Limited Edition Arthur Dollhouse Kit - Instructions and Assembly Guides

September 1st, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

The Arthur Doll House

The instructions for the Limited Edition Arthur Doll House are now available online! This allows for larger pictures and a discussion area in case you have any questions. The only thing missing is the schematics! If you need a closer look, just click the image!

Congratulations! You’re the owner of a special limited edition Arthur doll house kit! With only 200 kits made, your Arthur will be the pride of your collection. Whether you’re an experienced builder or you’re building a dollhouse for the first time, you’ll find the Limited Edition Arthur easy to assemble. Just follow along with our step by step instructions and you’ll have the dollhouse of your dreams!

This kit contains:

1 Limited Addition Birch Arthur Shell (see schematic drawing)

1 Tube of Trim Containing:

· Right and Left, Rear and Front corner guards

· Scalloped Gingerbread – 6 each

· 2 Roof peek guards (”roof edge trim”) – one short/one long

· Back floor trim – 2 each

· Back wall trim –1 each

1 Window Pack Containing:

· Front Door

· 5 large windows

· 2 small windows

· 5 window headers

· 5 top window bars

1 Porch Pack

· Porch railing components:

· Top rail (2 large and 2 small)

· Bottom rail (2 large and 2 small)

· Spindles - 24 each

· Newel posts - 4 each

You may also need:

· A soft lead pencil with eraser

· Carpenter or wood glue

· Masking or painter’s tape

· Extra sandpaper

· Straight edge ruler or carpenter’s square to help with alignments

· X-acto blade or amble-type pruning shears for cutting shingles

For finishing your house, you may need:

· Wood fill, spackling compound or wood putty

· Wood sealer such as primer, or a 50/50 mixture of clear shellac and wood alcohol.

· *Sealing the wood prevents it from drying out over time. It’s also essential as a foundation for paint or wallpaper. Do not seal surfaces that you are going to stain. Sealants will repel wood stain.

· Paint, wallpaper, stain and varnish to complete your house décor.

Tips for successful building

Set up a comfortable work area with all supplies handy. A table or smooth surface about 36” by 48” would be great. Be sure the work surface is flat to give you a square foundation on which to build.

Carefully follow the instructions in order. Don’t jump ahead of yourself!! Complete one step before going onto the next.

Keep all your pieces together in the box until they are needed. When you do punch out the pieces, do so CAREFULLY or you may break a part. It is helpful to write the name of each part in pencil directly on the wood piece. This can easily be erased later on.

When you see the words REMOVE AND PREPARE (R&P), in the instructions it means: (1) “Punch out the piece carefully from the front to the back. (the front is the side of the wood where the cut marks are clearly visible.) (2) Sand all the edges lightly and (3) paint, wallpaper, stain, or otherwise decorate if desired.

Always work with the smooth finished front side of the wood (the side where the cut marks are visible) facing up or towards the outside of the house unless directed otherwise.

Don’t glue until instructed to do so! This will give you flexibility in working with the parts. Always check the fit of the pieces before applying the glue! When gluing walls and floors together, run a thin bead of wood glue on the edges that will be making contact. A toothpick is the easiest way of applying the glue to ensure you have full control.

If you plan to paint the trim a different color than the rest of the house, paint the house and the parts separately and glue the trim to the house last! Read the warm-up sheet before you begin building. It will give you many important suggestions for wallpapering, painting, electrifying, shingling and siding your dollhouse.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself!! Building a dollhouse is not something you can complete in one evening, but it is a craft project of which you can be proud!

Before you begin

Before you get out the glue, we recommend that you put your house into “dry fit”. A dry fit is an assembly of the shell using masking tape to hold the pieces together instead of glue. The purpose of a dry fit is to allow you to become familiar with the assembly of the pieces and the overall composition of the house as well as making any adjustments that might be needed. The dry fit will help ensure that when you’re ready to begin gluing your house together, you’ll have a smooth assembly process.

Assembling the house

Step 1: R&P right and left side walls, front wall, first and second floor and first floor interior wall. Place left side wall flat on your work surface, smooth side down.

Step 2: Position first floor so that the tabs of the left edge of the floor fit into the bottom slots of the left wall. Glue in place.

Step 3: Position front wall to align tabs and slots on corner with left wall. Insert bottom tabs into slots on the first floor. Glue in place.

Step 4: Position the interior first floor wall so that the cutout for the doorway is against the front wall. Insert tabs at the bottom of the wall into the first floor. Glue in place.

Step 5: Position the second floor so that the tabs from the interior first floor wall fit into slots in the second floor, and that the tabs on the side and front fit into the slots on the side and front walls. Glue in place.

Step 6: Place the right side wall with tabs on the first and second floor fitting into slots on the side walls. Align the corners so tabs and slots fit snugly with front wall. Glue in place.

Step 7: Carefully turn the house right side up and use masking tape to clamp the house at the corners. Make sure the house is sitting square and even on your work surface. Let glue dry.

