Making And Mounting the Siding



Click on photograph to enlarge

The siding was made from 1/4" by 3/4" by 10" white pine strips. A line was then drawn on the strips down the center to mark the point at which the first mill cut would be made. A stack of  marked strips is shown on the photograph to the right. One strip is already clamped in the moving platform of the milling machine.
The first cut is made 1/8  inch deep, as shown. Once the correct depth is determined, about 20 strips are then cut to this setting. The second cut is a bevel cut set to the correct angle to lie flat against the walls of the dollhouse shell.
A number of completed strips is shown on the right to illustrate how the siding lies flat against the walls of the dollhouse. The finished strips are then given two coats of white primer paint on the exposed sides but not on the back side. Then corner posts and "water table" strips are  mounted to the sides of the dollhouse to align the siding. The hinges were then covered with surgical tape and given two coats of primer paint. The siding was then mounted on the walls using "Goop" which, being tacky enough, eliminates clamping. Finally the whole house was given two finishing coats of   Behr high gloss acrylic exterior white paint, the same paint that was used in restoring the real house.


This picture shows the south facing wall of the house. Eventually, a slide away porch will be made that will stand against the house beginning with the kitchen door to the left and running past the door to the dining room and as far to the right as the panel opening hinge shown right before the last window on the right. That last window is in the library.

The west facing side of the house is visible here. The indentations near the center of the photo show the panel that opens to expose the pantry.  The covered hinged side of the opening is to the left. The viewing panel can be opened by placing your fingers below the siding and giving a slight pull. Enough room to do this is provided by the  fact that the house overhangs the gray painted foundation by close to an inch.
Here is a close-up of the east living room's first window facing north.
Once again, the front chimneys are shown as seen from the north. The window to the left is in the second storey sitting room and the window to the right is in the master bedroom.
Details of the porch meeting the house show the complex and exacting plans needed in each step of the building process to allow the house to be assembled so that it appears as one piece.
In this photograph you can see the way the east facing dormers were constructed so that the roof opens at the base of the dormer allowing entrance to the second storey rooms. Because of the overhang of the side porch, the two sides of the second storey open slightly differently.


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