Introduction: Transforming Clock Tower Model (Majora's Mask)

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For this Instructable I made a model of Clock Tower from Majora's Mask. And, at midnight on the eve of the Carnival, the tower transforms and the door opens.

Supplies

Supplies:

  • Cardboard
  • Some kind of thin cardboard, like from a cereal box
  • Coffee stirring sticks
  • Thin crafting foam sheets
  • Large foam ball
  • Acrylic paints
  • Small rhinestones
  • Modge Podge glue


Tools:

  • Hot glue gun
  • Scissors
  • Pen/pencil
  • Paintbrushes

Step 1: Bottom of the Tower

To begin, make 4 slightly trapezoid-shaped walls out of cardboard. The reason for the slight slant of the trapezoids is so that the box will be slightly slanted when you put it together. Glue the four sides together to get an open box. Then glue a square onto the top. Leave the bottom open for later.

Next choose a side to be the front, and in the center, cut a large square door.

Step 2: Top of the Tower

For the top part of the tower, make four taller trapezoids for the walls. Glue these together. Next glue the box to the bottom of the tower.

Now for the slanting part that connects the two pieces. For this I used the thin cardboard from a cereal box. Cut four long trapezoids to fit the lengths of each side. Then glue them on. The top and shorter side of the trapezoids are glued to the side of the top of the tower, and the longer bottom side on the top edge of the base of the tower. The corners of these pieces should meet up nicely.

Finally, cut a rectangular door in the center of the top of the tower, right above the first door.

Step 3: Door Accents

Cut 2 or 3 open rectangle frames out of cardboard that will fit the edge of the lower door. Then glue these pieces together to make one extra thick frame. For the upper door, this is where we will be making a staircase later, so it needs a hallway. Using the thinner cardboard, cut 3 rectangles that will fit the sides and ceiling inside the door.

Step 4: Tip of the Tower

For the very tip of the tower, first add a square to the ceiling. Now, using the thinner cardboard, Cut eight taller trapezoids as shown in the pictures. Fold each trapezoid in half longways, and glue the edges of two together to form a box...thing. I'll call them pillars.

When finished, you should have four 3-D pillars. Glue one pillar to each corner of the ceiling of the tower. Next, for the toppers of these. I used some scrap foam, but you could also use the same cardboard as was used for the pillars. Make tiny, short trapezoids with flat tops. Add these to the tips of the four pillars.

Finally, add a rectangular cube in between the two pillars on the back face of the tower. This will be an aspect of the transforming part later.

Step 5: The Walkway

For the walkway, I made it all the way around the tower. To begin, make two (3-D) right triangle shapes with flattened tops out of the regular, thicker cardboard. Once again, I am not the best at explaining things, so if you are confused, refer to the pictures. Sorry.

Anyway, the two ramps you have made go near the front, or the south face. The pictures will explain better than I can, I think, but I'll do my best. The layout is as follows (NOTE- the compass directions are the ones from the game.) :

South side (FRONT FACE)-- One ramp is placed with the thinner/lower end up against the door frame on the lower level. The flat top of this ramp should stick over the edge a ways. The second ramp's thinner/lower end goes flush with the left end of the wall on the front face, with the side glued to the west side of the tower.

West side (LEFT SIDE FROM FRONT)--For this side, where the ramp from the front ends, add a flat elevated walkway, out of cardboard, and cover up the open sides with more cardboard. Then add another ramp going up to the back side.

North side (BACK FACE)-- On this side, the ramp you just added in the last step should end near the seam between the base and middle sections of the tower. The rest is just a flat platform going to the next side.

East side (RIGHT SIDE FROM FRONT)-- This side has a ramp leading down to a platform, which then meets up with the very first ramp on the front face.

Note, this walkway doesn't need to look pretty now, for we will add more details later.

Step 6: Top Knob of the Tower

It would seem I forgot to take any pictures of the top knob whatsoever, so I'll just try to explain it.

For this piece I used a fist-sized foam ball from the craft store. I then marked with a marker the equator of the ball. At this equator, which should be horizontal, choose a top and a bottom. The top half you will leave intact, but for the bottom, carve eight flat sides in a downward slant. This should leave a small, nickel-sized octagon on the very bottom of the knob. Sorry, I know that was a very bad explanation. In the pictures of the tower in the next steps, you can see it placed on top. You could also look at pictures of the tower itself online to get the shape right.

