Paper Terrain for 7TV Dracula Finale
Dracula's flat pack tomb
Normally paper terrain buildings are relatively easy to assemble — they’re really just printed boxes with some bits added, it’s just getting angled roofs on that’s the hard part. However, this kit (“The Vault” from Mystic Mountain Productions) is meant to be disassembled and stored more-or-less flat. I’ve done a few like this before, and the extra engineering involved in making the buildings collapsible usually adds a little complication to the proceedings.
It took about 4 hours to cut out and fold the separate pieces. I always score the folds with a ballpoint pen before I cut each shape out, it makes for a nice even fold. I also run a black sharpie along any edges that I think might show when the model is complete, but that will be a little tricky since I’m not sure how completely the tabs will fit into their slots without gluing them.
Getting the walls together and slotted into the floor wasn’t too bad. As usual, the roof is the hard part. I’m not 100% sure that the hassle of getting all these tabs into their slots makes up for the convenience of being able to store this building flat when I’m done with it, I suppose we’ll see.
The roof braces were hell to glue together, but they do a pretty good job hiding some of the roof's seams, and they give the building a bit more dimension. All in all I’m happy with the finished piece. It’s bigger and more impressive looking than the crypts I built for Chapter 3, but I think it does still need a raised platform as pictured in the setup illustration. Luckily I have just the thing…
These paper kits are really nice stuff.
They really are, and very cost effective, especially if you have your own printer.