Working on a dollhouse

[Alisamer]

29 minutes ago, FecundFundieFundus said:

@PumaLover I'm not sure what the scale is, butnif it's for both your enjoyment and for kids to play with I've seen people turn Ikea Kallax-like shelves (storage shelves with the 12" square shelves) or similar into dollhouse rooms. With overhead lights your set ups are decorative but still accessible (and sturdy enough) to be played with. 

Those are great - and if you just want light to light up the place, Ikea has lots of under cabinet lighting that can be added to those. They also make (or at least made at one point) Kallax cabinet inserts with glass doors, which is nice for keeping dust out. I have a couple of those inserts with Transformers in them.

My dolls are (mostly) bigger, so I went with Ikea Pax units. I've not done much new with their habitat recently, I'm working on writing their stories. But I am working on a big house organization for me, so I'm sure at some point I'll get to doing more with their rooms, too.

And way back in the back of my head, I hope to eventually, someday, do a nicer display for my Transformers. I've seen someone use part of a computer tower as an interior for that purpose, and it looked very cool.

@PumaLover i think Puki Puki dolls, or at least Realpukis from Fairyland are similar in scale, so seeing what people have done with those might inspire some ideas? Also I think at one point American Girl made room boxes that are close to that scale - I think they're hard to come by, but might be worth keeping an eye out for. Ikea has their own doll furniture that is pretty nice - might be a smidgen big but some of it would work I'm sure, for a more modern look. I agree to pick a scale that works and try to go with that. I love scouring thrift stores for accessories and stuff. My pirates actually have working, in-scale brass telescopes and a sextant, and working compasses from the jewelry making section at michaels.

And speaking of Ikea doll furniture - anyone working in a 1/4 scale or so who wants a nice bed cheap, the Ikea one is great! You really have to cut a couple inches off the legs, and I also cut the footboard so it wasn't identical to the headboard, and put the wooden base in upside down, and it turned out pretty nice. 

Spoiler

Drawer dividers make good shelving units, turned on their sides.

[Palimpsest]

Yay!  Action on the dollhouse thread. 

14 hours ago, PumaLover said:

Lastly I am not sure what scale the Critters are. The adults are roughly 3 1/4" tall. The van is 9" long. 

I'm going to guess 1:16 scale is the closest.   More info here.  https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/dolls-house-and-miniatures-scale-2365457

I work in 1:24 and I think it will definitely be too small for the calico critters.  I was given a 3" doll and she overwhelms the furniture and looks wrong next to the doorways.  I'd go for 1:12 for pre-made houses and furniture.  They are critters after all so it doesn't have to be exact - and it is easier to adapt things down than make them bigger.  As @Spanger said, calculating the dimensions down from real life houses and furniture isn't that hard either. 

Also be aware that the scales aren't necessarily consistent across manufacturers especially for furniture.

IME, the most common scales used in the US now at miniature shows are 1:12 and 1:48, although Micro is getting more popular.   I find 1:24 harder and harder to get hold of - but that is good.  It forces me to make my own things from scratch.    And I do have sources in the UK where 1:24 is much more popular.

I use house shell kits (and modify them) because I can't saw in straight line for more than a few inches, and when you price the materials and cost of plans for building from scratch the expense escalates alarmingly.  I decided that the kits were worth it.

So you might want to a look at a few house kits - the Greenleaf ones are the most affordable.  I had a bad experience with the Greenleaf village and can't recommend them.   It came warped, off-line, and was made of substandard splintering plywood.  I had to sand my brains out, use copious amounts of wood putty, and even replace a couple of floors.  It was a brand new kit (unopened box) but bought at a consignment store for pennies,  so I couldn't return to Greenleaf.  A lot of people really like Greenleaf though.

I like Real Good Toys and Earth and Tree dollhouse kits.  They are basically heirloom quality and go together easily.  I think Earth and Tree has a modern house that might fit your needs. 

Or as @FecundFundieFundus says you could modify a piece of furniture.  The original dollhouses were cabinets, after all.

[FecundFundieFundus]

@Alisamer It's been a while since I've held a Transformer, but Ikea just came out with some new hanging display boxes that are really cute! 

These would actually be ridiculously great for dollhouse room displays- you can see it from all sides. 

