The Lighthouse Project

So today I pulled out the New England Lighthouse kit from Real Good Toys and decided to start construction.  It’s the one inch scale version and I’ll be decorating it in sort of a sea side shabby nautical theme.  I’ll try to show as much of the construction as possible, as I go along, but feel free to ask questions in the comments section below the post if you like.  Hope you enjoy the progress!

House measures:  19 1/2″W x 19 1/2″D x 43″H  with 3 Rooms

First Day . . .

First step, read through the instructions and identify all the part.  WOW LOTS of PARTS!  A little bit later I have a fairly good idea of how this will all go together and have only a handful of parts left in the box that I don’t know what they are for.  Hmmmm, guess will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Next . . . I’ve decided upon paint colors and have begun painting all the sides and floors in two coats of white paint.  I’m using a medium to light grey for the trim on the windows.  This might change once I get the other colors on.

NOTE: I’ve used Americana Paint – Titanium White – for all white areas.  You will need the 16oz jar and maybe a little more depending on the thickness of each coat of paint.  I’ve put two coats on everything that is painted and when done, coated each with a clear semi-gloss spray sealer.

As you can see, I’ve got a room full of painted parts. I’ve not decided upon exact colors for the railing or door yet so those will wait till later.

Now, before I begin to glue the floors and walls, I’m going to make a template from the pieces of anything I might want to cover with flooring or wallpaper or wainscoting.  This will make that process easier when the time comes.

Before adding the sides . . . make sure there is NO paint in the grooves!!!  If there is, you will have a lot of trouble getting the sides on.  The tape thing they say to do in the instructions did not work for me, probably because a few of the boards were warped.  I simply added the sides one at a time working from left to right, add one board, add on to the left then one to the right and back and forth till all were on.

I hope some glue and adding the bottom base will pull the gaps together.  We shall see.  The one and only build video I could find for this kit, the girl used a nail gun to attach the side walls beyond glue.  I think if you can, this would be a fantastic idea and I may go back and add some nails myself in the end, just for added security.

Walls and floors are in and I’ve taped it up to sit overnight.  Fingers crossed it doesn’t fall apart when I remove the tape tomorrow!

Ok so back to the project only to discover that I made a BIG mistake when I attached the walls.  I won’t go into what I did but let’s just say my walls are mirrored from what they should be and therefore my stair openings are in the wrong spots!   This is why you should not plan to build something like this when you don’t feel well and are having lots of interuptions.

However . . . the show must go on so I’m going with it and will figure out what to do as I go.  I’m not going to let this stop me and will just make a few changes making it more unique.

I now need to add the Gallery deck on top, and the base on the bottom.  Glue and let dry.

And while that is drying, build the door/entry area.  Door is painted and installed and it just dawned on me that if I want to do anything special to the floor or walls in the entry, I probably should do that now before attaching it to the tower.  Figure it might be hard to reach once attached.

Off to make some bead board . . .

The Lighthouse 02

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