I've been holding on to a set of plans for a CPR Interlocking Tower that I picked up from the Canadian Pacific Historical Association found here... http://www.cpsig.ca/cpdocs/wanted.asp You have to register for the site to get access to the files, however its not like its a huge deal. To be honest, I thought for sure that I'd be building this little project out of styrene or even strip wood, but never card stock.

So, I rolled out of bed early this morning and had a bug in my ear from the go thinking about this. The previous evening I glued together some large pieces of card stock from a jumbo sized cereal box. Each sheet is about 2mm thick. I sandwiched three together to get some sturdy pieces for the main walls. Then I just started chopping up some scale sized "lumber".

Here is where I was at earlier this morning...I decided to get ambitious cut some wood siding for the exterior.


A couple hours later and I was at this point.


Steady progress.


Back Wall with the door to the upper level of the control room...I'm sure the stairs for this are going to be a real challenge! :|


This is where I'm leaving it for tonight...actually I might just finish the last wall after the kids go to bed.


Let me know what you guys think so far and any words of wisdom you can give me.

Looking great Tetters! Cardstock seems to be a perfectly fine medium for this project. Looking forward to more!
Ralph

Very impressive! I wonder with economic downturns if we are about to see a resurgence of creative scratchbuilding using common or free items. I would certainly welcome it!

Really Nice! That's going to turn out great. Nice job!

Thanks for the comments guys. I really appreciate them.

I was surprised as how strong the overall structure is so far. I guess the sum of all those little strips and pieces plus the carpenter's glue really gives it some strength. I can see how that little corner punch tool can come in handy from Micro Mark. Looks like I may pick up one, plus some other small tools. I can see me scratch building often now.

I was hoping though that some one could help me out. I need to figure out how to cut the four roof panels. The building foot print is 12' 2" square. There is an over hang which I'd guess is about 1' to 1 1/2'. All that it says on the drawing is that the roof pitch is 1/3. I have no idea what that means? Can somebody help me figure out how to calculate the roof dimensions? I tried but I cannot post a copy of the pdf. file so that everyone can look at it. :|

Actually...knowing the foot print, say I draw a line at 12' 2". Then all I really need is to figure out the height which is not marked on the drawing...bear with me here as I think about this...

Wait...half the the distance 6' 1" squared x height (ceiling to peak) squared = distance from the outside of the wall to the peak. Once I figure out this distance I can add another 1' to get my overhang and I'm good.

Right?

Any help would be great. :?

Hey Tetters, Very nice job.

In regards to you roof pitch question, and if I understand, which sometimes is a problem for me :o
I submit the following from a google search:

"The slope of your roof is determined by the vertical rise in inches for every horizontal twelve inch (12") length (called the "run"). It is expressed with the rise mentioned first and the run mentioned second. For instance, if your roof has a four inch (4") rise for every horizontal foot, then it has a "4 in 12" slope (or pitch)."

So with your 1/3 pitch I'm thinking 1" of rise for 3" of run or 4" of rise to 12" of run or

Hope this helps,

Joe

BTW, Each panel of your roof should be 9"-6" square with an 18" over hang and rise 2'-6 1/2" at the center.

Joe

a 1/3 roof is one foot rise for every 3 feet run. You can use pythagorean theorem to find the length along the roof itself. It looks like you already have this figured out!

tetters Wrote:Actually...knowing the foot print, say I draw a line at 12' 2". Then all I really need is to figure out the height which is not marked on the drawing...bear with me here as I think about this...

Wait...half the the distance 6' 1" squared x height (ceiling to peak) squared = distance from the outside of the wall to the peak. Once I figure out this distance I can add another 1' to get my overhang and I'm good.

Right?

Any help would be great. :?

Your structure looks good, Shane, but your equation is wrong, (the correct version is the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides). And since you know neither the height nor the hypotenuse, you need a different approach. If you're uncertain about the actual overhang, let's call it 1'5". And half the footprint measurement is 6'1". Add the two together to get 7'6", or 90". Your roof pitch is 1 in 3, so in 90" of run (the horizontal measurement), your roof will rise 30". I was never very good at square roots, so I'd simply make-up a square of cardstock 15'x15' (this is your ceiling and soffit for the overhang), then insert a wire through a hole in the centre. Secure it so that it's plumb, allowing it to rise 30" above the ceiling, then simply measure from its top to the centre-point on an eave.

Wayne

Ok. Great. I think I got it. The run is 6' 1" so that would make the rise 3' and change correct. Then if I calculate the length down the slope correctly its 18 ft. plus a bit maybe a 1' for a slight overhang.

Sound about right? :?


Gah! I just actually read Wayne's post. Gimme a second....

Shane thats looking sweet!! I never thought cutting up cerial boxes could look so dang good!!

Actually, you can figure this out very easily on a sheet of paper: draw a right angle, mark off 7'6" on the horizontal line, and 30" on the vertical one. Use your scale rule to measure from the top of the vertical line to the end of the horizontal one - I get a figure of 8'0", dead-on. This will save you the cost of the hunk of wire, although you'll still need to make the ceiling/soffit sub-roof.

Wayne

Thanks Josh! It took me all day just to cut and assemble the walls. I did end up finishing the last wall after the kiddies went to bed last night so it will be on the roof structure if I have time tonight. I'll do the stairs last as I can tell they are going to be delicate and time consuming to build. I'd also like to add some detail to the interior. Thinking about lighting it as well.

Wayne. Thank you. Looking at the pdf. file I have on my computer I finally found a measurement for the over hang which puts it at 1' 2". So going by what you gave me, I have 84" of run with a 28" rise. I'll draw that out when I get home and should be good to go. Actually...that's the distance from the wall to the roof edge...so I'll leave it at 90" and 30"

And once again thanks to all for your input.

Tetters, great start to your scratch building career . Three 2 mm sheets sandwiched together is really more than enough to get a sturdy structure. If I build structures out of cardboard and stripwood, I use 3 mm cardboard even for much bigger buildings to get a bulletproof model. Anyway, very good job.

cnw1961 Wrote:Tetters, great start to your scratch building career . Three 2 mm sheets sandwiched together is really more than enough to get a sturdy structure. If I build structures out of cardboard and stripwood, I use 3 mm cardboard even for much bigger buildings to get a bulletproof model. Anyway, very good job.

Thanks Bro! I figured the 6mm thick card stock was overdoing it. I think I was scared that the cardstock would start to warp or bend once I started to glue and handle it. This little thing is like a brick so far. I know for my next build, I'll probably just sandwich a couple sheets together, should make cutting the windows out easier too.