[FecundFundieFundus]

@Palimpsest Where do you get your half scale/1:24 dolls? I don't have a 3D printer so I was thinking about maybe trying to make some with polymer clay, but I'd like to have a "real" set to compare scale to (with all of my copious spare time ?). 

If I buy a kit, I think I'd like to do half scale so that we can put die cast cars and G scale trains in if we want. 

 

 

[Palimpsest]

8 minutes ago, FecundFundieFundus said:

@Palimpsest Where do you get your half scale/1:24 dolls? I don't have a 3D printer so I was thinking about maybe trying to make some with polymer clay, but I'd like to have a "real" set to compare scale to (with all of my copious spare time ?). 

If I buy a kit, I think I'd like to do half scale so that we can put die cast cars and G scale trains in if we want. 

Yes to the G scale!

Dolls - I don't have any at the moment!  My dollhouse has imaginary inhabitants  The imaginary occupants do have cats and dogs because I scored 12 half scale animals off Ebay for $8 for the lot.  That lot included a 1:12 scale monster (and rather mean looking) chihuahua who is looking for a new home if anyone is interested.  Free to a good home, but I will check your references.  (Joke!)

I've never found any supposed half scale dolls that look small enough to me for my house.  The 3" one was horribly out of proportion but she was quite crudely made (I hope the giver doesn't read this.)

I think the adults should be 2.5" to 3" max.  I fool about with polymer clay too.  I haven't attempted a doll yet but it would absolutely be possible.

BUT! I just remembered.  I  have a bare-ass-nekkid half scale doll that I haven't dressed yet because I thought she was a bit too big too.  Let me look through my stash and get back to you on the maker.  It was Ellen something ...

[FecundFundieFundus]

Diorama companies produce figures in that scale for diecast car collectors, but the figures are, um, something all right... 

Spoiler

Edit: found a link with an okay overview for figure sculpting! It's not a step-by-step, but he gives some good hints for newbies like me (and possibly other newbs who are lurking on the thread!) for how to sculpt clay on top of armatures. https://davidneat.wordpress.com/tag/modelling-small-scale-figures/

[Palimpsest]

Precisely.  Porno dollies.

Also I look for dolls (in my price range and I am cheap frugal) that can be dressed in 1716 or 1865 clothes.

[LilMissMetaphor]

So it's not a dollhouse, and I am ridiculously bad at scale, but I love gnome homes and fairy houses and fisherman's villages.  This is one I put together in the summer.  The base is a split piece of wood that I painted blue to imitate ocean where the bark had peeled away.  

[Palimpsest]

 

35 minutes ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

So it's not a dollhouse, and I am ridiculously bad at scale, but I love gnome homes and fairy houses and fisherman's villages. 

Oh, fairy houses and gardens are just magical.  Who cares about scale.

OK, I defy you all not to reach for tissues on this one.  I cried like a baby,

(Trigger warning, child death, but really inspirational for all crafters, miniaturists, loving people, and survivors)

 

 

[Palimpsest]

@FecundFundieFundus, before I forget, my naked half scale doll came from here:   http://ellensworld.net/home.  Look at page 12 of the catalog.  Ellen's classes are for dressing the dolls, not making them, IIRC, but if you meet her at a show she is a fount of information.  I doubt she sells her molds though.  She is a very nice person, BTW.

There are also various elaborate dressed porcelain dolls that you can find on Etsy and Ebay that retail from around  $100 to - the sky's the limit - from doll-makers. 

And Scale Design is a good resource for 1:24 and smaller items.  They sometimes have a few nice looking dolls:    https://half-scale-miniatures.com/shop/

[FecundFundieFundus]

Oh my god why are there so many horrifying miniatures out there though?? Something tells me Ellen's niceness is contingent on if she perceives you as white

Racism warning- 

Spoiler

Kind faced, portly Mammy doll for sale in 2018. And a doll titled "black man" despite all the other dolls either having names or descriptions based on their dress. 

I kinda always thought this was a wholesome nerdy hobby Stripping prostitute dolls, exaggerated porn star dolls and gross racial stereotypes from my grandparents era are not what I was expecting. Thanks for looking up who made your figure but I will not be giving her my business. 

[Melissa1977]

I knew I shouldn't have visited this thread!!! 

Now I need so badly to take a 6 months vacation to spend my days building these houses! And creating families. And neighbourhoods. A whole city.

