August 9th, 2007 by alephnaught
Paper model of Chartres Cathedral – IT’S DONE!
I bought a model to assemble of the famous Chartres Cathedral in the Cathedral gift shop, and this entry will track how I put it together.
The model is large, at least 2 1/2 feed long and a foot or so wide. Its pretty complex with a lot of little parts (mostly the flying buttresses), but the instructions are clear and pretty easy to work through.
For a project like this, you need a sharp hobby knife, a good white glue stick, some wax paper and some round toothpicks. At some points tweezers helped out.
Below is a photo journal of the construction – I hope you find it interesting!
The core of the Cathedral glued to the base. That’s a foot ruler bottom-left
A view from the front – partial south tower installed August 5, 2007
South tower finished with the foot ruler to indicate the height
A front view with completed south tower August 7, 2007
Front view with completed north tower (those buttresses were not fun!) August 9, 2007
The north transept completed August 15, 2007
The north transept completed August 15, 2007
The south transept completed August 18, 2007. Note that the south transept has more decoration and higher higher roofs on the towers; I wonder which was built earlier…. The model is really starting to shape up; the last things are the rear (which looks difficult – lots of curved paper to cut and glue) and the flying buttresses.
The south transept completed August 18, 2007. Note that the south transept has more decoration and higher higher roofs on the towers; I wonder which was built earlier…. The model is really starting to shape up; the last things are the rear (which looks difficult – lots of curved paper to cut and glue) and the flying buttresses.
The chevet, or rear of the cathedral August 22, 2007. Now comes the really fun part, cutting out all the complex curves of the flying buttresses and gluing them in. But, then this model will be done.
The chevet, or rear of the cathedral August 22, 2007. Now comes the really fun part, cutting out all the complex curves of the flying buttresses and gluing them in. But, then this model will be done.
The chevet, or rear of the cathedral August 22, 2007. Now comes the really fun part, cutting out all the complex curves of the flying buttresses and gluing them in. But, then this model will be done.
And the first set of butresses are installed on the rear of the cathedral August 27, 2007.
And the first set of butresses are installed on the rear of the cathedral August 27, 2007.
A couple of detail shots to show the butresses – very neat! Almost looks like an Escher print!
A couple of detail shots to show the butresses – very neat! Almost looks like an Escher print!
And the rear is completed (note the copyright message) August 28, 2007
And the rear is completed (note the copyright message) August 28, 2007
And the rear is completed (note the copyright message) August 28, 2007
I finished the side buttresses yesterday late afternoon September 3, 2007
I finished the side buttresses yesterday late afternoon September 3, 2007
I finished the side buttresses yesterday late afternoon September 3, 2007
Some general views of the completed model
Some general views of the completed model
Some general views of the completed model
Its hard to believe its done! It took a month to assemble this, but it wasn’t too hard; developing a technique for cutting and gluing along with being slow and careful were the keys to success. The kit came with photos and text about Chartres – you can find the material here.
Epilogue: We moved to Los Angeles; the movers packed the model in a big box with lots of paper around it. AND IT MADE IT FINE! I had to re-glue one spire and a couple flying butresses and flatten the base, but otherwise it came through well. It’s in a place of honor in our dining room on top of a large bookshelf!
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28 Comments
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+Bob Hays
- I'm a father and husband, have two schipperkes, like to read, compose music, travel. And I manage a couple software development teams at DIRECTV.
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1:27 pm on April 27th, 2009
Your sharing this information is delightful. We returned to the U.S. last week from a visit to Chartres. I did not take the time to look around the book store to seek this model. I am a fan of paper modelling and I must say you have done a marvelous job…it looks beautiful. Thank you so much for posting all the photos. I would love to find the model!
Peace.
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12:41 am on January 18th, 2010
I appreciate and respect your point of view.
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6:17 pm on September 6th, 2010
[…] Here is an excellent site showing a paper model of the cathedral – Paper model of Chartres Cathedral – IT’S DONE! | Aleph Naught & the Null Set Note the flying buttresses which Riverside Church does not have. It also lacks the two spires of […]
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8:41 am on May 7th, 2011
okay, i am making a model on my own, for class using like modeling sized woods, foams, etc but i would really appreciate it if you could give me dimensions for the size of the paper model, like how long it is from west facade to the end, how high each of the facades are, how high it is to the bottom part of the room, then the height of the roof itself. uhm… widths of the facades too, the length of the transept and the two towers on the west facade. also dimensions of the rose window and the other two windows of the north and south facades. PLEASE AND THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!
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10:00 am on May 7th, 2011
Sure thing – I can’t right now but I should be able to tomorrow. Great project, you have to post pics of your finished project!
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6:23 am on December 10th, 2011
[…] text and pictures are from the paper model kit (you can see the kit as it was assembled at my blog here) I assembled of Chartres Cathedral)Chartres is more than just a place: first and foremost it is the […]
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3:54 am on January 19th, 2013
“Paper model of Chartres Cathedral – IT
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2:46 pm on June 2nd, 2013
[…] I think it looks fantastic – what do you think (this is only the second paper project Aviva has allowed into the main house, the other is my large Chartres Cathedral assembly). […]
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4:59 pm on August 5th, 2015
can u make a golden gate figure
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3:51 am on August 6th, 2015
I think there is a golden gate bridge paper model kit out there somewhere, so it is possible.
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11:10 am on November 4th, 2016
PLEASE I need to know how did you find this planification for elevation of this edification (sorry my english). I course architecture in Brazil and my group need to do the Chartres Cathedral. Please, help me, how do you did? Its a model that I can find somewhere? or… I really love that! The way you did… I need your help. My email is: marinabiachi@gmail.com
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12:50 pm on November 4th, 2016
I don’t know if the kit is still published. I found it on a Czech website http://betexa.cz/katedrala-cha.....anguage=en and on Amazon used https://www.amazon.com/Chartres-Cathedral-Scale-Architectual-Paper/dp/2864040425 – good luck I hope you find a kit at a reasonable price! I got mine in 2007 at a souvenir shop across the street from the Cathedral.
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8:54 pm on March 17th, 2018
Thank you for posting this. Just gave one of these models as a gift to a friend who is in college and very interested in architecture and I will send him the link to this site. Looks fantastic!
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