I installed all of the exterior brackets that were left. The dollhouse comes with more brackets than you need but I found spaces for the ones that were left over. I installed an extra roof bracket on the porch roof by the kitchen bay roof and I also put an extra corner trim there as well.
I installed an extra corner trim on the right side tower wall. You can see them clearly on the picture of the right side of the finished dollhouse. These roof brackets are a little tricky but I got the hang of it this time and didn’t have problems with them.
I installed the last white vertical trim on the left side of the tower wall because I had already sided this area days before. Since all of the corners of the dollhouse are notched, I thought it would look kind of strange for that one side, where this last trim piece went, to not be notched. There is no piece to put next to it to make the notch but I made one myself from the sheet scraps. I just thought that it would make the dollhouse more consistent. Now both sides of the tower are notched with two trim pieces that meet together to cause that notch.
I finished shingling the roof area that is by the left side tower wall. It was kind of difficult to get in there but I did with the help of some long scissors. I shingled the side and that small front as well. I know that these areas are hidden mostly from view and the box photo shows that this area is not sided or shingled but you should anyways. When someone stands in front of your dollhouse and starts looking at the details, these areas will be seen. I took the extra effort to go in there and make it completely finished on all sides.
I shingled the whole tower, added the roof brackets, wallpapered and put in the window. I shingled the tower using the same template method that I did for the dollhouses mansard roof. Remember to add all vertical and horizontal trim to the tower BEFORE shingling, just like with the mansard roof. These trim pieces have to be glued with pressure and the shingles won't hold them down if you try to put the trim over them. I wallpapered the tower roof.
Now about the tower window: This little window is pretty hard to put in if you do it per the instructions. So, I did it my way. First I didn’t use those wooden square sides that you are suppose to glue all around the window casing. That will never fit into the window hole. I used the flexible roof that came with this window, the same one that the other dormers use. This is what I glued to the casing and stuck through the hole. This fits just fine.
I installed the window the same way I did the other dormers. I laminated the interior and exterior trim first, gluing them together. I glued the sill through the hole. I glued the laminated trims on it. I glued the casing with the silk screened pane behind that and then glued the roof over the entire assembly. Very simple.
After that I glued the other sills over and under the large sill. I glued the two L pieces to the sides of the assembly and that’s it. I covered the roof with sandpaper inside and out. You have to put the sandpaper inside because you will be able to see the top and sides of this window when you look in from the outside, especially if you light the tower.
This window does not bring interior trim because you can't see the window from any tower angle since this is not a room and the whole tower is covered back and sides. When you look in through the window all you see is the room, not the back of the window.
But, you can see the window if you bend down and look up through the third floor into the tower. This is bad because there is no trim for this window so I will have to make one myself so that it looks nice when you look up from that angle. I'll take care of that later on though.
The tower is completely removable on this dollhouse. I took the shingles around the back of the dollhouse and shingled those two back areas on the sides of the third floor. I just think it looks better like this.
I painted the top third floor fireplace gray to resemble stone. Since it’s a different kind of fireplace, I wanted a different look for it. I only stained the mantle. I printed out gray bricks from the internet and glued them to the inside of the fireplace. I glued this same brick paper to the insides of the other two fireplaces. These though I stained and painted to look like the staircase.
I glued on all the trim around the interior doors. You might have to trim them to size. If they are a little off and the wallpaper shows you can always stain what shows and that’s enough to hide it.
