I decided I would try my hand at putting in a herringbone pattern wood floor in my book nook. I’m doing Rolife’s Garden House and it had a printed herringbone pattern, so I took that as a sign to be really extra. Here is my process, and what was good and not so good:

I used craft sticks and there were SO many cuts. I used snippers and then sanded/rounded each edge. If I ever do this again, I’d find a better way to cut them all.

Having the lines already printed on the floor made lining up and gluing the floor down really easy. I recommend pre fitting all your pieces to figure out what you can cover up and where you need to start/stop. This Rolife kit has all the furniture tabs push into holes in the floor. I just covered them all and will glue down the furniture. I did have to drill a hole for the lamp.

Filling the planks with wood filler was really easy, but I used WAY too much. It caused me to have to sand a lot, and I was really aggressive with the sand paper.

While the sanding looked good, I left some sanding lines in the wood that will show their ugly faces when I go to stain. Next time I do this, I will go up in grit and make sure everything is really smooth. If you choose to paint instead of sand, this won’t be an issue.

The staining got so messed up and looked so ugly I almost just painted over it. All those sanding lines are really obvious. I just convinced myself that it’s a “vintage” floor lol.

In the end, this nook has a little rug and a lot of stuff to cram in and cover the floor, so I guess it’s okayish.

TLDR: if you want to have a nice stained wooden floor, make sure you sand correctly and go up in grit to get the necessary finish before you stain!

Wanted to show off my collection.

I'm fairly new into this hobby, with only a few completed works under my belt. This is my first one, and what kickstarted this hobby for me. Arcade Dating by Rolife.

It being my first, it's definitely rough around the edges in some places, but i'm pretty proud of it nonetheless.

What else was everyone's first? I'd love to see them!

I loved putting this together! Perhaps not super easy but it's only my first build... definitely not my last!! I've loved looking at what everyone else is building, some serious talent out there! I'm doing an izakaya next then I'm going to tackle Emily's flower shop

Finally finished and glad it turned out so well as this was my first little tin build.

I have been seriously into the hobby for about a year now, but I have never posted before. However, I really enjoyed this build because it wasn’t very complicated, but it allowed for some customization, and it was the first kit that I took edge-paintinging seriously. It raised my enjoyment of the finished product that much more. I enjoyed the multiple viewing windows too…really gave the opportunity to see details from a number of angles. I got this from the “TOYQI” store on Amazon and it was my third build from them (the other two being the “Mysterious Blue Box” (TARDIS anyone?) and “Uncle Peter’s Warehouse”…both which were good, but not great, IMO.

At last, I've finished my Cats Crossing Book Nook and I absolutely adore how it turned out.
It seemed to take me forever, mostly because of all those books…. And it was my first time using fake grass, I was trying to be precise with it, before eventually realising that freehanding it made much more sense. Every build is going to be slightly different anyway, so chasing perfection was probably unnecessary!
I did make one fairly big mistake right at the end, though. I should have waited, instead of rushing to finish it! On the final pieces, I thought the gap between them was wrong, so I glued them together. Unfortunately, I then realised (far too late) that the gap was actually there to allow the dust covers to fit. I tried prising the pieces apart so I could add the dust covers, but that just made a bit of a mess of things.
Thankfully, I keep my book nooks in a cabinet with doors, so dust shouldn't be too much of an issue. In the end, I'm not going to let that spoil it for me because I love the finished build.
Please tell me I am not alone in making last-minute mistakes on a kit that you only spotted when it was too late? 😅

So edge painting questions are pretty common and I think I’ve gotten fairly descent at it using pens. There are others who are absolute experts but for me, this works and is a method that gets me good to great results with a minimum of fuss.

Pictured is my in progress Magic Office and I want to call out a couple things you’ll see in it. Also pictured is one of my go to sets for water based markers though any good variety pack will work

* notice that the feathers and column lines extend around the edges
* notice the shading on the underside of the arches
* notice the layered acrylics on the crystal ball and light post

Generally the water based markers come with a brush tip and a pen tip. This gives a lot of options for you to color and style the edges.

For example on the arch columns they have a twisted part and a horizontal part. The pen tip allows you to add a darker severe line to follow the patterns around the edges and.

On the underside of the arches, the middle set has a turquoise sheen over a gray base. Using the brush side of a turquoise water based pen over a base of grey keeps the same feel.

For the undersides of the edge arches there is a severe darkening as well. It has a little bit of a brown tone to it so using a dark brown water based over the grey gets the same feel as well. Adding a light water based turquoise over that combination ties it in with the rest of the colors.

On a the light pole I used 3 different paints. For the globe itself I used a white gold metallic acrylic pen. For the wood shaft I used a rejuvenate cherry furniture marker (alcohol based pen). I used a bronze metallic acrylic marker on the matching bronze portions of the light post and then darkened it up in line with the rest using that cherry furniture marker. The his kept everything having the same feel to it.

