Rustic Storage Building (Papercraft), Tamiya

During these financially tough times I try and keep an eye out for projects I can attempt that are cheap or, even better, are free. With this in mind it was whilst browsing online looking for inspiration for various types of terrain I recently happened to stumble across numerous sites devoted to papercraft buildings. Obviously these are not a new concept, indeed I have seen and played with similar pieces made by Ade during games of Bolt Action over in his Shropshire man cave. I have also in the past made various buildings from foamboard, the results of which can be seen (here, here & here) the plans and elevations of a couple which can be found (here).

There are a number of free downloads of paper terrain available off the internet but the quality can vary greatly. There are also numerous excellent models and buildings available for a small fee but I'm going to concentrate on the free stuff in this post (plus another one to follow shortly).

It was whilst browsing these various blogs and sites that I noticed an online image by Tamiya which can be found following the below link:

Tamiya Paper Building

It caught my eye because this famous Japanese company is probably far better know as a manufacturer of high quality scale models and remote control vehicles so I was curious to know what this was. Turns out that this free-to-download paper model was actually a product to promote one of Tamiya's adhesives. 

To quote from their website: 

"This small storage building can be used as a component in 1/48 scale dioramas. Download the PDF file, print it onto thick paper, and assemble it according to the instructions below. (The model depicts a storage building similar to those which were seen on the Polish/Russian fronts in WWII.)"

Aha, ideal for both WWII Eastern Front Bolt Action games and medieval skirmish games, I thought. Now, dear reader in case you think you're reading the ramblings of an all knowing model and terrain making guru who is never makes an error please read on. 

In one of those moments when you actually learn more from making a mistake than when everything goes correctly, I had initially planned to back the paper cut out onto a piece of identically shaped corrugated cardboard (from an old shoe box) because it's cheap and readily available. However during a 'dry fit' trial run I noticed I hadn't allowed for the thickness of the cardboard so the pieces just wouldn't fit together (despite the copious amounts of swearing aimed at it). 

Rather than offset trimming the cardboard, which seemed like too much hard work, I reasoned that I could possibly make another building using the cardboard as the core of the model so put this to one side.

Crude interior

Returning to the original paper model the building is easy to cut out and construct. I used normal PVC wood glue to stick down the flaps but use extra care if you do the same. This is because the glue has a high water content and can easily affect the printed inks. A better option is probably to use something like Pritt Stick. I applied small amounts of glue using a cocktail stick taking extra care not to smudge the inks. 

Once finished I also, as suggested in the instructions, added reinforcement using offcuts from the same corrugated cardboard as used before. Ideal for the tabletop, these models are quick and easy to make although obviously not really suitable for heavy, long term use but then again if you damage the current model or need more to populate your table you can simply print out another sheet and start again.

Next up will be my attempt at creating a more substantial model based on this paper template.