Model Building - Roof Help!

We are a small firm in Texas, and we have been designing homes for a subdivision that requires us to submit a scaled model for each home in a "design review" process.

We have completed one model for this community, but have many more to come and would appreciate any tips and tricks you can provide us (been out of school too long around here)! Specifically, we're having trouble with the roof and it feels like we're just cutting out the pieces and folding them, making them work the best we can.

Check out some pictures of our last model - ANY suggestions would be appreciated! It doesn't have to be fancy (obviously!), but we could do better.

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Reply to
FezHasLotsaToes
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My first suggestion is to simplify the roof shape. That roof is a nightmare.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

Are these at 1/16" scale or smaller?

If smaller you could always do good old fashioned clay models. Otherwise, you could use thicker board or more solid core like strathmore board which has uniform solid white layers that makes your roof edges straighter and hides the seams somewhat.

Also, you could spray the whole thing with a fine white spray like gesso spray which lightly fills the gaps and other imperfections

Otherwise, charge more for the models and spend more time on them.

Reply to
Pierre Levesque, AIA

We agree wholeheartedly about simplifying the roof. Unfortunately, it's not always an option for clients who are trying to build multi-million dollar homes at all kinds of angles and heights, etc. Assuming that the roof plans themselves can't be changed, can anyone offer any advice?

Reply to
FezHasLotsaToes

Trying to build a roof that complicated is a bitch no matter what you do. Funny thing is it's just as annoying to frame and roof it in real life. This is one of those situations where somebody had better learn to cut some corners (off). That roof is guaranteed to leak, no ifs ands or buts. It's just a question of when.

In an earlier life I used to be a professional model builder. Using materials that are the correct scale thickness will make it easier to build such cut up roofing. I primarily used foam core for massing models as it's about the easiest to work with and you only have to deal with covering the cut edges. Sometimes I'd cover them with matching paper stock, and other times I'd use wood trim - that really punches up the roof edges, looks great, simple to do, but you don't want to do that on the roof surface itself.

You could also use foam and a hot-wire knife, then spray the roof with a textured paint to simulate the roofing. That would hide a multitude of sins, but you're trading off one thing for another - less precision required, but another process.

You could also build the roof using a darker board. The little black gaps between pieces that don't fit so closely really stand out against snow white board. I wouldn't go with black or anything really dark, but something approximating a normal roof brown would help.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

If you built 3D models, find a company with a 3D plotter (color) and send the STL file to them... ;)

Reply to
3D Peruna

If that's something like "rapid 3D prototyping", then that's exactly what I was thinking. Kick ass.

Reply to
Warm Worm

Any idea what that would cost? I've always thought it'd be cool, but what's the cost (roughly, are we talking hundreds or thousands or......?)

Thanks,

Michael (LS)

Reply to
Michael (LS)

"RicodJour" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

I was also thinking of foam-core board, but re: cutting, aren't there inexpensive, hand-held mat cutters that allow you to change the angle of the cut? I looked on amazon.com, and saw only fixed 45 degree angle cutters.

But Google revealed this one - cutting angle and depth are adjustable. It's bloody expensive for a hobbyist - over $1000 - but might be acceptable for a professional:

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This one is cheap, under $25, and is described at being both depth and angle-adjustable:
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$23.95 but I haven't yet found the shipping info Amazon.com has what *looks* like ti might be the same thing, $27.99 plus $8 S&H

The thing I'm thinking is that, any time one tries to cut a board-shaped material so as to make a polygonal shape, the sides have to be angled, or there will be gaps on top. That's why I was thinking of hte adjustable- angle mat cutter.

OTOH, I suppose they also could just do 90 degree cuts and then cover the gabs by gluing narrow strips of paper onto the top (I'm assuming strips are glued to the bottom to help keep the pieces stable during positioning). Or, it might be possible to fill in the gaps with some sort of sealant/caulking.