Step 7: FOAM THE TOWER!

First, before we get going with this step, I add that I forgot to mention a step in the earlier pictures. As you may see in the pictures of the front face, I added a box/platform to the top of the lower doorway, which is where the other platform sits that is the entrance to the upper door.

Anyway, using the thin crafting foam, glue according sheets to every flat face of the whole tower, except for the top of the walkway, which we will fix later.

Step 8: Bricks

This step took me so long to complete, but it was worth it for the results at the end.

First, I covered the entire tower, mostly the foam pieces, with paper towels. This I painted on with Modge Podge, or craft glue. This step blends all the seams together, makes the whole thing stronger, and adds texture. Make sure to do all this to the top knob of the tower as well.

Now for the long part. Using a blunt, soft-lead #2 pencil, I etched bricks over the entire surface of the tower. First of all, you will need to make sure you etch it deep enough to show when it is painted. Pressing hard with the blunt pencil, first draw evenly spaced horizontal lines over every surface that has the foam. Then, staggering the pattern, draw short vertical lines spaced between each of the horizontal lines. I won't lie, this took me HOURS and was sort of hard on the hands.

Step 9: Painting

First, paint the entire tower black. I used watered down Modge Podge glue and black acrylic paint, but you can also just use the paint. Watering it down will make it easier, for it will run into the tiny spaces between the bricks. Also, if you notice in the pictures that my bricks look a little shiny, that's because I accidentally used gloss paint for the black base coat. Big mistake, don't recommend.

Anyway, when this base coat is dry, mix up some darker grey paint. Using the dry-brushing method, heavily brush on the grey, taking care not to get too much into the seams of the bricks. Dry-brushing is a method of texture painting done by wiping the majority of the paint off of your brush, then swiping the remaining paint over the textures of the model.

When this is dry, and this part is optional, mix up a dark brown wash. A wash is another method of texture painting, done by mixing the paint with water. In this case, more water would be better, but the mixture should remain opaque. Paint the surface with the liquid, letting it slop and run all over and into the seams. After a few seconds, dab off most of the paint-water with a dry paper towel. This gives models a sort of dirty, old look.

Finally, when the wash layer is dry, lightly dry-brush some white paint over the edges and surface of the bricks. This gives them a worn, stone look.

I also added some varying colors of browns and greys over individual bricks, but this step is optional.

Step 10: Wood Walkways

To make the planks of the wooden walkways, I used coffee stirring sticks. These are just skinny, flat pieces of wood, like a popsicle stick but better. The first step is to line all the platforms and ramps with the sticks, laying them horizontally. Cut them to size and hot glue them on.

Next, mix up another dark brown wash, though try to make this one less opaque. To do this, just add more water to the ratio of paint. Paint this over the wooden sticks, and after a few seconds, dab it off with a paper towel. When this is dry, lightly dry-brush some white paint over the edges. These painting tecniques will make the sticks look like old board walkways.

Step 11: Lower Door

To make the lower door, first cut a rectangle of cardboard that fits perfectly into the doorframe. Then cut a piece of foam sheet to size and glue it on the cardboard. Now, using a blunt pencil, indent the wooden planks of the door. For the design, you could try to copy it from the picture I took, but I recommend finding a picture online. Finally, paint the door dark brown, and the design red and blue. Glue the door into place, and voilà.

I also made the banner that is strung across the lower door. First, I cut a piece of string that fit over the span of the door. Then I cut four tiny banners out of the foam sheet, fraying the bottoms a bit with scissors. Using a pencil, I indented the designs into each section. Then I painted them pink and orange, alternating. The designs I then painted the opposite color, outlined them in black, and glued the banner above the door.

Step 12: Upper Door

The upper door is a little more complex. This is one of the two transforming aspects of this tower model. To begin, cut a rectangle that fits the upper door frame, using the thinner cardboard. This will be the first door. Next, cut three rectangles the same size as the first one. These three will be the stairs in the back. Cut each of the three rectangles, the first about 3/4 the size of the original, the second 3/4 the size of the first, and the third 3/4 the size of the second. This will give us a staircase shape when we stack the 3 shorter ones on top of each other.

Now, glue foam onto each rectangle. Again using a pencil, carve the planks of the wood and the design. Paint each of the door pieces dark brown and the designs red.

