The Replicator

Last week we began our Willowcrest journey by starting on the first/second floor stairwell. I wanted to make that area more viewer friendly by adding a much larger window using the kit's French Door Window as the model. But how could I replicate the fancy, multi-layer and double arched frames and trim? I'm not a woodworker, but I do have lots of technology at my fingertips, so I decided to see what I could do with it. 

3D Printed Staircase Interior Window Frame

After some tinkering, I found that I could scan the frames into my PC, open them in Inkscape, separate the layers then save the best one as an svg file. I imported the svg file into Tinkercad, made adjustments, if necessary, added details and then prepared them for 3D printing. It's a pretty complicated process at first, but once I did a little troubleshooting, I ended up with some amazing replacement kit pieces!

Scanned French Door frames into my PC

Imported into Inkscape and converted into an svg

Imported into Tinkercad. There were mysterious "holes" that needed patching up.

Not only can I combine each of the layers into one frame, to further enhance the kit's components, I can add architectural details created by myself or by others on Thingiverse, Has your mind just exploded like mine did? Oh the possibilities!

The kit has you stack four layers of die cut plywood to achieve the look of fancy molding. Here's what the kit's French Door Window looks like assembled. It's super charming but the plywood needs so much TLC...

French Door Window exterior frame layers.

And here is the Small Window's wooden parts, exterior and interior.

Small Window exterior frame layers.

Small Window interior frame.

Not every piece of plywood in the kit was in great shape. You see, while all the sheets looked to be in good shape at first glance, upon further inspection, while popping out pieces, a couple sheets weren't so good at all. It was as though the top and bottom layers of plywood were nearly petrified and so hard to cut through, even with a sharp Xacto blade. By extreme contrast, the center layers of plywood had disintegrated, leaving a crumbled chasm. This made the pieces very unstable, so tricky to safely remove from the sheets and some had weirdly expanded in thickness. I probably could have restored them with a lot of wood glue, filler, sanding and copious patience, but 3D printing them seems like much more fun. Not only is this method an exciting way to replicate the kit's windows and other trim elements to improve them, it's a way to replace them altogether, when necessary.

French door frame from sheet 4.

French door frame from sheet 7

Here, each layer of the Small Window's exterior frame has been scanned, saved as an svg and imported into Tinkercad.

The kit has you stack four layers to achieve the look of fancy molding.

In Tinkercad, I stacked the frames into one piece and then embellished them with corbels. I added a recessed reveal in the openings so it appears as though the window can open.

A close up view of the 3D rendering which shows the corbel detail better.

For the Stairwell's exterior window,  I added a shelf to the bottom shaped to mimic the window's curves. It's supported with detailed corbels. The same top corbel will be used wherever possible to unify the exterior style. 

Shelf Detail

When I recreate the French Door Window frame for the front of the house I'll skip the shelf and add a frieze to the lower portion since it sits on the porch floor.

The French Door Window to the left of the front door.

All the window "glass" will mount in the exterior window frames. I have created a recess for the "glass" so that the window frame can sit flush to the wall. I'll replace the kit's acetate windows with 1/32" Lexan.

But aren't I getting WAY ahead of myself with all these windows? Yes, but recreating them is so much fun! My goal was to get the entryway/stairwell completed first. The exterior window frames won't be needed until much, much later. All I need right now are the interior stairwell window frame and a small interior window frame for the second floor landing. I went a little crazy with the details on the stairwell frame as you can see. The entry/stairwell is the first room guests see, so traditionally in homes of that era, they were meant to make an impression.

Stairwell window frame.

Side detail.

The interior frames for the rest of the house will likely be a lot more subdued.

Small Window Interior Frame

Side detail.

Here I must digress a little...

Some of you may remember that last fall I worked on a commission to design and print 3D windows and doors for a Breakfast At Tiffany's themed dollhouse. For the 9" door surround, I had to print it in five pieces because of the 5.5" size limitation of my 3D printer's print bed. 

Rendering pieces, left. Printed and assembled door, center. Original BAT door, right.

My supportive husband, believing in my ability to create great things if I have the right tools, conspired with my kids to join forces and buy me a much larger 3D printer for my birthday last December. Now, I am able to print things over twice that large, making it possible for me to print the 7.91" interior stairwell window frame in one piece. Have I ever mentioned how wonderful Russ and my kids are to me? 💗 Using the scan/svg/3D printing method, I can replicate almost any piece I need to, as long as I can fit it onto the X-Max's 300 x 250 x 300 mm (11.81" x 9.84"x11.81") bed. I can even have another small job going at the same time because I still have my trusty old X-one2!

Welcome to the family, X-Max!

Back to windows... Now it was time for the real test. How would the frames look printed? I started with the staircase wall's interior frame. This was pretty complicated, so I figured if this one was successful, I was home free. I think it came out amazingly good, and surprisingly, even with the more capable printer, it took over nine hours to print. I am sure there are settings I can adjust to speed things up, but I still have A LOT to learn! I am trying to eat this elephant one bite at a time.

There is a bit of post production work to do, but sanding PLA is generally pretty easy if you have the right sized sanding implements. And trust me - it is a lot easier sanding than those crumbling plywood frames! And, no slivers!

It looks perfect against the pattern I traced on the wall, so I guess it's safe to cut the hole. Scroll saw here we come! But first...

In my excitement about the windows, I'd nearly forgotten that I also needed to have the front door ready. The kit's door is a double opening model which seems to be a common feature for second empire homes. I thought that re-designing mine to look like a double door but actually opening as one solid door was a better idea - less hinge engineering and less operating parts that could break.  Here's the rendering of what the door and frame looks like together.

