Remember that the supports are visible in the interior of this attic. There are no walls in the dollhouse to cover them up like on the Beacon Hill Dollhouse. After the wallpaper dried, I stained the roof supports. It just seemed the easiest way to finish them. You can paint them of course or if you're really patient, you can even try your hand at wallpapering them. Remember to not glue them at the top where they meet, only on the bottoms against the floor. Double check to make sure they are all facing correctly, with the slope towards the interior of the dollhouse so your mansard panels will curve in the right way.
While the supports dried, I went ahead and cut out my mansard panels. The slope of this roof is quite steep. The panels that come with the dollhouse are wooden and extremely hard. Even though they have been scored on one side to allow them to bend, they might still not bend enough. I tried wetting them on one side, to see if they would warp, just to try and salvage them but to no avail. They just wouldn’t warp at all. They dried completely flat so I decided to toss them.
Instead, I'm using a stiff but thin cardboard. They sell thin, veneer type wood at the craft store, which can also be used for this if you can find them large enough. I believe they can be cut with scissors. Basswood would be too hard and balsa wood would be too soft so they are not an option. Foam core will crease and crack because of the slope so I don't recommend it either.
I went ahead and wallpapered the thin cardboard on the interior side. This cannot be done later, so it has to be done before installation. If the cardboard warps a little, don’t worry about it, it will be forced straight once it's glued to the supports. Wallpapering it gives the cardboard added strength as well because wallpaper paste dries very hard.
I stained the ceiling of the roof so it matched the supports and then installed the roof. Clamp heavily.
While that dried, I assembled more brackets (gingerbread).