[Alisamer]

@FecundFundieFundus Those boxes are definitely on my list of things to watch! One of my doll-collecting friends has all sorts of vintage boxes and drawers on the walls as shelves, and they're gorgeous. I think these Ikea ones will look just as cool. but be a bit lower profile.

@LilMissMetaphor that is so pretty! I love fairy gardens, and finally put my own together at work. There's a running creek (but it's losing water again, so I may have to re-do it for a third time...) and the house lights up. It's made of coke bottles, scrap cardboard, paperclay, popsicle sticks, and dowels. I just put some grow lights over it for the winter, clipped to that shelf above it.

 

[Spanger]

Just wanted to drop off this link that Mr. Spanger showed me today.  I’ll have to learn more about this lady, I really like the way she makes everything cluttered and used-loooking.  I’m definitely stealing some ideas for my Jana dollhouse.

Possibly NSFW- it’s all just miniatures, but it’s minatures of things that are NSFW, so... do what’s best for you.

https://nypost.com/2018/11/08/artist-makes-tiny-dildos-maxi-pads-condoms-and-bongs/

Also, tiny update on my house- I’ve got the final round of pre-fab structure clamping done, and I’ve been working on painting walls in sections that are ready for it.  I could potentially be ready to glue the shell together this weekend!

BUT- I think I might want to build the stairs and the under-stair wall/shelf section before I glue the main corner they are going into together though, and I’m a little discouraged by how long that is probably going to take me.  (It will be fine, I’m just excited to put the house together!)  Realistically I should think about doing the windows before I assemble, too.  It would be fine to do them later, but I’m sure it would be easier clamp everything in while my walls are still flat... but...

Did I mention how bad I want to just put the house together already?!  Lol.

[Briefly]

I am about to start a fairy garden, which will have one or two fairies and a lot of animals.  It's sort of a terrarium type container, I can't really describe it but it's like a box with clear plexiglass sides in a house shape.  My daughter has a doll house that she bought when she was really little and she decorated with her colors, etc., as per her elementary age tastes.  She wants to re-do it, it's currently in the closet in my craft room and she says she will eventually get it to take home.  But seeing these houses here make me want to keep it and redecorate it myself!  Not that I will, but I really want to.

[FecundFundieFundus]

Okay, that link @Spangerposted is 100% my miniature goals. ? I really want to do a little scene with parents sneakily smoking out of their old bong while their teens were upstairs vaping out the window. Definitely have to make some condoms for the bedside table!! Safer sex, guiz. Dollhouses are expensive to buy, time consuming to decorate and take up a lot of space. We can't have the dolls going full Duggar 

[Spanger]

Progress update from this weekend: Mr. Spanger had agreed to help me cut out the frames I wanted for the stairs, so we got a template all measured, calculated, and drawn out and made sure it would fit.  Then, when he saw what I wanted to do for stairs, he volunteered a more intricate project idea because he thought it would be fun to make, and I like his idea so we’re gonna do that.  Basically, instead of cutting 2 frames for stairs and covering with risers/treads, he wants to cut about a dozen frames and glue them together, so it’s one thick piece... Sorry, I’m not sure how to explain it any better, but I’ll show pics whenever he gets to it.  (The next morning after saying he’d make my stairs, he started a big garage door project, so mine might be on the back burner for a week or two, lol.)

Also, I found some 1/8 x 1/4 inch balsa wood at Menards, which sounds really basic, but made me super happy- I live out in the country and menards is like 20-25 minutes less driving each way than the craft store.  (In other words I can just drop in at Menards, where as the craft store is a specially planned ahead journey that I only go to if I’m doing something else in the area.). So i bought some of the balsa wood and cut out all the pieces I need to build my window frames.  Now I’m sanding them and next up is staining and gluing.

Random Advice Question: anyone have tips for clamping my balsa wood window frames while the glue dries?  Im pretty sure all my ‘real’ clamps are too strong and might gauge the balsa wood, so I’m trying to think of something a little lighter- maybe clothes pins?  They might be less stable than I’d like though... does anyone have any hints, please?

[FecundFundieFundus]

@spanger I've seen people in videos use bull clips to hold things together. One person used a miniature frame to keep her items in square while the glue set, but I don't know if that's a real product or if it was a handmade tool. I'm not a woodworker, but I think what you're talking about with the staircase is laminating. 

