I first did the siding. I then installed the tower window. After that, I hinged the front door and the two screen doors, one for the bashed tower balcony and the other for the kitchen door. I still have hardware to purchase for them.
Hinging doors is never easy but these screen doors are particularly difficult. They are very intricate and detailed so painting them can be tedious. You really have to wait for the paint to dry, on these doors, for no less than 24 hours or the wood will be too soft to hold hinges.
I learned this the hard way with my kitchen screen door, which broke into several pieces when I added the hinges. I had to put it back together, while hinged. Not easy and I almost lost the door. Thankfully, I was able to salvage it and it miraculously still works. It's not as flexible as it could have been but its on and working and that's about the most you can ask for when hinging by hand.
I learned from my mistake and the tower screen door went on beautifully and, miraculously, works perfectly. I am happy for that because this is the door that I really needed to work well, so I can open it all the way and my custom staircase can be fully viewed.
Lots of trim was applied to the corners, to match the rest of the dollhouse. Before I applied the porch and balcony railings, I took the opportunity to apply satin varnish to all of the siding. This brings out the color better and gives it a nice, finished sheen.
Afterwards, I installed the porch railing along with the balcony railing. I found these half scale, laser cut, balcony railing pieces at Ron's Miniatures and they were the last and only ones they had. Thank goodness I had enough to do the entire balcony. I really liked that they are flat, to match the rest of the tab and slot style of the dollhouse.
Lots of touch ups and filling in of small gaps with spackle was needed to make the whole house look like I wanted.
Time to tackle the attic next.
