*Life in Miniature*: August 2008

This month I have a great tutorial to share with you from Steve Bailey of Marietta, PA. I think of him as the Norm Abram of the mini world; you know how when you watch New Yankee Workshop, Norm just makes the most complicated things look so easy? Steve's tutorials are like that! Here he shows you how to build your own custom miniature shop or house from scratch.

"What I like best about doing a house from scratch is that you are not limited to style or shape of the building. You can just go crazy and let your imagination run wild and see what you come up with. I usually start with a rough drawing of what I have in mind and always change it a million times before I'm done!"

Tools & Materials:
½" plywood for the base
1/8" luan plywood for the walls (see notes on woods at the end of the tutorial)
pencil
square, combination square, ruler, or tape measure
Dremel
- Dremel #565 cutting attachment and a straight router bit
- Dremel V-Groove bit
Dremel #580 table saw with a fine (100-tooth) blade
scroll saw
sanding block or small wood plane
flooring and wall finishes of your choice
doors, windows, trim
paint

(And remember this: there is no more important safety rule than to wear your safety glasses!)

Click on photos for larger view and instruction details.

I usually start by making a rough pencil drawing of what I have in mind and getting the measurements so I can start cutting the wood. Remember, for 1:12 scale... 1 inch = 1 foot. If your building is 15 feet wide, that means cut the wood for the wall 15 inches. Also, remember to make your base larger that your building so you can landscape around it.

I start with the base. I like to use ½" plywood, but on this project the base is heavier because it was some material I just happened to have. Cut your base and square the edges. Sand off any sharp edges and then sand the top.

Using a pencil and a square (or a combination square, ruler, tape measure, etc.), lay out where you want the walls to go.

Using a Dremel with a #565 cutting attachment and a straight router bit, cut grooves for the walls to set in. This step may not be necessary, but I think it makes the building stronger.

Here I am dry fitting the floor. For this one I used regular floor tiles that I cut into 1" squares. It's a lot easier to do it now, before you have the building together. You can do the floors any way you like - tile, wood, etc.

For the walls, I like to use 1/8" Luan plywood. You can get a 4x8-foot sheet at your local builder supply store for about $10-$12. I usually cut it down to about 2" larger that I need to make it easier to handle. I use my Dremel #580 table saw, with a 100-tooth blade to cut the walls. I made a small table from scraps to support the wood since it it larger that the saw top. You can also use a saber saw with a hacksaw blade to cut the walls.

Here I am using an edge planer to square up the walls. I'm sure most of you don't have one of these, so if you cut the walls fairly straight, you can use a sanding block or small wood plane to fine tune the edges.

Dry fit the building again. I do this many times while I'm building a house, just to make sure I didn't goof!

I wanted the look of clapboard siding, so I made a mark every 1" up the outside walls. Then with my Dremel and a V-Groove bit, I lightly cut lines across the walls. This does take some time but I think it makes a nice look to the house. After you are done, be sure to sand the walls.

Now, using all my measuring tools, I marked where the windows & doors will go. Then I use a scroll saw to cut them out. I have a good Craftsman scroll saw, but this small one was a $5 yard sale find. It just needed a good cleaning and a new blade.

Another dry fit.

I often put wainscot or beadboard in my houses. Here I'm using wood splines that were used to connect laminate flooring years ago. Now they have the swift-lock, so they don't use these any more. A contractor friend had several cartons of these that he was going to throw away & I jumped on them! You can also use craft sticks from you craft store. I cut them to 3" an glue them on the walls. Next day a light sanding, stain and finishing. Above this I will wallpaper.

The building is starting to come together. The ceiling and roof are set on and I'm checking placement of furniture. Notice that the roof and ceiling are held up with ½" square wood that is glued to the walls. You can cut or sand these square pieces to make them look like crown molding.

I wanted the look of a tin ceiling. I glued on some of those splines to give it a textured look and then some aluminum spray paint. I also sprayed on a stenciled border. I drilled holes and mounted a string of 10 clear battery operated lights so that they poke through into the room. These can be expensive to buy, but every Christmas I see them at the Dollar Store for a buck or two, so I stock up. I hold the wires in place with the handyman's secret weapon... duct tape!

Finishing up. I painted the building with paint that I had left over from a home job. The lettering is vinyl stick on letters. For the stripes on the barber pole & corners... I painted them white & then went to my local grocery store - this is the tape they use to close the bags of fresh vegetables! I asked the manager if I could buy some and he just went in the back and gave me a handful of small rolls in different colors. The floor is down and the furniture is made. Now just the small stuff... curtains, etc.

