Building the walls. I use 1/8 inch balsa sticks to frame the windows. Once they are glued behind the wall, I line the outer edge with 1/4 inch balsa sticks. Once the balsa frame is glued to the back of the card, I always add 2 additional layers of card stock, to make the piece thicker, and more sturdy.
All door and window insets glued in place. Balsa frame ran around the 2 longest sides.
Walls are ready to be fitted together and glued.
Next is to install the upper roof pieces. Again, my technique is to cut out the first, printed layer. Then Line the outer perimeter with balsa sticks, adding additional pieces, where needed. Once the balsa sticks are glued on, I add the second and third layer of card stock, for reinforcement. Once the upper roof pieces are glued to the main building, I then add bracing at the corners.
Soffit pieces installed and glued.
Now to cut out the 2 roof pieces for the lower portion of the building.
Add some printed corrugated metal to the underside. This was the first attempt, then it dawned on me, just print out additional copies of the roof, and laminate 2 of them, back to back.
The roof, now glued to the lower building section. The internal balsa sticks, and bracing, really make for a very tough model!
A picture looking up through the bottom, to sow the balsa stick framing. I purchase bundles of these different sizes of balsa stick, from ebay. It is so much more cost effective to do this, then buying a piece at a time, from local hobby shops.
Fitting the upper window bays, on to the roof, of the lower building.
The "lower" and "upper" roofs. If you you print out multiple copies of these roof pieces, you can actually make 5 layers, on the upper roof and 2 or 3 layers on the lower roof. My advice is to NOT do the extra sheet metal layers in the lower roof, until after the upper bay window section, is glued. This way, the upper bay window sits nice and flat.
Blower installed, with vertical post, which I was not entirely certain of it's purpose. Electrical panel mounted on the wall, to the upper left. Finally, the large stack. This stack took a couple attempts- Where the stack makes a 90 degree bend, and enters the building, you can see a shroud, that goes around the piece. When you print the page out, with this shroud piece, it is attached to the stack cut out, and made to be attached- by this, I mean, you cut the piece out, make all of your scores, and then fold everything together. and glue. I chose to cut this shroud piece away, and glue it on, after the stack was built. Balsa stick reinforcements on the inside of the stack. The upper hood, was really quite cool. Just looking at it, on the sheet that you print out, it looks like a crazy shape, with a bunch of score lines. If you follow all of the Clever Model tips, and make your bends correctly, it turns out pretty great! I actually made 4 little "band-aid" pieces to reinforce the seams, on the underside of this hood. The strapping near the top, was just some scrap, with 2 pieces glued, back-to-back.
That little blower took me several attempts, until I was satisfied. How did I do it- I cut out the 2 side pieces of the blower, and glued them each to their own piece of balsa sheet. I then took the side that is visible in the above picture, and used my dremel tool with a small sanding drum, to make the opening. After the hole was made, i took a third piece of balsa sheet, put it in the middle, and sandwiched everything together. With that, I did a final, fine sanding, with a small bench sander. After it was all done, I painted the "inside" part, black, and glued the insert in place. Finally, I took the center piece of the card stock, which connects the sides together, wrapped the balsa, and glued along the way. The printed page with this blower, is another complete deal, where the sides are attached to the middle section, and you have to cut and make all your score lines correctly. Lots of little tabs that have to be cut out, for the middle section to be glued to the sides. My lack of experience with card stock, got the better of me, and that is why I cut the pieces out, and used balsa wood for backing.
This is the side opposite of the blower and stack. This exhaust fan is one of the pieces that comes out on one of the pages, when you print it out. It was not in the picture of the forge, that you get for reference. I am not certain that this would have looked better if I made it an inset, to go behind a wall, l like the windows are built. Stands out like a sore thumb, but I really like it! It was easy enough to construct, but again, you have to make precise cuts, and try not gluing your fingers to the little tabs, that make the fan inset. Again, I have little scraps of balsa on the inside, helping to hold everything secure.
A picture showing how I built the soffits and overhangs.