Step 8: R&P back foundation, front foundation and two side foundation pieces. Turn the house onto its side and position the back foundation piece so that it is flush with the edges of the first floor. Glue in place.

Step 9: The slots in the center of the porch front foundation piece are for the porch assembly. These slots will face with the open side down.

Glue the two side pieces of the front foundation in place, fitting the tabs into the slots on the foundation front. Let glue dry.

Place the porch foundation assembly into position under the house and glue in place. The sides of the foundation will be flush with the sides of the house, but the porch will overlap the foundation by 1/8”. Allow glue to dry completely before turning house back onto its foundation.

Step 10: R&P the second floor interior wall. Position the wall with the angle cut corner toward the open side of the house and the bottom tab fitting into the slot on the floor. Glue securely to both the floor and the front wall. Allow glue to dry.

Step 11: R&P the two front roof pieces. Turn the house so the front exterior is facing you. The left roof piece has a small slot that fits over the top of the second floor interior wall. Position both pieces and glue in place. Be sure to glue the center edges where the two roof pieces meet.

Step 12: R&P the two gable roof pieces. Position right and left roof pieces and glue in place. Be sure you apply glue to back edges that touch the roof as well as to the edges of the peak of the house front.

Step 13: R&P back roof piece. There is a slot in this piece that fits over the small tab on the second floor interior wall. The tab should be flush with the edges of the slot. Glue in place..

Step 14: When shingling your house, it’s best to draw guidelines on the roof in pencil so your shingles will come out straight and even. Refer to the warm up sheet for specific ways to attach the shingles to the roof. This sheet gives you many helpful ideas for applying the shingles to the roof.

Step 15: There are two pieces of roof edge trim, one long and one short. You will need to make small cuts on each piece for a smooth fit. Place the long piece on the main roof ridge and mark where it intersects with the gable roof peak. Cut an inverted V shape to fit over the back edge of the peak. The smaller piece is for the gable roof ridge and will need to have the back edges mitre cut to fit snuggly against the main roof ridge.

Align both pieces and glue in place.

Step 16: There are four corner guard pieces, two for the front corners and two for the back. The corner guards are positioned by aligning the slanted edge under the eave of the roof. Position and glue the back corner guards first. The front corner guards will need to be trimmed at the bottom to fit over the porch edge. Place the corner guards against the side of the house and use a pencil to mark the edge that meets the porch. Cut off the side of the corner guard to fit over the porch.

When the front corner guard is glued in place, it will look like this:

Step 17: The large windows are covered with a protective film to prevent the plastic from being scratched. Before installing the windows, slide the plastic out of the frame and remove the film from both sides. Carefully reinsert the plastic window into the frame. Glue the window cross bar strip into place horizontally in the middle of the window. (You’ll want to paint that piece before gluing it in place) Glue the top window bar in place on each window and then glue the windows into place. Apply interior window trim.

Step 18: After the window is glued into place, glue the window header to the wall above it. The window header is positioned to look like the header attached to the front door. Glue small windows and door in place.

Step 19: There are two pieces of back floor trim. Measure and cut the trim to fit the edges of both the first and second floor. The trim should be butted snugly against the corner guards on both sides.

Measure and cut the thin strip of trim for the exposed edges of the interior walls on the first and second floor. The trim can be gently bent to cover the exposed angle on the second floor interior wall.

Step 20: There are six pieces of scalloped gingerbread trim that will cover the exposed edges of the gable and roof peaks. For a fitted look, mitre cut the edges of the gingerbread to fit the shape of the peak. You will also need to trim the ends so they are flush with the roof edge.

Step 21: The porch steps have four pieces; two sides, one riser and one tread. R&P all four pieces. Fit the two side pieces into the slots on the front of the porch foundation and glue in place. Glue the riser to the front of the side pieces, making sure they are flush with the edges.

Glue the tread to the top of the porch assembly.

Step 22: Assembling your porch railing in components prior to installing will help ensure the railing is straight and the spindles are evenly spaced. There are four long railing pieces and four short. Notice that the railings are of different depths. The thicker rails go on the bottom and the thinner rails on the top.

Use a ruler to measure the width between spindles and mark the placement with a pencil on the railing. There will be 8 spindles on each long railing component and 4 spindles on each short one. Glue the spindles in place to both the top and bottom railing, making sure that the assembly is square on all sides. After the glue has dried completely, glue a newel post to both ends of the longer railing. Glue the shorter railing to the other side of the newel post to form a 45 degree angle. Glue the assembly to the porch, butting the short railing up against the corner guard of the house.

Step 23: Carefully punch out the center pieces of the shutters and lightly sand the edges if needed. Glue the back of the shutter to the front and clamp together till the glue dries. It’s easier to paint the shutters before assembling them. If the backing warps just a bit, that’s okay. It will flatten out once you have it clamped to the shutter front. Glue the shutters in place on either side of each large window.

Congratulations!! You’ve just completed your special edition Arthur! Sit back and admire your creation!