Papermodels - Index of Great, Cheap Custom Terrain

[bmaczero]

An option for building custom terrain that is often overlooked is paper modelling. It's cheap, easier than building the object from scratch, and easy to redistibute.

In this post is a basic tutorial of how to print and assemble paper models, in the next is a list of sites I've found with good, free buildings and other objects to print.

Printing:
First, download all parts sheets and instructions available and save them to a folder on your Desktop (or anywhere else with easy access). Open the files and print them. The best paper to use is a thick cardstock, but with most models any paper can work.

- An important note about SCALE
Models from the internet will come in all sorts of different scales. BEFORE printing you want to make sure you're printing at a good size for 'Scape (don't want to waste your cardstock). This is easy on sites that list the size of the model. Just use your 'Scape to measure about what size you'll want the model (this will depend on what it is), and calculate the printing percentage by the formula:

(Size You Want/Actual Size) * 100

And make sure you use the right units!

If the site doesn't list a model size, or if the model is an irregular object such as a building and you are unsure what size you'll want it at, find a page that has some definite features on it such as a door or a window - something that you know what size you'll want it at. Print that page on a plain sheet of paper, measure the feature you chose, and use that as the Actual Size value. Then you can determine the percentage size from what size that particular feature should be to be in-scale with 'Scape.

Once you have the size, open the parts sheets. If the parts are PDF, change the scale before printing by going to File>Print, clicking "Properties" next to the printer selection, clicking "Advanced", and typing the percent scale into the "Scaling" box.

It's easier if the sheets are image files. Open Microsoft Word, make the margins as small as your printer will allow (0.5 is a safe number) and insert the images. Double click on each, go to the Size tab, and change the Scale values to the ones you calculated.

Print the parts at the right scale, and the instructions.

Assembly:
Now that you've got everything on paper, just start working through the instructions. Use an x-acto knife and a ruler to cut out each part as you need it. Be careful not to cut off the white tabs around the parts, these a VERY important when attaching parts together. Because, for these models, we'll be looking to add as much detail later as we can, if you find any open windows printed on a part, or any other part that should be open, go ahead and cut it out with the x-acto knife. If you do any of this, you may want to look ahead to the "Details and Touch-Up" section before you finish putting the model together.

When folding parts, first use the x-acto knife and the ruler to lightly "score" the surface of the paper along the fold, on the side facing AWAY from the direction of the fold. This will allow you to make the folds without a straightedge, because the paper will naturally want to bend along the score, and it stops the paper from getting unsightly wrinkles around the fold area.

When gluing the parts together, Elmer's glue should work fine. Apply a light line along the tab you want to glue and hold it against the surface you're glueing it to for about a minute, until it sets. It's best to glue on one tab at a time, even if there are a few very near each other, to make sure they're all straight.

Details and Touch-Up:
Most of the models you find are probably going to be as simple as possible - it's difficult to add things such as window sills to a small paper model. However, we want our models to be as detailed as possible for 'Scape. There are a few tricks you can use to add detail to your paper models.

1.) Raised Sections
This trick is good for parts such as window sills or signs - anything that should be elevated from the rest of the model, but is just painted on the texture instead. Locate all such parts. If the parts were images, paste the sheets that have these parts into word and scale them as you need to. Crop them down to only the raised parts you need (to save ink and paper). Print these, and cut out the designs that need to be raised. Paste them over the originals on the model. These raised parts can do a lot to give a model a more detailed and 3-dimensional feel.

2.) Hiding Cuts and Scores
When you score along the outside of a model, or cut out sections such as windows, the white paper will tend to show through the design. If you're making a light-colored model, this may be okay, but on darker models it can look downright cheesy. Luckily, it's a simple matter to hide these flaws. Find a paint that's roughly the same color as each area you need to fix, and careful paint over the white. If you get any on the ink, just quickly wipe it off with your finger (the paint won't stick well to ink).

3.) Improvise
Of course, there are many other things you can add the the frame of a paper model to add realism and detail. Windows just printed on? Cut them out, glue some clear plastic behind them. Metal railings on the porch? Replace them with paper clips. Have fun!
Also, a lot of paper models of buildings have balconies or other parts that figs might stand on. Make sure you draw hexes on these and provide a way for figs to get up to them! Custom terrain is always more fun when you can climb all over it.

Happy 'Scaping!