Work in progress.
A uncut cylinder (red Pringle), a finished (without roof) hut, the 4 parts that will make a hut, a hut where the parts are glued together (this show the visual effect of gluing 4 rings together to make a hut).
Note the corks used to get a better hold on the tube while cutting.
Resoning
I believe that a building should have walls that are more than cardboard thick in order to look believeable.
And sometimes you just have to use whatever it takes to get the job done.
The method
I have used tubes of Pringels as that tube is somewhat thick as well as has a diameter that looks 'right' for a hut occupied by a poor family. One tube will be used to make one hut. Besides this only some kind of glue (I used white/Elmers) and some sand and paint are needed.
- Deside on the hight of the walls of the hut. Then mark this distance from the bottom of the tube and saw that part off. This will provide the outer walls as well as the floor. By using the bottom of the tube as floor, there is no reason to base the hut.
- Make 3 more rings. I've found that making one ring and cutting it open so it can be slipped over the tube makes it easy to measure the rest of the rings.
- The 3 rings is cut open and fit inside the first ring and so on. Make the fits as close as posible or you will end up with a gab that needs some filler. Chances are you need filler anyway so don't be too fanatic.
- Glue the rings in place. I found out that the best way to get the glue where needed and nowhere else was to put a small bag over my hand and use a finger to put the glue on the inside of the previous ring. Every time I tried anything else I ended with the glue everywhere but where i wanted.
- After drying, trim the walls so all the rings has the same hight. I used a delta-sander (brute force, remember?).
- Cut a hole for a door, using a power drill and that item you use to to make large holes. This creates a round dooropening - perhaps not so 'Aztek' - sorry Lizzarmen like - but I like it (and not because of 'The Hobbit').
- Prime the hut (Pringle tubes are kind of slippery and the metal bottom can be seen on the outside), then paint it. I used dark gray as undercoat and then sprayed some textured paint on.
- Glue some sand on the floor and the hut are finished - apart from the roof.
- The roof will have to wait - I have seen some interesting methods on the web, but has not yet had the time. Besides a roof made of long grass might just be missing from a long lost city, right?