Yup, there are a variety of colors available even in someplace as "mundane" as Michael's Arts and Crafts - I think it was all 1/4' thick, though. The white comes in a variety of thicknesses. I haven't looked for it in Texas Art Supply, so I don't know whether they display a greater range of sizes and/or colors. But the main point is that there are colors available.

OTOH, an inexpensive air-brush, a bottle of arcylic paint, some distilled water, and some extender medium would also solve the color problem. ((Always use *distilled* water to thin acrylics, if you intend the object to last for a decent length of time - the minerals and chemicals in non- distilled water weaken the chemical bonding of the acrylic and can cause eventual flaking and peeling.))

Reply to
Kris Krieger

Warm Worm wrote in news:imKag.24786$fV1.6501@edtnps82:

A decent 3D modeling prog will be able to output directly to STL - or support a plug-in that converts files to STL format.

OTOH the process is quite expensive.

Reply to
Kris Krieger

Depends... I know you can get a printer for about $23K, so they're not going to be THAT expensive. Just google for "rapid prototyping models" and you should get some hits that might give you an idea. I would think small and ready-to-go model would be in the hundreds.

Reply to
3D Peruna

  1. Fire the architect.
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Reply to
nomail

Don:

I'm not saying that houses shouldn't have unusual shaped roofs. I've worked on plenty of those. I was trying to say that the roof appears to unnecessarily complex. As others have pointed out, that is usually a function of poor architectural design not a "feature". In my opinion many of these complex roofs look like a stack of weird mushrooms and are not all attractive. But then perhaps I'm getting too used to the Northwest look of mono-pitch roofs with big cantilevers and exposed soffits.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

buy a roll of cork and use it for the contours. Basswood for everything else. Maybe cherry of the same product line.

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If you know what you are doing, you can be very economical with how you use the supplies to keep costs down. my guess would be about $75 in supplies for what i listed above.

Nothing looks as impressive as a wood model. ;)

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
Skroob

*or* = First Born (and NO that's not an acceptable price, second born.....sure, but NOT first born)

;- >

Reply to
Michael (LS)

I was looking over the 3D CAD programs at CompUSA some time ago and while reading the box of one of the products I learned this vendor [1] (as I recall) has developed their software to transform the 3D CAD model to output a 2D template that can be used to build models. Like a pattern for sewing.

I also learned the vendor has a patent on this and it is damn clever if you ask me and a mystery why this type of feature is not better known. I do not know how well they have done at this and I didn't see any mention of the modeling feature at the website but if I still had to do models I would be looking into something like this. If its not Punch Software that has this feature a visit to a CompUSA to read the back of the boxes of the 3D CAD programs should turn something up.

Reply to
clintonG

Actually, what your doing is fine for a subdivision approval. You want to have nice models for show and tell at your business, but in this part of Texas (central) you not likely to convince the owner/builder to pay for a "good" model. Has the project gone to cad yet? Visually, simply plotting paper with roof hatch on it then cutting it will add more detail.

You said your a small firm....we are too, and we simply can't afford the manpower and programs to produce great models. In the rare instance we get clients who want models, we sub them out. If your doing lots of homes in this area, this could be the most profitable for you. Striking an agreement with a reputable model builder will save everyone time and money. Model builders can be very reasonable in cost if they have the potential for many projects or similar scope. If you need a recommendation for one in Central Texas, I'll add a link (otherwise, I won't Spam the group)

Do they HAVE to be physical? Sketch-Up has a very short learning curve from which you can create great models for this purpose. The program is not expensive (around 500 I think).

Good luck with...I personally would love to see your progress.. jojo

Reply to
jojo

A SketchUp model is far better in my mind. Lots more detail, can show the actual shadows cast for the actual location and time of day/year, and it can be output as a video. It might be worth taking a CD to the development board meeting and see what they think.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

3D LCD shutter glasses may be another, more effective (in terms of cost, labor, and resources) option:
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Rather than output anything, just input the clients. :)
Reply to
Warm Worm

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