Amun-Re Egyptian Temple Model

Hi all,



I discovered a very nice little architecture model that I had in one of my drives;



It is a straightforward yet very effective model design of an ancient Egyptian temple, dedicated to the sun god Horus (Amon-Ra/ Amun-Re). The designer, the well-known Thomas Pleiner of Germany, drew this model by hand back in 1986 for the Schreiber-Bogen publisher, stating in a forum that is loosely resembles a similar temple to the Moon god Chons at Thebes (Karnak) along the Nile valley, and that the design of the entrance also resembles a Horus temple at Idfu (Edfu). Based on these, this is, however, a free interpretation by the designer.



If you happen to be versed in the German tounge, here is a link to Thomas' own build thread (from 2006) at Archiv Kartonmodellbau-Online (with models and threads from the previous Kartonmodell-Forum.de), where he also shows some lovely, and rather amusing photos (check out the little construction 'helpers'): Horus-Tempel (Schreiber-Bogen) - ARCHITEKTUR - Kartonmodellbau-Online ? Archiv für den Kartonmodellbau ? www.papermodels.de



Having found this little gem again, I printed it out on thin copy paper in my laser printer (A4 size) and started cutting out the parts. I soon realized that I needed a solid base for the model - so, I first reinforced the bottom plate to a heavy cardstock, then I made a larger one, with rounded edges, from thick gray card, which I painted sand brown with lasur paint. This is the result (the black spot is where I will make a '3-D' entrance door to the inner temple):







I then started to score all the parts (backside-scoring mostly, with a thin needle, to avoid breaking the fibres on the printed side) and folded them according to the instructions. Here they are laid out over the base plate:







A simple 'dry-fitting' of the parts shows the approximate look of the finished Amun-Re temple model:







The next step will be to make sides for the door-post to the inner temple. I think I will use the drawings (printed in the same light-brown color) in the instructions for this, I think the material might suffice in length. I want to make the door slightly 'sunken in' or retracted just a little bit into the front wall, which requires approximately 4mm of material on four sides (or at least three, I can use gray or black in the upper part).



I will then also reinforce the longer, bigger parts with light card stock, to make them perfectly flat, as this paper is very light (only 80 grams) so it needs a backing. Thanks to the thin paper, however, the folds and joints will be very small, and so not much edge painting will be needed, just a little here and there with a very thin brush of water color.



I will then make some web research to find out whether any other form of decoration might have been used above the entrance, perhaps long straws of Papyrus? (as small flag poles) or the like.



I'll post some more photos as I have started glueing the whole thing together. Until then -



all the best from Stockholm,

Bengt :rolleyes:



PS.

Here are a couple of links to the model, which is a FREE download these days, the first is to our 'old' sister forum Zealot/ Cardmodelers.net:

Egyptian temple - free download | Zealot

A bit down this page, you'll find "Ägypthischer Tempel des Amun Re": download-mitgliedermodelle