BASIC   SKILLS
CUTTING | FOLDING | DRY-FITTING | GLUING

GLUING

** It is important to "dry fit" your pieces before you glue them. It's a real bummer to glue up all the tabs on a building to find out you need to trim an edge or feather a corner! Dry fitting your pieces is the last opportunity you have to make any size or structural corrections. No matter how precisely you measure and cut, there will always be anomalies. So, don't put glue on a piece until you are ready to set it permanently in place! **

The best glue to use for paper castle construction is white craft glue (known in the USA as "Elmer's Glue".) It is easy to use, comes in an easy application bottle, has a generous "working" time, dries clear, and washes easily from clothing.

Tabs are the most commonly (and easiest!) parts to get glue. That's what they are for! You simply apply the TINIEST bead (Thin line) of glue, then use your finger tip to smooth out the glue into a thin, even layer across the surface of the tab. You want to apply enough glue to cover the entire surface area of the tab, but not so much that it soaks through the card stock or paper you are using. It is a good idea to let the freshly glued tab "set" for about a minute before you mate it to any adjacent pieces. This gives the glue time to "tack" - set up a little bit so that it isn't so fluid or liquid, but it is still very sticky.

Place your freshly glued tab to it's glue-spot in your layout and wriggle it into its final position. You will have about 7 - 10 seconds after the tab makes contact with its adjacent piece to make small shifts and adjustments to the piece'salignment.

If you have used a little too much glue, you will have to hold the two pieces together for a few minutes while the extra glue penetrates the paper fibers.

Smaller features and details - like battlements and crenelations - require only the smallest ammount of glue. It is important not to saturate your surfaces, or the paper fiber will warp and twist, distorting your pieces' shapes and dimensions. This makes for difficult alignment when you assemble your castle in its final lay out! Don't be afraid to wipe off excess glue from an area. If, later in the assembly, you notice separation from improper gluing, you can correct that by adding or smearing glue with a tooth pick or the tip of your knife (see GLUE PATCHING in Advanced Techniques).

This concludes the four part section on basic skills.
Now that you understand the idea, try it out for yourself with our basic "Desktop Fortress" design!

CLICK HERE
for the Desktop Fortress

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