A Very Different Dollhouse

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As you progress from the first-floor walls to the second floor to the roof, avoid building ahead: First mark the placement of the side walls in order from left to right (facing the house), then use the actual distances to establish the lengths of the front walls. Glue the walls down when all six are complete.

Next, measure and build the second-floor frame to fit the existing walls. Then make the second-story outer walls, and measure for the front wall. Build that panel and the two interior walls, and glue all the pieces in place.

Use the second-floor walls to size the attic floor, and fasten the completed platform in place with adhesive. Measure and build the two gables, the front roof, and the two rear gable-end overhangs. Glue all the components together, making sure the roofs' bottom edges are even with the top edge of the attic floor. That done, make up the kitchen roof and gable, glue them in place, and fasten cut wood strips to the roof ridges to make finish crowns.

The Fine Details

All five eave edges are finished with beveled fascia boards cut from 1/2" X I" stock and fitted with short 3/4" X 1 " cornice returns. The chimney is framed with two 3/4" "-square X 32 "wood strips and covered with cardboard. Later, poster-board stones can be cut and pasted over that.

The windows and the door require more patience than any other part of the house. The casings, or wooden frameworks that fit the rough openings in the walls, go in place first; on the windows, the lower strip is angled and the outer wall beveled to fit it. Next, the outer trim is installed, then simple fivepart sashes are glued to the window casings. The raised-panel door can be made by gluing strips of poster board to a cardboard core.

The siding is cut from 1/4" strips of poster board and is overlapped 1/16" at each joint. To mount it evenly, mark off the wall corners in 11/16" increments, starting at the bottom. Then cover the fascia, cornices, and soffits with poster board, and cut 3/8" wooden strips for the corner trim and 1/4" strips for the gable fascia. If you want to spray-paint the house, do it now.

Randomly shaped poster-board stones will finish off the chimney nicely if you're sure to bend some of the pieces around the corners for the sake of realism. Gray and brown acrylic paint and a semidry brush daubing will give the stones the needed rough look.

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