N Scale Commercial Architecture Paper Models

The Japanese website, "Paper Stucture", offers some nice free samples of their N Scale (1:150) paper model products. Pictured above is an office building, a clothing store and a jeans store. Other free samples available include shipping containers, vending machines, and a monorail. Click on the links underneath the photos here to download the PDF templates.

Greek Island Church Paper Model

Pepachal has added to their collection of paper models of ruined churches. First in the series was an Irish stone church, followed by an English brick church, and now we have a whitewashed Greek church. I did some research and it appears that this model is based on a cemetery church near the village of Apiranthos on the island of Naxos. Pepachal's main page has links to templates for each of the churches mentioned above.

Roman Watchtower Paper Models

These paper model towers are recreations of what military watchtowers may have looked like in different regions of the Roman empire. The distinctive style of each tower is based on research into archaeological evidence by the creator of the models, Hans-Dieter Richter. The four watchtowers shown are a sampling of the eight different towers available. Template downloads can be found on Richter's web pages here and here. Bonus papercraft models to accompany the watchtowers include palisade walls and a small horse drawn wagon.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe Paper Models

The "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" is a pretend kingdom that appears in the children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Most of the inhabitants of the kingdom are hand puppets voiced by the show's host, Fred Rogers. When Texas musician Francis McGrath had trouble finding a papercraft version of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, he decided to create one himself. Shown in the lower portion of the photo above is the result of his efforts. Templates for each of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe buildings (plus a template for the familiar red trolley) are located at McGrath's web page here.

High Elf Tower Papercraft

Here is another great papercraft from the world of miniature gaming: a High Elf tower. There are several nice things about this tower model. First, the roof is removable. Next, it is constructed so that the interior has as much color and detail as the outside of the tower. Finally, the window shutters can actually be opened and closed. A free download of the template for the tower is offered by One Monk Miniatures here. There are also some nice 2.5D Elven Alliance military figure flats on the same page.

Pixar Papercraft: Carl's House Miniature

This miniature papercraft of Carl's house from the 2009 Disney Pixar movie Up is not your usual paper model. First, it is built with three different weights of cardboard and paper. Second, it is hand painted instead of making use of a computer printer for color. If you feel adventurous enough to attempt building one of these yourself, the creator of the house, Michal Miszta, has graciously provided a copy of his template here.

Vienna Water Tower Paper Model

This paper model of a Victorian Era water tower in Vienna, Austria is uncommon for an architecture papercraft in that its template is hand drawn. The ornate brick tower, located in the Favoriten District of Vienna, was finished in 1899. The building was closed in 1956, but a late 80's renovation gave the tower new life as a museum and cultural venue. The details of the paper model are somewhat simplified when compared with the actual building, but the finished papercraft still has a nice look. The four page template for the "Wasserturm Favoriten" can be found at the bottom of the page here.

D&D Egyptian Obelisk Paper Models

Sersa V over at the "SaveVersusDeath" Dungeons and Dragons blog created these Egyptian obelisk paper models for use as props with D&D miniature gaming figures. Officially titled "Obelisks of the Sun Kingdom", these monuments are easy one piece builds. I don't play Dungeons and Dragons so the best I could do for characters in the photo was to throw in some of my D&D version Heroscape figures. The template for the obelisks may be downloaded here.

Fictional Castle and Cathedral Paper Models

This papercraft castle and cathedral by French papercrafter Jonathan were created with children in mind. Both buildings are fictional creations, however each is designed to an approximate scale. The castle is 1:100 scale while the cathedral is 1:200 scale. Jonathan suggests building these with your kids on long winter days when they are unable to play outside. Both templates are available here.

Red Brick English Church Paper Model

Here's another great architecture papercraft from Pepachal. The text with this paper building describes it as being a "creepy" church in rural Yorkshire, England, but I am guessing that the building is fictional. The deeply recessed windows and the use of photorealistic textures on this paper model give it a nice solid feel. The template with instructions in PDF format are available here, just click on the blue links. Previously, Pepachal had created an Irish stone chapel which may be found here.

Modular Miniature Gaming Castle Papercraft

This castle is a fan modification of a 3D papercraft creation by Fat Dragon Games, a company that produces finely detailed paper buildings and props for miniature games such as Heroclix. The castle is built from modular papercraft units that are stacked on top of each other. The octagonal tower parts come in a free multi-layered, customizable PDF file. The remaining rectangular parts of the castle are available for purchase from Fat Dragon. To download the octagonal tower PDF go here and click on the link labeled "Afet's Tower".

Architecture Papercraft: 48 German Village Buildings

These three papercraft buildings are but a sampling of forty eight different free printable models offered online by a primary school located in the German state of Saxony. The school uses these models during the holiday season to create a miniature Christmas village. Each of the models is of a building that actually existed (or perhaps currently exists) in the town where the school is located. According to the school's website the scale of these model buildings are appropriate for use with N and Z scale model railroads. The papercraft templates may be downloaded here.

Japanese Torii Papercraft

This papercraft torii was created for use as a prop in samurai related miniature gaming, but I think it is a nice model in and of itself. A torii is a symbolic gateway that indicates the division between sacred and profane space. In Japan, torii similar to this one are typically seen at the entrances of both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. This papercraft was created in 2004 by Paul Lesack. A download of the template for the torii can be found near the bottom of the page here.

Christmas Cottage Papercraft

Ah, it's the time of the year for Christmas papercraft. This quaint little snow covered cottage is the work of designer Joshua Humphreys. I think he did a pretty good job on the textures. Since there are no instructions, building this becomes more of a Christmas cottage puzzle, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. ^^ The template for the cottage is located on Humphreys' deviantART page here.

Architecture Papercraft: Cape Cod Art Studio

Illustrator Bob Staake designed an art studio building for himself which he then had built near his 200 year old house in Chatham, Massachusetts. The Cape Cod Style studio features a cupola on top that acts as a skylight to provide natural light to the workspace inside. This papercraft model of the art studio was done by Mr. Staake himself.  It is quite small as you can see by the nickel placed next to the model for reference. A copy of the one page, three piece template may be downloaded here.

Lincoln Bicentennial Architecture Paper Models

In honor of the 2009 Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has released five HO (1:87) scale paper models of historic Illinois buildings associated with Abraham Lincoln. Five more buildings in the series are expected to be released before the end of the year. In addition to the Lincoln Bicentennial series there are also ten "Main Street" papercraft buildings available for download, eight of which are Victorian style architecture, with the remaining two building being Art Deco and Prairie Style. The templates for all the architectural models are free and may be downloaded here.

Old West Saloon Papercraft

I enjoy nicely detailed architecture papercraft. I am not sure why I don't post more of it, especially since I am an architect by trade. I will have to do better in the future.^^ This papercraft saloon is a free sample from Whitewash City which produces scale model building templates for use in Old West tabletop RPG games. All the models at Whitewash City were designed by Eric Hotz and are 30mm scale (also known as "S scale" or 1:64 scale). The PDF template for the saloon may be downloaded here.

Antique Papercraft - 1934 Eiffel Tower

Here is a simple yet elegant papercraft of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is 8 inches (20 cm) tall and has only four parts. According to Agence Eureka, the blog where this papercraft can be found, this particular template was produced in 1934. The French instructions included with the template say to paste the parts on "strong, but flexible" paper implying that it was originally distributed on thinner paper, possibly in a book or magazine. Thankfully today, with the invention of the computer and printer, we can skip the pasting step and print a scan of the template directly onto heavy paper. A copy of the template for the tower can be found here.