Process of Constructing a 1:25 Scale Door
Marking Out - Lesson 6
The first step to creating a 1:25 scale door is to find the centre point and draw a line running vertically up the mount board. Your centre line will be a vital component throughout the construction of the door as it will be what you take all your measurements from. Then measure 6000 mm up either side of the mount board and draw a line that connects them. The space underneath this line is where you shall begin to mark out your door.
Step 2 - Door
This is the marking out of the door itself. First, the width of the door is measured and two vertical lines are drawn to the required door width, both being equal distances from the centre line. The height is measured from the floor to the base of the door. This is where your door begins. Steps will be added during the building phase. The top of the door is then added. My door was slightly different so I had to construct a set of treads and mark out my door to those dimensions.
Top Tip! Most doors are 200 - 205 cm in height and it is wise to stick between these measurements.
Step 3 - Frame
The width of the frame is measured and added in a similar style to the door. If you find that the width of the frame differs slightly on either side then it is easier to just pick one measurement and stick to it.Step 4- Steps
On the mount board this step is the marking out of where each step begins and ends.
To create the treads I followed a basic template given in an earlier lesson. In my opinion, the steps I made were not to the best of my ability, but I feel that I was able to get away to it thanks to filler materials, texturing and the fact that my door wasn't very even anyway. In the future I will take my time more to get everything the way it should be.
Step 5 - Windows
The windows are drawn out using the centre line and other structers as a
Step 6 - Tabs (1 x 4 m) & Supports
Top tip! It is idea to have three triangular support braces for each tab.
Step 7 Recesses
Recesses are what separates us from children. They help give the model depth. I measured out a 30 cm recess because I thought it best fit the picture I was given of the door. When measuring out the recess, you will need two side pieces and a header. The header should be the width of the door + a 80 mm overhang, which will allow it to sit on top of the two side pieces. A picture of how it comes together will be shown below.
Side note! When marking out my door I opted to also mark in my overhang. This wasn't necessary but I did it anyway to give myself it's positioning later on when it came to create and place my overhang.
Cutting - Lesson 7
This lesson was focused on the cutting out of the individual parts. Unfortunately I was a bit forgetful and didn't take many pictures. Although this step is time consuming and tricky, it's fairly straight forward.
Cut windows first.
Top Tip! When cutting out curved or intricate bits it is a good idea to make practice cuts first in order to get used to the methods and procedures.
Then door.
Then Frame. Although it is drawn all the way to the bottom, your frame should only be cut to the base of the door. The frame should hopefully sit on the later constructed flooring or steps.
Then tabs and centre piece.
Then braces.
Then Recesses.
Building, painting and texturing - Lesson 8
This lesson was focused on the building of the actual door,
The first thing the model maker does is create the recess. It is of the utmost importance that all the measurements and cutting is correct because if either are off then your door will not come together perfectly. Nobody wants a wonky door. The two side recesses are the first pieces to be glued in place. Once these are secure the head is added. Once these are in place the frame is glued into the gap. This step is incredibly important because if it was done incorrectly then the door would no longer fit. Once this step is complete, a floor is quickly marked out, cut and glued into position.In the picture my door is depicted as having an overhang. To create it I opted to use KAPAline foam board because it already had a suitable thickness and could be sanded to any shape. To get the thickness on the top I decided on mount board, and for the thickness on the bottom I used ticket card. I knew that it would have to cover a person as they stood outside so I decided on having my overhang at a 60 cm length. When it came to the width I simply measured out the overhang on the picture and transferred the information. To create the curve on the overhang I measured 5 cm less on length and 10 cm less on width, on some ticket card and sanded down the KAPAline. I then glued the three different components together and did some more sanding to make sure everything lined up.
To create the two supports I cut out two more pieces of KAPAline, added some ticket card and sanded in a curve. Unfortunately, once again I was quite silly and forgot to take pictures.
The other thing to do is to glue on the tabs and braces. It is particularly important for the bottom brace to be absolutely flush because it is what anchors the door to the base. If the triangular braces were cut accurately then the tabs should naturally go to a right angle. If the braces were not cut accurately then you have bigger problems.
My door had a tiny ridge along the outside of the window. To transfer this ridge over to the model, I measured out the window on some ticket card and then carefully cut a ring out of it. This was then added to the door. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this but the ridge can be seen on the image of the door posted below. You are now a able to start painting your door.
Textures!
My wall didn't have much texture so all that was needed was to coat the walls in a very thin layer of polyfilla to to give it that tiny bit of texture and make it appear less perfectly smooth. I made a mistake here and coated the floor of the recess in polyfilla, which made the door in unable to fit as smoothly as it did. This cost me some valuable minutes as I had to scrape off the mixture with a craft knife. However, it did end up working in my favour as there is now some messy texture on the floor that wouldn't have been there otherwise. One part I am particularly proud of is my initial colour matching of the paint on the walls. I later lost a tiny bit of accuracy after I wiped on some dirty water to give the model a dirtier, more weathered look. To create the horizontal marks above the door I simply layered up some polyfilla and ran a plastic brush through it a few times. The floor wasn't visible so I chose a tarmac floor to keep with the already depressing aura of the door. To achieve this look I used the scatter method and coated the floor in PVA glue before adding an incredibly dark grey paint.
I am pretty proud of the door but do feel that I could have spent slightly longer on getting the colours to match more. To create the door I first coated it in a green paint. In end I think that my door is too bright to be what I wanted so if I were to repeat the project I would spend longer on getting matching tones. To get the tearing, broken quality I waited for the green paint to dry slightly before running my knife down it and tearing away the paint. I then dipped my brush in a very watered down dirty brown colour and dabbed at the torn away areas. This is probably my favourite part of the model just because I think it looks quite cool. 
The last few things to do before the final texturing is the placing of acetate as glass, hinging on the door, gluing the stairs and model to the base, and the adding of any more tiny details, like a door handle, writing or a door bell. To create the window, I marked out the size of the gap onto acetate, cut it out and glued it to the back of the door. The same thing was done for the planks on the window of the door itself. I think I was fairly fortunate here as my door was supposed appear dirty and I didn't have to worry too much about cleaning or being precise in certain areas. The door handle is simply a painted bead that was glued on. One thing I regret not doing is writing on the door number because it would have been really easy to do that increased realism and detail. The hinging of the door is a fairly straight forward process. All that is needed is a strip of masking tape and some PVA glue. To hinge the door a small amount of PVA is placed on the edge of the door, the frame and the back of the recess. The tape is cut down to size and placed on the glue on the door. The door is then put into position and the tape is smoothed over the rest of the glue.
Top Tip! Little beads make perfect door handles and flowers.
Finally, all that remains to do is to add more texture to the base and overhang.
I wanted to give the impression of scattered debris and gravel. In order to get this effect I again used the scatter method. I placed pools of PVA glue and scattered mixed herbs into them. When it came to painting the debris I went haphazardly because I quite liked the uneveness of the paint as I feel it comes off as more varied and has a better aesthetic.
Evaluation
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