Infinite Possibilities Porch in half scale

Yep, that’s really what this kit is called. I’m not sure a porch can truly have infinite possibilities, especially when it’s made out of MDF, which as I’m discovering is infinitely (heh) more difficult to bash than a plywood kit. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Miniatures.com’s photo of the finished project.

I had a good time landscaping the Fairfield and the puzzle house and wanted to do another half scale landscape project that wouldn’t involve building an entire house first. Enter the Infinite Possibilities Porch, a newish offering from Miniatures.com. Its rectangular shape makes it perfect to display in a corner, and I got the idea to turn the finished porch into a bookend.

This is my first time building with MDF, and my assessment so far is that I don’t really like it. For one thing, masking tape won’t stick to it, which makes dry fitting the pieces or even holding them together while they’re gluing rather difficult. Also, to enlarge the holes to fit the windows and door I wanted to use, Geoff had to pitch in with a power saw (and much swearing).

Here it is with the doors and windows in. The main walls and floor are glued together but the porch and stairs are just for placement.

This kit comes with a stack of pieces and one page of black and white instructions that lists the parts, but doesn’t give a schematic or dimensions to help you identify them. Since many of the pieces are similar in size and shape, it took a while to figure out what was what. (And I only just this minute realized that the stairs don’t go together like I thought, so they’re incorrect in the picture above. Move along people, there’s nothing to see here…)

I want to glue in the porch before I cut siding for the walls, so the next step was to prepare the porch pieces. While I was at it I also painted the windows and door. For this project, I decided to use the Glidden samples I got during their free paint promo earlier this year. Initially I picked Pearl Gray for the house, Peach Crayon for the windows and door trim, and Crisp Autumn Leaves for the door.

My windows and door are resin and I wasn’t sure how well the MDF would take paint, so I coated them all with Gesso first for a (theoretically) nicer finish. Since the MDF is smooth and devoid of splinters I didn’t think sanding was necessary. However, after one coat the MDF looks like it’s covered in little hairs. I guess I’ll have to sand it after all.

I also painted the edges of the base that are not covered by the porch in brown. They will be covered up by plants and flowers and “soil,” but at least this way if any little spot shows through it will be dirt colored!

Here are how the stairs are supposed to go together. You’ll notice I painted the edge of the porch with the trim color, thinking it would sort of serve as a top step. (That’s what the picture on Miniatures.com led me to believe…) Well, I thought wrong. As I look at it now, I think it will make more sense for the front edge of the porch and the top part of the foundation to be the same color, so they can (combined) serve as a top riser.

Another annoyance: According to the instructions the edges of the porch are supposed to hang over the foundation slightly, but in reality they’re flush with the foundation. I could cut down the foundation pieces to fix this but don’t particularly care to, especially after enlarging the window and door holes took so much work. I’m wondering, since this is the half scale kit and the instructions were presumably written for the one inch kit, if maybe there are some slight differences that haven’t been accounted for?

The window and door trim came out much pinker than I expected and I’m not sure I like it next to the Pearl Gray. They almost look like the pink and blue you’d see in a baby’s room. I have another Glidden tester from the same color family, Ripe Apricot, that I might try instead. I think it’ll work better both with the house color and the door color… just wish I’d realized that before I painted all those tiny mullions on the windows!

So… of the work I did today, almost all of it needs to be redone in some way or another. Maybe I did something to anger the dollhouse gods?