Doll House

[brianhabby]

I thought it about time I built this doll house I've been promising to do since my daughter was born 35 years ago...!

I am now building it for my granddaughter

I bought some plans from a firm called Hobbytrends and used one of these as the basis for this house. When I dug the plans out I found they are for 1/16th scale and I wanted to build this house to 1/12th scale since much more stuff is available in that size. So I took all the measurements, divided by 3 and multiplied by 4 - it seems to work.

So after cutting out the plywood panels here is Dale (my grandson) cutting out some of the window openings:

Much as I would like to make all the parts for this house, I decided that it simply isn't worth the effort for a lot of the fittings when they are so readily and cheaply available. So all the windows and doors have been purchased from a local toy store. Here we are ready to start putting the pieces together:

All the main pieces will be glued and pinned:

I cut trenches in the walls to take the first & second floors:

It was only after the glue had started to set up that I realised I had dropped a major clanger

Until next time

regards

Brian

 

[brianhabby]

No interest shown in this project so far - never mind I will continue to update it as I go along for anyone who may be interested.

The major clanger mentioned above is that I forgot to cut out the hole for the staircase and was concerned that there would not be enough room to work now the floors are glued in place. As it turned out my jigsaw just fitted in so all's well in the end.

You can see the internal walls in the photo below but they are not glued in yet, just a dry fit. I want to put a garage door in but this is not on the plans so still figuring out how to proceed. The internal doorways will not have any doors fitted as this doll house is meant as a toy and I think they are likely to get broken quite easily and also be in the way of play.

regards

Brian

 

[JakeS]

No interest shown in this project so far - never mind I will continue to update it as I go along for anyone who may be interested.

I hadn't noticed the thread at all, somehow... Please do keep going; my brother's expecting twin girls anytime soon, so I expect I may be pressed into doll-house manufacture sooner or later myself, I'll be watching this thread with interest!


One question, though - usually windows run from just a short distance below the ceiling to about half-way up the wall, do you know of any particular reason doll-house windows would be so much lower?

 

[brianhabby]

One question, though - usually windows run from just a short distance below the ceiling to about half-way up the wall, do you know of any particular reason doll-house windows would be so much lower?

I never even thought about the height of the windows but looking at it again I guess you're right. For this particular one it won't really make any difference but if you were making it as a true scale model and not as a toy it would be important to get these details correct.

I just had another look at the plan and the windows are positioned in this one as per that drawing.

regards

Brian

 

[JakeS]

I noticed it purely because it's a mistake I used to continuously make when drawing; I guess the people who did your plans had the same problem! ;-)

 

[MickCheese]

Brian

There's enough interest for 174 people to look at this thread.

I think it's really interesting so please keep going.

Mick

 

[powertools]

I would also like to follow this thread thanks for keeping it going without encouragement.

 

[brianhabby]

Okay guys,

Will definitely keep the thread updated. I plan on doing some more tomorrow so will let you know how I get on - that's if I don't decide to spend the day sunbathing of course, it promises to be a beautiful day before more rain on Tuesday.

regards

Brian

 

[brianhabby]

A quick update.

I've been fussing over the garage door. I want it to be an up and over door but have been trying to figure out the best approach. None of this is in the plan by the way so I have to work it out as I go along.

I looked at a commercially made version and it was a simple affair with a single pivot point (hinge) at the top. This is not how a real door opens of course and I would rather replicate the function of a real one if I can.

I have an idea in my head but it is difficult to explain so I will just describe what I am doing - It will either work or it won't. So these are the pieces of the mechanism:

I have some round plastic bar about 1 quarter inch diameter and a couple of pieces of this will serve as the pivot points. You can see them glued to a couple of hardwood bearers in the above photo. They are now glued to the inside of the door:

regards

Brian

 

[Lons]

Keep it coming please Brian.
It's on my list after the toybox so watching with interest.

My granddaughter looks pleased already even though she's only 10 weeks old :wink: :lol:
.

 

[Harbo]

One thing to remember is not to make things too fiddly or fragile especial where young children are involved - 'cause they will break them?

And they are not into everything being absolutely accurate to the originals - keep things simple.
My father made one for my daughters, many moons ago, that was so complicated they soon gave up on it - it still resides in my loft where it's been for 30yrs.

Here's a couple I made for my two younger Granddaughters and have survived quite constant play for the last two years:

Rod

 

[brianhabby]

Rod,

I definitely take on board what you say about keeping it simple, it's for playing with at the end of the day.

I know I'm probably fussing a bit with the garage door but if it works as I hope it will then most of the time it will be open and tucked inside out of harms way. The other method is to have two vertically hinged doors but I thought they would be more vulnerable when open.

I notice you have hinged the front opening on yours. Have you had any issues with this construction. I was thinking of having the front panel slide in and out.

BTW, I should have posted this at the beginning of this thread but here is a scan from the original plan & you can see the space on the right where the garage will be:

The space above the garage door is to be open plan with a balcony & rail so no door or window here.

regards

Brian

 

[Harbo]

Brian the hinges work fine and have survived 2 yrs with a (now) 5yr old and an 8yr old.

Because I made two, I used 1/16th scale and managed to buy sets of wooden furniture (20 plus pieces) for about £20 from Hobbys and some "to scale" families.
The external doors and windows are Hobbys too. Internal door handles are the coloured marker pins cut to length.
The roof tiles are made from overlapping thin card cut in strips.
Colour scheme was from emulsion test pots we had but you can get all sorts of wall paper, floor coverings, brick work etc etc.

I keep meaning to make some stands for them, but another TUIT?

Rod

 

[brianhabby]

Well, the other reason to build this doll house arrived on Thursday evening - 5 weeks early at just 4 pounds!!!

Mum & baby are doing well and still in Derby hospital as I write this

regards

Brian

 

[brianhabby]

I've been fiddling with the garage door today - started to glue the various bits together:

The screws you see are temporary until I was satisfied that everything works okay.

When I held the main parts together with small clamps (no glue) as a test and it works really well...

This door mechanism is just a pile of plywood strips fastened together and I am pleased with the way it turned out. I left it after doing a final glue up so will show photos of that next time.

regards

Brian

 

[Lons]

Garage door looks great Brian.

Now you just need to fit an electric motor to it :wink:

Great stuff - keep it coming

Bob

 

[brianhabby]

Garage door looks great Brian.

Now you just need to fit an electric motor to it :wink:

Great stuff - keep it coming

Bob

Thanks but I think I'll give that one a miss, although you're not the first to suggest it

regards

Brian