Miniature Newbies

A place to learn, build, and grow

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • How To
  • Calculators
You are here: Home / Builds / Keeper’s House Build Day 4 – Dollhouse Shingles Go on the Roof (Part 1)

May 24, 2019 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Keeper’s House Build Day 4 – Dollhouse Shingles Go on the Roof (Part 1)

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin4
4 Shares

The dollhouse shingles were dry after five days. Here’s how they turned out.

A picture of the dollhouse shingles after sitting for 5 days

I love them. They’re so pretty. Up close, there’s still some uneven dying, but, now that I’ve played with laying them out on the roof, I’m not worried. I’ll be able to cover and unevenness I don’t like.

Thing is, I was so worried about having enough time to dye and dry the dollhouse shingles, that I totally forgot that once they were dry, I need a place to put them!

Newbie mistake. (And, also, my newbie excitement.)

During those five days, I should have been assembling the dollhouse roof.

Oops.

So, that was the next project. And what a project it was.

Collecting the Dollhouse Roof Parts

First, I grabbed my bag of pre-labeled dollhouse parts. Super glad I did that. It really makes things easier.

Then, I got the box because I’d been storing the roof piece in it (the solid piece for the singles), and that’s where I found this:

A picture of some missing dollhouse pieces

Some missing pieces. Fantastic! No stair stringer, though.

I grabbed the long piece and looked at it. Based on the parts list (and picture in the instructions), this one has to be the rear roof piece (the one that goes across the back). Notice the beveled edge.

A picture of the rear roof piece with the beveled edge

Then, I grabbed the two side pieces and held them to the long piece. It looked just like the picture, so it was time to get gluing.

The rear roof pieces dry fit together

Glue Is Sticky

The instructions have a lovely picture (seriously. It’s quite useful) of how to put the rear roof together.

A picture of the rear roof assembly instructions

I did the exact same thing. Then, I taped it together and did a dry fit.

A picture of me dry fitting the rear roof to the dollhouse
Looking good

Everything looked good, so I started gluing the pieces with tacky glue.

I did the short edges on the “side” pieces. My first attempt involved way too much glue.

Too much tacky glue on the dollhouse roof piece
Oops

I wiped that off then glued the piece on. Then, I put the piece down on the newspaper to glue the other side together.

This did not go as planned.

As I had the two pieces resting on the newspaper, I added tacky glue to the third piece (the other short side piece), then glued it to the long piece. I held the two pieces together for a minute then saw some glue had leaked out, so I wiped it off. No big deal.

Then, it occurred to me that there was probably glue on the other side, and I should flip the whole piece over to get it.

I was right. There was glue. But, because I had waited too long, the glue on the first side had already started to tack to the newspaper. Sigh. I got it partly off, but not totally.

The roof piece with newspaper stuck on it
Gross

Stuck newspaper, though, was the least of my worries.

As I flipped the piece over, guess what fell off?

Yeah, the bond wasn’t very tight yet. I figured that would happen because it’s such a short edge connecting a long piece. So, sure. But, man! That messed me up.

I had to wipe off the glue, hold everything again, and just plain wait until I felt confident the bond was more secure.

And ignore that fact that there was more glue leaking out and that I was going to get more newspaper on the piece.

After the whole thing had tacked enough that I felt I could leave it alone, I grabbed the painters tape and taped the ends together to ensure there’s a decent bond.

A picture of the rear roof pieces taped together while the glue tacks

Once these three pieces are tacked together, I have to attach it to the roof, and I don’t want the short ends falling off.

Even if it would make me laugh.

The Big Job

While the rear roof tacked, I tackled the front of the dollhouse roof. This is where a majority of the shingles will go. Fortunately, there’s no glue involved in the part of the project. There is, however, a little bit of measuring, drawing, and math!

It’s important to get this right.

The measuring and the drawing are to create the shingle guide for attaching the dollhouse shingles. If you measure wrong, you’ll end up with a funky looking roof. And, while you could create shingle lines with the roof already on the dollhouse, I do not recommend it.

First of all, if you do it post roof job, you’ll be figuring this all out on an angle. With the roof piece off the dollhouse, you’re working on a flat surface. While I suppose you might enjoy working at an angle, I can’t imagine doing it like that. It seems awkward.

Second, with the piece flat on the table, I found it easier to work with in terms of manipulating the roof piece while measuring it (and manipulating the rulers. Yes rulers). You could manipulate the roof while it’s on the dollhouse, but you’d have to manipulate the whole dollhouse. Seems like a pain. Plus, for this particular kit, I had to measure from the bottom of the roof up. Still doable on a dollhouse, but I’m betting it’s a pain.

