Model House

Model House with a commercial space on the 1st floor and a residence on the second.

You can make what ever commercial space you want on the bottom and customize your plans for the residence on the second floor.

Supplies

Materials:

- cardboard (cereal box for the walls, regular for the roof)

- 1/4 x 1/4 in. wood columns for posts

- Graph paper

- scissors

- tape

- hot glue

- ruler

Step 1: Make the Floors

Get some Cardboard to use as the base for your floors. Then mark the spots where the posts are located. Use some graph paper (1/4 in.) to sketch out what you want the first and second floors to be like. Use the exacto knife to cut the spots for the wood columns. Lastly tape the sketches over the respective cardboard floor bases.

Step 2: Cut the Posts

Make a sketch of you building as a section view. Make the wood columns 10 squares for the first floor and and at least 8 for the second. Around 18-22 squares tall. The scale is 1/4 in= 1ft and since the graph paper is quarter inch, that is why I am referring to the columns as squares tall.

The picture above is a great way to cut the 1/4 inch posts. Just lay the post on the sketch of the columns, make a mark so the orientation of the column matches your roof choice and cut with an exacto knife. You could also use a hacksaw blade, but be careful not to cut yourself.

Follow this process for all of the columns.

Step 3: Assemble the Floors

Put the columns you cut through the cardboard floors and put the second floor on top of the first. The floors should hold by friction. If that is not the case then just make a stopper below where you want the second floor to rest using cardboard or wood.

Step 4: Roof

Go back to your section view sketch and measure and cut the cardboard pieces for the roof. Make some slots for the sides of the dormers and the put the sides of the dormers in those slots like the picture above.

For the tops of the dormers cut two rectangle pieces of cardboard and fold them in the middle. Then turn them over and make some slots on the under side so that you can use other pieces of cardboard to help brace the top of the dormers. See picture above.

To make sure the roof fits on the top of the house at the right angle fashion another brace using the section view sketch as a guide. Once the angle is correct, tape the two slats of the roof to create the angled appearance. Also to help the roof stay on the top of the building without slipping turn it over and create the same brace as you made for the dormers.

Step 5: Measure and Cut the Walls

Use the cereal box cardboard to cut the walls for you house. Use a ruler to measure out the dimensions and then make sure the sides fit flush with the roof. I decided to have a deck so my walls are a little trickier. A deck isn't necessary, but it looks cool.

If you have a deck and want to close it off for purposes of the model then you cut some extra pieces of cardboard to be hot glued to the adjacent posts like the pictures above.

Step 6: Finished Walls Without Roof

This is the finished product without the roof. Have fun with the walls. They can be changed to fit any design you wish.

Step 7: Finished Product

Here's my finished product. Have fun creating your own!