Using the mock-up as a guide, I got the foam board cut and the basic assembly done today. Once again I used a sheet of foam board generously donated by T'Other One.
All the pieces cut out ready for assembly
To give the model extra strength I decided to use rabbet joints rather than butt joints.
If you don't know how to make a rabbet joint, here's how.
Butt joint, only one point of contact along the joint
For the rabbet we need to remove the shaded material, making sure the bottom layer of card is intact.
Easily done with careful use of a craft knife.
Lots of gentle shallow cuts rather than savage deep ones*
The two pieces then fit snuggly together with double the contact between the pieces
And glued, I recommend pinning from both sides while the glue dries.
An extra bonus with rabbet joints is you don't get that strip of exposed foam down the joint.
Glued and pinned
I used map pins because I couldn't find my dressmaking pins, but actually they proved easier to remove, so I'll stick with these in future.
I've also added a 'first floor' to provide the roof of the tunnel and add strength and rigidity to the model.
Next I'll add the card former for the roof and the details to the building (doors, timbers etc). I'll pencil in some ideas on the white card first, based on the original model.
EDIT; I should point out that if you are using rabbet joints there is no need to reduce the size of the walls accounting for the thickness of the foamboard, just cut them to the full wall length.
*Not in the Lovecraftian sense.
Great start. Really like how the rabbet joints hide the foam edge.
ReplyDeleteThanks. They are very useful for foam board. You can buy special devices for cutting them (I've got one somewhere), but careful knife use works just as well.
DeleteLooking good! I'm going to watch this develop with interest.
ReplyDeleteThanks. One again your foam board comes in useful.
DeleteProgressing along nicely I see. I tend to get impatient while making rabbet joints so I tend to reinforce regular butt joints with dressmaker's needles (never taking them out). The spackle I add later covers up my sins anyway and I get to keep the pretty push pins to make chimneys :)
ReplyDeleteThanks. How's it going with the tower?
DeleteI wouldn't bother with rabbets on small builds, but I found them very useful on this.
I didn't realise you left the pins in, but it makes sense. I found a tub of the push pins, You're right, they'll make great chimneys.
I'm finally making some progress on the tower. As to the pins: anything that I can leave inside a build strengthens it (I think). There's an entire tub of sewing pins in my Townscape (taking into account the one I had to remove because they stuck out of window- and doorframes.
DeleteUsing the pins as reinforcements makes a lot of sense. I'll give that a go.
ReplyDeleteMind you, I left a pin in the bakehouse and was forever sticking myself on it, so a bit of planning before pinning I think