Alley scene: when I 'saw' an alley in my head I saw clothes hanging from pulley lines, fire escapes (people dancing- west side story joke), a bum, or kids smoking, a pie cooling on a window.

Jen in MA

Using Wood Scraps: Just have to share the great project my mini group did with wood scraps--Everyone brought a pile of wood scraps to the meeting - and we all made tree houses from them. (It was a 1" scale project.) It was a free-form-no-particular-design-your-own project (there's one for the list!) that as just so much fun! It didn't have to be square or plumb (unless you wanted it to be) We exhibited them in a silk ficus tree at the local mini show and got lots of great comments on them. I chose to make mine less that square and paid no attention to plumb....and aged it with India ink in rubbing alcohol. Put a sign on it : Girls Keep Out (with the s backwards)

Patty Johnson , East Moline, IL

Studs in Houses: I have built several structures in the way you mentioned, with studs, 1/16" plywood for the walls, wiring run inside the walls etc. Makes for an extremely lightweight house. I learned this method from Keith Long, who sometimes teaches classes at the Gulf South show in New Orleans. Most of the houses are in 1/2" scale, though the first one we did was 1" and I have built an oversize roombox in 1" this way. Keith will be doing another class next March at Gulf South.

Beth, In A Miniature Manor

What about a self-storage building with stucco walls and a metal roof and metal slide-up doors or regular flat doors painted like metal and doors that open to reveal several rooms full of mini stuff? Not much to do decorating except stucco and hanging light bulbs and lots of cardboard boxes & furniture and whatever else needs a home temporarily. Crazy idea or not? It's had me laughing all day. Not as good as the Alley scene though. Maybe I should make it a barn instead, more character that way.

Toni in Denver

Plexiglas front on Roombox: I purchased a Roombox with a Plexiglas front and a precut frame for the box.   The instructions stated to glue the two sides and the bottom frame parts to the Roombox leaving enough space to drop in the Plexiglas. Put glue on the top piece of frame only where it will touch the top edge of the Plexiglas and attach it to the glass making sure the corners of the frame are even.  Let dry and you can pull up the top frame to get in the Roombox. I have used this method on four boxes.   On two boxes there was no precut frame so I purchased some " L" shaped molding and made my own frame.

Louise from MI 

Plexiglas and room boxes: I have the same situation. I placed my Plexiglas in channels and left the top open. To remove the glass (slide it up) I just put finger pressure on the Plexiglas and push up. When enough Plexiglas raises above the top of the room box I grasp it with my other hand and raise it up out of its channels.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

Plexiglas and room boxes: I use Plexiglas on the top and front of my Southwest room boxes.  I make a 1/8" rabbet around the top of the box so that the Plexiglas sits flush with the top of the box and I make a 1/8" groove in the front of the floor and a 1/4" groove in the top cross piece of the box.  I have my glazier cut the front piece 1/4" higher than the front opening dimension.    I glue two wood "buttons" on the lower left and right corners of the Plexiglas and insert it into the front of the box, putting the top in first and then sliding it down into the bottom groove.  Check out the picture of my room box on my web site, (click on the URL below), for an example of what I am talking about.  I don't have the glass installed in these pics but you can get the idea. http://TaosSunMiniatures.com

Spencer

Southern Plantations: Living in the south has shown me that most plantation houses were indeed white (sometimes white brick and sometime red brick)but usually white. I have never seen marble columns on any of the old houses here. Here are a couple links to some famous Southern Plantations that might help. http://www.igma.org/2/sub_education_school2002.html
http://www.destrehanplantation.org

Dale

IBEC: Someone was talking about a dollhouse kit from IBEC. I was at the site just a few days ago and apparently they are going to discontinue their kits and sell only components. They say that they will supply drawings for the plywood shell. That would certainly cut down on shipping costs! http://www.ibecwoodproducts.com/

Joy in Midland, Ontario

IBEC dollhouses: Some SS subscribers will be aware, through their web site, that IBEC is going out of their dollhouse kit production of the Four, Six and Eight Room kits. By agreement with Dave and Sharon at IBEC Wood Products, Upstairs Downstairs Dollhouses and Miniatures www.upstairs-downstairs.com, Victoria, BC will continue to provide the original design of IBEC four , six and eight room cottages formerly produced by IBEC. These dollhouse shells will be provided through Upstairs Downstairs, and eventually we expect to assume production of the shells for the Cobble Hill and James Bay models as well. The Upstairs Downstairs shells being offered will consist of the same high quality components formerly provided by IBEC but the current solid cedar floors and base will be replaced with good two side 1/2 inch cabinet grade birch plywood. The kits or finished shell will also embrace some improved design changes previously discussed with IBEC, to allow for easier assembly. IBEC Wood Products will continue to make the dollhouse components and will be offering an upgraded component finishing package to complement the shell. In the meantime, Upstairs Downstairs will have available also, all of the components previously offered in the original kits. IBEC's decision to stop producing the shells now affords the opportunity for builders to purchase their dollhouse economically over a period of time, and allow them the added flexibility of changing the exterior finish to other than clapboard siding. We hope that this arrangement will provide for a seamless transition to the continued production of the excellent line of IBEC dollhouses.

Pat Scott

Reference material: I have found a site that may help with visual references, (whist planning, building and finishing projects). - I am sure someone was asking about barns and architecture fairly recently. Any way it is available at: http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/

Most, if not all of the counties of England are available, are many"eras " of historical architecture. (and there are some great pictures too!) The site belongs to English Heritage and is added to frequently. I hope this helps someone out there with ideas.

