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Domes (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Cereal pack or other card

2 buttons

Hirst Arts pinnacle piece

Superglue

Glue Stick

Craft knife

Metal ruler / straight edge

Stage 1

Click the thumbnail to the left to open the .pdf file. Print out the appropriate page. There are rectangles at the base of the strip pieces to allow you to build a dome with an extra 1/4" or 1/2" in height.

Stage 2

Carefully separate the 2 strip sections. Reposition them end-to-end and use the glue stick to attach them to the printed side of the cereal pack, making one long strip. Use a ruler to keep the pieces aligned correctly. Glue on the other pieces in suitable positions.

Stage 3

Carefully cut out the pieces with a sharp craft knife, and score all the fold lines. Take special care cutting the curves on the strip piece.

Stage 4

Paint a little water onto the printed template, leave for a minute or so, then carefully peel the paper off the card.

Stage 5

Fold the flaps on the base section as shown, so the outer faces of the tabs are the printed surface of the card.

Stage 6

Use superglue to attach the "star" piece to the centre of the dome top, so that each side has a small tab protruding. Fold all the score marks on the long strip.

Stage 7

Run the edge of a ruler along each section of the strip to bend the card slightly. Be careful not to tear the wedges apart.

Stage 8

Use superglue to attach the strip to the base. Glue one tab at a time, and be sure that the score marks align with the corners of the base piece. It will help to keep everything square, if you keep the base on a flat surface for this stage.

Stage 9

Superglue the top of each wedge to the tabs of the star piece. Start next to the piece with the top part attached to it, and work around.

Stage 10

Use superglue to attach the pinnacle piece to the centre of the smaller button. This gives you a handle to attach them to the larger button.

Stage 11

Then glue the finished pinnacle to the centre of the dome.

Stage 12

Add a drop of superglue to the end of the string to prevent it fraying, and leave to dry.

Stage 13

Trim the end of the string, cutting through the superglued part.

Stage 14

Attach the end of the string to the top of the dome in line with one of the joints.

Stage 15

Place a drop of glue about halfway down the curve, and another at the base. Pull the string into position as shown.

Stage 16

Add a drop of glue to the string where it meets the base. Leave to dry and then trim the string level with the base. Continue this process for each of the joints.

Stage 17

Add extra decorations if you wish, or simply paint the model in the colours of your choice. This image shows the 12-sided version of the dome on a 4" diameter Hirst Arts tower

Hipped Roofs (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Cereal pack or other card

Hirst Arts roof tile pieces

Pin

Superglue

Glue Stick

Craft knife

Metal ruler / straight edge

Stage 1

Click the thumbnail to the left to open the .pdf file. There are some instructions on the sheet, which are reproduced here along with some extra information.

Stage 2

You can make multiple copes of the templates and use the glue stick to attach the pieces to the card. Alternatively, use a pin to mark the position of each corner on the card and simply join the dots to duplicate the pieces.

Stage 3

If the top of your building is square in plan, simply make 4 copies of the appropriate size template. These should then fit together to make a pyramid with a slope of 45°.

Stage 4

If the top of your building is rectangular in plan, make 4 copies of the appropriate size template for the shorter walls. Cut 2 of these pieces in half along the pink centre-line.

Stage 5

Next make a rectangle to fit between the half-sections, with a width that is the difference between the longer and shorter walls of the building - e.g. for a 10" x 7" building, the rectangle would be 10-7 = 3" wide.

Making Moulds from Card (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Cereal pack or other printed card

Superglue

Glue stick

Duct tape

Craft knife

Metal ruler / straight edge

Dental pick or similar carving tool

Optional:

Hirst Arts pinnacle piece and niches

Stage 1

Click the thumbnail to the left to open the .pdf file. Print out the page at 100%. The spire as printed will be 3" x 3" square at the base x 6" tall.

Stage 2

Use the glue stick to attach the template to the printed side of the cereal pack. The printed surface will form the inside of the mould, so it is important that there are no damaged areas on the card or the plaster could stick permanently to the mould.

Stage 3

Carefully cut out the pieces with a sharp craft knife, and score all the blue fold lines.

Stage 4

Paint a little water onto the printed template, leave for a minute or so, then carefully peel the paper off the card. Remove any remaining glue from the card with moistened kitchen roll.

Stage 5

Carefully fold the card along the score lines, keeping the printed surface on the inside. Use duct tape to fix the pieces together. Run superglue into all the joints to add strength and to waterproof the exposed edges of the card.

Stage 6

Attach the flanges to the open end of both pieces in the same way, and slide the octagonal supports up the tall piece until they are a snug fit. These will help to prevent any distortion when the plaster is added.

Stage 7

The moulds are now ready to use. If you like, you can spray the inner surface with oil to help release the plaster.

Stage 8

To fill the tall section with plaster, sit the mould inside a drinking glass of a suitable size. Then fill and scrape both moulds as usual.

Stage 9

The plaster will take considerably longer to dry than the small Hirst Arts blocks - you may have to leave the casts overnight before they will slip out of the card moulds. You can speed up the process by microwaving the plaster for 30 second bursts, leaving it to cool before heating it again.

Stage 10

Mark and carve mortar lines into the plaster and add texture if you want. If you wish to add Hirst Arts niche pieces, cut appropriate slots with a hacksaw blade.

The pieces in the image are painted in order to show the lines.

Stage 11

Join the pieces together, and  undercoat the plaster. Use decorators filler or caulk to fill any gaps. Once dry the spire can be painted.