catch it in the right light. I don't think the frogs will mind. The center, where the superstructure will go, is flat.

Will get some photos later.

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