Orsino

Dress all the visible edges with a marker of some sort. Sharpie doesn't seem to make one in gray, but I lucked out at Michael's, and found Crayola 48-color packs for a buck each. There's a light gray which is actually distinguishable from black, and looks better, I think on the edge of what is supposed to be gray stone. Add the base pillars to the outside, and the ground floor is nearly done!

You wind up with four tabs pointing downward on each wall. The instructions aren't clear on this point but these should have been scored on the back of the printed sheets, as at this point they need to swing inward; these are the points on which the floor mounts. Because in the previous step we had to swing the interior walls inward, this has actually made the interior significantly smaller than the exterior. I found I need to trim the walls' edges infinitesimally: those little curlicues in the right of the picture are the remainders. The floor seems to fit perfectly now. This really is an easy build, compared to that danged boat.

That boar is fascinating. Right now, those ears look like a particularly sinster bat's. I can't wait to see the glowing eyes effect (something that has eluded my skills)...and a larger image, without flash, would be appreciated!

Here are the walls for the ground floor, one sheet each for two walls (inside and out). Note the dotted lines for scoring, the solid lines for cutting, and the vertical gray areas where the aforementioned base pillars will attach. That big tab in the center will join the walls together on the exterior. When that joint has set, I'll swing the interior walls (top half of the picture, where you can see a torch printed on one wall) down into the interior... ...like so!

PTF, I wanted something I could finish in days rather than weeks. I would really like to see a WIP on your Village build; I'm leaning toward the Castle as a next project, but who knows?

For my next trick, ladies and gentlemen, I'm doing something less ambitious than the Maiden. The Watch Tower is a smaller model that seems to be made only of box shapes. I'm assuming that this will take me just a few days--famous last words! Supposedly, the ship is the most challenging of their models, so I'm not anticipating major problems. Here are three of the eight "base pillars," two of which will go on each side of the tower as buttresses. Cutting and scoring the pieces isn't tough. The folding and gluing afterward is a breeze.

Your next project clearly must be the Transformer Maiden! Helltown, I can't really estimate how much ink I used, though I did have to get new cartridges. The colors I haven't replaced yet are running low. I used about a third or a fourth, maybe, of a 250-sheet pack of cardstock.

This is it, folks. The Maiden is essentially done. Here she is emerging from a fog bank that looks absolutely nothing like an old towel. I coulda cut out the windows and deck grilles for the optional transparencies. I coulda done furniture for the captain's cabin and the hold, and coulda done more cannons. There are a lot of couldas with this model, I guess, but it was quite a learning experience--and the result is ultra-cool. I can't wait to see the other players' faces when I unveil this centerpiece. I've already downloaded my next project, the rather less ambitious Watchtower.

That's hilarious. The sails have front and back sides to them. Glue the pages together as I've done here, curving them while they're pliable so they'll billow nicely in the finished product.

Some of the bits 'n' pieces included are these cannons. I was hoping to show the difference--a vital one--between cutting and scoring, but I'm just not able to resolve sufficiently. I'll hope that you can spot the dotted lines here, which indicate scoring; this means scraping the paper surface with the knife, not enough to cut through the sheet, but enough to break it open. You can then fold the page at some angle without wrinkling or bending it wrong. Because this cuts through the ink, you'll have to come along behind with a Sharpie. Run it down the seam, and you make the ugly white line disappear.

Denny, my wife's been away for a week (to Vancouver and Vancouver Island, no less), and it was a treat to see her reaction to the Maiden when I got her home last night. She must have gotten religion, as the first word out of her mouth was, "holy"! (When she left, it was but a nekkid hull.) She's ready to play now, and our game just got put off for at least two weeks. It's been a seafaring campaign, though we're currently landlubbers, and this project has so inspired the GM that I can already smell salt breezes. Arr. The old adage about swamps and alligators is true. In between all the printing, cutting, gluing, cussing, recutting and regluing, it's easy to forget just how terrifically awesome this thing is. All it takes to restore the wonder, though, is a good, long look. Maybe I will build another set of fore- and sterncastles, with transparencies this time. Maybe I'll start a whole 'nother boat for some naval combat. There are ten players at three tables, so we've got the space. Great design! Turned out to be exactly what we need. One of the first things my wife said last night echoed my own thought: there ought to be a carrying case of some sort. I've been dusting the model with Krylon polyurethane for strength, but the Maiden is not actually sea-worthy. Our game is 45 minutes away; how does one transport this beast?

