The cut parts, with opening pieces removed. It is recommended that these pieces be removed before cutting the individual pieces free. Tiny areas of uncut wood hold everything together in the sheet. (Hold it up to a light to see where cuts need to be made.)

A very sharp blade and some patience will be successful. A new, unused X-Acto knife blade works well. Avoid the temptation to snap, pull, prod or twist the parts free. This is wood and the wood fibers will not snap off cleanly.

The sub-assemblies.

The sub-assemblies. Parts have received a base coat of paint, lightly applied with a sponge. When these assemblies have been completed, now is the time to paint the details as once the main assemblies are joined, getting a brush to some areas will be difficult.

Building the sub-assemblies.

The main house body:

Consists of 4 wall panels. Except as noted below, the wall ends must be mitered at a 45 degee angle to form a clean joint. This joint will be covered by a small piece of trim so perfection is not required, only aspired to.

Use some small pieces of scrap to brace the corners as required.

Do Not miter the lower portion of the rear wall at the side porch stairs. This remains square, though the top is to be mitered where the upper part of the left side wall meets it. The lower end of the left sidewall (which resembles concrete block) should also remain square. The notched portion of that wall will be mitered to mate with the short wall that turns into the recessed porch.

Mitering can be done either with a power tool or by hand with a medium to fine sandpaper. Take your time as this wood is very thin and is easy to remove too much material in a very short time, even by hand.

Join all walls with wood glue, taking care to insure that the walls meet at 90 degree angles.

The porch assembly:

Consists of 3 wall panels, a floor panel and 4 short strips of various depths to form the stairs.

Miter the porch corner walls by carefully sanding to 45 degree angles. Test fit around the floor panel. Glue corners together and square up.

When dry, glue the porch floor to this assembly by using the slot in the front wall to determine the correct height.

Recessed Rear Entry assembly:

Consists of 2 small wall panels and a floor panel.

Match the tab to the notch in these two panel. No mitering is required. Glue.

Glue floor panel to recessed panels aligning tab in floor with slot under door.

Dormer assembly (make 2):

Each dormer consists of 1 triple window panel and two triangular side walls.

Glue the short end to inside of the window panel. Take care to insure the "wings" are on the correct side. The longest side of the triangle rests on the roof. When installed the siding lines are horizontal.

When glue is dried, sand the top of the assembly so the roof panel rests evenly on the three sides. If you plan to use the printed shinle sheet material provided, don't glue dormers in place on the main roof yet.

The main roof assembly:

The lower corners of both panels have small notches. Find 4 small pieces to insert into these notches to form lower eave corner trim. The longer dimension aligns with the top of the panel. Glue in place. If you wish, you can remove the square panel below the dormer if future lighting is desired.

When dry, sand as required to square with roof panel. Using the small angle in the heel of the trim as a guide, sand the lower edge of the roof panel even with the trim.

The upper panel edges forming the ridge are to be mitered by sanding to meet each other squarely. Again, sand these parts carefully so as to not remove too much material. Use the main gable end walls as a guide.

The porch roof assembly:

Consists of one trapazoid panel and two triangular panels. The short length goes against the front gable wall directly under the triple window

The shortest leg goes against the front house panel. The long side of the smaller triangle pieces should be mitered slightly by sanding to form the hipped ridge. Do this slowly and stop to test fit often until a suitable angle is achieved.

Only a small angle is necessary to apply to achive the shallow slope required for this roof. Glue parts together. When dried, the assembly may be sanded along the bottom to reduce the apparent thickness of the fascia.

The dormer roof (2 dormers)

Consists of one square panel each. Glue to the dormer wall assembly, with about 1/16" overhang in front. Miter upper end of panel as required to meet main roof smoothly.

Stairs (make 2 sets.)

Consists of 4 short strips of various depths to form the stairs. Front stairs are wider than the rear. Lightly sand parts as needed for finish. Simply stack and glue the 4 strips beginning with the largest on the bottom and progessively smaller as you go up. Square up the ends and rear to form an even staircase.

The painted sub-assemblies.

The sub-assemblies. Parts have received a final coat of paint, etched trim around the doors and windows have been painted, corner trim has been painted and applied as well as a board above the foundation walls.

Roofing

Included is pre-printed roofing shingle material. A roofing templatethat reflects the actual size of the cut wood parts is included. When cutting material, always align shingle pattern with the horizontal bottom of the roof panel. Cut slightly oversize & test-fit.

Apply main roof shingle material before installing dormers. The material adhesive is slightly forgiving if no pressure is applied while test-fitting. Porch roofing should be test fit and trimmed as necessary.

Smooth any seams & touch up any white edge that may be visible with an appropriate colored pencil.

Final assembly.

Prior to joining the above sub-assemblies together, test fit the parts without glue. There will be a couple of points where corner trim needs to be cut back to allow porch parts, stairs and the porch hip roof to meet the main structure. Use a sharp knife to make a small notch where required.

Glue the sub-assemblies together and allow to dry.

When installing the rear vestibule, the porch deck rests on top of the side wall. Sand the stairs as required to fit within the opening.

Align the dormers with with the triple window on the main floor side walls.