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January 19, 2007

Scale ruler for pioneering models: 1 in 15 Kontiki edition


Kontiki, the annual raft-building competition in our province, is coming up in the beginning of March. The competition rules require a 1:15 scale model of the raft to be built. This is an unusual scale- the nearest metric scales are 1:10 and 1:20, while the nearest imperial scales are 1':1" (1:12) and 1.5':1" (1:18). I drew up a ruler (PDF, 642k) to help my Scouts build the model, and have made it available for anyone else who needs one. The ruler has metric (to 6.5 metres) and imperial (to 21 feet) measurements: although most things in South Africa are measured in the metric system, pioneering poles are typically available in 3 foot increments. The diamter and height of a 200 litre steel barrel, as well as the maximum structure height allowed by Gauteng Kontiki rules, are also marked.

The PDF file makes 2 rulers, and has full instructions for printing at the correct size.

Note: if you are interested in SketchUp: the lineweights were all generated in SketchUp, using the 'depth cue' edge mode, and switching the camera to parallel projection- three lineweights were established in the drawing, on seperate vertical levels. The nearest layer to the camera was used for the thickest lines, and the furthest for the finest lines. Here is a view of the model that shows how the lineweight 'layers' were set up:

Final page setup and layout was done in the new SketchUp Pro add-on package, LayOut.

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