Angkor Wat

[Mike Stamper]

After making Potala then The Tower, you would have thought I'd go for something that wasn't so bad on the eyes.... But....... my daughter had been reading the National Geographic magazine article on Angkor Wat and asked if I could make the Canon version for her Birthday in February ;-(

So I printed off the pages - and as with Potala, I went for a reduction to 70% - That was my second mistake - the first was saying "yes" to my Daughter.

Small parts aren't too much of a problem for me but when there are literally hundreds of them things get a bit wild.

At this size, pieces don't fit well and one of the features are "cross roofs". The method with these is to start with five sided boxes - there are about 18 of these. The next step is to make a similar number of the same boxes except pieces are removed on either side. The two pieces are glued together to form a .... cross. This means that in the middle the card is thicker so the base can't sit flat. My third mistake was to cut the second lot of boxes into two separate pieces without the base in the middle.

The first picture below gives you and idea of what I mean.

There are many types of step in the building and one set are made of one piece folded back on it's self, thus leaving a gap at each end. I therefore decided to fill in the sides - mistake 4. There are nineteen of these.

Below are a few pictures of these two "challenges".

To give an idea of size, the squares on my cutting mat are 3/8 inch (10mm) square. The wall is 1/16 inch high. The cloisters on the wall are 1/8 tall. The completed base is 7x8 inches (170x200mm)

[Mike Stamper]

Part two of making small pieces. Here are a couple pictures of one of the 21 entrances.

I'm off for an eye test shortly ;-)

[elliott]

If your daughter is not a teenager yet you need to start practicing now; it may not be too late. Say it with me, "No......no......NNooo......No!" Very good! Do this for five minutes every two hours 24 hours a day. Come back in six months and we'll introduce other ways of saying "No", such as "Uh-uh", "Nope", "Nah" and "Fuggedaboutit".

btw, I do enjoy your builds even though I don't post all that much. This one looks particularly interesting.

[Mike Stamper]

No... she's 32 so has plenty of practice at not accepting "no" for an answer ;-)

Anyway, it saves me deciding which model to make

Cheers
Mike

[SEBRET]

Holy. . . . .That's freaking tiny!

Good Going, Hope to see the finish soon

[Thomas Meek]

I'm totally impressed. I have downloaded the model and after looking it over I am afraid even to print it. At full size. You, Sir, at 70% are a braver man than I.

I will be watching closely. If you do as well with this one as with the Tower of London, it will be a fine build, indeed.

[Mike Stamper]

I was having second thoughts about making it and almost wish I'd kept to 100%. At 70% I have to use a magnifying glass to check the numbers on the parts! I then have to check these against an unusual instruction sheet that lists the particular wall then gives numbers of parts to fit to the wall - Have a look at the instructions for a better idea - it's most confusing.

Placement of parts on top of the walls is "approximate" so adding roofs between these parts will be a matter of cutting to "fit" - that's not too bad - it's having to extend other roofs that is the problem.

I have just added 36 roofs and "only" have another 24. Then it's a matter of paining miles of white edges !

Cheers
Mike

[Mike Stamper]

After many late nights and almost going mad because of so many small parts - my own fault for reducing the originals to 70% - Angkor Wat is finally complete.

I must admit that it's not one of Canon's best kits - so many parts rely on many others being exactly placed that it ends up with quite a few parts not in alignment. Also, it seems that no thought has been given to the thickness of the card. Making a square tube "square" is not possible when the bottom two tabs have to be glued. If both sides are the same length then one side will be longer than the other because of the overlap along the bottom. Does that make sense? Hopefully the last picture will help. This is a larger size than the parts - some are only 1/16inch tall.

Anyway "from a distance" It looks quite impressive and I'm sure my daughter will appreciate the amount of time it's taken to make.

cheers
Mike

[cMags]

Very impressive, regardless of whether or not everything is perfectly square. Especially at the scale! Nicely done I'm sure your daughter will treasure it!

[cdavenport]

That is a beauty despite the problems you experienced. Lucky daughter.