Newport – upgrading the stairs

The stairs that come with the Newport kit are made of mdf and needed to be assembled from three individual pieces. Since I planned to flip the stairs to accommodate the two story addition on the right side, I applied spackling to the back of the stair assembly to hide the seams.

I wanted the look of painted stair risers with stained wood treads, so I painted the entire assembly white (several coats with sanding in between to remove the “fuzziness” that mdf can get when painted) and then masked off the treads. I painted a base coat of brown and then did three layers of paint and glaze in two other colors of brown.

The faux wood attempt turned out well save for one small problem. No matter how well masked, the lines between the white and brown were not sharp enough for me. Any stray marks are especially obvious on a miniature scale and can ruin the illusion.

I looked into buying replacement stairs, but nothing fit as well as the parts that came with the kit. I still didn’t want to give up on the idea of having wood treads, so I first scraped off the front lip on the individual stairs that was meant to represent the tread and then sanded off most of the paint I had previously applied.

I added some fretwork since I didn’t care for the look of the plain stringer that came with the kit.

These are delicate laser cut pieces that were a chore to remove without breaking. I broke quite a few of them but since they were being glued to a flat surface, you couldn’t tell they were pieced.

To finish off the bottom edge, I added a piece of 1/8″ x 1/4″ strip wood.

I painted the entire assembly white, leaving some mdf exposed on the tops. I cut individual treads from a length of strip wood with a rounded edge and repeated the paint and glaze process I had originally done for the faux wood finish on these pieces.

Once dry, I glued the treads in place. There will be a railing further along in the build, but I love the way this turned out.

It’s exactly what I had in mind.

Categories: The Newport
November 8, 2009 | 0 comments

Newport garage, part 1

Though the Newport was sold eventually, I’ve compiled some of the posts I made when I first started building it.

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The garage is made from the Foxhall Conservatory kit by Real Good Toys. I bought some 3/8″ Baltic birch plywood to replace the two pre-cut walls that came with the kit. I also lowered the whole structure by using the spacers included in the kit as the foundation. A friend with a jig saw helped me cut the walls down from their original height of 12″ to a new height of 10 15/16″. This height allowed for most of the original trim from the conservatory kit to still be used on the outside without the garage having too high of a ceiling on the inside. It also accommodated the height of the doorway into the kitchen. The stairs originally meant for the front porch of the conservatory will serve as the entry stairs to the kitchen from the garage.

Finding a Timberbrook garage door kit was an adventure. The few places that had them online were sold out. I called several local dollhouse shops and happened to find a store with one left in stock. I heard from one shop owner that Timberbrook is either out of business or selling their business. It’s a shame, too, since it is a good quality kit.

I’ve tried three cars for this space during the building phase. The first goes back to my original hobby of building model cars. Instead of making them showroom new, I would beat them up and make them the type of cars that make you wonder how they are still running. :D One of the first ones I built was a Datsun 240Z. So, when I happened upon a diecast metal 1970 Datsun 240Z in bright orange, I decided to go for it.

It is a beautiful model, but it is too small for the garage space. Usually 1:18 scale cars can hold their own with a 1:12 scale house, but the Datsun is a small sports car in real life making this particular car smaller than most 1:18 scale models. Now the Datsun sits on a display shelf instead.

The second one I tried was a 1:14 scale remote control Audi TT. I like this one better for size but mostly for the fact that it has working lights (though annoyingly only when in motion). However, it’s a cheap, plastic car lacking in detail when compared to the Datsun. It is, after all, made to be driven fast and bumped into walls. :]

The Timberbrook garage kit is made of wood, so I painted the track pieces a mix of medium grey and iridescent silver. For the walls, I am planning to use scrapbook paper for finishing. I could paint, but it is difficult to get a smooth finish without brush strokes and other imperfections that ruin the illusion in a miniature setting. The paper here is by Martha Stewart in a color called swan, a very pale green (currently unattached until I finish the floor and add other elements). I decided not to have the egg carton stone finish on the exposed foundation of the house, figuring it would most likely be covered when putting on an addition.  I did, however, paint it medium grey to blend with the stairs.

When I first started planning the Newport, I was a bit overwhelmed by the concept of electrification. After reviewing the types available, I opted for the round wire — or hard wire — technique. The main reason was I wanted the ability to have some lights on and others off, not all or nothing.

The lights I chose for the garage interior have twin bulbs and a wood cover that stays in place by magnets, connecting to a metal plate that is fixed to the ceiling.

Testing out the position of the lights. This layout will light the entire garage and the garage door will obscure only one light when open.

I used the miniature recycle bin to hold the tiny parts as I worked. It snaps closed, so no worrying about losing pieces.

I wasn’t crazy about the wood look of the lights, but choices for garage lighting were limited. On top of that, one of the wood covers had a large imperfection in the finish. After a bit of sanding to remove the varnish and some black paint, I had two modern garage fixtures.

