Tudor Market Hall Part 11 - Continuing the Dolls House Build

If you have difficulty in finding any of the materials required, Kevin is happy to provide a quote for supplying everything including the MDF cut to size and the Burbidge mouldings. Also, please note that since completing the project the CD42 twisted rope moulding by Richard Burbidge is no longer available. As an alternative, we recommend that you use the FB200 instead.

Dimensions

The overall dimensions of the finished dolls house are approximately 110cm wide x 120cm high x 72cm deep. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for links to the previous and next parts of the project.

Skill Level

This project is suitable for the advanced miniaturist with good wood working and machinery skills. For the less experienced, we would recommend you work with someone who can help you with the more technical aspects.

Upper Floor Walls - Step 1

• Cut a piece of 210mm MDF the full width of the floor, 1012mm.
• Cut 2 pieces for the left hand room which extend the full depth of the house, 595mm less the 6mm thickness of the back wall.
• Cut 2 pieces for the right hand room which need to end 15mm short of the front edge, these will be 547mm.
• No holes need to be cut for chimney on this floor.
• Cut a hole for windows in the right hand external wall the same as before , 60mm and 155mm from the bottom edge.
• I decided to put two small windows in my house, coming in 110mm from each side and making each window 120mm wide which left 114mm between the two.

Step 2    

• The cavity wall between the two rooms is flush to the front on the left and stepped back 15mm on the right.
• As in the floor below, cut 70mm x 155mm door openings in both panels where they meet with the back wall.
• Use FB189 stripwood to glue them together, making sure they are flush at the back.
• Leaving enough room between the FB189 at the top for the wiring.
• Set the front piece of FB189 back by 6mm from the edge of the shortest piece of MDF.

Step 3

• Decide where the room division is to go.
• Mine is 498mm from the outside edge to the right of the floor panel.
• Pencil the position of wall onto the floor and vertically on the back wall, then glue in place.
• Weigh this down as before making sure you use something as a temporary prop to support the overhang on the right.

Step 4

• Paint all walls inside and out.
• Lay the floor boards as before.
• On the right hand side, glue a strip of FB180 stripwood along the edge of the floor panel.
• Trim round the windows with FB366 stripwood, again forming a 3mm recess on the inside as before.

Step 5

• The left hand room is going to be a double height Great Hall.
• Cut MDF panels that will support the roof. Cut 3 panels exactly the same size. 2 from 6mm MDF and one from 12mm MDF.
• The size of these is 480mm wide x 577mm high.
• Find and mark the centre line vertically at 240mm.
• Measure 212mm up on either edge of the 480mm widge, and draw a line horizontally.
• Allow for the 4mm floorboards already laid, 212mm should be 6mm higher than the walls to the room.
• Draw a line from each 212mm mark on each side to the central point at the top, and cut along these lines with a jigsaw.   
• For the 12mm MDF panel, use a steel rule to draw a line approximately 25mm wide all the way round the perimeter.
• Drill and cut out the centre.
• Cut a hole 180mm wide x 285mm high in one of the 6mm MDF panels, starting 60mm up from the bottom edge.
• Paint all 3 (you only need to paint the front of the solid 6mm piece).    

Step 6

• Glue and clamp the solid piece of 6mm MDF onto the back wall of the left hand room.  See 2nd photo above.
• You can also put a top onto the chimney below, and FB180 stripwood to the edge of the floor panel either side of the chimney.
• Use an off-cut of MDF to line up along the top of the left hand wall and the sloping panel you have fixed to the back of the house to gauge the angle that you need to sand the outside top edge of the wall. Use a palm sander to sand to the required angle.
• Leave the rest of these pieces for now until the roof is made.

Step 7

• Moving on to the right hand room, do all the timber work, skirting boards, high level perimeter timber, vertical beams and make the two windows.
• Fix wall lights in this room, plus any you want on the Great Hall side of the cavity wall.
• Test to make sure all the lights are working and trail the wires out through the back.
• Close the cavity off with FB189 Stripwood.
• The ceiling panel for the right will be 560mm wide x 635mm deep.
• When laid flat with the floor side facing up, you need to cut an opening for the staircase for 75mm wide x 95mm front to back.
• The front left corner of this opening will be 43mm from the left and 210mm from the front.    

Step 8

• Measure and cut the front access panel.
• Cut the 20mm strip from the top and install as before with the single beam of FB189 and FB180 central to the two windows.
• Cut the window opening in the access panel 60mm from the bottom edge and 155 mm, the window will be central on the panel and 300mm long.
• Mark where the ceiling joists go, and glue in all the ones running at the back of the room and position the ceiling panel to use the stairwell.
• Cut out to mark where you are to leave joists out, and you can then finish off with the front joists. 

