How to Build Building Models to Scale

When a person attempts to build a model of anything, he must decide how accurate the model is going to be. The modeler can either build an item that looks like the piece he's building, or he can build it as an exact replica of the structure. This idea of building an exact replica is often see as the reason for building a model. If a modeler is going to go through all the work that building an exact replica entails, then scale is one of the most important thing that needs to be thought about. The scale is so important because our eyes want to see a building exactly as it would appear if we saw it in real life, just a lot smaller.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• multiple pictures of your model
• building medium (wood, metal, glass, etc)
• schematic/blueprints of your "building" (preferred not necessary)
• pictures of your item that has references such as a man with known height, etc.
• calculator to calculate measurements

How to build models to scale

1. Decide what kind of scale you want to use. What scale to use only matters when you are deciding how much work and what medium you want to use. Then other decision you must make is how much room you are working with. If your model can only be 10 inches, it wouldn't make sense to have a scale that would allow your model to go over that size. You also must decide if you want to use Metric or American Standard. All of these decisions will affect the final product of your model.

2. Decide the exact scale. A scale is a measurement ratio that states that every 1 unit of your building model is equal to another unit of the real building itself. For example, 1 inch equals 36 inches or 1:36 scale. Put a lot of thought into this, because a true scale model extends all the way down to the nuts and bolts that are visible. If you build anything in your model not to scale, it will be visibly wrong and stick out like a sore thumb. If you're using a 1 foot equals 36 feet scale (1:36 scale), a 100 foot building would be: 100/36 = 2.77 feet, or a model of the building that is 2.77 feet high.

3. Take the schematic or the pictures and find out the true measurements of the building. The schematic or the blueprints are the easiest to use in this case because they give you the exact measurements of each and every piece in question. If you only have a picture, you must first find a reference (that is a known size) in your picture that you can use, so everything is exact. A known person standing next to the building is the best reference if you can not get the schematic or blueprints.

4. Build your scale model. It's easier to build most models in the exact same way as the original was built. Cut out each piece of the model before putting it all together.This adds more believability to the replica. The finished product should be able to be set next to the original; and other than the size, look exactly the same.

Tips & Warnings

• Figure out all the measurements before you build. Scour the internet for a map, schematic, or blueprint. You'd be surprised on how much information that is just lying about out there. When you take pictures of the building, add a good friend whose exact dimension you know into the picture.
• If you decide on a scale that is too large or too small, you can get into trouble with your creation. You must find the exact measurement of everything. There is no guessing or approximating in this type of work. Humans can do precision work only up to 1/2 mm lines. When you go below that, you have to have a steady hand or a computer.

References

• How to build a scale model city
• Architectual scale model building