Scratchbuilding, the (overly?) accurate way.

[Martijn Meerts]

Something a bit different this time, scratch building. Now, I'm not talking about mountains, but rather accessories and especially buildings.

 

As some of you will know, the first modules I'll be building are based on the various Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki movies. Naturally, there aren't any buildings readily available that would fit those modules. What that means is, that I need to build everything myself.

 

Of course, I can't make everything exactly like it is in the movies, it'd be far too big in some cases, too difficult in others, and too intricate in yet more others. On top of that, when viewing buildings from various angles in the movies, they'll often be quite a bit different if it comes to measurements.

 

One of the decisions I need to make is how far I want to take the interior of the buildings. I want to add separate rooms at least, that can be lit separately. Some buildings will also have fairly large windows, so in some rooms I need to add some interior detailing at least.

 

My first project is the house that Satsuki and Mei live in in "Tonari no Totoro". It's not a very complicated house to build, and the house shows up a lot in the movie, so there's plenty of reference material. The way I want to build it, is very much like you would build a real house. I'll be using plastic strips (Evergreen) to make the basic structure, and then plastic sheets (also Evergreen) for all the walls etc. I may need to model a double wall structure to make sure I don't get any light shining through the plastic sheets, since I won't be able to paint them black on the inside if I'm to add interior details. The inside of the outer wall would then be painted black, while the inside of the inner wall would have wall paper or your average interior wall color. An added benefit of a double wall structure is that it's much sturdier than a single wall idea, very nice considering the thing should be transportable.

 

Now, naturally you can't just grab a few profiles and sheets and start building without instructions of sorts. To solve this, what I'm doing is making a 3d model on the computer. What I do, is check which dimensions the profiles and sheets are, and use those dimensions to build the 3d model. That way I'll end up having the perfect blueprint. Well, theoretically anyway ;)

 

Below is a link to a screenshot (it's a bit big and would mess up the layout of the forum ;)) of the front of the porch of Satsuki and Mei's house. It's still at an early stage, and not everything has the correct dimensions yet, but it does show where I'm going. Of course, any tips, comments etc. are more than welcome ;)

 

http://www.jr-chiisai.net/_div/trains_temp/34-scratchbuilding_early_stage.jpg

[CaptOblivious]

Funny you should start this thread! I've just started scratch-building a bridge for Akihabara Station. My technique is different...I plan everything out in 2-dimensions in Adobe Illustrator. Then I can just print sheets that I can use as templates for cutting and gluing directly, but it's harder to visualize everything.

 

I'm interested in knowing how you'll ensure things are at proper angles when you glue pieces together. This has been my big problem so far...

[Martijn Meerts]

The only reason I do it in 3d is that I'm more comfortable with the program than for example illustrator ;) If I want to print something (which is unlikely, as I don't have a printer ;)) I can actually unfold the 3d model and print it like that. Another advantage of 3d is that you can add lights in places you want them and see how it looks before adding lights in the actual model.

 

I'm not sure about the angles yet, but if I'm going for a double wall construction, I could use Evergreen L-profiles in the corners, that should make sure the walls will be at 90 degree angles at least.

[CaptOblivious]

I'm not sure about the angles yet, but if I'm going for a double wall construction, I could use Evergreen L-profiles in the corners, that should make sure the walls will be at 90 degree angles at least.

 

Let me know what you figure out. My problem was making very tall, very narrow I-beams (girders), and getting the capital part of the I onto the beam both straight and at a right angle. Next, I have to figure out how to glue these girders squarely to the bridge itself...

[Martijn Meerts]

Doesn't Evergreen make I-beams that you can use? They got quite a few different ones. http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

[CaptOblivious]

Doesn't Evergreen make I-beams that you can use? They got quite a few different ones. http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

 

 

 

They make lots, but none that are suitable for the girders I need (12mm tall by 2mm wide).

[Martijn Meerts]

To get back to the original subject, I came across a little gem today. Ghibli decided to build a full-size replica of the house I'm trying to make in N-scale. They initially built it for an expo, but it proved to be far more popular than they expected, they had a lot of problems with tickets etc. In fact, it was so popular that they re-opened the place later on. Would have loved to see the place, but I think it's permanently closed now, or will be soon.

 

What's nice here, is that they have a blueprint which shows the sizes of the room, which will help greatly with the scale model. Now, how to model a tatami mat in 1:160? =)

 

http://www.expo2005.or.jp/en/venue/experience05.html

[kashirigi]

I've made a fair number of plastic and paper models in my time. My preferred method is to use a Japanese  (with English in it) program called Metasequoia for creating the 3D model. I then use another inexpensive piece of software called Pepakura to unfold the Metasequoia model so that I can cut the parts out of whatever material i choose.

 

If it's a paper model, I skin the outside with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

 

Both Metasequoia and Pepakura have gentle learning curves, so it's not like using AutoCAD, although you can import the models into it if you like. . .

 

Metasequoia link

Pepakura link

 

You can make the models as complex as you require -- I've made military vehicles out of paper, like this one (this is not a plug encouraging you to buy it -- it's not N-scale!)

 

As an added bonus, Metesequoia works perfectly under wine if you're using linux or a Mac. Sadly, Pepakura is Windows only.

[Martijn Meerts]

Intel Macs can run windows too, so that's not an issue :)

 

I use Maya because I'm already comfortable with the program, used it for architectural and organic modeling etc. From there I can use built-in tools to unfold when needed. Although, I'm building using wood and evergreen plastics, since the models need to be sturdy.

 

I'm gonna have to have a look at the tools you linked though, for background buildings and such, paper would be more than good enough.

[CaptOblivious]

Pepakura looks fascinating. I gave Metasequoia a try, and it beat me within about 30 seconds. Thankfully, it looks like Pepakura can read Google Earth 4 format, which makes Sketchup (which runs on the Mac) an option...

[kashirigi]

Don't give up on Metasequoia; it's by far the easiest to understand modeller I've come across. There's a tutorial about making models for some game I've never heard of here http://rcp.web.infoseek.co.jp/Rc_hp2/fms/Metasequoia_e.htm, but it can apply to almost anything.

 

The bad thing about Metasequoia is that the renderer is utter rubbish. I've found that imports to other programs (Pepakura excepted) don't go as smoothly as I'd like, and I really don't feel like learinng Maya or Lightwave. As I'm mostly interested in making physical rather than virtual models, I can live with the limitation.