Construction Tips
Table of Contents
Cutting
Tips
Cutting
the Platform Steps
Creating Background Scenes
When cutting wood there are several things you need to
keep in mind:
Keeping measurements accurate:
First … you need to work with a sharp pencil with a hard lead or your
lines can be thick enough to throw your figures way off.
Avoiding cut fingers: Be sure
you have a sharp blade on your craft knife.
You are less likely to cut yourself with a new sharp blade, since you do
not need to apply so much pressure (I like the knives with the pop-off blades –
when one gets dull, just snap it off and you have another sharp blade).
Avoiding splits: When you cut out a small area cut across the
grain section first, and then with the grain – if you cut with the grain first
the wood will split in that direction and you will have an incorrectly shaped
piece.
Cutting
straight lines: It can be tricky
cutting the 1/16” wood straight, though it sounds simple enough. If cutting with a knife, scribe the cut
lightly the first time, then a bit deeper.
I usually make about three or four passes at it to avoid splitting the
wood.
Buy extra
blades and wood: I see people
sometimes putting real brute strength into cutting a thin piece of wood. Rather, put some pennies into a lot of nice
new blades and, if necessary, extra wood – don’t ruin the project at the start
with a crooked cut! Take your
time. Don’t rush it! The key is:
go easy and make several light strokes in the same spot.
Rulers: Though a cork-backed ruler does not slip, it
is not recommended for this project because it raises the edge up off your wood. Be sure to keep your blade even with the
side of the ruler. What I ended up
doing was holding the plain metal ruler very firmly on the wood and making a
scribe with the blade. Repeat several
times … then remove the ruler and finish the cut. I realize this has been said before, but it is very important!
Suggestion: If you
are unfamiliar with cutting wood, experiment a bit. A strip of 3” wide 1/16” wood will do the project with wood to
spare.
You will find that the easiest way to make the steps is
by layering and cutting the outside pattern each time.
In other words:
Cut the platform piece for the
top step
Then cut the same piece with
the added area for the middle step
Do the same for the bottom
step
This method is much easier than trying to cut the steps
and adding them to the platform piece.
See pattern in the blueprints page.
Suggestions:
Please, look at the details
found in the Golden Christmas Book, if you have it.
Also, look at The Art of
Finishing A 144th Dollhouse Kit Like A Professional workbook, if you
have it.
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Creating Background Scenes:
Reducing the Size of Artwork
To create the scene I reduced two 8” x 10”
calendar scenes to 12%. I put one scene
on the back wall and the complimentary scene on the sidewall. Also a second identical scene that I
“blended in with this one as it was a hair narrow … in other words, the side
wall takes about 1 ˝ pictures. As mine
was trees with snow on them, I overlapped to where it looked OK and taped the
two together. Fitted for the length of
space I had and removed the excess.
Another technique for
background scenes is to
duplicate the scene in a desktop publishing program and “mirror” the image by
“flipping” it. This technique is also
good for creating scenes that will go in a corner, with the place where both
pictures meet placed right in the corner.
Be sure to glue your scene AFTER you have
constructed walls and platform and fitted them but BEFORE you glue them into
the room!
Acknowledgements
The how-to
tips that appear on this page were contributed by Artisans
Anita McNary-Haynes and Frances Armstrong
MSAT Micro Minis List
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Last revised: January 2002