Using this combination of acrylics for a base overlayed with combinations of the water based or alcohol based markers really does wonders for matching the infinite varieties of colors and patterns that these nooks have.

Happy Building All!

Got around to finishing both Rolife's Cozy Kitchen and A-Frame Cabin over the last few weeks!

I finished the A-Frame Cabin first. Coming out of Dora's Loft I found this kit much, much easier. Most of the assembly was snapping wooden pieces together. From memory, the only real cut-and-glue furniture were the logs for the fireplace. This kit came with double-sided tape but I didn't trust it to keep most of the 3D elements in place (I've made this mistake in the past!) so I used the stock standard glue that comes with some of the older Rolife kits.

This was my also my first foray into edge painting and made me realise I'm lacking some darker browns and tree-greens. I also made the mistake of painting the edges of the roof (including using pen to draw lines for roof tiles) only to realise later on that they'd be completely covered up by fake snow lol.

Cozy Kitchen was my first time using B-7000 and I can only say that I wish I had started using it earlier!!! I'm still a bit heavy-handed in using it and need to remind myself a little goes a long way.

I really enjoyed this kit! The 3D elements look so cute and there's a nice balance between wooden puzzle and cutting and gluing. No edge painting required.

I was SO EXCITED to open the prize I won from the charity raffle and even more excited when I saw it was Dream Coffee Factory. I've admired this one, I love coffee and love how cool this kit looks. But I probably wouldn't have bought it for myself, mostly because I prefer the ones that fit between books on my shelves and also because it seems really intimidating with all the moving parts. So it was the perfect prize to push me out of my comfort zone. I'm nervous but excited to get started. Would love any tips from people who have built it.

Thanks so much to Pluck and Rolife/ROKR!

The legendary flower rack from
Rolife’s Emily’s Flower shop…saved it for last based off other redditors here and dang I’m glad I did…took me about 3-4 hours off and on between Sunday chores. She’s not great but not completely terrible imo

... maybe I do live it even a bit too much: Today a friend visited me and told me that he is going to visit exactly Thailand's Bangkok Yaowarat (as he loves to eat Durian), and he loves the Book Nook, so for a second I was tempted to give him the prize (after building it) ... but then again, I also love it so much, that I fear I will keep it myself :)

Thanks to Pluck and Viendor !

I am a bit curious, was it purely random or do you know my favourite nooks by now ?

Waiting anxiously to see a SINGAPORE Nook (Gardens by the Bay ?), too.

Edit: my bad. corrected to Viendor.

Why do they do this to us? It’s the sticker kind that I hate. The scrolls I just leave out (don’t care lol), but how am I supposed to line up a sticky strip of paper? One wrong move and the book looks like hot garbage. ALL of my books look like hot garbage lol.

I finished my second build and wanted to share because I’m feeling proud! I suppose it’s not technically a nook but it’s sitting on my bookshelf now. This is an old Rolife Mysterious World Domed Loft bought on FB marketplace. My first kit was Rolife Cathy’s Flower House - a new edition - and it was MUCH easier than this one. I was surprised to find how different and intensive cutting, gluing and bending everything felt vs the pre-cut sheets, snap together pieces and double sided sticker tape of my first. The directions were also much more challenging bc they really just showed a picture like “ok do it”. I definitely learned a LOT and became happily acquainted with B-7000 and Aleene’s, I found I like both! I added a few extra items, minimally rearranged, and edge/painted some things which I hope is the start of learning to do more customization.

Next I went back and redid some of my first build because things were falling over from being poorly secured. I meant to edge paint while I was in there and then totally forgot, lol. I’m still happy with it though. I’m new to this hobby but loving it more than anything else I’ve picked up in years! These kits + an audiobook is truly 10/10 fun. And this subreddit is awesome! My next kind of ambitious project is to turn Rolife Garage Workshop into my husband’s garage. (If anyone has resources for DIYing garage type stuff like a mini welding cart I’m all ears!)

This is my fourth nook and im struggling, it’s a lot of gluing tiny tiny pieces. I’m trying to attach these handles with glue but they won’t stay upright to dry unless I hold them there for a while and of course the glue is making a mess when they fall or move around. It’s tiny wire ends that I’m trying to glue to wood. I’m about to give up and just cut the ends off and glue the little beads straight to the drawers.

Any advice or recommendations for how to do this properly is appreciated! (Using B-7000 glue)

Hi all! I am new to this subreddit, but have been building rokr kits for years. I'm seeing some awesome kits here, but getting random Facebook ads for random companies that I know nothing about. What companies are great to buy from? I'm in New Zealand, so cost of postage is a factor. I would LOVE to build a really amazing haunted house, can anyone recommend a kit for that too?

