Grand Staircase

I had a very specific idea about how I wanted the staircase to look. In order to assemble it and be able to paint in comfortably, I glued the bottom floor, back wall and side wall first, assembled the bottom half of the staircase, finished the the other walls and ceiling, then finished the second half of the staircase.

I started by cutting about 30 pieces of 1/2 inch Mdf  4" wide by 1" deep. I then had a dry run to make sure I liked the look of the staircase

When I was satisfied I glued everything down using carpenter's glue and a spacer I cut out of Mdf to make sure the depth of each step was identical. Once the lower half of the steps were solid, I added molding to create the nosing on each step.

Next, I glued the corner posts in place, added the banister, then glued 2 balusters on each step using a little carpenters glue and a drop of gel super glue. I used primed double thick posterboard to create the wall sections under the steps. When dry I painted the whole staircase with my antique gold base paint

The next step was faux walnut finishing the first half of the staircase. Again, I used oil paints mixed with liquin. A week later, just to make sure the oil paint was completely dry, I added basewood strips I had allready faux finished using Crafter's Pick "The Ultimate" glue. This is a rather thick glue which is easy to use and dries clear. I apply the glue to the back of each strip, but also add a drop of gel super glue at each end and in the center. The super glue keeps the pieces in place while the other glue sets.

Next, I finished assembling the dollhouse wall sections, glued on the last section of the staircase, corner posts, banisters and balusters, faux finished and added the remaining wood strips for the panneling. The effect is exactly what I had hoped for..and only took about 45 hours of work.