Issue 53 April 2026

Miniature Time Traveller 5 There are two main parts to the instructions. 1. Making the basic frame. 2. The finishing and the detail. You can make your shapes two diƯerent ways. First: photocopy the pattern and glue it onto your card. Cut carefully around it when the glue is dry. 1mm card can be cut with decent scissors. Cut out the two bases, the sides, the transom, the seats, and the triangle prow support. Using an old biro indent the fold lines carefully. Or if you have a Cricut or Brother card cutting machine, copy the pattern as a JPEG file that your machine will accept. Experienced miniaturists can also do the fold lines by machine. I would suggest you cut out the in the coloured card you would like the outside boat colour to be. You can always cut another set of sides, transom and seats in white paper and glue them to these pieces before assembly. Step one. Roll the sides around a bottle to make them more flexible. Bend over the tabs on the sides and glue them down around the edge of the base. Do one side at a time and keep pressing them with your fingers until the glue sets. Fig. 1. Step two. Where the two sides meet at the prow use the bow pattern piece of paper to make a nice sharp finish. Fig.2 Step three. Glue in the triangle prow support. When you glue the bow support in, make sure it is flush with the top of the sides. See fig. 3 Step four: Once the transom is cut out, score the fold lines and fold in the tabs. Glue this to the end of your boat, inside the sides. When this is dry glue the other bottom of the boat on top of this, hiding the tabs. See Fig. 5 before gluing on the other bottom to cover the tabs. Step five: Next comes the seating. The back seat is more complicated because it is adding strength to the back of the boat. Cut out and score all the lines. Bend the tabs inward. How to glue up the seat. First put glue on the outside of the bottom tab and attach it to the seat front. Sides: Fold in angled tags and put a blob of glue on these and attach the seat top (a) to them.. When this is dry, glue into the boat with the back flush with the transom. You will notice on the prototype in Fig.6 that the seat has been marked to be not so deep. The pattern piece will give you a better balanced seat. The middle seat is simple. Fold back the tabs and glue against the sides of the boat around the middle position. This prow support is an excellent way to keep all your glued on planks neatly abutting at the front. In the end it looks very smart. Fig. 1. Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig.1