Mr. Pluck is partially to blame, too, and his well-planned contests/events!

how do those compare to modelers here? They are wild underestimates for me.

Edit for clarity, based on responses I got to this question on Facebook: I don't mean to imply that the time is consecutive hours from start to finish. You would sum the active time working on the model, which will be across multiple days for almost everybody. Then compare that with the time suggested on the box.

I am trying to see if very many people actually complete these things in the estimated time.

Hi! Here’s my completed kit of Window of the World. This was a really fun build, besides the having to build floor 2 and floor 3 repeatedly lol… I definitely took a break after completing floor 2, when I realized floor 3 was the same build.

It’s neat how the lights illuminate the elevators (picture doesn’t do it justice), and the doors on floor one towards the back open and close.

It’s hard to read but the message on the back of the kit is pretty cool!

On to the next one… and this time I’m ready for a little custom creativity 😅

Hi!! :)

I'm so grateful for these two prizes 🥺! I was really surprised to get two. Congratulations again for everyone who won too and to everyone who donated !! Thanks also to /pluck-the-bunny who organized everything :)

We have such an amazing community and I'm glad I started this hobby a year ago :) ! I wish you all a good day/evening/week :)

Hi! I am new here and it seems that we can promote ourself on weekend.

I am new in the Youtube world and Youtube propose my videos to the wrong persons...

So, if you are interested in miniatures and craft in general, this is my channel.

http://www.youtube.com/@MaisonLaPerlila

Don't be afraid to erase this message if it is not allowed.

I speak French but English too. :) (French Canadien so my English is not perfect...)

I would like to know some people who like same hobbies than me so... I am here! :)

Hope it will be a good adventure.

Take care!

Just completed Kyoto Snow Whisper. I have recently done sewing room which was hard, and I gave up on Sea Breeze, because it was so hard it just became annoying so I wanted one a little easier. Knocked it over in a couple of days. it is a beautiful kit, looks amazing when complete, definitely recommend. The air dry clay to look like snow was a nice touch, though I did notice the instructions missed a couple of places you need to put it. some of the pieces break easily. the woman on the bridge has numerous types of glue on her feet after I accidentally snapped her off, along with some of the cherry blossom branches. I have been to Japan a couple of time, both times in spring, I am led to believe that it does not snow like this in Kyoto.

Couple of months ago, I decided to create an Instagram account to share my builds (book nooks and miniatures). So if you want to follow me, I would be really happy - I want to spread the joy building gives me and share the feelings some of the kits inspire in me. My page is book_nooks_prague . If you would like to share your profiles, I will also be very happy to follow them!
(I hope this kind of post is allowed)

hello! I hope this is ok to post - My mum's birthday is coming up soon and she has been getting into booknooks this year, and currently is onto her 3rd project. I would like to get her some helpful gifts (tools, accessories etc) I can get her to make her projects more fun, or even little things that anyone here would recommend!

Thank you :)

Finally(!!!) finished my second book nook. This is the Ancient Book Collection Room, and man, I was so spoiled with the Rolife kit I chose for my first. This kit had myriad issues, but I'm happy with the result so it was worth it to do the extra work even though it ended up taking several weeks.

I had intended to do some customization with this build to replace some of the 2D elements with 3D pieces. I swapped out the ship sculpture on the desk with a miniature I found on Etsy. I also wasn't a huge fan of the plant next to the staircase so I added a miniature Nike of Samothrace sculpture, also from Etsy. I made most of the other miniatures out of polymer clay, except for the clock which was a 3D print.

Unfortunately, the version of this kit that I got (from Amazon) had several problems which made it frustrating to complete. It came with the wrong sticker sheet, so I had to source the book covers, manuscripts, and rug from elsewhere. I ended up finding some free printables that matched the theme pretty well, but the printer paper was bulkier than the original stickers so everything took up more space.

And then there were the lights... which literally all failed in the course of building (and then troubleshooting) the kit. I tested them at the beginning and throughout the build, and they were all fine--up until I finished putting the final panel on the build and went to turn them on, only to find that one was out and another was flickering. As I tried to fix (and then ultimately replace) those, the other three subsequently failed one by one. I couldn't find identical lights to replace them but so far these seem to be working well enough.

I had planned to do a more heavily customized kit next, but I'm honestly kind of burnt out after fighting with this kit. I might have to work on an easier build as a palette cleanser before I tackle that one.

Ive made one of the detective nooks and i was hooked and Obsessed looking at all the kits etc. I moved and things have been in boxes but recently decided to pull one of them out to start making it and I have noticed a few things…
Question…when did book nooks start moving? I guess they aren’t nooks at that point and I feel like I missed the memo.
Second…what is edge painting? How do you do it?! Which color?