Step 9

• Paint the underside of the ceiling panel.
• Sand down the tops of the wall panels and joists as required.
• Mark in pencil the positions of the walls etc and score with a knife to give the glue a key.
• Glue the floor panel into place with the left hand edge sitting flush to the left hand edge of cavity wall and with the usual 20mm overhang at the back.
• The top surface of this floor should be at the same level of where the slope starts on the angled wall panel at the back of the Great Hall.    

The Great Hall - Step 10

• Glue 2 pieces of FB189 stripwood vertically on either side of the room.
• Make these from the floor to flush with the top of the wall panel, not to the top of the floor level on the right hand side.
• They should be fixed with the front of them being exactly 35mm in from the edge of the floor and wall panels.
• Where it is difficult to clamp, but important to get a good bond, wedge pieces of spare timber tightly between them until the glue dries.

Step 11

• The top triangular section of the back panel needs to be increased to 12mm to give it strength.
• Hold a piece of 6mm MDF up against it and mark around in pencil.
• Cut it out and glue and clamp this piece onto the back of the rear panel.    

Step 12

• Use FB366 as skirting for the right hand and back walls.
• Add a vertical timber to the top of the rear wall and a frame all the way around the panel.
• Do not put any timbers on the left wall at this stage.
• Glue into position the 12mm MDF frame you made earlier.
• Ensure it is glued beneath to the floor, to both edges and behind to the FB189 stripwood posts.
• Clamp as securely as you can.    
• Frame the inside of the front support panel with FB366 stripwood.
• Add a skirting board between the two FB189 Stripwood posts.

Step 13

• Cut 2 roof panels from 6mm MDF 655mm wide x 458mm high.
• The panel to be used on the right hand side of the Great Hall needs a recess cut into it so it sits onto the floor panel already fitted to the right of the house.
• This recess is 15mm in from both bottom ends, and 20mm high.
• Paint both panels on the inside faces only.
• Hold the right hand panel firmly in place making sure that the fixed 12mm support panel is vertical at the top.
• Mark the inside of the panel to give you the wall positions of both the back and front of it.
• Score the inside of the roof panel between the pencil lines, erase the lines, and touch up the paint as required.    

Step 14

• Transfer the pencil ines to the outside of the roof panel.
• Partially nail in 20mm veneer pins along the centre line.
• Sand the top edges of the gable panels and turn your glue gun on to heat up!
• Put PVA glue on the edge of the fron and back gable panel and place the roof panel in position.
• Nail along the centre line and use the glue gun to fix and seal the joint between the bottom of the panel and the floor panel next to it.    

Step 15

• Glue a length of FB366 from front to back along the top of the right hand wall.
• The top edge of this piece will not be flush with the top of the wall, but will need to be higher by about 6mm so it coveres the exposed edge of the floor panel.
• Cut a piece of FB189 and glue this above, angled so that the back of it is glued to the surface of the roof panel.
• Use another piece of FB189, decide how high up the roof you want it as a beem, cut two pieces of FB180 and glue in the front and back of the room.
• Glue the intermediate FB189 beam in.

Step 16

• Make a double FB189 beam for the apex of the roof.
• Use another piece to make a vertical support post for the back wall, along with a temporary support post for the front.
• To gauge the height of the post, you want the double beam to be as tight to the apex as possible without any edges of it protruding past the angled edge of the gable panels, which would interfere with the roof.
• Glue the back support post into place.
• Glue thet double beam on top of it, supporting with an FB365 Scotia moulding bracket on either end.
• Glue a length of FB407 between the decorative brackets to the double beam to cover the join in it.   

Step 17

• Cut and position the roof timbers cut from FB180.
• Eleven beams means you will have 12 spaces. Do the maths to work out the spaces between each beam - they should be about 37mm long.
• Cut spacers to go between the beams, you will need a total of 96 of these for the whole roof!
• Start below the intermediate beam, with a spacer top and bottom, followed by a FB180 joist etc along the room.
• You may need to trim the last pair of spacers to fit the space.
• Repeat above the intermediate beam, chamfering the top of each joist to fit against the top beam.    

Step 18

• With all the roof joists in place, cut down some of the the FB464 decorative moulding for support brackets.
• Re-stain the cut ends.
• Glue in place in line with the roof joists.    

Go Back to Part 10

Go Forward to Part 12

For more information on Tudor bespoke properties go to www.kjdollshouses.co.uk, or contact Kevin Jackson at [email protected] and make sure you mention Dolls House and Miniature Scene.

This feature was originally published in Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine. If you like making miniatures, why not buy yourself a copy of the magazine. Or better still take out a subscription so you never miss an issue. For fans of Facebook and Twitter, or to email, print or comment on the feature, please use the buttons above to share with your friends.

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