I am so excited that my first attempt at electrification was a success!

After perusing countless finished garage photos online, I decided to attempt the look of a vinyl floor liner. There are different types, colors and patterns, with one popular choice being black and white checkerboard. It does make a statement, but I wanted to go with something more subtle, like the look of grey coin-patterned vinyl floors.

If I thought dollhouse garage lights were limited, flooring options beyond paint were even tougher to find. To my knowledge, there wasn’t any material out there that I could use as is to mimic the look of vinyl flooring, so I decided to use black and white hexagon tile sheets by Handley House. They are made of heavy embossed paper that I thought would translate well after some grey paint and matte sealer spray.

Here’s the paper layout along with two test swatches of paint. The one on the right is the same medium grey I used to paint other portions of the garage. The one on the left is medium grey toned down with an equal amount of white paint. Overall, the scale of the hexagonal pattern works well.

Since there isn’t a piece of hexagon tile flooring on the market that would allow me to cover the entire floor surface without seaming, I decided any seams should look more planned than accidental and sloppy. I covered as wide a space as I could down the middle, front edge to back edge. I used Yes! paste to affix the paper to the plywood floor. (Note: I no longer recommend Yes paste – I use Wallpaper Mucilage instead.  Yes paste has problems with longevity.)

I then added a piece on either side to cover the remaining floor. The seams are still visible, but they will be mostly covered by garage items.

I didn’t like either of the color swatches I had done so I mixed mostly medium grey with some white and a dash of Payne’s grey. How’s that for an precise recipe? ;] The paint disguised the seams fairly well but caused some minor buckling in the paper where I hadn’t put enough paste, so I lifted the paper while it was still flexible and put more paste down. Problem solved.

After the paint dried, I sprayed on a light coat of matte sealer. Contrary to the name, the spray creates a fine satin sheen and becomes glossier the more you spray. The effect turned out exactly the way I had hoped.

The seams are far less noticeable since they don’t break the long line from the garage opening to the back.

Categories: The Newport
November 4, 2009 | 0 comments

Newport study with fireplace, part 1

Though the Newport was sold eventually, I’ve compiled some of the posts I made when I first started building it.

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The first floor room of the two story addition will be a study. The Newport kit didn’t come with fireplaces or chimneys, but I would like to have at least one fireplace. Most of the manufactured designs I’ve found don’t fit what I want (other than one very expensive one, of course), so I plan to make my own. There are several how to books out there, some more complicated than others, so I should be able to come up with something more along the lines of what I want.

I drew a rough sketch of a fireplace on paper without considering the accuracy of the scale for the front opening or mantle. I just wanted to get an idea of the look to see if I wanted to pursue the construction of the fireplace or not.

The exterior wall isn’t really conducive to having a chimney run from the ground up past the roof. I am using a one inch depth on the mockup, which would translate into one foot in real life. This will allow for a mantle large enough to decorate without taking up too much floor space. In the drawing, I have the chimney breast above the fireplace extending forward since it was easier to fold the paper to fit doing it that way. The end result, however, will be a separate fireplace unit that sits in front of the chimney breast wall.

The three chairs and desk in the room were given to me by the friend who helped me cut my garage wall panels. I have some other ideas for this room, so I will likely use these pieces elsewhere, but they helped with the basic layout of the room.

After my initial paper mockup, I decided I liked the look of the chimney breast. Still wanting a small depth overall, I made a foam core board mockup only 1/2″ deep. The mantelpiece has a depth of 9/16″ with the top having a slight overhang. I like the scale of it overall, so I will likely build my final pieces based on this model. I taped the lights in place and cut a sample painting from a catalog. The miniature elephants are wood pieces I’ve had for over twenty years.

After creating the egg carton stone foundation, I knew I would be able to simulate brick for the fire box and front of the fireplace. So, I took some wood pieces and created my own design for the mantel. I bought a strip of window casing trim specifically for the mantel, but the rest of the miscellaneous pieces were either extras or scrap wood from the build.

I like the result for looks and the fact that it was much more economical than a purchased fireplace.

I followed the same egg carton brick technique I used for the stonework on the foundation. Here is the layout of the unpainted bricks. The unfinished wood in the center will be cut out to create the fire box.

Categories: The Newport
October 18, 2009 | 0 comments

Miniature Miele kitchen appliances

There are some fabulous miniatures on the market, and some carry “fabulous” prices. The miniaturist hobby itself can be pricey as a lot of little (pardon the pun) things add up. I’ve budgeted in some areas to be able to afford the more expensive items I want. In order to save money, I will be building a lot of the basic furniture myself, and I have found some good deals on craigslist and eBay for other things. I am getting ready to start building and decorating the kitchen, so I bought these miniature Miele appliances.

Both are battery operated and make sounds.  The oven also lights up, and the dishwasher came with the yellow dishes.

Categories: Miniatures, The Newport
October 10, 2009 | 0 comments