Fig. 342.—Wing (N in Street Scene).
Figure 339 shows a simple setting for
A Street Scene.—The background will be made similar to Fig. 340, and the wings N and O as shown in Figs. 341 and 342, while drop H and wing K are the same as used for the other scenes (see Figs. 332 and 335). Wing O, the house upon the right of the stage, will be made in one piece, with window openings cut in it and covered with tissue-paper ruled to represent the window-sash (see Fig. 341). Show the trim around the openings and also the siding upon the building. Then fasten the back of the wing to a standard such as used for the trees (see Fig. 336). Wing N, or building upon the left of the stage, will require a number of pieces of cardboard to show its perspective correctly. Make the front of the building as shown in Fig. 342. Then fasten a piece of cardboard to edge A for the side, three pieces at_B, C, and D for the roof, and a strip across the front at E for the porch roof. The pieces can be fastened together best with strips of linen glued to their inside surfaces. The porch roof will be supported upon four posts made out of strips of cardboard as shown in Fig. 339. This building will be the village post-office, grocery, and hardware store combined, and should have a number of signs to this effect painted upon the front.
Fig. 343.—A Simple Interior Scene.
Fig. 344.—Pattern for Walls of Interior Scene.
To the several outdoor scenes already described, you should add a setting of
An Interior, as you will probably have occasion to use one in any play you produce in your miniature theatre. Figure 343 shows a simple interior, the size of which will, of course, depend upon that of the stage. However, it should not be very deep. Figure 344 shows the pattern by which to cut the five pieces of cardboard, of which the walls are made. The edges of these pieces should be glued together with strips of linen. Cut the door openings at F, G, and H, two window openings at I and J, and slots in the tops of B and D at K, L, M, N, O, and P, as shown in the drawing. Make the doors out of pieces of cardboard, hinging them to the openings with linen strips, and draw the window-sash and their divisions upon tissue-paper and paste them over the openings I and J. Oil the paper if it is not very transparent, so the audience can see the villain when he passes by the windows. Make a wainscoting around the walls to the height of the window-sills, ruling the boards with a lead pencil, and draw a line across wall C a little below the bottom of slots M and N in walls B and D, as shown. If you have used white cardboard for the walls, and not injured its calendered surface when cutting the openings, it will have a good plaster appearance. Otherwise, cover the cardboard with white or tinted paper. Paint the wainscoting and the door and window trimmings brown. To set up the room, bend the walls into the shape shown in Fig. 343. Then cut three strips of cardboard several inches longer than the width of the room and slip them into the slots you have cut in the tops of the walls B and D (see Q, R, and S, Fig. 343). T is a drop like S, but is suspended in front from the gridiron. These strips form the ceiling of the room, and generally have beams or mouldings painted across their bottom edges, but it will simplify matters to leave them plain, as shown in the illustration. The line which you have drawn across the rear wall corresponds with these strips. Cut a number of illustrations from a magazine for pictures, and either hang them upon the walls or paste them to the cardboard. Doll furnishings can be used to complete the scene.
There are a great variety of subjects upon which a boy can base his plays, but what probably will make the most interesting programme and one of the simplest to prepare is
A War Drama.—In this you can picture a number of battles after the descriptions you have read in your history, or dramatize one of your favorite war stories, bringing its young heroes before the footlights. This class of plays will give you an opportunity to use
Paper Soldiers for actors. Probably you have a supply of these, but if not, you can get them at any toy store. They come upon printed sheets ready to be cut out, and as they cost only a penny a sheet it pays to buy rather than make them.
Cavalry and infantry of about every nationality, Indians in various positions upon horseback and on foot, and a large assortment of American soldiers in marching order and fighting array are now to be found in these sheets. For
Marching Soldiers across the stage, tack their feet to a lath as shown in Fig. 345, and then slide the lath across the stage, at the same time pushing out one of the laths forming the floor. The moving of the laths scarcely will be noticeable from the position of your audience.
Fig. 345.—Scheme for Marching Soldiers.
Separate Standards for soldiers you wish to set about the stage should have small strips of cardboard glued to their backs and bent out in the same manner as easel-backs are made. At least four or five of the soldiers should be jointed so they can walk about the stage and appear perhaps a little more graceful in their actions than their stiff-jointed comrades who are fastened to laths. Figure 346 shows
A Jointed Figure made out of a paper soldier. Suppose you have a soldier in some such position as shown in Fig. 347. First cut off the legs along the dotted lines shown in the illustration, each leg in two pieces (see A, B, C, and D, Figs. 347 and 348). Remove also the hand projecting beyond the body at E. A small piece of cardboard of the same thickness as that upon which the soldiers are printed should be glued to the back of C and D where those pieces were cut into in cutting off the legs (see F, G, and H, Fig. 348). When this has been done, pivot A and B to C and D at F and G, and then pivot the ends of C and D at H and I to the hips of the soldier (see Fig. 346). Thread should be used for pivoting these pieces together, with knots tied on either end. New arms will have to be made, as those printed upon the body cannot be cut out. These are made in two pieces similar to J and K in Fig. 348. You will find it a simple thing to make them and paint the hands flesh color and the sleeves to match the rest of the clothes. Pivot J to K at L and the end of K to the shoulder at M. The arm printed upon the side of the figure should now be painted so as to blend with the color of the coat. The white cardboard glued to the joints should also be painted to correspond with the rest of the body. You will find this method of making a jointed soldier much easier than to attempt to draw, paint, and cut out one of your own design. Figures in other positions can, of course, be jointed in the same manner.