Now that the pieces are all finished, all you have left to do is assemble them. Glue the three shorter rectangles together, bottoms aligning, to create a tiny staircase. A picture of this is included. For the full sized door, this is the moving part. In the game, the door falls down to make a staircase. To accomplish this, I glued a coffee stirring stick to the bottom of the door. Then I added the staircase into the hallway behind the upper doorframe, being SURE to leave a gap in front to fit the door. I accessed everything from the bottom, which was left open. The pictures will show this better than I can explain it, so be sure to take a look at them. The door is then squeezed into this gap and pushed with the stick up to the top of the doorframe. By accessing the stick from the bottom, the door now moves up and down to reveal the staircase behind!


Step 13: Platform Thing

To make the platform that leads to the upper door, cut a half-octagon from the thick cardboard. This should fit right over the block above the lower door frame. Put a foam sheet on top of the cardboard, and glue a strip around the edge. Then indent the wood plank lines on the surface. Paint this dark brown.

For the fence/mesh that holds this up, cut thin strips of the thinner cardboard and glue them in a cross-hatch fashion. Paint this fence dark brown or black.

Step 14: The Clock Face

For the clock face itself (FINALLY!!), cut a large dodecagon (12 sides) out of thick cardboard. Next, cut 12 small rectangles from thin cardboard that are the same measurement as one of the dodecagon's sides. Glue these all around, one per side, sticking up vertically.

Now, to make the wooden face, line the inside with coffee stirring sticks, cut to size. When this is done, cut 12 small trapezoids, of which the base (larger side) should be the same length as one of the dodecagon's sides. Glue this base to the vertical rectangles, and the smaller sides of the trapezoids should meet up on the wooden face nicely. If you are confused, look at the pictures of this step.

Next, using a strip of sheet foam, line the edge of the clock. Then cut foam trapezoids to match the cardboard ones you just glued on and attach them to these. For the center of the clock, make a small hexagon (6 sides) from thin cardboard, and glue a matching foam piece on top. Then glue this to the center of the clock.

Now, using a dull pencil, draw a circle on the center piece. Then, draw one circle on a seam between two of the foam trapezoids. Do this on each seam, all twelve, using the following pattern: the original circle, 2 triangles, oval, 2 triangles, oval, 2 triangle, oval, 2 triangles. Etch four tick-marks in between each shape. See the pictures for reference.

For painting the clock, paint the foam parts dark brown. Then, when this is dry, paint the shapes as follows: The one circle is red, ovals blue, triangles and tick-marks light tannish yellow. The circle in the center of the clock is also blue.

For the face itself, I recommend finding the design online for reference. When everything is painted, paint over it with a dark brown wash, dabbing the excess away. Then give it all a light white dry-brush.

Step 15: Side Gears

For the gears on the sides of the tower, start with two cardboard octagons. Then, using thin carboard, glue a strip around the sides. Next, cut out two circles. These go in the center of the octagons. Still using the thin cardboard, cut thin strips to act as the spokes, gluing them according to the picture. For the bolts in the gears, I used tiny rhinestones, two glued on each spoke.

For painting these, start by painting everything in a light tannish brown. Then add black stripes around the edges and sides, and blue in the center. The blue teardrop shapes go in between each spoke. Paint the rhinestones silver.

Step 16: The Centroid of the Mechanism

For the transforming part of the clock, first glue a cardboard beam to the bottom of the tower's knob. I used the inside of a paper towel roll, but you could also make one out of extra cardboard. This beam should allow the knob to sit right on top if the tower's pillars. Next, add three short prongs to the bottom of the first beam. These should stick out horizontally in a T-shape. See the pictures for reference. When placed in the pillars of the tower, it should stick out slightly on the front and sides, with the knob still on top. Paint the beams dark brown or black.

Next, glue the two side gears to the two side prongs. Finally, glue the back center of the clock face to the last and front-facing prong. When this is slid into the pillars of the tower, everything should fit nicely into place.

To transform the tower at midnight on the eve of the Carnival, lift the knob slightly and lean the beams back onto the block that was placed there near the beginning of the project.

Step 17: Finished!

I hope you enjoyed the Instrucable, and DON'T let the moon fall on your tower, because it will break and everyone in the town will meet with a terrible fate...

Anyway, HAPPY MAKING!

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