This article is from mywebsite. The pictures here are on my website, but I hope you get the idea.
I have made a few custom pieces for myself and others out of wood mostly.
And I have found it best for me to make a model of it first so I can catch any
problems that may be particular to the project I am working on.
As a result of this I decided to also make a model of my model.
Should you decide to follow along, you will gain skills in measuring, cutting
glueing and others as well.
All of these you can then apply to future things such as scenery, kitbashing,
or my favorite, scratchbuilding.
I started this by first measuring the area I had and finding out what height I
needed. This was a minimum of 32 inches. I also knew that the layout was
going to be 6 feet by 4 feet. With this as a start I set about making a layout
that was also movable on casters and later take downable for when we move.
Ok so first off I am going to use a 1/8 inch to the inch scale. So 1/16th
would be 1/2 an inch.
Next I got some bristol board. It is like heavy construction paper only shiny.
I like working with this stuff. It cuts easily, glues well and holds its shape well
too I found.
I first cut out some 1 x 4’s that were 32 inches long.
A note about wood. Over here when you buy a 1 x 4 it is NOT 1 x 4. It is
really 3/4 by 3 1/2 inches. I am sure it is the same where you are as well.
The only exception to this is called ‘dimensioned wood’. But this is very
expensive.
So when I cut these out I made them 3 1/2 inches wide.
Make sure you apply an even pressure when you are cutting and also while
holding down the ruler.
DO NOT PRESS TOO HARD. You want to be firm t