Cardboard model of the Scott Monument, Edinburgh

Cardboard modeling or cardboard engineering is a form of modelling with

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...

card stock Card stock, also called cover stock and pasteboard, is paper that is thicker and more durable than normal writing and printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard. Card stock is often used for business cards, ...

paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 points) than paper and has certain superior attributes ...

, and

corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugate ...

. The term ''cardboard engineering'' is sometimes used to differentiate from

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

of making decorative cards. It is often referred to as ''

paper model Paper models, also called card models or papercraft, are models constructed mainly from sheets of heavy paper, paperboard, card stock, or foam. Details This may be considered a broad category that contains origami and card modeling. Origami ...

ling'' although in practice card is generally used.

History

Originally this was a form of modelling undertaken because of the low cost involved. Card, a means of

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

and

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

are all that is needed. Some models are 100% card, while others use items of other materials to reinforce the model. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

cardboard models were promoted by a number of model companies. One company, ERG (

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

) Ltd. produced a book "Cardboard Rolling Stock and How to Build It" and

Superquick Superquick Models are a series of printed card kit buildings used mainly for model railways. Manufacturing takes place entirely in the United Kingdom. There are several ranges of model kit - railway buildings in Series A; houses, farm buildings ...

are still well known for their range of printed and pre-cut kits. Books of printed

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

s to cut out and make have been around a long time. Also, specially printed cards were available from which models could be made. In the UK Micromodels were well known for very small card models. Models to cut out were also a feature of

folding

carton A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box. Types of cartons Folding carto ...

s. For many years breakfast cereal makers had models to cut out on their packets. The hobby has been revived through the use of IT-based printers, especially the ink-jet and laser colour printers, with the availability of inexpensive cutting plotters and laser engravers also reducing the time, effort, and tedium associated with cutting out the many parts. Using a

vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display ...

package, it is even possible for anyone to create their own models from scratch, though most use special software Pre-printed models may be downloaded from the internet. A web ring lists some of these while others offer a range of models from the simple to the complex.

References

Scale modeling Paper toys {{design-stub

History

See also

References