Dollhouse Blogs

Saturday 11 June 2011

Building from scratch

I've built 3 dollhouses from kits. It was a great way to start and learn. By the third one I felt my work was getting pretty good:


The 3 first kit houses have been given away. I made a list of what would be the perfect miniature project:

-Front opening
-Floor plan must be realistic
-Rooms must be large enough to hold my collection

After a long search for a new kit I realised it might be easier to build one from scratch. I've always loved the charm of old English manor houses. Since my only limit was my imagination I got to work on several house plans. One day I saw a Stephen King mini-series about a haunted house that was absolutely perfect. I started to work on plans and making cardboard models...2 years later, I was finally happy with the plans and ready start work on my dream miniature house:

And here is the final cardboard model built to scale.


It's amazing how a simple little dollhouse wound up measuring 39 inches deep by 100 inches wide and 56 inches high.  I wasen't sure I could tackle such a big project, but I finally decided to go for it. I have a bit of an artistic side, so I made detailed plans, drawings and figured out exactly what I wanted the rooms to look like.





Then, I spent about a week drawing out how the pieces could fit on each sheet of Mdf. I listed each piece and their measurements and had the hardware store cut the 87 pieces out of 6 sheets of Mdf. When I got home and taped the pieces together, the result was even more daunting then the cardboard model:



It's big, but it's exactly what I had envisionned. And then the fun began...

3 comments:

  1. Fantastic plans! I love these stages of planning, sketching and cardboard models. Everything is so well thought out and beautifully drawn! Love it!

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  2. How have I not known about your blog, I spent the other night looking through it, then realised I have known about your blog, but it was in my bookmarks on the other computer, which I don't use anymore, and I forgot to transport them to this one! I recognised the card mock up and drawings :D Looked at every post, read some too and Wow! Jus amazing work Giac! Every room is fantastic, can't believe the amount of detail and work that has gone into them. I will definitely catch up on the reading over time. The marbling post, will help me with something Im doing at the moment. Thankfully, my marble bit is to be only an inch square :D

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  3. Wow! Your drawings are so precise. If you aren't, you should be an architect in real life. :)

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