The blank is cut from 1/8" lightly smoked acrylic sheet. The verticals are 5' wide pieces cut from mat board, and the horizontals, which are also 5' wide, are pieces of flat black construction paper. The verticals were painted with an aged concrete colour before installing.
The horizontals and verticals are held in place with transfer tape.
As you can see, before installing a vertical, a column of horizontal pieces have to be sliced away so the vertical can be bonded directly to the acrylic blank. This is a pain, but I thought I'd get a straighter horizontal this way. I think when I build up the sides, I'll install the verticals first, then the smaller horizontals on a piece-by-piece basis.
Jim - Consider the window framing dilemma. I've built HO scale framed windows from styrene, scale lumber, and paper, and in each case the process is the same. The outer casing can be made with two cuts for the verticals and horizontals, but beyond that it gets harder and harder to make the muntins as each must be measured and cut to fit. Occasionally I get lucky and an entire window drops together the first time, but that's rare.
ReplyDeleteYou're not dealing with all those tiny fiddly bits, sure, but the way you're doing it may actually be easier than installing the verticals then trying to cut horizontals to fit. Unless you can cut extremely accurate parts - not impossible, but frustratingly difficult even when it 'should' work as hoped - it will inevitably result in gaps and potentially errors of degree. May I suggest some sort of repeating cut device like a chopper or duplicutter or even a scrapbooking paper slicer to cut the parts, then building the wall from l to r or vice versa.
Whatever you do, it is going to look really cool. Love that smoky glass.
Thanks Galen!
DeleteFor the verticals, at first I tried cutting them out on my mat cutter with a straight cutting tool. I found the straight cutter had too much play to get verticals that were consistently 5' wide. Long story short, I had to made a temporary jig on the workbench and cut them out with an xacto knife. I need to revisit this as you've noted as it produces good verticals, but it is too laborious.
I'm going to look into some of your ideas on making more accurate smaller horizontals. But, as you've mentioned, maybe the way it's being done is the way. This project is one big attempt at new methods for me so trying some more will be interesting.