A Tale from the Tin Shed,28mm Traction Engine & 8"Howitzer from Cereal Packet

[tin shed gamer]

I've started with the Traction engine as the Howitzer requires pritty much the same methods.Again I'm using nothing more than cereal packet card and cocktailsticks.The boiler and funnel are little more than rolled tubes of card.In fact the whole traction engine is little more than cubes and tubes of card.Which will look far more complicated when finished than it actually is.
So I'll do this tutorial as more of a Q & A.Than a step by step,As I doubt anyone needs to be told how to construct a tube or a box/cube from card.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Yet another of your great scratch-builds. I look forward to seeing this progress.

Tony

[Constable Bertrand]

Hot stuff! This is great.

First Q.

How do you make cylinders?

Cheers
Matt.

[tin shed gamer]

 Okay Matt ,
For the boiler section I made a rectangle of card 11cm x 5cm.(The short side is at 90° to the natural curve of the card)
I've marked out where I intend to place the ribs.Before I make the tube.Then pre curve the card before you try to form a cylinder.
There are two quick starts to forming the cylinder.The first is the fastest simply use a round former (a marker pen would work well for the boiler)and wind the card around it gluing as you go.But insure the printed side is on the inside.
The second is to simply role the card into a tube then when you've judged the size of tube glue the outer edge down.then glue a peice of card over one circular end and trim it down.
The raised edge can be sanded down, or left as it stands and hidden on the underside of the boiler.
The funnel is made by percurving card,4cm tall to turn it into open ended 'cone' using the second method,then level out the top and bottom of the funnel.
Precurving and dry runs will make it easier to glue and keep in place.

[Constable Bertrand]

Ta!

So with the easiest method... you leave the pen inside because you've glued the card to the pen? Or is the card double layered, then slide the pen out when its dry?

Cheers
Matt

[tin shed gamer]

No you take the pen out.Think of a roll of toilet paper. the card is rolled like the paper so you end up three or four layers of card making it alot stronger.The pen acts like the tube in a roll of toilet paper.You can use a wooden spoon or anything round.

[jp1885]

Ooh I'm definately following this thread 
Not sure how easy I'll find rolling and glueing bits of card together (seriously, I'm not being sarcastic!) but I'll give it a go once your tale is told.
Please can you give us the rough dimensions of the bits you used? Cheers!

[Constable Bertrand]

No you take the pen out.
...
so you end up three or four layers of card

I assumed you must, but your description threw me off sorry. Thanks for taking the time to confirm.

3 layers is a very smart idea. I hadn't thought of that.

Cheers
Matt.

[tin shed gamer]

 Sorry,tend to forget that other people don't view the world in the same way.So my discriptions can be off.
Would it help if I make another boiler and funnel from scratch,and post pictures at each step?I'll include measurements (these won't be true to scale as I tend to go by eye when making card models,and adjust to the limits of the material.But they will be close enough to 28mm to fit in with other models in your collection.)

[jp1885]

Sounds good to me!

[FifteensAway]

I shall watch and learn.  Then use plastic bits and pieces and maybe some bits and pieces of metal, too.  And make one or four of these in 15 mm.  I've been wanting 15 mm traction for a long time now and you are showing the way forward.  I must follow, master, I must follow...   

[tin shed gamer]

These are the basic parts to do a double layer of card.The 'cab'section is constructed within a 3.5cm x 3.5cm square.The width of the cab box is set by the diameter of the boiler tube.So it depends on how well you form the tube aim for 18-20mm.
The black line shows roughly where to apply glue its the only glue required If you precurve the card as in the picture then forming the tube is quick and can be done with super glue.But a dry run or two is a must.
The funnel is done the same way,as a straight tube or funneled in by cutting one end at an angle and rolling that into the centre so the angled edge acts as a former.This is a bit harder to do and doesn't need to be done to have a good model .Its more for show.

[tin shed gamer]

Once you've got the basic shape built.Then detailing the main body starts using the ribbing found on the card.The spoked wheel is actually flat the use of rib card looks like spokes,but it is nothing more than a flat disk with triangular holes cut in.The card disk is double thickness as is the rim the trick with the rim is to do one layer at a time,Each strip is precurved before attatching.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Coming along nicely.

Tony

[former user]

the art of paper modelling.....
fascinating how the introduction of plastic made us totally neglect a useful skill  practised for centuries....

did You mention what glues You are using?

don't tell me it is protein colloid or starch