Chris, from Lancs. UK

Roombox: I would use foamboard as walls in the "box house" you're making..lightweight, easy to cut, easy to finish...can't think of any reason I wouldn't use it, in fact. My colonial kitchen is made exclusively of it (shell). I glued wood "paneling" on the kitchen walls and just painted the 2 closet walls to look like wood.

Rita Pierce

Realistic tent: Last year I made a 1/2 inch camping scene for my grandson. I, too, had trouble trying to make a tent. Finally I took two square, thin pieces of basswood. glued them together in the form of a triangle and, when the glue was dry, I glued green cloth on the outside, also covering the open back triangle for the back of the tent. I left the front open, but glued narrow "hems" of the green fabric to the inside of the wood structure. This type is usually referred to as a "pup" tent. The camping scene turned out very well, and you can't tell the tent has a wood underpinning unless you touch it. Hope this helps.

Mary in MS

Fabric awnings in front of stores: What worked for me was to sculpt the basic shape in air dry clay over a wood frame. Work in all the sags, wrinkles, pulls and stress lines. When dry, seal with waterproof spray paint then drill many, many, many, many very small holes through the form, especially inside the wrinkles and such.

Lay selected fabric over the form, soak with sugar starch, then trim edges slightly oversize. The "softer" the fabric the better. Even if a bit transparent, you can make it opaque later with interior paint. Wash out all sizing. Overlay that with clear plastic just slightly over size. Press as best as you can and tape the plastics edges completely. The "back side" of the drilled holes should NOT be covered with this plastic layer.

Put the whole kit and caboodle into a plastic bag. Tape the opening of the bag to the hose of a shop vacuum cleaner. Turn on the vacuum to suck air and moisture out of the bag. It will suck the awning (tent) fabric snugly to the form through all those tiny holes. Let run for a while (30 minutes or so). Twist the bag to set the seal before turning off the vacuum and let sit overnight.

After you open the bag, CAREFULLY peel away the plastic cover and allow the sugar starch to completely dry before removing from form. You may find it necessary to peel a bit, let dry, peel a bit, let dry, etc. Spray a couple of very light coats of flat (dull coat) sealer to separate the sugar from insect temptations. Give a final trim to edges. (Note: Alternative favorite starches may be used. You may also choose to spray Pam or such on the plastic overlay to prevent the starch from sticking).

Reuse the form to support fabric while gluing matched narrow ribbon or flattened embroidery floss as "seams", edging, loops, etc. Build a support framework out of 14 gauge copper wire or such.

Mel K.

log cabins: Walter made several log cabins in the past. He handsplit the wood so it would look as though it was split with an adze (sp?). For the mortar (which looks very realistic in person), he used an epoxy putty by Brookstone. I'm not sure that particular product is still being made, but any mortar-colored putty would probably work. I mean, btw, the color after the putty is mixed, since epoxy putties come in two different color strips that are mixed together in equal portions. A lot of them come in blue and yellow, for example, which makes a green. As I recall, this putty was a light cream and a beige. We tried some other materials for mortar, but the other stuff (paper mache's, air dry clays, etc.) tended to crumble. The epoxy putty was permanent. If you want to see some results, here are a few pictures: http://www.perfect-touch.com/logcabin.htm

Dona Vaughn

chinking for log cabins: I used the caulking for bathtubs etc. that comes in a tube for the chinking between the logs. It doesn't dry out or crumble.

Harriett in Framingham, MA

Mortar: You can use stucco patch for mortar - when dry it looks like the chinking in between the logs.

Dollhouse Maker (Norma Cevetello)

Wood into Mortar? Pat Kohar asks, "... does anyone out there have any ideas how I can make my pieces of wood look like mortar in-between the logs ..."
I'm not quite sure I understand the question. As a new maniac miniature maker (no slurs intended- I'm proud of my obsession!) I hesitate to offer advise, but here goes anyway.
First, is there a specific reason you are opting to use wood instead of actually using mortar or a mortar like replacement?
If you are dead set on using wood, how about taking a craft stick and beating the side edge until it looks like a gouged up, chewed-up mess? This could be layed flat in between the logs. I haven't tried this, but I'm just brainstorming here. Then you might gob on white glue until it gets all lumpy and sticky and maybe even place a few tiny pebbles in some of the deeper holes. - Just a thought:

Denise.

"morter" between logs: The morter in use was (in them thar days) mud. Perhaps mixed with a little straw to make "daub" and "wattle". You can do about the same by either taking sawdust + Elmers glue + acrylic (watered down white) and filling the spaces or perhaps to be more realistic use some stiff thread to make the illusion of straw.

DrBob

Wall Thickening: I fall on the side of those-who-are-bothered-by-thin-die-cut-walls. I think the easiest solution offered so far is Rik's -- lining the interior with foamcore. One thing I've always done has been to add a half inch wide trim piece to the back, open edges to give the illusion without decreasing the size of the rooms. Someone could treat the interior walls as sheetrock and extend the exterior walls with posts and beams (creating hollow, double walls -- is that clear?) before applying brick sheeting or clapboard siding.
I've used a technique for my Tudor Cottage and on my current, much despised project -- the Glencroft. Of course, it only works in the Tudor motif. I add 1/8 inch thick timbers to the interior and fill them in with TEC brand Premixed Patch 'n Repair Adhesive and Grout from Lowe's. I fill in the exterior timbers the same way and end up with 3/8" thick walls and added stability to the assembly. The grout adds very little to the weight of the house, just enough to keep it from flying in a stiff wind.

Sally Cook-Thomas