So... that's how I made my barbershop from scratch. I have made a dozen houses this way. Each one I build, I learn something new or find an easier way to do something.

Note on woods: Many people prefer a wood like Baltic birch plywood (sometimes called crafts grade plywood) for building dollhouses. Birch has a tight grain and is finished on both sides. It can be pricey, though - a 4x8-foot sheet of Baltic could run $50 or more.

Luan is only about $10-$12 for a 4x8-foot sheet. It is only finished on one side, but since we usually paint or paper the inside... who cares. It is light but strong, easy to work with, and does not overtax power tools like some manufactured materials can do. It can be prone to splintering when cut; be sure to have a sharp, fine blade such as the 100-tooth blade in the Dremel table saw. Let the blade do the cutting... do not push or force the material through the saw. This will cause splintering.

I would say that if you are going to do a museum quality house, use the Baltic. Us poor folks are happy with luan!

I hope this helps you on your next building project.

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Handy Tips & Tricks

These tips come from the Small World group, collected in a tips contest they had a while back. There are so many that I'm breaking them into a couple of posts, so stay tuned for more!

Accessories & Furniture

Mini Tubes of Paint: Find some photos on the internet of paint in tubes, and use a graphics program to change the labels to various colors and to the right size. Print them out on plain paper and cut out. Use a roll of solder to make the tubes (easily found at any hardware store.) Cut into paint-tube lengths and glue the labels around the solder. Crimp one end to be the bottom of the tube, and glue a black seed bead to the other end for the cap. Drip a little paint just below the lid on a couple of them so they look used. You can find printies for a paint pallet and a sketch pad at Jim's Printies.

Custom Papers & Fabrics: Scrapbook papers, fabric - anything that you can put on your copy machine or scanner can be used to make custom wallpaper or wrapping papers for any occasion. If the design is too large for minis you can reduce it to mini scale in a graphics program.

Iron freezer paper onto white fabric and cut into 8 1/2 x 11-inch sheets that can be fed through your printer to create custom fabrics. You can also buy printable fabric sheets at office-supply and scrapbooking stores, but it can be expensive.

Custom Carpets: Find a picture online of a carpet you like, such as a Persian style rug. Resize in a graphics program if necessary. Print it out onto a t-shirt transfer (available at office-supply stores, Wal-Mart, etc.). Use the kind for light-colored fabrics. Iron the transfer onto the BACK side of a piece of narrow ribbed corduroy. The back of the fabric has vertical weaving that looks very similar to real carpets. Fold the extra fabric on the long sides to the back and fuse it with Wonder-Under. Fray the short sides to make the fringe on the ends. This method gives very realistic results.

Mini Fabric Patterns: If you can't find the right pattern or scale in fabric for a project, check out the wide ribbon. I found wired organdy ribbon in just the right dotted swiss pink to duplicate my childhood bedspread and also found some in "avocado green" to make curtains for the bathroom. The wire is easy to remove if it doesn't work for your project or the ribbon can be gathered on the wire if needed.

Bird Feeder: Use sequins for the top and bottom of a bird feeder. Many things can be used to create the clear tube portion, such as part of a small drinking straw, a section of a clear writing pen or some plastic tubing, or even a bead. Use tiny seeds from your spice rack to fill it with "birdseed."

Furniture Bash: An easy way to dress up cheap furniture is to add some edge molding. If you look at the furniture in your house, you'll notice that on nicer pieces, the top and the bottom pedestal usually have a nice molding edge all the way around. Strips of mini molding (2-3 feet long) are only a dollar or two, it's a good thing to keep on hand. Cove moldings and simple crown moldings can be used to finish off cheaper furnishings, around the top or bottom edges (or center if it's a 2-part piece). Once you paint or stain the entire piece, it'll look like it was made that way.

Plants

Leaves: Peel off green paper from artifical flower stems to use for leaves and also lettuce. The thin green paper that comes in a case of citrus fruit also makes nice plant leaves. A small heart punch makes nice sized philodendron leaves on a floral wire stem.

Dandelions: I scanned dandelion leaves, shrunk them down and painted the back green. Used yellow wire for the stems, made "gone to seed" by dipping the wire in glue and then white flocking.

Flowers: Use your copy machine or scanner to shrink down silk flowers and leaves and print them in the scale you need. Paint the back of them the right color so they are not white. I used a marker. Cut them out and there you go, ready to shape with a stylus and arrange.

Plant Pots: Little clear water bottle lids make great plant pots. You can paint them, or cover them with jute or hemp. Ditto for the lids from Chapsticks and other stick-type lip balms.