While that dried, I slid in the roof. I did not paint the roof before putting it on because if I did, then the paint would have made sliding it in a nightmare. Paint causes wood to swell and I would be hammering in the roof for hours trying to get it into those slots. You will still need the hammer to tap in the tabs tightly.
While that was drying I prepared the back edge trim for the second floor. I did not glue on the back edges to my floors when the instructions told me to because they were going to be in the way when I wallpapered. I’m putting them on as I finish wallpapering each floor. The second floor is done so I’m able to put that trim up. I clamped it in place with masking tape.
Then I glued on the back tower support and the small wall that was missing in the corner of the third floor. I know the instructions haven’t asked for you to do this yet but I already had put in the mansard roof support that goes in there. Since I already had built the dollhouse before, I had completed that step already. Follow the instructions if you think you might have a problem here.
I painted the roof top and, while it dried, painted and glued the chimney trim. I painted the roof trim and I glued it on using the same binder clips as clamps. I decorated, stained and glued on the bedroom door since the wallpaper was finished on both sides. I turned the dollhouse upside down and painted the third floor ceiling and then primed the walls. I also spackled all the visible slots on the ceilings and painted them.
The only thing left is the mansard roof panels. I traced them on paper so I can shingle them later. I began wallpapering the third floor just to make time while things dried thoroughly.
These roof panels are easy to curve because they are very thin wood with a cardboard lamination on the back so they don’t break. In fact, when they are removed from their sheets, they are already curved in the direction you want them to be. Now the tricky part about these panels is that they have been made to fit between the top roof and the roof base trim with an enormous amount of pressure. So much pressure that it can basically lift up your roof, if it was not glued on properly.
To make this task easier, I trimmed the tops of the panels with a pair of scissors in order to get them to fit without too much strain. I dry fitted each one of them to make sure how much I have to trim in order for them to fit tightly, snug, secure and curved but without breaking the dollhouse while doing so. Once I got the perfect fit, I applied a lot of glue and then taped the roofs on. Follow the order in the instructions. You can not put two panels next to each other at the same time though because then you can't clamp them.
I used mostly masking tape to clamp them, but in places where I couldn’t use the masking tape I thought of different ways I could clamp. For around the chimney I used two rolls of mounting tape which were the right size for me to be able to use masking tape to keep them down and use them as clamps. I didn’t have pins. If you do, use them instead. For the tower corner I used a small box of box cutter blades that fit tightly between the panel and the tower to clamp it on the support beam. I also used a glue stick to apply pressure to the top edge. Find household items that can be used for clamps if you don’t have pins. I used the binder clips through the window in order to clamp the top part to the edge of the roof .
If you see little gaps here and there on your panels, don’t worry, it's all going to be covered with shingles anyways. Now I have to let the panels dry thoroughly before I remove the clamps and glue on the front trims.
