Framed and Hinged
Room Box Assembly (1:12 scale)
Required tools and
shopping list:
- X-acto knife and fresh
blades
- Small detailing scissors
- Nail or awl
- Hammer
- Handful of round type
toothpicks
- Metal straight edge ruler
- Small artist's paintbrush
- Large paintbrush (for
adhering wallpaper)
- Glue gun and plenty of
sticks. This works the absolute best on seams of
the actual box assembly.
- Small pieces of aluminum
foil to use as "glue pot" and "paint
palette"
- Fast-grab, quick-dry
glue. Nicole sells a great one. White craft glue
takes too long to dry and is messy. Glue stick
will work, but becomes brittle and pops loose
after time.
- Slower drying white craft
glue that dries clear. Check your printer's
colorfastness. You will need to spray each print
job with spray clear enamel, but your ink may
still run. Do a test on a simple printing. If
the color runs with white craft glue, then try
to use rubber cement instead for papering walls.
- Clear acrylic spray
enamel to coat print jobs
- double-sided removable
tape
- Excellent quality heavy
weight inkjet paper--why do all this work on
paper that doesn't pick up the detail and
color!! I used Epson S041568 Double-sided Matte
Paper, 47 lb, 9.7 mil.
- Use a high-end inkjet
photo paper for the stained glass. You want
light to emit through the window paper.
- Print the pattern pieces
on plain office bond--nothing special needed for
the pattern outlines.
- Cutting surface. I love
my self-heal Nicole cutting pad which cost me
under $10 on sale. You get a much better cut
than with cardboard and your blade will last so
much longer.
- Wedgewood or bayberry
color acrylic craft paint
- 8"x10" simple frame with
glass or clear plexiglass (remove backing
- 4 styrofoam balls for box
feet. I used 2.5" in diameter, but you may
vary size.
- 1 piece of sandpaper
- 1 package of mini 360"
hinges. I used Darice 9142-26 1 5/8" brass hinge
(2 per pack).
- Optional: Hold Tu Plastic
Adhesive (it's that rubbery clay that you use to
hang posters on a wall without damaging the
wall)
- A sheet (you could call
it a plank) of foamboard, a.k.a. foam core
board, that is 20"x30" and is 3/16" thick.
Patterns will not work for any other thickness!
- Window with an opening of
2-5/16”w x 5-13/16”h. I used a Classics by
Handley
Narrow Nonworking Window, #70118 (P.O. Box 8658,
Ft. Worth, TX 76124).
- Small piece of sheet
acetate to encase stained glass window, or you
can use the packaging that the window comes in!
- Chair railing (optional).
I used a special molding but a thin balsa strip
will work in a pinch. 21" total needed (2
lengths of 7", 1 length of 2" and 1 length of
5")
PDF
Printing Tips
These are tips for printing any of the Paper Minis
Pattern Files.
If you exported the files to another format, I
cannot support that and suggest that you stay with
the files as they were made.
If you are printing the files as they were
made (my pdf format) and the
printouts are not the size they are supposed
to be, then there is/are setting(s) in your dialog
print box that have been changed--possibly
inadvertently by another application. Since each
printer brand and model has a different layout in
their print dialog box, I can't tell you exactly
where to look. I can, however, give you clues on
what to look for. You do not want any scaling, print
options must be set
at 100%. You do not want a "fit to page" or
"fit to paper" setting. You do not want an automatic
page rotation so that the orientation is incorrect,
if it is set for landscape try setting it to
portrait paper orientation. You do not want changes
in margin settings and your paper setting should be
8.5"x11" (or try 11x8.5)
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1. Print out all the pattern
pieces (use regular office paper for patterns).
Print out on "good" paper all
wallpaper, tin ceiling and tile floor
files--remember to print 2 side walls. Put aside for
now.
Print out on "good" paper
covering for outer box. You will need 5 copies. This
can be substituted with fabric, wallpaper or gift
wrapping paper, if you prefer. Put aside for now.
Arrange 5 pattern pieces on
top of foamboard as shown. Use little pieces of
two-sided removable tape to secure position of
pattern pieces on foamboard. Don't use but a little
bit, for it is difficult to remove the tape. There
is something about the finish on the board that
doesn't agree with the "removable" tape. Don't worry
if it damages the finish a little, it will be all
covered by wallpaper. You will note by looking at my
photos that I learned the hard way when I used the
tape quite liberally.
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2. Make sure that there is a
fresh sharp blade in the X-acto knife. Proceed to
cut foamboard pieces using a metal ruler as your
guide. Attempt to make cuts straight down into the
foamboard. If you hold the blade at an angle, rather
than perpendicular to the table, your pieces won't
assemble perfectly. Cut out the opening for the
window as well.
Start
heating up the glue gun. |
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3. Remove the pattern pieces for
the foamboard. Make sure all pieces of tape are
removed as well. |
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4. Swiftly apply hot glue to the
cut edge of the left side of the box floor and press
side wall against it. Notice that the side
wall is affix on the outer edge of the floor and
not on top of the floor. |
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5. Repeat for other side wall.
That wall is also affixed to the outer edge of the
floor and not on top of the floor |
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6. Place hot glue quickly to the
cut end of the ceiling panel and press against the
inner edge of one side wall as shown in photo. |
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7. Place a strip of hot glue
along the cut edge of the other side of the ceiling
and affix to the inner edge of the remain wall. The
ceiling and floor fit inside the side walls. |
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8. You will use the "fast grab,
quick dry" craft glue to adhere the back wall to the
box. This will give the box strength. Use the
artist's brush to apply the glue. |
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9. Notice the orientation of the
window in the photo, and place the backing on the
four edges. Try to get it as evenly square as
possible. Continually press along perimeter until
the glue is completely dry. The core of the room box
is complete! |
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10. Check the fit of the box in
your 8"x10" frame. You can remove the backing from
the frame before or after you do this, it doesn't
matter. Notice that the
frame in this photo is quite a bit larger than the
one you have seen in the finished assembly photos. I
bought this beautiful and quite ornate frame only to
find out that it detracted from the room box and was
much to overwhelming (plus too heavy). I opted for a
much simpler frame in the end. |
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