Kit's Double Door

I designed it so that it looks the same on both sides. There's a frame for the exterior and the interior. The door itself is printed in two halves that when combined, will be the thickness of the original kit's door. I made a recess for the "glass" so that it will be sandwiched between the door layers. Because of the width, I printed the file two times - one for the interior and one for the exterior. I think I've figured out a way to engineer the hinges and I hope it works! 

Recess for "glass"

And here are the interior/exterior doors printed. I am super happy with how they came out! Each side took over 10 hours.

Test Fit...

From the front porch

From the kitchen doorway. I left 1/32" allowance on each side for paint and swing space.

From the stairs

And the interior Small Window frame straight off the printer. Simple but elegant, I think.

I did the entry arches for the kitchen and living room, too, but haven't printed them yet. First I have to decide on the flooring. The height of the arches will have to be adjusted accordingly for it. And I think it might be time to actually glue the foundation, front wall and center walls in place. Scary and exciting!

My recreation system is not quite as sophisticated as The Replicator in the Star Trek series, but it works well enough for me! And it goes to show that with a little technology and a will to try, any challenge can become an opportunity for even better minis!

Hope you're finding ways to turn your challenges into opportunities, too!

xo xo,

Jodi

Bucket List

One of the dollhouses that has always been on my bucket list is the Willowcrest. Unfortunately, the kits (made of 1/8" tab and slot plywood) were discontinued by Greenleaf sometime after the last release in 2009. I didn't get back into minis until 2012, so I thought I may have lost my opportunity forever. I've always kept my eye out for one, but whenever I saw them, they were way over my comfort price for a dollhouse kit. There are currently four of them on eBay ranging from $375 to $450, not including the pricy shipping. And they don't guarantee the condition or completeness. Yep - way out of my comfort zone. Farewell sweet dream...

And then... You know how when you make a wish, sometimes the universe conspires to make it come true for you? Well, imagine my surprise when, randomly, a Willowcrest kit showed up in my Facebook Marketplace feed! It was located less than an hour from me, it was the same price as the last release price in 2009, and it was brand new! Sort of. The nice man who sold it to me was selling it for his sister, who, received the kit from her parents back in the 1990's. She's a busy mom now and has no hope of ever having the time to build it. No problem! It'll be going to a good home - mine!

When I opened the box, everything looked to be there and was in amazingly good shape. You can imagine how delighted I was when I confirmed that every sheet was accounted for, and at least topically, in tact. There was even a brand new set of Houseworks door knobs in the box. Bonus! They aren't pictured here, but the instructions, schematics, warm up sheet, Greenleaf Guarantee sheet and catalog were also inside and in perfect condition. ✅

I really didn't want to start another big project, as I was enjoying the regular endorphin rush of completing my many "almost finished" projects this year. But you know how the miniaturists' mind works: let me just look at the instructions, let me just punch out a few pieces to see the wood's condition, let me just do a quick dry fit, let me just take some notes and make some plans for the future. Um hum. You know where this is heading. I'm alternating now between groaning "What Have I Done?" and extreme excitement.

Punched, primed and dry fit the pieces from the first page of the instructions.

I had a talk with myself. I said "Okay, so we're doing this now. Accept it and get to work!". I spent the first few days scouring the internet to see what those who've gone before me have done. There is so much inspiration! The kit definitely has a few awkward and challenging spaces along with it's uniquely beautiful Second Empire features. Many have tweaked the design or added on to gain square footage and maximize the usable space. The very best example of thinking totally outside the box and hitting a home run with the kit is blogland's very own Elizabeth at Studio E! Her Villa Leone, which is set in Venice, is astonishingly beautiful and extraordinarily creative! Fittingly, it won Best in Show at the Vancouver, Canada mini show! 

I am not that ambitious with my plans, though I can't help but want to make a few improvements and use a few of my technology tools to see what can be done. To that end, I began with the room that, by all accounts, they recommend you start with: the entry/stairwell that spans both the first and second floors. This is because it quickly becomes inaccessible, so it's a build/decorate/build situation. 

Kitchen, front, looking into the entryway/stairwell room.

Looking thru the front door opening into the entry/stairwell room.

Spiral stairwell's left corner.

Looking thru the front door opening you can
go straight into the kitchen or left to the living room.

That meant I had to make some decisions right away. I often begin a project by finding an inspiring paper pack, and that's exactly what I did here. I wanted to do something totally different than any of my other projects, and kind of in keeping with Second Empire style. I chose the Stamperia Grand Hotel paper pack as my theme. My Willowcrest wanted a very romantic and old fashioned kind of feel, but because I am a die hard Laura Ashley fan, I'm going to mix many patterns and colors using these scrapbook papers as inspiration.

Next, I assembled the staircase. This was so that I could get it measured against the kit's right (looking at the front) wall. You see, I want the first and second floor entry/hall to be seen as much as is possible. It's a grand space, probably the best space in the kit because it's mysterious. It really ought to be appreciated! The kit comes with a very tiny (and cute) diamond square window, and the upstairs landing can be seen through the front window, but viewing into those areas is extremely limited.

Photo Courtesy of More Minis
https://moreminis.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-willowcrest-dollhouse-revisited_21.html

After the stairs had been minimally constructed, I was able to mark up the main stairwell wall to plan for a much bigger window. In keeping with the kit's design elements, I decided to use the French Door window (from the first floor adjacent to the front door) as my template.

French Door Ext. Layer #2 of 4

Here is the interior layer of that frame traced onto the stairwell wall...

And with the stairs taped in place...

But how can I replicate the fancy, multi-layer and double arched interior and exterior frames? Technology - that's how! I'll even attempt to make them fancier! Details to follow in my next post.

Although it will probably take a very long time to accomplish this bucket list Willowcrest dollhouse, I am really going to enjoy it no matter how long it takes. I hope you'll come along on the journey, and I hope it inspires you to make a wish!

xo xo,

Jodi