Here's the big picture, minus the sails so y'all can see the rigging. Also missing is the center middle deck, which I'm pressing to try to get rid of a bow. A perspective shot, with minis in the stern and forecastle.

Aaaarghnononogeroffa-CRUNCH for short. Nice deep colors. I want one!

There are quite a few optional bits I've omitted. As time permits, I'll add some trimmings to this model--parts are included such as furniture for the captain's cabin, and hammocks for down below. The wheel, for example, is so cool that it's well worth the time needed to cut it out.

P O T E N T I A L P I T F A L L A L E R T If there's a mistake to be made, I'll find it. This one, however, may not be my fault, and may reside in the parts and/or instructions. Here you see a printout of some yards, the cross-pieces that have to hold up the sails. Glue the white space on one to the matching white space beneath the crow's nest, and your yard will ride horizontally, as you can see in the upper and lower parts here. I've cut another and have glued it in vertically to replace the lower and larger yard, and will cut away the horizontal: Here you can see how the sails are supposed to hang from a yard (a simple tab folds over as a hook), and that verticality is necessary. Watch out if you build your own--the instructions are mostly great, but the accompanying pictures are just low-res enough that this key step is not quite clear. I built the last of my three masts correctly, and am applying the fix above to the previous two.

What was the name of those guys from Sparta again? Oh, yeah. SPARTANS!!! I enjoyed this movie. Less nudity than most gay pr0n, though.

Dharman, no special printer is needed. As you guessed, the cardstock is doubled over where it needs to be printed on both sides. I'm using a Canon S900 inkjet. It occurred to me yesterday, Otik, that someone might ask for an hour count. I don't really have one, but I'm in the home stretch after two weeks at one-four hours per day (very, very ballpark, and I'm not sure how many days off I might have taken), with mostly just the sails to do. I've been telling our GM that I'll bring it to the game on Saturday, and I think I'm on track.

I'm adding ratlines to the various masts, printing on transparencies.

The masts are each built of three hexagonal sections (the top one comes to a point), with the crow's nests in between, where minis could also live. I'll need to build the other two masts, and add the transparencies for the rigging. Here's the single mast installed in the forecastle, to which I've added roofing to make a third deck for play. The masthead is in place (a second, more fanciful masthead design--a dragon--is provided), and I've placed the two cut-out anchors, just some of the props which the model includes.

Here's the completed forecastle and bowsprit. Yes, there'll eventually be a figurehead below, and I see a lot of places that need Sharpie edging. From astern, you can see the simple ladders added to the back of the forecastle.

These are the walls of the forecastle. I've cut out the railings (and pulleys) on the two long walls, and still have to do the short walls. Then I'll glue 'em all together in a chain. You may be able to see the secret weapon recommended in WorldWorks' tutorial videos: trimming white edges of cardstock with a black Sharpie. I'm actually using dark brown, the better to match the darker wood tones. I use a yellow to edge the more golden browns, such as the tabs below that attach to decking.

Here's the completed sterncastle.

This is the installation of one of two staircases in the sterncastle. Lots of tiny, precise cuts to make. The wide open are here is the captain's cabin. I think you can see how much cooler this would be with cut-outs and transparencies in all the windows. Maybe next time!

A full day's work in the field will get you hungry enough to appreciate the "flavor" of most or all of the MRE offerings--though I have heard that some improvements have been made in the decade I've been out.

I did so last night. It was surprisingly easy, and now the hull doesn't twist at all. Much gooder! I think you were right about foamcore being tough on blades. I finally needed to swap after all that work. Looks as though this was a good investment--just snap off the dulled end with some needlenose pliers, and drive on. Incidentally, I've decided not to mess with any of the window transparencies. They are incredibly cool, but I want to finish this week, and they won't really be relevant to play. They are optional, anyway. If I complete the vessel soon enough, I may go back and rebuild components with the windows (principally the sterncastle).