After my little rant in my last post, I am feeling better.

I think we have all been there: a project gone wrong, a build that had problems from the beginning. I have learned along the way with all my projects be they lesson plans that went haywire or a sewing project or now a miniature house, patience is a virtue. I find that if I step away for a while, I can usually get a new perspective and new vision of what has to be done. Sometimes it only takes 5 minutes or in the case of the San Fran, months. I was going at all wrong, wanting to finish the turret first, but when I returned this week to the project and reviewed the instructions, this time stumbling on a copy online, I realized that I had it all wrong.

The floors and interior walls needed to go in first to stabilize the exterior walls. The house is wonky because I didn't know what I was doing from the beginning, but in all fairness, the design is poor. The vertical support beams gave me a lot of problems and that's where it all went south. And once the glue was set, that's way it would be. Wonky.

I have spent the last couple of days working on the floors and the interior walls. They still are not glued in place, but I am confident that they will fit nicely.

Looking from the top down, the house looks together, but it will have a lot of cosmetic surgery along the way to cover up it's blemishes.

Using my extra wide clamp to squeeze the walls into place, the floors and walls begin to stay in place.

While the clamp is great, it is cumbersome, so I also use painter's tape that sometimes loses its grab.

There's quite a gap to fix. The kit comes with exterior trim, so the trip will cover the gap on the outside and I'll come up with fix inside. 

The floors have to be leveled, so using a little level that I am able to move around the floor, I will be able to get floor level--a problem that I've not had with the MFD wood kits.

Is this half a bubble off? More like an entire bubble.

The floors are an odd assembly, coming in two pieces. I have glued them together, but they are unstable and don't stay in place very well even with the wall glued on.

The first time around I didn't know what to do this inch wide pieces. The instructions called it a 'splice' which to me meant that it went between the two pieces, so that's how I glued. Wrong. Rereading the instructions today I realized that it is actually a support beam, which also accounted for the notched edges on the walls. Now the floor has more stability and fits better.

Because the walls are so thin, they are hard to glue in place, but with a little support, once the glue sets, the wall is in place.

Now for the ceiling. I'm letting glue set now. I'm working on this house in the garage, so once the sun goes down, there's not good light to work. So tomorrow I'll dry fit the roof. Won't that be fun?

There have been other issues, too. Like the stairs. There are two sets. As I dry fit them, I realized that is one is not assemble correctly. The stairs over lap. So now what?

 The treads need to be even so that they fit against the wall.

First I tried to cut the excess away on the scroll saw, but the light was poor and I couldn't see well enough to make good cuts.

I decided then to use my hand saw. Nope. That didn't work either.

I decided that I had to use the power tool. And this time with better results.

I kept my fingers out of the way and wore my safety classes.

The treads are bit ragged, but it's a haunted house.

A bit of sanding cleaned up the rough edges. 

I am feeling better about this build. Still, the turret makes me really nervous.

And then there is the furniture. That is another story for another time.

Thanks for stopping by, and Jodi, I so appreciate your encouragement and you hugs. Thank you. 

What a Mess

I titled my garden blog last week "The Party's Over," and I am so glad that our social obligations are done with. We hosted a 50th class reunion in our barn Aug. 2nd and wedding last week, so yes the party is over. I took a long break from my dollhouses while we prepared for the two super events. We really don't entertain that much, but this was a big summer full of events.

I knew that when I went back to the little houses I would work on the Dura-craft San Franciscan with hopes of getting it finished to hand off to my daughter. I've written a little about it before, but let me tell you now my real feelings.

It is a mess. An awful mess. To review: my dear friend meant well when he paid $5. for the house in a tub. It had been started, but the lady said that she got overwhelmed by the project, and now I can see why. I have have really bungled it up.


First, the instructions are hard to follow. There are too many pieces with too many numbers and letters. It's just easier to look at a drawing without out all of the labeling. Right?

Next it is the very thin plywood that splinters and has to be punched out of flat sheets. There are over twenty boards that contain parts to punch out, resulting in a lot of splinters. Too many parts.

                

Nothing fits partly because I just didn't position pieces correctly and the glued them in the wrong place.

I have been focusing on how to add the turret, but after reviewing the instructions (always read the instructions.) To be quite honest, I did read them, but I have not worked on this house for months so now I am having to re familiarize myself with the parts.

Part of a good building strategy is to dry fit parts, right?

Rather difficult with these old kits.

I am trying to figure out the roof. I think that I have to install the 3rd floor first which does not fit because the house is uneven, so I have to figure out how to square it and make the floor fit before I can add the roof.

I don't think is what is meant by 'kit bashing' is it?

I have this large gap between floor and outside wall. UGH!

And the kit is short the siding. I've been able to purchase some but I need more to finish the turret.

The gaps just cause so many problems.

This is a side wall that wasn't glued in place. No. I cannot unglue it. Tried that.

I wondering if I should glue the floor to the cardboard? 

So there you have it. A real mess. I hope to have this house actually finished so that I can give it to my daughter who wants to make it into a haunted house, so she doesn't mind the mistakes.

A note now to the wise: There are 3 Dura craft models for this San Franciscan house. This one is # 555. Avoid this kit. AVOID THIS KIT.  I have a second one to build that is made out of the MFD wood that will go together so much easier. If you must build this house, look for the updated models. 

I'll be back, hopefully having made some progress. 

Thanks for joining me.