Thursday 29 May 2014

CABIN FEVER CONSTRUCTION CRISIS.

I've started work on the wonderful free download by Carl Stoelzel, it's to accompany Crooked Dice's 7ombie TV I believe, anyway it's my first go at card modelling and no amputated digits yet.

As it was my first attempt at card modelling I only printed it on to regular paper, figuring that mistakes would be made and it would be a waste of tidy paper. I wasn't wrong..

I decided to stick the floor to 5mm foamboard for "strength and stability" reasons. The rest of the templates were stuck to cereal packets as I had no mounting board. All this was accomplished without reading the instructions. The internal walls were stuck to slightly thicker card from a cat biscuit box. Again without reading the instructions. What could go wrong.

Well after reading the instructions I realised what I did wrong, that's OK I thought the walls will be extra sturdy, hmm. Folding the card over, even after scoring was challenging but not impossible. However sticking the floor to the foamboard left an unsightly white tab around the base of the walls. Bugger! Never mind I'll sort that out with something.

The best bit came, when after the rest had gone relatively smoothly, I put the end walls on and realised that there had been some kind of printer malfunction and one of the walls had printed out a little short. Arse.

I can't wait to do the roof, as I stuck that to foamboard as well. Great! Oh well back to the drawing board.

That's all the fun and frollicks for this time. 'til next time do as the DUDE and "take it easy".



20 comments:

  1. Bob, I can only commend you for entering the wonderful world of card-modelling. What can go wrong, you ask? Well, actually, LOTS can go wrong. But as long as you learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them, that's okay. Feel free to ask me for any advice you might need. I'm a bit of a dab hand at this card modelling lark. :)
    By the way, that cabin is a great model to start off with.

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    1. Thanks Bryan.
      Yes, LOTS can go wrong. I think my biggest mistake was not reading the instructions. Won't do that again. (See I did learn something).
      I'm sure I'll be in touch for advice. Bit of a dab hand is something of an understatement Dude.
      The model is great, can't wait to print out the furniture from the Zombiville Post.

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  2. Card modelling is like drinking Doctor Pepper... what's the worst that can happen eh? Congratulations in entering the world. Thankfully the learning curve is pretty steep, once you've got the hang of how best to work with materials and methods chosen, it'll all ocme together pretty quickly. Cabin looks great so far and looks like the 'mistakes' will be simple enough to rectity

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    1. Thanks Ad.
      I think now that I've tried it I should get the hang of it quite quickly. Patience is not one of my virtues, hence jumping in without reading the instructions.
      Hopefully all the "mistakes" will be covered up in the final stages.

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  3. Hah - so it's not as easy as it seems? :P

    Card terrain is a great way to build your city in "no time", so it's a great pick. Might read the instructions first next time, lol. At least the first couple of pages! :D

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    1. No Mathyoo, it's not as easy as it seems.
      Card terrain is the way forward, not for the "no time" but for the little cost. This one was free, the best price of all.

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  4. Not a bad attempt at all mate

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    1. Thanks DVD.
      Hopefully I will get better.

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  5. Kudos to you Bob at least your having a go with card terrain. I'm going the lazy way and sticking with pre-painted mdf where possible and I noticed at a lot of shows you can buy finished pieces such as hills and swaps etc. Its mainly time for me I'd rather spend it playing games or painting figures. Terrain I've decided I'm just no good at!

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    1. Thanks Simon.
      I've built plenty of scenery from scratch before, using foamboard and templates.
      What I really like about this card stuff is you don't have to paint it.
      Time I have, budget I don't. No-brainer really.

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  6. Whoops! Well there is always next time and it will look awesome when you nail it.

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    1. Thanks Michael.
      I think it will be fine with just the short wall reprinted.
      Nails, why didn't I think of that?

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  7. I have to agree with most of the other folks, card scenery is fun and easy (well relatively easy) to get good results from. I love it for the zombie apocalypse, that way you can get a lot of variation in buildings without too much investment. I wish I had discovered it years ago!

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    1. Thanks Steve.
      I have to agree with you and the others. I think card is the best bang for your buck. I too wish I'd discovered it years ago, it would have saved me so much time and hassle, plus I might know what I was doing by now.

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  8. Congrats, I think it is coming along great despite the set backs. Yeah, all my non-crooked dice projects for my line are designed with foamcore sizes in mind, but all the crooked dice stuff was intended for cardstock, and there would need to be a number of adjustments to accommodate it.For the floor edge, a watered down black paint and small brush, which will probably be easier to do before that last exterior wall goes up. Sorry about the printer jam up, but I hope the rest goes up smoothly for you. Hope to see pics of the furnished model soon. Cheers, Carl

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  9. Wow. Thanks Carl.
    No worries dude it was entirely my fault, I should have read the instructions first.
    Your stuff is great, I would recommend it to anybody.
    I've decided to base the cabin, so either a little earth bank from filler or a course of stone blocks will cover the thickness of the floor.
    Thanks for getting in touch dude, that is awesome customer service.

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  10. Great start on that card house dud

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  11. I feel your pain. Card Modelling looks a lot easier than it actually is, I should know, I've tried and failed many times. The cabin looks good btw, despite your minor errors. I've done a b&w run through on occassion as a test - very useful for more complicated pieces.
    I blame Bryan for all our combined hardships as he makes it all look so easy.

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    1. Card Modelling is definitely harder than it looks. I want to stick with it, cost wise it can't be beat and even time wise it's quicker than building from scratch. The b&w run through sounds like a plan, cheers for the tip Joe.
      It's all Bryan's fault if you ask me.

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