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How To Make Southeast Asian Building - Part Two
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How To Make Southeast Asian Building
Building The Son Tay Prison
by Paul Davies
Little did Paul Davies know that when he embarked on his journey to build Vietnam’s infamous Son Tay Prison, that it would turn into a major project, requiring not the typical single page of plans, but fully six pages of plans just for the buildings!
As space is always at a premium in the printed pages of our magazine, we couldn’t give it all to you in February’s #268 issue. Rather than leave you waiting for more space to open up in the magazine, or abandoning the extra material altogether, we felt it was only proper to provide you with a great companion article to the first.
So, print this out (or leave it on your screen) and enjoy it alongside WI#268!
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Tools & Materials
These should all be available from your local art, hobby, and sewing stores, failing that they can typically be found through various online vendors.
• Cutting mat and steel ruler
• Sharp hobby knife
• 2.5mm thick Balsa wood
• 5mm thick Foamcard
• PVA glue and super glue
• Sewing pins
• Bamboo skewers, cocktail sticks, match sticks, and a
couple of bamboo beachmats
• Polyfiller (AKA spackle)
• Paints and brushes
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Cautionary Notes on Glue
When gluing different materials together ALWAYS test it using scrap material, just in case. For example superglue eats foam and so does Evostik. The best solution I’ve found when gluing together different materials, i.e. foamboard and embossed plastic sheet, is No More Nails (or a cheaper alternative), which is a super strength gap filling adhesive, which does what it says on the box. Not all PVA glue sticks balsa; either use balsa cement or test your pva glue first. Also, superglue gives off a nasty vapour, so wear a mask when using it or work in a well-ventilated area. |
Examples of the Building Plans
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Examples of the Finished Buildings
The Opium Den (below)
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The Beer House (below)
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The Cat House (below)
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Constructing The Watchtower
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I recommend you build two of the side frames at a time.
• From 3mm square section balsa, cut the Main supports. Lay two of them onto the scaled plan. Cut the Horizontal beams, and glue in position with Superglue Gel - it doesn’t run so there’s less chance of gluing the frame to the plans!
• Once the glue has set remove the assembly from the plans. Cut the Outer diagonal beams and glue in position.
NB: The Inner diagonal beams, if required, will be added later so they don’t get in the way of fitting the floors.
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• Create a jig from Lego blocks to match the angle of the sides and simplify alignment. The angle between the two frames is the same as the angles of the sides. Position the two side frame assemblies. Measure the distance between the frames and, using Superglue Gel, glue the middle frame joining pieces in place.
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• Once the glue has dried, remove the assembly from the jig. Then glue the lower joining pieces in place. |
• Cut the middle floor from sheet balsa. Cut the access hole. Using a pen, scribe the plank effect. I added two upper joining pieces at this stage to strengthen the model. Glue the floor into position.
• Again, taking measurements from your model, repeat the above procedure to create the upper floor.
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• From 3mm square section balsa cut 4 top uprights. Cut a strip of balsa to the height of the side panels, ensuring the grain is vertical. Scribe the planking.
• Cut the sides and glue the first one in position, followed by the remaining sides. Glue an upright into each corner.
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• Cut out a piece of ‘Colorflute’ (corrugated cardboard), slightly oversized for the roof. Add a balsa retaining frame to the underside.
• If you decide you want them, add the Inner diagonal beams.
I finished off my watchtower by painting it using a thinned down wood stain. The roof I painted black, then drybrushed it with a dark silver colour.
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Constructing The Village Hunt
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And to finish off; a simple hut. The walls are made from a beach mat; the texture of which looked perfect for my hut walls. Made from a raffia type material, they’re held together by interweaved thin cotton threads. You MUST glue the mats to a backing material of some sort, otherwise when you start cutting they WILL, literally fall apart. Don’t ask how I discovered THAT little problem!
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Transfer the dimensions including the position of doors and windows, onto the mounted beach mat. Run a line of super glue along every cutting line, to ensure that the raffia strips, and the cotton threads, which hold them in place don’t separate. Once the super glue has dried, cut out the components and assemble them. I used my proven method of Lego block jig to keep the sides together while the glue dried. I added triangular braces inside for extra stability.
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