Lastly, if, on the off chance you mess up your measurements (looks uncomfortably away), it’s easier to fix it when nothing is attached. You just flip and start over. If it’s already attached, well… I mean, you can get it off, but do you want to? I’m betting no.

Simple supplies

I grabbed my supplies

A picture of a ruler and a tape measure

(yes, that is my ruler). Because I wasn’t sure what would work, I had both rulers on hand (regular and tape), and a pencil with a good eraser. You don’t want a dried out one that smudges and leaves marks. I also had a calculator handy. Turns out, I didn’t need it.

Once I messed with the rulers and roof piece for a bit, I decided the easiest way to mark the shingle lines was to take the tape measure, hook it on one end, then mark off where the lines would go.

A picture of the tape measure hooked to the dollhouse roof piece

So, I hooked on the tape measure and started marking off where my shingles will go.

A picture of me marking off the roof shingle line

And I was right. As long as I kept one hand on the tape measure, it was easy to run down the side of the tape measure and make small marks for each guideline. I planned to make a set of marks on the end, a few across the middle, then again on the other end. Then I could play connect the dots with my marks and make shingle guidelines.

Where I goofed

The bottom row of dollhouse shingles is supposed to be 1 and 1/4 inch from the bottom of the roof piece. This is because when you lay out the shingles (you’ll see), the bottom shingle shouldn’t hang over the edge of the dollhouse roof. Kind of like a real house. You need that space for gutters. While my Keeper’s House won’t have (or need) gutters, many dollhouses (and real houses) have decorative stuff at the bottom of the roof — like gingerbread detailing.

The Keeper’s House instructions explicitly said to start at the bottom of the roof piece and mark off 1 and 1/4 inch for the first shingle, then measure in one-inch increments up from that first mark.

I did not do that. That was partly due to my laziness in how I would have to lay out the tape measure. I figured, whatever it will work out. If I start at the bottom and go up in one-inch increments, I should end up with 1 and 1/4 inches at the end.

Yeah. No.

Without getting into the math behind it, that did not work. Here’s what I ended up with.

A picture of the roof piece with 1 and 1/2 inches leftover
That’s not right

As you can see, at my final mark, I have 1 and 1/2 inches left. Sure, it’s just a quarter inch, but that makes a huge difference.

I started over and remeasured my marks, following the instructions this time. Then, I laid out the dollhouse shingles side by side. One follows the old marks, one follows the new marks. Here’s what I saw.

A picture of two dollhouse shingles laid out following the different roof lines.
Well then

The shingle on the top is the one I measured correctly. The one on the bottom is incorrect. That 1/4 inch makes all the difference. Here it is going all the way up:

A picture of the shingles laid all the way out following the correct roof lines next to one shingle that does not

You can imagine what it would look like using the old marks.

Lesson learned!

Getting It Right

With that fiasco out of the way, I had to create the actual shingle lines all the way across the board. I took the tape measure, made the right marks, slid it down the board, then repeated.

A picture of roof line marks across the roof piece

I did that all the way across the board then used a ruler to connect the dots.

A picture of the completed roof lines

Because I knew I’d forget, I marked the top and the bottom like so.

  • A picture of the roof piece with the letter "T" on it
  • A picture of the roof piece with the letter "B"on it.

That would help me get the right end on top and not mess up the shingles.

This didn’t take nearly as long as I had anticipated, and I was giving the small roof part extra time to tack. So, I took the painters tape off the roof edges (since I’m about to glue the roof on). I’m still amused by the fact that I picked a paint color that’s exactly the same as the tape. Here’s what I saw after lifting the tape.

A picture of the dollhouse clapboard after I took the painter's tape off. There's paint in the grooves

Looks like some of it snuck in under the clapboard. Oh, well. It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for this newbie.Part 2 coming soon!

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin4
4 Shares

About Rachel

I love miniatures!

❮❮ Previous Post
Next Post ❯ ❯

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

18 − five =

Let’s Get Social

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Categories

Archives

Redoing the Tile Floor Patterns – Keeper’s House Day 24 (Part 2)

Redoing the Tile Floor Patterns – Keeper’s House Day 24 (Part 1)

Mosaic Tile Nippers: The Adventure Begins – Keeper’s House Day 23

The Tile Floor – Keeper’s House Day 22

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • How To
  • Calculators

Copyright © 2021 · Miniature Newbies · Pretty Chic on Genesis Framework · WordPress ·

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. You accept the use of cookies by closing or dismissing this notice, by clicking "accept," or by continuing to browse.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.