In order to achieve the look I want, it will take a lot of trimming. After everything was dry, I began trimming the ceiling edges with skewers. The best way was putting the dollhouse upside down. The best way to hold down stubborn skewers straight is to use a combination of clamps and glue sticks. Glue sticks and masking tape make great clamps for hard to clamp areas.
I also trimmed the underside of the mantle on the fireplace. You can't see it when the dollhouse is right side up but when you turn it upside down, there was a gap there.
Now I’m debating what to do with the ceiling. I stained this octagon piece and plan on beaming the ceiling with skewers. The beams I bought are too large for this floor, but the skewers seem to be the right fit. Once I measured the medallion, I used the skewers to make beams.
Well, I’m done with the trimming. I applied the bead board, trimmed it, top and bottom, as well as the bay opening, bay window, the fireplace and the ceiling. I even applied a trim piece to the bottom of the door. In the end, I will have to trim the back edges of the floors and walls.
Now onward to the attic. I prepared the roof parts first. I painted the edges in a color of thatching. I put the entire roof together, except for the back roof. I have to stucco everything before I can put that roof part on.
I glued together the gable roof. By having all of the roof together, it will really help with the stucco not having any gaps. The only exception to this is the bay roof. You have to stucco or finish that off anyway you want to before you glue it on or it will be inaccessible later.
I used masking tape all around the edges of the floor to protect it from the stucco. I’m going to have to wait a long while for the glue to dry. I can't apply stucco with all of this tape in the way.
While I’m waiting I’m going to finish the settles on the porch. The settles were actually kind of difficult. The tabs were just being stubborn. I wasn’t really too wild about the settles on the front porch but in the end, I really do like them, especially the colors I chose. It doesn’t take away from the half timber trim color scheme.
After the roof was dry, I removed most of the masking tape that was clamping it and began the stucco process. I mixed stucco in a container just like I did for the first floor ceiling and I began spreading it all over the attic. It’s a lot of fun! It's exactly how I dreamed I could hide the gaps in all dollhouses instead of the tedious wallpapering and trimming. With this stucco, I can just slap it on and spread it around hiding everything in its path. The only thing you have to be careful with is your floors, if you stained them. If you plan on putting flooring over the dollhouse floor, then you have nothing to worry about. Do the stucco first and then put on the flooring. You also have to be careful with the edges between the walls and the roof. This stuff is thick and will cover any gap, seeping through any gap. You have to be careful it doesn’t squeeze through roof gaps and possibly damage the half timber trim outside. This is why it's best to apply the stucco mixture after the glue has dried thoroughly.
I applied stucco to the bay roof as well. Once it was dry, I glued it in place. I will have to trim the underside of it so it has a cleaner look from the inside of the dollhouse.
I wasn’t aware this dollhouse has a gable in the attic roof that was visible from the interior. This can present a problem with my beams but I’m not going to scrap the idea. I'll figure out how to apply the beams with this gable in the way.
Cutting these beams is easy. They feel like Styrofoam on the inside. They are just incredibly easy to work with and I’m glad I got them for these beams. I was really worried about the beams since I have no power tools to cut thick wood with. These beams are easily cut with the easy cutter. I put the two side ones first. The roof was kind of bulged at the top, since it doesn’t have the back half to hold its shape with. I had to use a strip of masking tape to hold the bulge down and the roof nice and straight. This is essential to do to avoid a big surprise when I put the back part on.
I put a sideways beam above the gables just to keep the consistency of the beam look.I put the fireplace in place. I love the look of the white stucco around it. I glued the back roof in place. I stained all of the trim for the upstairs and glued it on. It took me hours to get everything to look right. I also trimmed out the back edges of the second floor.
I ended up doing a lot of touch ups on the settles with paint and spackling them. Hard work. I glued on a lock to the door and I assembled and glued on the window box. I also added flowers to it since I couldn’t wait to see how it turned out.