[Palimpsest]

On 11/12/2018 at 7:58 PM, Spanger said:

BUT- I think I might want to build the stairs and the under-stair wall/shelf section before I glue the main corner they are going into together though, and I’m a little discouraged by how long that is probably going to take me.  (It will be fine, I’m just excited to put the house together!)  Realistically I should think about doing the windows before I assemble, too.  It would be fine to do them later, but I’m sure it would be easier clamp everything in while my walls are still flat... but...

Did I mention how bad I want to just put the house together already?!  Lol.

Yes, have as much prepared in advance as you can and  do a dry fit (use masking tape to fit the whole thing together) and mark where you want to place things like interior walls before gluing or nailing anything!  You can also wallpaper the walls before assembling the shell.  It is easier to get neat corners that way.   An alternative is take card stock templates of all the walls showing the positions of all doors and windows to make wallpapering easier.

And I made my stairs to check the fit but installed them very close to the end.  Definitely after putting in the floors.  You also probably want to install them after painting or papering the wall behind them.

13 hours ago, Spanger said:

Random Advice Question: anyone have tips for clamping my balsa wood window frames while the glue dries?  Im pretty sure all my ‘real’ clamps are too strong and might gauge the balsa wood, so I’m trying to think of something a little lighter- maybe clothes pins?  They might be less stable than I’d like though... does anyone have any hints, please?

Yes, bull clips, clothes pins and even elastic bands work perfectly well as clamps.  I even have mini clothes pins for tight corners. 

Another thing you might find really helpful is a magnetic gluing jig like this:  https://www.miniatures.com/Magnetic-Gluing-Jig-P28157.aspx

I use mine a lot!

However, learn from my mistakes, don't use balsa for the window frames!  Use bass wood instead.  Balsa dents incredibly easily, gets sort of furry if you try to sand it, absorbs paint like a sponge, stains muddily, and is hard to cut in a straight line because it splits.  I don't even use it for mini furniture except in places it doesn't show.  You can buy basswood strips at most craft stores and on Amazon.  

ETA: When you say stair frames - do you mean stair stringers like this: 

It is a bit fiddly to get the angle and length right but it is much easier to make them and glue on the treads and risers outside the doll house.

I'm excited about Jana's house. 

 

[Palimpsest]

On 11/8/2018 at 7:23 AM, FecundFundieFundus said:

I kinda always thought this was a wholesome nerdy hobby Stripping prostitute dolls, exaggerated porn star dolls and gross racial stereotypes from my grandparents era are not what I was expecting. Thanks for looking up who made your figure but I will not be giving her my business. 

And that is certainly your prerogative.  You will find all sorts of people in the miniature world.  And there are some pretty porno elf and fairy dolls out there too. 

I'm sure there are Trump supporters and overt racists among miniature makers too.  We talk the craft not politics at miniature shows.  And it is a microcosm of today's America.

But your post set off an interesting train of thought.  Do you think all dolls that represent POC gross racial stereotypes?  Or just the portly ones?  And why the objections to a black male doll?  There are plenty of generic white male dolls out there too.

What about people of color who want to buy dolls that resemble their complexions?  What about American Dolls of color?  Black Barbie?  Are those also dreadful stereotypes? 

I remember thinking that the "fake American Doll" black doll in the VF catalog was awful - but that was because she was called something like Fidelity and labelled a compliant happy slave doll in the catalog.  Ugh.

Perhaps this person is more to your taste?  She's Canadian and her dolls and doll kits are soft sculpture.  They actually tempt me far more than the porcelain dolls.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PrairieCrocusStudio?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Oops, but no.  She sells the doll kits in several different colors and some of them are distinctly chubby.  I rather like the fatter ones.  They seem so much more realistic and not stereotypes of people whatever their complexion.

Re. Ellen the doll-maker, I have only met her in passing and she was nice and helpful,  Perhaps she is racist.  Or flaky.  Or ignorant.

I hadn't noticed the "Mammy" doll on her stall at miniature shows.  But I see that "Mammy"  is part of a Gone With The Wind collection in her catalog.  I may have bought a bald and naked Melanie from that collection.  Yikes!

Well, yuck.  I really hate the GWTW book and movie. I wonder whether the dolls were a special order for Ellen or her own inspiration.

