Indianapolis International Airport in 1:400

[IndyJets]

I am starting on a 1:400 scale model of the old Indianapolis International Airport to display my diecast airliner collection spanning over 50 years of my home airport's history. I haven't started working on the buildings yet but I would like to use paper/card construction. I do have an understanding of basic concepts of graphic design as well as 3D modeling. However I haven't designed a paper model before (though I do plan as time gets closer to print off and build a few of the airport model kits out there just to get a feel for working with the size of the parts and such). So I'm here mainly to seek advice from experienced modelers as far as establishing the overall design of the models (where to put the various folds and cuts, how to break a complex building shape down into manageable parts, and so on). I'm not sure whether to take the time to learn and use 3D modeling software or to just dive right in and draw out all of the building faces freehand... so that is something I would appreciate some input on as well. Also, material selection... how do you all decide what specific type of paper to use?

I'm currently focused on the design for the ground layout, which will cover 6x8 feet. Not all of it is shown here but this is just to give you an idea. Also I have a closeup of the threshold for Runway 23R to show how everything looks up close. All markings are scale sized and designed to FAA standards (or FHWA standards for the roads leading in and out of the terminal on the land side). This display will be modular (built on 24x24" square plywood project panels) to be taken apart and stored easily, and the terminal building is outlined for correct alignment when setting up. This design will be printed at 300 DPI on a series of 8x8-inch card squares (108 pieces in total!) which will then be cut out and glued to the plywood panels. What kind of paper would work best for this portion of the project? And am I better off printing at home or going with a professional printer?

Don't worry, the aircraft placement mockups won't appear on the finished printout; they will be removed once I've completed the markings for the parking lead-in lines and safety zones.

I do plan to have working, fully adjustable jetways, also made of paper. They will be my own design, based on concepts from Paris Airport Diorama and a couple of others, and customized to match the style of those found at Indianapolis.

 

[Revell-Fan]

First of all, the layout looks splendid. The mere size of the planned display is more than impressive. Your project can be approached in different ways so there is not "the only" way to do it. It mainly depends on your own personal preference and abilities and the resources which are at your disposal.

... (where to put the various folds and cuts, how to break a complex building shape down into manageable parts, and so on). I'm not sure whether to take the time to learn and use 3D modeling software or to just dive right in and draw out all of the building faces freehand...

This depends on your personal preference. There are great hand-drawn templates. Very easy shapes do not require a 3D program and are easier done in a vector program directly on the page. CG support may give you faster results with more precision. I recommend SketchUp (v8 or SU Make 2017, the last free version). It is very intuitive and was designed exactly for your purpose, the modeling of buildings. There is an unfolding plugin for SketchUp 8 called "Flattery". It exports the shapes as *.svg graphics which then can be further edited in any vector program such as InkScape or CorelDRAW. I use it constantly. Other programs provide more sophisticated functions but often they are so tricky to use that you have to spend quite some time on learning how to use them. Buildings are fairly straight forward to make from paper because they usually have many straight lines and sharp edges. Making curves from paper is a bit more difficult but it can be done.

Also, material selection... how do you all decide what specific type of paper to use?

I prefer 160 gsm paper. It provides a light stiffness and can also be used to form curved shapes without wrinkling too much. In addition it goes through my printer (an HP OfficeJet) without problems. I once had some trouble with paper that was too thick. It clogged the printer and the print was not aligned very well. If you are looking for paper you should be careful to take some which is of archival standard and acid-free. This ensures that the colours do not change within a couple of months and that the paper does not desintegrate and turns yellow over time. The paper does not need to be expensive though. 250 sheets of my favourite paper from Rainbow or ClaireFontaine costs about 10 - 15 € here in Germany. Of course the colour you use should also have a certain standard to guarantee a vivid appearance for a longer period of time. I've been using HP printers forever and they fufill my needs very well. Models I printed a decade ago still look as new today. Granted, I do protect them from direct sunlight.

What kind of paper would work best for this portion of the project? And am I better off printing at home or going with a professional printer?

If you have the templates printed is a matter of convenience and pricing. Professional prints may be more durable than prints at home. It depends on what the shop can offer. I made the experience that sometimes a factory-print was not water-proof so it has to be sealed first or handled with great care. That is something you can find out at the shop, too.

For this layout alone I would say that a laser print might be ideal because the paper will not be folded later. Laser provides vivid colours but depending on the model only "adhere" to the surface, so when you fold a laser print the colour may crack. Ink penetrates the top layer of the paper and is absorbed by it. The result is slightly more fuzzy but the paint will not crack during folding.

I hope this helps!

 

[IndyJets]

So... how would I go about making this parking garage? I already worked out the dimensions in a plan view. Keep in mind this will be a 1:400 scale model; it'll be roughly a foot by a foot and a half overall just to give you an idea. I broke the plan geometry down into 3 parts... a 75-degree arc (388-foot radius on the outside and 138-foot radius on the inside) joined to rectangles 250x190 on one end and 250x85 on the other. I'm interested in just modeling the overall shape of the garage (with the openings between the levels represented by black printed areas). How would I make the helical ramps for the entrance and exit? Notice that the ramps extend up to accommodate a 6th level that was never actually built. The stair/elevator houses B-C and A (middle and right in the photo) are curved to match the curve of the garage. They were named D, B-C, and A to match the concourses of the terminal which they served (already demolished in this photo); the garage still stands today and is being used for employee parking for the new Infosys facility being built on what were the long-term parking lots.

 

[Revell-Fan]

Now here we are talking business!

This is what I would do:

1. Launch SketchUp.



Delete the human figure.
Switch to parallel view.
Go to top view.




2. Import the image in SketchUp.



Trace the silhouette of the main building.



Pull up the building till it meets the desired height.



Group the main building.


3. Draw one stair / elevator house.
Pull it up to the desired height.



Pull the circle on the roof of the elevator house up to the desired height.




4. Go to top view again. Create a new rectangle, size does not matter as long as it is larger than the diameter of the cylinder. Group the rectangle.



Go to side view and rotate the rectangle till it meets the angle of the top of the roof cylinder.



Move the rectangle into the cylinder where the top is so that it intersects it.





Select the cylinder - right click: Intersect with model.



Delete the rectangle.



Delete everything above the intersection.



Group the intersected cylinder.



CG modeling done. Next step texturing and / or unfolding.

Since both elevator houses are virtually the same you only have to model and edit one. That saves you some time. If you want to create the second elevator house it is best to turn the finished first one into a Component, double it and move it to the desired position. Components have one big advantage: The objects turn into virtual twins. If you edit one of them the same edit is performed on the other one simultaneously.

Please note that this is just a quick sketch to show you the basics. I worked quickly and did not pay attention to the scale. Since I do not know if SketchUp is your cup of tea I have skipped explaining all the buttons etc. If you are interested in further explanations please don't hesitate to ask. Other 3D programs may work similarly, BTW.

 

[IndyJets]

Now here we are talking business!

This is what I would do:

1. Launch SketchUp.

View attachment 199698

Delete the human figure.
Switch to parallel view.
Go to top view.

View attachment 199699


2. Import the image in SketchUp.

View attachment 199700

Trace the silhouette of the main building.

View attachment 199701

Pull up the building till it meets the desired height.

View attachment 199702

Group the main building.


3. Draw one stair / elevator house.
Pull it up to the desired height.

View attachment 199703

Pull the circle on the roof of the elevator house up to the desired height.

View attachment 199704


4. Go to top view again. Create a new rectangle, size does not matter as long as it is larger than the diameter of the cylinder. Group the rectangle.

View attachment 199705

Go to side view and rotate the rectangle till it meets the angle of the top of the roof cylinder.

View attachment 199706

Move the rectangle into the cylinder where the top is so that it intersects it.

View attachment 199707

View attachment 199708

Select the cylinder - right click: Intersect with model.

View attachment 199709

Delete the rectangle.

View attachment 199710

Delete everything above the intersection.

View attachment 199711

Group the intersected cylinder.

View attachment 199712

CG modeling done. Next step texturing and / or unfolding.

Since both elevator houses are virtually the same you only have to model and edit one. That saves you some time. If you want to create the second elevator house it is best to turn the finished first one into a Component, double it and move it to the desired position. Components have one big advantage: The objects turn into virtual twins. If you edit one of them the same edit is performed on the other one simultaneously.

Please note that this is just a quick sketch to show you the basics. I worked quickly and did not pay attention to the scale. Since I do not know if SketchUp is your cup of tea I have skipped explaining all the buttons etc. If you are interested in further explanations please don't hesitate to ask. Other 3D programs may work similarly, BTW.

Sketchup is what I'm interested in using, actually...

Just a quick note... what you have labeled as the "stair/elevator houses" are actually the helical ramps that allow cars to drive in and out of the garage. Notice that the top of the road deck forms a ramp that curves around and under itself. I don't see that in the model, only a flat top.

The stair/elevator houses are on top of the garage itself and there are a total of 3... these contain the stair and elevator shafts that allow people to move between the different levels on their way between their car and the airport to catch their flights.

Back to the drive ramps... how would I make these look convincing? Notice in the real world when you look at it from ground level you can clearly see between the levels of the ramp clear through to the central core. Would I just make the outside as a solid cylinder and make the spaces black and forget about being able to see inside to the core?

And what about the mechanics of actually building the model since the footprint is much larger than a sheet of paper? How can I break up the expanse of the top deck onto multiple sheets and still get it to look right? And what about the internal structure? I would assume since it's going to be over a foot across that it's going to need some stuff inside to help it hold its shape.

 

[zathros]

I asked before, what year of this airport are you looking for? I found an interesting link.

TIMELAPSE: Look at changes to Indy airport

As the city of Indianapolis has grown, so has its airport. When the airport opened in 1931, it put Indianapolis on the map.

www.wrtv.com

 

[Awry_Chaos]

Sketchup is what I'm interested in using, actually...

Just a quick note... what you have labeled as the "stair/elevator houses" are actually the helical ramps that allow cars to drive in and out of the garage. Notice that the top of the road deck forms a ramp that curves around and under itself. I don't see that in the model, only a flat top.

The stair/elevator houses are on top of the garage itself and there are a total of 3... these contain the stair and elevator shafts that allow people to move between the different levels on their way between their car and the airport to catch their flights.

Back to the drive ramps... how would I make these look convincing? Notice in the real world when you look at it from ground level you can clearly see between the levels of the ramp clear through to the central core. Would I just make the outside as a solid cylinder and make the spaces black and forget about being able to see inside to the core?

And what about the mechanics of actually building the model since the footprint is much larger than a sheet of paper? How can I break up the expanse of the top deck onto multiple sheets and still get it to look right? And what about the internal structure? I would assume since it's going to be over a foot across that it's going to need some stuff inside to help it hold its shape.

Here's the link so you can download Sketchup:

Google SketchUp

SketchUp is a simple but powerful tool for quickly and easily creating, viewing and modifying your 3D ideas.

www.techspot.com

@Revell-Fan was nice enough to give me the link. It's free to download.

 

[Awry_Chaos]

Now here we are talking business!

This is what I would do:

1. Launch SketchUp.

View attachment 199698

Delete the human figure.
Switch to parallel view.
Go to top view.

View attachment 199699


2. Import the image in SketchUp.

View attachment 199700

Trace the silhouette of the main building.

View attachment 199701

Pull up the building till it meets the desired height.

View attachment 199702

Group the main building.


3. Draw one stair / elevator house.
Pull it up to the desired height.

View attachment 199703

Pull the circle on the roof of the elevator house up to the desired height.

View attachment 199704


4. Go to top view again. Create a new rectangle, size does not matter as long as it is larger than the diameter of the cylinder. Group the rectangle.

View attachment 199705

Go to side view and rotate the rectangle till it meets the angle of the top of the roof cylinder.

View attachment 199706

Move the rectangle into the cylinder where the top is so that it intersects it.

View attachment 199707

View attachment 199708

Select the cylinder - right click: Intersect with model.

View attachment 199709

Delete the rectangle.

View attachment 199710

Delete everything above the intersection.

View attachment 199711

Group the intersected cylinder.

View attachment 199712

CG modeling done. Next step texturing and / or unfolding.

Since both elevator houses are virtually the same you only have to model and edit one. That saves you some time. If you want to create the second elevator house it is best to turn the finished first one into a Component, double it and move it to the desired position. Components have one big advantage: The objects turn into virtual twins. If you edit one of them the same edit is performed on the other one simultaneously.

Please note that this is just a quick sketch to show you the basics. I worked quickly and did not pay attention to the scale. Since I do not know if SketchUp is your cup of tea I have skipped explaining all the buttons etc. If you are interested in further explanations please don't hesitate to ask. Other 3D programs may work similarly, BTW.

NICE!!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

 

[Awry_Chaos]

I asked before, what year of this airport are you looking for? I found an interesting link.

TIMELAPSE: Look at changes to Indy airport

As the city of Indianapolis has grown, so has its airport. When the airport opened in 1931, it put Indianapolis on the map.

www.wrtv.com

Airports are like cities within cities!

 

[Revell-Fan]

Sorry for the late reply but I had to deal with some PC issues. Firefox froze up my system and it took me a whole day to find a way to solve this. Well then.

Thank you for clearing up the designations. I'm more familiar with scifi stuff and it was pretty late when I wrote this post so please forgive me.

Now the scale you have chosen allows you to actually to turn all pieces into complete models. As I said, the sketch should only illustrate the basic procedure so I skipped the spirals.

Back to the drive ramps... how would I make these look convincing? Notice in the real world when you look at it from ground level you can clearly see between the levels of the ramp clear through to the central core. Would I just make the outside as a solid cylinder and make the spaces black and forget about being able to see inside to the core?

If you are striving for ultimate accuracy you'll have to re-construct the building following the original. That can be done if you have detailed images or plans / blueprints. Since I don't have those I'm merely guessing how it looks like. So I take it that the elevator house is constructed like a snail shell with spiraling levels which goes all the way down to the ground floor.



Then I would proceed with intersecting the stairway with various shapes to form the basic spiral. If you do it clever you may only have to shape one level and then duplicate it similar to this:



I'm sorry that I cannot give you any more detailed tips on this because I have absolutely no idea how this looks like in reality. The sketch is pure guesswork to show you the idea. ( I also see now that I used the wrong diameter for the tube... :/ )

You can make the different levels if you follow the original construction as well. I would laminate the complete level to cardboard to create a solid shape that does not bend under its own weight. Corrugated card might be helpful but you can also do multiple laminations of regular card or use posterboard of a suitable thickness. The top, sides and bottom of the plate can be covered by the printed texture.This should be really straight forward.



Then there are two ways. You could add spacers between each level which keep everything together. A more elegant solution would be using coloumns which go through all levels.



Basic procedure: Each level has a number of holes in it. The coloumns fit through these holes. You start with the ground floor and insert the coloumns one by one. The example shows one. Again, this is not to scale. You may use round coloumns instead of rectangular ones, too.



Wrap some paper around the coloumn which serves as a stopper for the next level.



Add the next level and so forth.



Then laminate the outer walls / bars to card and glue them around the perimeter of the building. That way you will be able to look at the inside.

And what about the mechanics of actually building the model since the footprint is much larger than a sheet of paper? How can I break up the expanse of the top deck onto multiple sheets and still get it to look right? And what about the internal structure? I would assume since it's going to be over a foot across that it's going to need some stuff inside to help it hold its shape.

That is a problem I have dealt with myself. I'm working on a 1/32 scale replica of the New Galactica hangar bay. The base plate will cover 1m², so it will have to be printed on several pages. To determine the look of each segment and to ensure that they will fit together I drew the whole layout in 1/1 scale in CorelDRAW. Then I re-scaled it to 1/32 scale. After that I determined the actual size of the finished piece and calculated the amount of pages necessary for printing. I went with the same size for each segment. In theory that should give a more eye-pleasing result. In addition, the seam lines may aid with aligning them. My plan is to laminate everything to card to get one solid base.



To prepare each segment I drew a rectangle of the determined size, multiplied it and layed them over the existing graphic. Then I added some numbers to see where every segment goes. After that I made a copy of the file and worked with that. I tackled each segment one at a time and separated it from the rest of the drawing. Corel has some handy tools to do that. In some cases I edited the lines manually, in others I cut off everything unneeded. I did this for each segment till they were all separated.

@Rhaven Blaack has test built the launch bay from the original BSG. The ground plate was constructed the same way as described, so the technique works.



