Arts & crafts type question

I plan to spend the weekend helping my sixth-grade daughter build a 3-D map of Austria for a class project. Does anyone have suggestions for a cheap easy to work with building material? I’m trying to avoid using clay just because it’s so obvious and I’d like to do a really nice job on this.

Thin sheets of styrofoam. Cut each sheet to the shape of a given contour on a map. Stack them with adhesive or double-sided tape. Make sure you don’t use an adhesive that dissolves styrofoam.

You can use a box cutter to cut the styrofoam, but if you want to do a really neat job you can buy a battery-powered styrofoam cutter that uses a thin heated wire to melt through the styrofoam.

Drat!
And I was thinking, “How fortuitous that I slipped a copy of American Bungalow in my briefcase this a.m.”

I made a map like this of Australia (not Austria) in sixth grade. I used candy on mine–Hershey’s kisses and chocolate chips for mountain ranges, etc. I also used blue cellophane for the ocean, and it ended up looking very sharp, indeed.

You could also use craft foam, ala scr4’s idea. It’s easier to cut than styrofoam…you can use scissors or an Xacto knife. And, it comes in many different colors. You can get a big pack of it in the craft section of Walmart.

Corrugated cardboard, stacked like scr4 describes.

Wadded newspapers, covered with strips of newspaper soaked in water- thinned drywall joint compound (takes a while to dry).

Modelling clay (but you already mentioned that).

Modelling clay covered with thinned white glue and painted.

Go over to Lowes and get a sheet of pink or blue foam building insulation. It cuts much better than the styrofoam that looks like a bunch of tiny marbles stuck together. You can get glue for it, or use a thin layer of Elmer’s carpenters’ wood glue. Anyway, the foam is, or should be, available in 1/2", 1", 2" and 4" thicknesses.
It can be cut with a hot wire, or an electric knife, or any other cutter. It can also be sanded with regular sandpaper but you want to do it outside unless you want everything to be covered with a film of pink, or blue, dust.

Personally, I’d try to do all my shaping on the foam itself, but if you want to, you can do fine detail with regular dry-wall spackle, the pre-mixed stuff, and a couple of small palate knives, they’re about $3.00 apiece. Put as thin a coat of spackle on as you can get away with, it does dry very slowly. But you can sand it to shape easily. But, and this is a big ‘but’, the dust is tiny and invasive. It’ll go right through many vacuum cleaner bags. Best to do it outside also.

You can use acrylic paint directly on the insulation, or on the spackle. I built part of my model train layout this way. There are other techniques, but a beginner can be pretty successful with building foam right off the bat, and it’s cheap. I bought a 2x8 foot sheet of 4" thick foam for about $12.00 IIRC.

Good luck. Aren’t class projests fun?

My son recently did a relief map of the Middle East for a school project. We baked a large, retangular sugar cookie (think cookie cake) as the “map base”. He used vanilla cake icing mixed with food coloring to demark countries, blue icing for water, Hershey’s Kisses for mountains (trailing off into chocolate chips for foothills), then labeled everything with a sticker on a toothpick (like a flag). It looked great, he got an “A” and the class got to eat his project!

      • Another option is to use spray-foam insulation. You get this stuff at home-supply type stores, it comes in a spray can. There are two types, polyurethane and latex. The latex is touted as being non-toxic but do NOT bother with it–it takes way longer to cure, isn’t as dense and doesn’t adhere nearly as well (the PU foam is like glue–it takes 1-2 hours to set and 12 hours to cure, but sticks HARD when its finished). When the PU foam cures it is a very tough and firm sponge material, if it is crushed it slowly comes back into shape. The PU foam does smell “plasticky” when it’s wet and it has warnings against breathing the fumes, but if you do it outside that’s not a problem at all. After it cures it has no smell and can be painted.
        ~

I did a 3-D map of Japan back in sixth grade, using powdered laundry detergent mixed with just enough water to make a paste. This didn’t exactly allow for a high degree of control over elevation, but it was certainly good enough for an elementary school project. The base was thick corregated cardboard. When the paste had hardened into little mountain ranges, I painted both base and relief map with ordinary poster paints. A hint: use the unscented stuff - you wouldn’t believe how badly laundry detergent can stink when wet…

Thanks for all the great answers–I was thinking of something kinky like cat litter or mini marshmallows!:smiley: I appreciate all of your suggestions, but I think I’m leaning toward Bumbazine’s idea. By the way, that was a very informative post; you anticipated all my questions!

Hopefully, people will continue to add to this thread…I’ve found it very interesting.

This may not be particularly creative, but to keep the ball rolling:

When I was in…eighth(?) grade I made a contour map of the continental United States using a brick of papier mache I got from an art supply store.

Why not clay? it´s perfect for this. :confused:

So? How did it turn out?

Uh, not well. I didn’t find the right material when I was out shopping on Saturday, and I wasn’t feeling well enough to try another store. So we made a weak attempt with some plaster of paris/newspaper strip papier mache. We destroyed it the next day and plan to try again when we find the insulation.

You specifically recommended Lowe’s; I was closer to a Home Depot. Hopefully that’s where I went wrong.:slight_smile: Thanks for asking.

To answer Ale’s question, “Why not clay?”: Sheer stubbornness.:smiley:

No one else interested in a spirited debate of - say - Greene and Greene vs Roycroft?

I feel your pain. I live in a 1919 classic bungalow and no one ever wants to discuss architectural elements with me. Give me straight lines and windows and book shelves on either side of my fireplace any day. Alas, I’m not strong enough in my knowledge to discuss particular designers. :slight_smile:

I just said Lowe’s because I know they’re in Florida. Actually Home Depot will probably have a couple different thicknesses of the pink stuff available. I forgot to tell you to be careful of the paint. I haven’t had any problem with brush on acrylics, but I’m told many paints will eat foam. I’m also told Testor’s is safe, but I don’t know that for a fact.