Colonial Wargames Building Templates

"We met upon the Level, an' we parted on the Square" --Kipling, The Mother-Lodge

Templates
for Building Construction

NOTE
This page originally called for direct printing of the full-sized Building Layout Template. It turned out that not all systems printed it to the correct size. The template now includes a scale bar to tell if printing is the right size. The Major General apologizes for any inconvenience caused to earlier readers by the error.

The Building Layout Template
This template will allow you to cut building-walls out of foamcore board faster, and with less tedious measuring and squaring. Simply click the reduced-size template at left, and then download the full-sized version and print it out. If the scale bar is not one inch, or very close, on the print, adjust your printing size. Stick the print to a piece of thin posterboard, and, using a straightedge and hobby-knife, carefully cut the posterboard to shape, being sure all corners are square.

Using the Template. Draw or cut a straight baseline on your piece of foamcore board. Decide your wall lengths and place a tick at the proper point along the line. Lay the template down exactly on the baseline with the edge at the left tick and lightly trace the vertical wall edge, corner ornament and top along the template. Then flip the template and do the same for the right edge. Slide the template along and trace a door or window wherever you want one. Move on to the next wall and repeat the process. Cut out the walls along the pencil guidelines, using a straightedge and hobby knife.

With a little practice, you might wish to skip the pencil step and cut directly along the template edge, being careful not to nick the template. Using this method on doors and windows, you will usually not be able to cut all the way through on the first cut. Make a light cut, remove the template and complete the cut.

The Rabbeting Template
Cut a piece of 3/16" foamcore about 2" to 4" long. Glue a straight-edged strip of metal on one edge with exactly a 3/16" overhang all along the edge. Half-inch brass strip from the hobby shop works well. Use the thickness of a scrap piece to measure the overhang. (If you are using 1/8" foamcore, make the overhang 1/8".)

Using the Template Cut building walls to full length and flip them over. Butt the foamcore part of the template up against the wall end and cut along the metal strip with the hobby knife, cutting just deep enough to slice the foam but not the front board surface. Pull away the scrap, leaving a rabbeted corner as described on the Building Construction page.

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