One tip: Make advantage of your texture. If you have lines or different shades of colour on the area you want to slice up place the cutting lines right along those lines. Once assembled the seam lines will get invisible.

 

[Awry_Chaos]

Nice work @Revell-Fan !!!

 

[mijob]

This is good stuff.

 

[IndyJets]

The parking garage is starting to come together in Sketchup! I have the main shell done, as well as lowering the top deck by 3'6" to create the parapet around the edge, and I've also constructed the three stair/elevator houses by marking out their locations on the deck then using the push/pull tool to raise them 15 feet above the deck per my measurements from Google Earth. Next challenge: the two helical entry/exit drive ramps.



Revell-Fan: I do like the concepts that you presented above as far as modeling the levels and columns individually, but we do need to keep in mind that this is 1:400 scale so the overall height is only going to be 1.26" (42 feet in real life). And there would be probably close to 50 columns throughout the structure, in total. I'm thinking a solid box style construction might be best, at least for the overall structure. Like this model available from Airport Diorama Designs:

Airport Diorama Designs - Parking Garage #1 | Airport Diorama Designs

Airport Diorama Designs - Parking Garage #1 Page

airport-diorama-designs.com

This model is similar to what I'm designing but is much smaller and has the drive ramps placed internally (you can see the top of one going down through the top deck into the core of the structure) if you go to the site and view the images.

 

[Revell-Fan]

OH YEAH! That is a great start. I have taken a look at the model and yes, I agree with you regarding the boxy style. You could break up the structure and make it look more detailed by cutting slits into the sides, backing those areas off with some thicker card and then adding a closed layer of paper or card. That might give the building an additional 3D effect and would give the impression that you could actually look inside:

 

[IndyJets]

OH YEAH! That is a great start. I have taken a look at the model and yes, I agree with you regarding the boxy style. You could break up the structure and make it look more detailed by cutting slits into the sides, backing those areas off with some thicker card and then adding a closed layer of paper or card. That might give the building an additional 3D effect and would give the impression that you could actually look inside:

View attachment 199790

Oooh, I like that idea a lot! How would that do on forming the curves though? They're not super tight (the inner arc is a 138 foot radius, or roughly 4 inches actual) but curve smoothly through 75 degrees of arc so it's important to avoid kinking.

 

[Revell-Fan]

You should keep in mind the target dimensions. The cardboard and paper layer comprising the building adds some thickness and will change the proportions of the building. So you have to make the "core box" smaller by the thickness of the material that is added around its perimeter. You can easily adapt the proportions by using SketchUp's offset feature.

The best way to see if the technique works well is to make a quick and dirty test build. with 4" it should be able to form some card without wrinkling it. Pre-shape it by rolling it around a larger tube or the edge of a table. Continue with tubes of smaller radii till the material is nicely curved. It may be suitable to curve each layer separately. You may add several layers of card to produce the desired thickness. If the card is too stiff you may moisten it up a bit using water. The technique is called water-shaping. Our @DanBKing is a master par excellance:

2001 ASO USSC Discovery One

Thank you for the kind comments everybody!:thumb: I have to say, I am glad that the spine is done.... That was a mission and a half!! But, I am VERY pleased with the end result. I achieved the linearity that I was seeking...! :mrgreen: I think I am going to start on the reactor/engine module...

www.zealot.com

Basically you put some water in a bowl. Then you apply it to your part using a brush or your fingers. Use it sparingly and only on the back side or it will destroy the texture. Since you will be working with pure non-textured card in the middle of the sandwich you should not encounter any problems. Then, with the card moisted, it becomes more flexible and can be forced into the desired shape easier. When it dries it keeps that shape. Dan mastered the process in a way that he was able to produce compound curves in paper (curves that bend in two directions simultaneously).

 

[zathros]

Oooh, I like that idea a lot! How would that do on forming the curves though? They're not super tight (the inner arc is a 138 foot radius, or roughly 4 inches actual) but curve smoothly through 75 degrees of arc so it's important to avoid kinking.

I feel I am beating a dead borse here. What year are you talking about for this airport? There are so many pictures and if you post the years the buildings and other features can be extrapolated very easily.

WHAT YEARS?