But this is where we are.  Trying to buy from artisans that we agree with - without much knowledge.

And in related thoughts:  I was very sad to see that GWTW got to #6 in the PBS Great Read Off, or whatever it was called.  And The Help, which I also very much dislike, got into the top twenty. 

To Kill A Mockingbird ended up #1.  I still love that book although I agree that it makes Atticus into a White Savior.  It is the depiction of the children that I love.  Also of Calpurnia as a kick your ass wonderful woman.  And of the times, and that is possibly realistic.  I don't want to think of Harper Lee as a racist, but perhaps she was.

Still musing, Hattie McDaniel who played Mammy in GWTW was portly and determinedly not political.  She rather famously said (paraphrase) that she preferred to play a stereotypical black maid in film for good money than to work as one for peanuts.  As she broke many barriers for POCs in the movie industry I can sort of see her point.  But she was vilified by her own community in her lifetime.

[FecundFundieFundus]

Dude the gulf between a mammy doll and a regular black doll is the size of the Grand Canyon. I'm not going to argue it, but yeah that's not even borderline racist. It's racist. If you're interested in learning more about why I feel this way, here's a brief history. 

https://ferris.edu/jimcrow/mammies/

My objection to the black male doll is, although all the other dolls got "real" names or were named according to their profession/whatever, his only defining characteristic is he is black. 

My family is bi-racial. I don't associate with people who are racist, I try to educate why stereotypes are harmful when I can and I don't apologize for either of those things. I didn't set out to somehow entrap this Ellen person into saying something "un-PC," I was looking to purchase a doll and got slapped in the face with a horrible stereotype that should be dead and buried. 

[AliceInFundyland]

Looking through Ellen’s catalog she strikes me as someone who needs a harsh lecture in political correctness.  I don’t quite get how she gets all the lots of dollies but there’s extreme variance in the descriptors. If someone educated her that  might could help. There are Supremes dolls that are named. Then the GWTW. But others of all colors just named on a trait, which comes off terribly. 

i like this thread. I want to use the nsfw minis and make the beetlejuice bordello from the movie that he put in the Maitland’s little town.

[LilMissMetaphor]

So next week at work we will be doing a craft workshop that I'm so excited for (because it was my idea!) of Christmas dioramas/miniature shadow boxes.  I hope to post some pics of the completed ones here when we get them done.

[Spanger]

Thanks for the advices!  I wasn’t sure what a bull clip was, had to google...  I’ve always called those binder clips, lol.  I’d already thought of them, but worried about the balsa wood being too fragile.  

I’m not sure how I missed out on learning the difference between balsa wood and basswood; I think I always just thought it was two different names for the same thing.  I looked a little more closely at the bits and pieces I’ve been working with, and suddenly I started noticing the difference- now I could tell them apart even if they weren’t labeled.  LMAO, that maybe makes me sound like an idiot, but there’s always something new to learn, right?

Anyway, I forgot to ‘borrow’ a box of bull clamps from work for the long thanksgiving weekend, so I ended up finding this pack of clamps at menards.  (I think I might be becoming a menards addict.). $5 for 22 mini spring clamps, they worked pretty well for the window frames and I’m sure I’ll use them for plenty more things to come.

https://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/hand-tools/clamps-vises/tool-shop-reg-miniature-spring-clamp-set-22-piece/2445579/p-1444421183899-c-9135.htm?tid=8124364314577071549&ipos=51

I got my window frames finished off, and I’ve been laying down the kitchen floor. It’s popsicle sticks with the ends cut off, laid to look like a hardwood floor.  I’m about 2/3 done.  Once it’s all in I’ll go to town with a hand sander until all the edges are totally smooth, and for whatever reason I’m really excited about that part, lol.

[Spanger]

Someone at work had these super fancy disposable pudding cups, which would be perfect to make into a dollhouse aquarium.  I need help deciding- what kind of pet would dollhouse Jana have?  Fish aquarium would be fun to make, but so would a mouse cage (tiny wood shavings and a hamster wheel, d’aww!  I’m also partial to mice because I used to have pet mice too.). Or, a snake might be a fun innuendo pet for her, and easy to make a snake out of clay, but not sure what goes into a real-life snake tank.

what do you all think?  Votes or input appreciated!

Heres the pudding cups: