Let me explain first of all that I am writing this from the perspective of man who has had personal feel of having to make architectural models with diminutive resources. Although I am now a pro model maker I was once a student at the Welsh School of Architecture where they viewed models as an leading part of the organize process. Straight through my three years on the procedure and subsequent many years in the model making profession I have seen, or made myself, most of the tasteless mistakes citizen make when setting out to produce an architectural model. Hopefully I can help you avoid these errors and save you a lot of wasted time and effort.
Planning your architectural model
The first and most leading step for any architectural model making task is to organize a clear goal for the model. In other words, what is the model for, what is its purpose, what does it need to communicate? Very few citizen have the allocation and resources to make a model that shows all about their project. It is more realistic to pick an aspect of your organize that the model can show well.
For example, if you are designing a building in a sensitive area, a monochrome massing model can show the farranging form and layout of your organize and how it sits in its context. This will give viewers an instant general insight of your project. The colours, materials and any other detailed elements can be explained Straight through further drawings, photographs, swatches, etc.
Another advent is to let your drawings show the general overview of your task and use an architectural model to explain one of the detailed aspects. For example you could make a part-model of a particularly intelligent area of the building; an entrance highlight perhaps or a ornamental elevation. Or you could make a sectional model that slices Straight through the building to show the internal spatial organization.
The leading thing is to start with a clear purpose for your architectural model and then work out what sort of model will best perform your goals.
What scale should the architectural model be?
Once you have decided what your model needs to illustrate, the next step is pick the most acceptable scale. This decision is affected by two things; how big an area you need to model and how much detail you want to show. If you need to show a big area, perhaps for a site context model, you would have to pick a smaller scale, say 1:500 or even 1:1000. This is to avoid the model becoming too big to be practical. But at these smaller scales you need to be aware that is not well inherent to show much in the way of detail.
If the purpose of the model is to show just the building itself you could think 1:200 or even 1:100 scale. At these scales you can show windows, doors, balconies, etc. However, if your goal is to explain a singular area or detailed element of the building you may well need to go bigger again, say 1:50 scale or even 1:20 scale.
Whatever the purpose of your model, being able to understand scales will enable you to work out practical, achievable options for your singular project. Many students will already have a clear insight of scales and those who have can skip this next bit, but if you are a diminutive unclear on the field it is probably worth reading.
Scales are well very simple. The scale of architectural models is a ratio - in other words, the relative size of the model to the real thing. For example, 1:1 scale (we would say it as "one to one") would be a life size model. Whereas, 1:10 scale ("one to ten" or "one tenth scale") would be one tenth of actual size. Likewise, 1:100 would be one hundredth of actual size, and so on. The larger the scale indicator number, the smaller the model, which means less detail can be shown.
Another useful way to think about scales is to work out how many millimetres represent one metre at the singular scale you're considering. We do this by dividing 1000 by the scale indicator number. For example, for 1:200 scale, divide 1000 by 200 and you get the rejoinder 5. Which tells you that one metre in real life will be represented by 5mm on the model. So if the area you need to model is 100 metres x 100 metres square, your 1:200 scale model would be 500mm x 500mm (100 x 5mm).
For particularly large sites you will need to use a much smaller scale, say, 1:1000. At this scale the architectural model will be one thousandth of the actual size. To work out how many millimetres will represent a metre we redo the sum we did above, 1000 divided by the scale indicator amount (in this case also 1000). The rejoinder is obviously 1, meaning that one metre on site will be represented by 1 millimetre on the model. A quadrilateral site 1000 metres x 1000 metres would therefore be 1000 millimetres quadrilateral as a 1:1000 scale model.
Architectural model making methods and materials
For the purposes of this general guide I will not go into a lot of exact detail on architectural model making techniques and materials as this is a very broad area and will be covered in a isolate article. Here are some basic rules to supervene though.
Be realistic about what you can perform with the time, materials and facilities available to you. Don't try and make the model show every detail of your organize or you just won't quit it. Very often it is students with good model making skills that do not quit their architectural model, simply because their enthusiasm has got the good of them and they have tried to show too much. Or, the model does get fulfilled, but it has taken up so much of their time and power that other leading parts of their presentation have to be rushed or do not get done at all.
It is tricky to get the equilibrium right but it is good to be a diminutive less ambitious with the model and focus on submitting a coordinated, fully realized farranging presentation.
The use of colour is someone else area where models can go wrong. Sometimes it's safer to keep things monochrome (white, for example, can look quite "architectural" and stylish) unless you're very clear with colour or it's a vital part of what your model is trying to show.
Always present your model on a good, solid base with a clean edge quit - this acts almost like a picture frame and enhances the general appearance of your model.
As far as materials are concerned, unless you have easy passage to a workshop and a cheap level of feel with machinery, it would be best to work with card or foam-board or similar, easy-to-cut materials such as Balsa or Lime wood. In other words, anything that you can cut with either a sharp blade or junior hack saw and stick together with accepted shop bought glues.
And when you are cutting, if possible, try to use a square, especially if you are cutting out floor plates or elevations. Retention all quadrilateral is crucial if you want to perform a neat, crisp quit for your building. It is also worth investing in a metal ruler as you will find a plastic or wooden ruler will get damaged very quickly.
Whether you are cutting with a craft knife or a scalpel, it's good to use several light passes rather than trying to cut all the way Straight through with one go. You will get a cleaner cut and you are less likely to slip and cut your finger.
Sourcing materials can be difficult, but your best bet is to explore your local Art & Craft shop and check also if there is a hobbyist model shop in the area. These shops will normally have a good range of materials but do get what you need early. It is surprising how quickly a group of students all working on a similar organize brief can empty the shelves of all the best materials.
If you cannot get what you need locally there are several model making supplies fellowships with on-line catalogues who furnish a good mail order service. Visit my web site www.modelmakers-uk.co.uk and click on Links at the top right hand side of the page where you will find a list of useful links for architectural model making supplies. Or use a crusade engine and see what that turns up.
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