 

[Awry_Chaos]

I feel I am beating a dead borse here. What year are you talking about for this airport? There are so many pictures and if you post the years the buildings and other features can be extrapolated very easily.

WHAT YEARS?

I think in an earlier post he mentioned the years 1968-2008.

I'm new here - want to build an airport terminal

I'm new here... looking to build a model of the old (1966-2008) Indianapolis International Airport terminal and landside facilities to display my 1:400 scale diecast model collection. I want to design and build this model from scratch and I am just looking for some basic suggestions on how to...

www.zealot.com

I'm new here... looking to build a model of the old (1966-2008) Indianapolis International Airport terminal and landside facilities to display my 1:400 scale diecast model collection. I want to design and build this model from scratch and I am just looking for some basic suggestions on how to determine the required shapes, lay out the parts, etc. I have looked at several other print-and-build airport models from various sources and I'm just looking to create a customized one for this particular airport. I'm familiar with Inkscape as well as some basic 3D graphics. In fact I am doing the base layout design (taxiways, runways, ramp area, landside roads, etc.) in Inkscape and it is nearly finished.

A forty year timespan.

 

[IndyJets]

You should keep in mind the target dimensions. The cardboard and paper layer comprising the building adds some thickness and will change the proportions of the building. So you have to make the "core box" smaller by the thickness of the material that is added around its perimeter. You can easily adapt the proportions by using SketchUp's offset feature.

The best way to see if the technique works well is to make a quick and dirty test build. with 4" it should be able to form some card without wrinkling it. Pre-shape it by rolling it around a larger tube or the edge of a table. Continue with tubes of smaller radii till the material is nicely curved. It may be suitable to curve each layer separately. You may add several layers of card to produce the desired thickness. If the card is too stiff you may moisten it up a bit using water. The technique is called water-shaping. Our @DanBKing is a master par excellance:

2001 ASO USSC Discovery One

Thank you for the kind comments everybody!:thumb: I have to say, I am glad that the spine is done.... That was a mission and a half!! But, I am VERY pleased with the end result. I achieved the linearity that I was seeking...! :mrgreen: I think I am going to start on the reactor/engine module...

www.zealot.com

Basically you put some water in a bowl. Then you apply it to your part using a brush or your fingers. Use it sparingly and only on the back side or it will destroy the texture. Since you will be working with pure non-textured card in the middle of the sandwich you should not encounter any problems. Then, with the card moisted, it becomes more flexible and can be forced into the desired shape easier. When it dries it keeps that shape. Dan mastered the process in a way that he was able to produce compound curves in paper (curves that bend in two directions simultaneously).

Very good point about allowing for the paper thickness. Is there a reference table anywhere that lists the dimensional thickness in terms of paper weight? Also how much extra backing do I need to add in order to get a good effect in 1:400 scale? I'm thinking I might also apply this same technique on the double-deck covered roadway along the front of the terminal itself (which faces the parking garage across the arrivals roadway).

Would I necessarily need to go through the trouble of making a separate Sketchup model for each layer of material or could I get by with making duplicates of the face shapes in Inkscape then trimming away the edges to allow for the thickness of the overlying layer(s)?

At any rate, here is what I have so far for the main garage structure. Now to build the two helical entrance/exit ramps (which are actually mirror images of one another). Then there are two road bridges (which carried a bypass road that split off from the departures roadway, flew over the ground level arrivals/bypass road, and ran just inside the outer perimeter of level 3 of the garage) and three pedestrian sky bridges which linked each of the three elevator/stair shafts with the terminal entrances nearest each of the concourses. I'm thinking I might need to have the main terminal built first, then build all 5 of the bridges in between so that everything will match up correctly when the model is assembled and set in place on the base plate. Or at least to draw in a reference plane representing the front of the terminal in its correct alignment relative to the garage structure.

Here are some views (not my original photos, just for illustrative purposes only) of what these bridges looked like. They connected level 3 of the parking garage to level 2 of the terminal, and sloped downward towards the terminal to compensate for the height difference.

 

[IndyJets]

By the way, how could I go about making the awning over the shuttle bus stop area? The real one was made of vacuum-formed transparent blue plastic panels (roughly 3 feet square) attached to steel trusses, as shown here.