Gluing mini houses: for beginners wondering what type of glue to use in building mini houses - over ten years ago I built from scratch a four-story, 17-room Victorian-style twelfth-scale house. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue (which I use for nearly everything mini) to glue the entire structure together (we're talking 54" length, 48" height and 12" depth). During that time, that house withstood numerous moves from room to room and one major household move, with never a crack or a single 'unglued' spot. All my other put-abouts, roomboxes, houses and my very large four-story garden store are also held together by Tacky Glue, and I never worry about the bond breaking when I move them around. In fact, I started on a large French-villa style house, didn't like it, and decided to tear it apart to use the wood for something else, and except for a couple of the 'seams', I had to cut the whole thing apart with my jig saw because the seams bonded with the Tacky Glue refused to break or even cut with a single-edge razor knife. Tacky Glue WORKS, isn't 'runny' like wood glue - thus better control - and it doesn't cost as much as a lot of the other glues. I highly recommend it for wood projects. (For beginners - just remember that if you want to stain a piece with wood stain, do it *before* you glue because wood that has absorbed glue won't take stain. You can paint over it, but not stain it.)

Shirley from Chesapeake

Gator Board: I made a building with Gator board and had no problems. I did put stainless steel pins with the plastic bead at the end to hold the pieces as the glue set up. When it was dry, I just snipped off the bead and it was a bit stronger with the pins.

Deanna from downtown Thiensville

Gator foam/Gator Board: I have made room boxes 16 x 16 x 16 using 1/4" gator foam with no problems and no warping. If I were to make a box much larger, I would use the 1/2" gator foam.

Rik

Glue syringe: Keep tip covered while working on project but not actually gluing. I used to wrap with damp paper towel. You don't have to empty when you quit if you can seal the end from air. There is now a use for those plastic thingies that hold price tags to garments. Cut the skinny little end off and keep a long piece of the connecting plastic. Paint the fat end with a sharpie pen so that you can find it if laid down on table. Stick the connector piece into the end of the syringe to store.

To actually clean out the syringe, remove as much as possible then soak it in warm water. This helps with the tips for tacky glue too. When the glue is good and soft, simply pull the plunger out and let fill with warm water. Replace plunger and squirt water out. Repeat until clean. The only glues I ever use in it are Tacky and Quick Tacky. If the glue ever dries in it, don't waste your time. Toss it.

I now prefer to use the a paint bottle. Look at your craft store for fabric paints for decorating T-shirts. I don't remember the brand at the local Hobby Lobby, but at the bottom of the display, they sell empty squeeze bottles. There is a 2 oz. size and a 4 oz. size. The ones I bought (both sizes) have a label on them so you can write on them (Sharpie Pen) with the bottle contents. They have a snap on cap that fits tightly to the end of the tube. I have never had them to clog. They are soft to squeeze and great if you have arthritis. I don't but Mom does. My hand gets shaky and cramps up after long periods of using the syringe. If they don't have the empties, you can buy a bottle of paint for under $2, empty it and clean it out. About what you pay for a glue syringe to replace one that dried up or the tip clogged.

Kathy

Gatorboard: I can heartily recommend Gatorboard for your roombox project - it comes in a variety of thicknesses, as you probably know, and is easy to cut and even bend to a radius, if it's sawn with parallel lines on one side.

I use any white glue, even Tacky, to assemble the parts. For corners, use a 'rabbit' joint: mark a line, parallel to one wall edge, as far from the edge as the thickness of the gatorboard. Cut the line thru the surface plastic, all the way thru the foam, and stop at the opposite side where the hard plastic begins. Scrape away the foam and scrap, and you'll have a notch to receive the adjacent wall. When glued together, it makes a clean, very sturdy corner with no rough edges.

And my favorite 'secret': straighten a coathanger, heat it over a flame and push it through the foam wherever you need wiring. This allows you to 'hard wire' all your lights and accessories without using tape and with no visible traces. Scrape out foam along the tops of the wall to run the wires to your power source.

Braxton Payne

Scatter Grip: For scenery I have a product called Scatter Grip. It is applied with a throw-away brush and dries tacky. You then sprinkle the foam for grass and dirt or ballast for trains or gravel, pat it down, shake off the excess and you have landscaping. The pluses are that you don't have to mix anything, it is not gloppy like tacky glue and you don't have to worry about over spray and therefore you don't mask areas. You don't have a lot of steps involved in the application. If it looks thinner than you like you can brush more on and shake on more greenery. For those of you that give classes, it's great. You can get this product from shops or me as well. http://www.scenicwater.com

Deanna from downtown Thiensville

Drywall joint compound:! (The entire exterior of my house is "sided" in drywall). It adheres beautifully to the wood, and can be sanded or drilled. What I did was fashion a homemade "comb" and dragged it across the wet surface (after the drywall had been applied to the wood. Depending on the "comb" you make...you can achieve many different effects. I also used it to plaster my ceilings. I used a small piece (perhaps an inch wide) from a real comb to get the swirling effect I wanted there.

I used to buy the mini stucco, too but you can get 10 gallons of drywall for 10 dollars (DIY). It took almost ten lbs for my dollhouse.

To make a home made comb, I'd suggest soft brass (that's what I used, and it cleans up really easy.) Cut your design with metal snips and then sandwich the form between two pieces of wood. (I put the pic of mine on the SSD album at the bottom of my picturetrail, if my description is confusing.) It's pretty simple and you can get some neat effects. Stuff holds up like a dream! Here's the URL if you want to see the drywall comb. Very easy to make. (SSD album...bottom)

Sherise

Painted Ladies Colors: Question: Does anyone know of a website where I can get ideas for the exterior paint colors. I would love to do a multi-color exterior but cannot afford to buy all the "Painted Ladies" books.
Answer:
Try http://architecture.about.com/library/bl-color.htmto test color combinations.

Cathy from Philadelphia

Catching problems: Don't you just hate how sometimes we miss crooked or lopsided bits in our mini scenes until we get the pictures back and there it is glaring at you? It can be hard to "proof read" scenes when you've been caught up in all the details. One simple way of catching those things is to look at your scene/piece indirectly, using a mirror to view it from a different angles. It really does work!

Debi in Quesnel

Flooring:
Question: "I bought "hard wood flooring" for the attic and tile sheet (plastic) for the bathroom & brick for the kitchen floor. Do I glue it down or just lay it in there? "
Answer: My opinion is that they should be glued down, but you may prefer to cut a pattern out of poster board and mount them on that before gluing in place. When I do a hardwood floor I glue to poster board pattern if I can't get into the area. Give it a good finish with a palm sander. Mount to the poster board and when dry (I use quick Grab) sand with a palm sander. They are inexpensive but you can get a beautiful smooth floor that way. Then go over it with a tack cloth to remove dust and spray with semi gloss Deft or similar product. When dry polish with fine steel wool and repeat the process, wipe spray and polish. When your floor is done and has a to-die-for finish glue the whole thing in the room (unless you want a rough cabin type floor). Enjoy!

Anita McNary, IGMA Artisan