If you plan on modeling a real building, take plenty of photographs so you’ll have something to refer to throughout the design phase. A simple house, barn, or other traditional structure will be the easiest to create on your first attempt. As your skills improve, you might try your hand at elaborate mansions, skyscrapers, castles, and other types of buildings.
Drawing your building will enable you to visualize it more clearly. It will also help you transfer the structure’s individual planes onto your work materials once the time comes. Your sketch doesn’t have to be perfect—it will just serve as a preliminary visual aid to guide you through the process of cutting and assembling your model building’s various pieces.
Scales are represented as fractions that indicate how big a model is in comparison to the object it’s based on. If you’re building your model to a 1/125 scale, for instance, it means that it would take 125 of your model lined up end-to-end to equal the length of the actual building. [4] X Research source You may be able to look up the exact dimensions of a given structure in your local building records. Run a quick search for “building records” plus the name of your town or city and the name or address of the building you’re looking for to pull up its original building plans.
You can also use styrene, mat board, gel foam, or balsa wood instead of cardstock. Some of these materials may vary in terms of cost and durability, but all are soft enough to cut and shape easily. [6] X Research source If you want your model building to have openings for doors and windows, be sure to draw them in.
Place a piece of scrap cardboard underneath your materials to protect your work surface. If you’re thinking about getting into modeling seriously, a self-healing cutting mat could also make a wise investment. [8] X Research source A pen-style knife will offer greater precision and control than one with a wider handle.
If for some reason you’re having trouble, another option is to extend your cuts all the way to the edges of the piece, snap them apart manually, and glue them back together without the material from the openings. Scoring your doors and windows in this way will also produce cleaner openings, since you won’t be over-cutting into the surrounding material.
If you’re using styrene, wood, or gel foam, make a shallow cut down your roof point line and bend the sections of material on either side away from one another to create a hinge. This technique works best for basic gable, gambrel, and skillion roofs made up of only a couple planes. If you’ve chosen a more complex roof style for your model, you may have no choice but to cut and paste. [10] X Research source
If you’re using a retractable utility knife, open up the casing and lift out the old blade by its rear edge to avoid cutting yourself accidentally. Some newer blades come loaded with pre-notched blades, which make it possible to snap off the dull section and extend a brand new, ultra-sharp tip. [12] X Research source Cutting with a dull blade can tire you out quickly, and is much more likely to damage your work materials.
You can also use a hot glue gun, super glue, or ordinary white glue on wood and most types of cardstock and board. [14] X Research source To streamline the gluing process, start by putting the outer walls in place around the floor piece, then attach any interior walls you wish to include, saving the roof for last. [15] X Research source
Pinch the clay gently where the separate planes of your model come together to create sharper corners and edges. Any type of standard modeling or air dry clay will work just fine for most projects. Be sure to select a neutral color if you intend to paint your finished model.
You can also use your utility knife to “draw” on roof tiles, window sills, roof flashing, and other realistic features. If you’d rather not go to the trouble of carving everything by hand, consider purchasing a sheet of embossed vinyl or plastic printed in the exterior finish of your choice. These basically work like stickers—just cut them to fit the shape of your building’s walls, floor, or roof and smooth them on. [18] X Research source
If you used air dry clay to cover your model, you’ll need to heat-cure the clay before you apply paint. To do this, place the model in the oven on its lowest setting for 15-20 minutes at a time, allowing the oven to cool completely between rounds to prevent the clay from burning. Continue in this way until it feels dry and solid to the touch. Acrylic, tempera, or poster paint is usually the best choice for applying to clay. [20] X Research source
