More on StepS C:7-8, prep for Step D

 Trudging on with construction.  

I realised that I could see the other side of the false hallway as well, so I've painted that black and tidied up the join with a black strip.  I've neatened the opposite corner with a hardwood strip. 

view into false hall from above

While I still had access, I took a template of the hallway floor for future flooring installation.

All the wasted space behind the false wall over the 'stairs' was bugging me, you wouldn't do that in a real house. So I bodged in half a shelf that I've had for years, there is a little drawer at the bottom - it can be a knicknack or bookshelf in the bedroom.  I also added a wood strip to the inside of the main false wall to give a bit more gluing surface - I don't want the wall to come free when I press on it to apply wallpaper.

Once the bedroom wall assembly dried, I glued it into the main house (Step C:8)

Once all that dried, I put the house on its front and smeared more wood glue into all the crevices around slots and the gaps between pieces on the back and base, hoping to add more strength.  Part of me is still worried that the front of the house will fall off under its own weight once the house is hung on the wall.  While I've got access, I've filled over the slots in the base and will give it a few coats of emulsion.

Step D - porch

I am probably going to decorate the outside of the house quite similarly to the box picture, so I prepped the back wall of the porch for painting along with the stairs, risers, and the porch front - by smearing filler into the endgrain, then sanding when dry. Then I gave them 3 coats of white emulsion.  I've stained the porch floor in Dark Oak after drawing in false floorboards with a Pigma micron pen and belatedly realised that I drew the boards the way you would build a porch, which unfortunately is counter to the natural grain, so it looks stupid.  Luckily most of the porch floor will be hidden.  After the stain dried, I gave it a coat of matt varnish. I've painted the porch front end piece black, because it looks like this will be covered with white trellis.

Step E - Tower - prep

I've punched out the various tower pieces and sprayed them with sealer. I feel a bit stressed about the tower because it is one of the main features of the house, and yet the out-of-the-box design looks pretty naff.  Not sure what I'm going to do.  It would be tricky to cover it with siding due to the angles, but equally tricky to try to get a smooth paint finish.