A Little House

[Phred]

One of my granddaughters has been plaguing me to make a 'little house' for her so I suppose I must oblige. Just for a change I thought I would take some photos as I go in case anyone on here finds it interesting.
I have decided to make an old Australian style timber clad house on stumps of the style which real estate agents are pleased to call 'an original workers cottage' which apparently makes it more valuable than a little old house.
As I have no real plan in mind, it will be interesting to see how the build develops. Scalewise, I'm thinking roughly 1/76 but, as it will be played with, scale will be variable to make things robust enough to withstand little hands.

So, to start, a roll of old bamboo panel blind and a few coloured sticks left over from my wife's last attempt at flower arranging:

Break the blind down into individual slats and sticks:

Cut some slats to the right length for floorboards and glue some together for floor joists:

Glue it all together to make a floor.

Now I'll have a think about it until tomorrow.

[Mountain]

Good so far.

[Phred]

Cheers Mountain!

Making a start on the front and back walls, or at least a rough framework to glue the external cladding onto:

The front and back doors are in the middle of the house directly opposite each other. With both doors and all windows open, a wind tunnel effect is created which sucks the hot air out of the house. Still horribly hot in summer, but it helps.

The balsa strips at the base will ensure that the first of the cladding boards 'kicks out' at the correct angle. The open space on the right hand side of the back will accommodate a stove recess.

Time for a coffee.

[Phred]

Framed up the side walls in the same way and planked/painted it all up. I used Kaiser brand Antique White acrylic which is the right colour, but it's a miserable thin paint, requiring at least five coats to cover anything.

Having test fitted the walls, I now realise that the floor needs to be longer, front to back, so I've added some extensions.

Next, some doors and window frames.

[Bigmet]

One of my granddaughters has been plaguing me to make a 'little house' for her so I suppose I must oblige...

It will be interior and exterior furniture next...

[Phred]

Bigmet wrote:
It will be interior and exterior furniture next...

Not planning that, but who knows.
Although...
The front verandah of this type of house is the natural habitat of old broken down sofas, so I suppose one will appear there.

Strips of balsa for the window and door frames, cut down bamboo slats for window sills and doorsteps. The doors were cut from some old timber venetian blind bits. Pins with a bit of thin card backing for handles.

Shirt box plastic for glazing and crumpled up gift wrapping paper for curtains. The little bathroom window has some strips of bamboo slats glued inside which look pretty much like a timber blind from the outside.

Now to let it all dry (or set) until tomorrow.

[Dad-1]

Nice one Phred,

I love little projects like this one.

Geoff T.

[Phred]

Hi Geoff. Yes, it's fun to just start with a vague picture in mind and commence building with no clear plan or specific measurements to comply with.

The back wall in place and waiting for the glue to set a bit. I know the camera doesn't lie but I wish it wasn't so brutally honest. I swear it all looks better in real life.

The three remaining sides attached and supported by the back wall while the glue sets.

Now leave it all to solidify until tomorrow. Time for a cuppa and a Hobnob or two.

[Phred]

I was going to just glue the stumps straight onto the floor joists (no bearer beams in this dodgy build) but I expect they will snap off too easily when the grandchildren get hold of it, so I've come up with another plan:

I've added extra bamboo slats along the sides of the joists and glued another strip (with holes in) across the bottom to make sockets for the stumps.

The floristry sticks have been cut to length and sanded back to remove most of the red paint. The remaining scraps of paint makes it look as if some previous occupant has got creative with the colour scheme in years gone by.

Added some more slats around the bottom of the house and at the corners to hide some of the uglyness.

Now to add more layers of Antique White paint to disguise the bodgy job. Paint covers a multitude of sins.

[Phred]

A bit of paint slapped on. Looks a bit better.

Front steps on. Probably should have left them off for now while I'm juggling the house around for the rest of the build. They can always come off if necessary, I suppose.

These houses were built on stumps to allow cool air to circulate under the building and to give some protection against floods and white ants (termites). These days, when neighbourhoods start to become gentrified, people tend to raise the house up in the air on ridiculously long stumps and build in underneath, thus spoiling the appearance and negating the aforementioned benefits in one go.

The back landing and steps.

The stove recess goes on the back landing, so I'll make a start on that next.

[heda]

I'm enjoying following this, just the sort of little project I enjoy.
Dave

[Phred]

heda wrote:
just the sort of little project I enjoy

Hi Dave.
I'm glad you posted as it reminded me that I've been merrily building and forgot to take photos!

OK, so the stove recess has been added. It's clad in cardboard to represent fibro asbestos cement (FAC) sheets. Apart from allowing a little more room in the kitchen, it provides a safety margin in case the wood burning stove gets out of control.
I've salvaged a stud from an old pair of jeans for a chimney cover. The chimney pipe is a piece of bamboo rod glued all the way down the inside of the back wall so that it can't be easily broken off. Matchsticks make up the posts and railings.

The old timber supports for the landing have rotted out and have been replaced with new galvanised iron posts (bamboo rods). The little window on the side provides some illumination for the cooking area and is a good vantage point for spying on the neighbours. A bit of printed paper looks like a venetian blind.

I'll have a coffee then make a start on the roof.

[End2end]

What a great and unique model Phred.
Very nice.
Thanks
End2end

[Bigmet]

I was curious to see how the stove compartment worked, thought it might have been outdoors other than with a 'shelter' style roof over, and a sliding shutter on the back wall; we are talking the land of the Barbeque I believe?

[Phred]

Cheers End2end!

Hi, Bigmet. Yes, I'm located in Queensland, Australia. My wife grew up in a house very similar to this one. If this was built in Britain, the occupants would freeze to death in the first winter. It's a basic 'box on stilts' with a corrugated iron hat. This build represents an old house which has been patched up and modified over the years as various luxuries such as reticulated water and electricity have become available. Although electricity is now connected, the old wood stove is still in use.

Roof trusses! I got carried away and made six. I only need five.
Still, the extra one looks handy for something...

Some strips of balsa glued together in an L shape and painted in Paynes Grey looks a bit like old guttering with a good layer of Rustoleum.