Nothing short of perfect, John :respekt: :respekt: :respekt:
The open centre of the castle is breathtaking! Having this model at home to build, I can see the amount of effort you are putting into it :super:
5.KBW - Chambord, L'Instant Durable, 1:300
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John:
The flawlessness is really impressive. I can see that there's just not even the slightest crookedness, warping, or twisting at all. From your building reports I think I can cumulatively get a sense of how you do things - but it might be a public service if you could do a 'tutorial' thread on techniques and tools sometime.
When I started I had no idea how to do things well, and have been picking up things bit by bit from this forum.
I'm guessing you change blades a lot, have tons of patience, and check for fit and level/straightness constantly, use formers and molds often. Anything else? Laser vision?
I'm envious.
Dave
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Thanks Ricardo.
Dave, for me, most tips and techniques are best presented in the builds. You are right with your observations - sharp knives and templates go a long way towards achieving accurate work.I have broken out of the donjon! It can now be set aside while the base of the model is constructed.
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The keep...
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There is lots for the eye to see on this terrace. Overwhelming the viewer was obviously the architect's intent.
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A final closeup of the structure...
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Awesome.
You seem to work fast, or anyway get a lot done in just a couple of days.
Dave
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While the last coat of paint dries on the wooden storage base of this model, I would like to again outline, in picture form, the construction of my storage boxes.
I do not make display boxes. I bring out the models to be displayed and usually supervise their open air viewing when I am out in the public. I want to be able to store them safely and put them in the car for transportation to the various venues.
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Finishing up.
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The printed courtyard of the model has been glued to 1mm card which in turn has been glued to the wooded storage base of the model as seen here.
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The donjon is now sitting on the courtyard. This is the front view of Chambord looking north.
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This is the north side of the chateau.
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Work on the east wing begins.
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The exterior north wall of the east wing.
The artist has effectively used shadow to give the blind arcades depth.Edit: Oops, don't like the tower lifting off the base here. Another case where the camera sees all.
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The roofs of the wings have little dormer roofs with no tabs.
Here is a tip on how to get them in place nicely. If you try to put them in place unsupported with glue, Murphey's Law says that they will spread as you push them down behind the dormer face. Then you will have to push the side walls in to align them. The glue will smear on the main roof.Even although they are small, they will support a thin strip of light card to keep the side walls parallel.
Like this...
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Tucked in the corner of the east wing is an open spiral staircase.
Photo courtesy of Ludwig.
Edit: I think this photo is actually taken looking at the staircase in the west wing. These staircases are mirror images of each other in the courtyard corners. -
It will be located here.
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A narrow terrace leads to this staircase.
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The terrace is supported by open arcades. Notice that the stairs in the staircase level out to a bridge halfway up and will pass into the remaining part of the François wing yet to be built on the right. The top of the winding staircase opens onto another little terrace that will lead to a door in the roof of the wing.
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Another high view of the staircase, arcades and terrace.
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John, the fit in the base looks just perfect. Did you have to make any adjustment? Sometimes, the paper thickness is under evaluated or ignored by the model designers and, after some parts in sequence, the base starts to look a bit small...
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Hi John !
I m allways a looker-on to your marvellous work =D> =D>
Thank you :]
Very nice greetings from Austria
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Hi Kurt,
Greetings from Canada. Thank you for your kind comments.Ricardo,
Good question. Yes, some assemblies seem to swell up over their printed footprints. I guess there are lots of variables in the cutting, scoring, folding and gluing of parts.You make an excellent observation when you mentioned assemblies in sequence. There seems to be an inherent ability for them to creep. I call it a progressive or cumulative error. There doesn't seem to be anything to do but bite the bullet somewhere along the line and foreshorten something to compensate and bring things on line.
I try to be very fastidious when building parts in place. I depend on the footprint to keep me on track. I will cut tabs off and shorten parts to stop at a baseline.
That's why I build in place sometimes rather than assembling parts and later gluing them together. If the assembly is built up and it's too long for example, it's harder to shorten than if it was tested flat and dry and adjusted. Follow?John
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I think it would be very difficult to determine the angles required to have a square chimney stand plumb on the curved surface of a cone. The first photo here shows the odd shape of its footprint (K21). The other two show cutting a chimney and the resulting angles after glue up. The tabs are cut off. They would tend to 'spring' the chimney away from the surface of the roof and leave a distinguishable fold between chimney and roof. Cut off, the chimney can sit down on the roof with little seam.
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The Robert de Parme tower anchors the northeast corner of Chambord. It is here being put into place for a dry fit. It will have to be rotated a bit so that the lines will align for the entrance and its terrace.
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The corner tower in position...
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Looking back from the Robert de Parme tower...
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Here is an aerial view of the northeast corner. You can see the exterior terrace on the left.
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A better view of the outer entrance and terrace...
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Robert de Parme's turret.
Edit: Note the gap between the dormer roof and the turret roof. This will have to be corrected. The beauty of white glue is that sometimes it becomes paintable caulking.
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Following up on that patch of white under the dormer roof in the photo above, I would like to comment on L'Instant Durable"s practice of leaving the footprint of parts on roofs snow white with solid black lines around them and black lines within to indicate the position of the tabs.
I can see advantages to colouring the entire roof and indicating the position of parts with dotted black perimeter lines and black numbers in a much smaller white patch. The exact location of the part's edges may be harder to spot as you build, but isn't that what you want?
For example, have a look at this photo on the left. Extreme care was taken to ensure that the chimney was down tight against the ridge of the roof. It straddles the ridge. (right photo) But look! The white footprint patch is too deep! Now the modeller has to camouflage that patch.
Food for thought designers?
On the right a chimney is being pressed between thumb and forefinger. The tabs are on it this time. This is the first time on this model that I've glued a chimney on a flat roof!
John
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In the left photo, you will see the door in the roof mentioned earlier.
The photo on the right shows the main building of the east wing, François I, layed open. It will be built in place as there will be many areas in its roof that will have to be glued to existing parts in the gallery and the tower. Building the wing as an assembly first and then attempting to push it in place will not allow fingers and support to reach the many contact points.
You can also see the little terrace coming out of the top of the staircase tower. It waits to be attached to the door wall in the roof. A lot of fitting will be going on here with wet glue!
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All went well. Here is the François wing.
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...a closer view.
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An aerial view from the outside...
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And a final shot of the east wing looking directly at the three storey gallery.
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Hello Hagen,
Nice to hear from you. Yes, Chambord was built to impress.
You are asking how many parts remain. Hear is a repeat photo taken from an airplane showing the entire complex and one of the model's footprint with the donjon in place. The back left corner (northwest) and the lower surrounds remain to be built. In the photograph of the model, you are looking north.
Cheers...John
Edit: In the aerial photograph you can see reflections in the water of the moat. Now it is clear why two sides of the base have blue sections.
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Hagen, here is a shot just taken that may help answer your question where we are now.
Thanks for asking. You made me realize that I hadn't taken a progress shot. -
Work now begins on the west wing. At first glance it appears to mirror the east wing. The footprint of the buildings is the same in reverse, but the west wing is a bit plainer. Only one small, unadorned chimney will protrude from the roof of the corner tower. The east tower bristles with roof elements by comparison.
You will see here in the footprint, the parts of the west wing. The west gallery (N1 & N2) joins the donjon to the corner tower (Tour de la Chapelle). The winding staircase will sit on terrace N3 & N4). Coming down the left side and attached to the corner tower is Aile Dauphine.
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This is what it looks like at Chambord. Thank you Ludwig for the photograph and permission to use it.