Figs. 346-348. Scheme for making a Jointed Figure.
The movements of a jointed figure are controlled with pieces of silk-thread attached to the hands, feet, and head, as shown in Fig. 346. These threads should be carried through the top of the stage framework and loops made in their ends should slip over the fingers of your hands, in which position they can be operated. It will take a little practice beforehand to enable you to work the threads successfully, so you will not be responsible for such laughable performances as making him dance while delivering a farewell address, or leave the scene through the top of the stage during an exciting portion of the play.
In an interior scene, such as Fig. 343, the jointed figures will have to make their entrées and exits through the passages between the front walls and the proscenium, as the operating cords would interfere with them going through the other openings. The figures which pass through the doors will have to be tacked to the floor laths and shoved across the stage.
All the small movable furnishings of a scene are known as
Stage Properties.—These include such pieces as furniture, boats, carts, and trains.
Figs. 349-350.
A Tent.
Tents will be necessary properties for an encampment scene. These should be cut out of white paper the pattern of Fig. 349, then folded along the dotted lines, and edge B pasted over the flap A. The front flaps will be left open. Figure 350 shows the tent set up.
An Indian Teepee will also be required for Indian warfare. Follow the pattern shown in Fig. 351, marking it off as though it were made up of a number of skins, and place a few figures of decoration upon it. Then cut three or four short sticks and, after crossing their ends as shown in Fig. 352, fasten the paper covering over them, bending flap A along the dotted line, and pasting B over it.
Figs. 351-352.
A Teepee.
The field scene (Fig. 330) and the blockhouse scene (Fig. 338) will be used for the settings of your battle-fields. For your miniature sea-fights, the mid-ocean scene will be used.
Battleships should be made out of cardboard as shown in Fig. 353, with the masts reënforced at the back with strips of wood, and the rigging made with heavy thread. It will be well to have a number of pictures from which to work in drawing and painting the various ships of your fleet. The hull of each ship should be curved as shown in the illustration, and mounted upon a cardboard rocker. Make a number of slashes along the curved edge of the hull, and bend out the little flaps alternately, first to one side and then to the other (see A in drawing), after which glue them to the rocker. Attach a cord at B, with which to pull the ship across the stage, and another cord at C, with which to guide the stern. The hull will, of course, run between the strips of waves, so as to be half concealed by them. A person cannot imagine how realistic these little battleships appear when tossing about upon the toy waves, without having seen them in operation.
Fig. 353.—A Battleship.
Trains and Wagons can be cut out of cardboard and moved across the stage by means of laths to which they have been attached in the same manner as the paper soldiers shown in Fig. 345. Toy wagons, carriages, and an automobile such as described in Chapter XXVI, may also be used in some scenes.
Rain, wind, thunder, and such stage sounds, a moon or sun-rise, and lightning, as produced on the stage, are known as
Mechanical Effects.—Most of these can easily be adapted to your theatre, though the apparatus need not be as elaborate as that used by professionals.
Thunder can be produced by means of a large piece of heavy cardboard held by one corner, as shown in the chapter heading, and vibrated back and forth. The beating of
Rain upon the outside of a house is imitated with a small quantity of dried peas or beans dropped upon the head of a drum or into a cardboard box. Every time the door is opened during such a storm, the audience should hear the whistling of the
Wind, which is imitated by a few low drawn-out whistles. The stage must, of course, be dark for producing
Lightning, in order to get the best effects. The flashes can be made by igniting a small amount of flash-light powder, placed in a tin can cover.
The Roar of Cannon and firing of smaller guns can be imitated to good effect upon a drum.
Fig. 354.
It is often thought that a toy railway is beyond a boy's ingenuity to construct, whereas, in reality, it is one of the simplest toys he can make. This applies to the tracks, stations, and cars of every description, all of which can be made with a few strips of wood, some spools, nails, cardboard, and a bottle of glue, for materials. If you have passed the age of caring for such toys as this, you will, no doubt, enjoy the making of one for your younger brother, or for one of your boy relatives.
Fig. 355.—The Toy Railway in Operation.
Figure 355 shows a railway set up and in running order. As shown in the illustration,
Fig. 356.—Support for Trolley-line.
The Trolley-line, or overhead cable, runs around the wheels of two supports, one at either end of the track. Prepare four pieces of wood the shape and size of that shown in Fig. 354 for the uprights of these supports, and make two wheels three inches in diameter. The wheels may be marked out with a piece of string and pencil as shown in Fig. 201, Chapter XV, if you haven't a compass. When the wheels have been cut out, place them in your bench-vise, one at a time, and with a rasp make a groove around the edge as shown at C, Fig. 356. Bore a three-eighths inch hole through each upright at F, Fig. 354, and another through the centre of each wheel. Now fasten two of the uprights six inches apart upon a block of wood, as shown at A and B, Fig. 356. Whittle a shaft to fit loosely in the holes of the uprights, and, after slipping it into them, fasten one of the wheels upon one end and a small spool upon the other (see C and D in Fig. 356). A weight of some sort should be fastened to the base, as shown at E. The uprights for the other support should be similarly mounted upon another block of wood. Fasten the remaining wheel to an axle run through the holes in the uprights, and, as it is unnecessary to have a spool upon the other end of the axle, cut it off short and drive a nail through it to prevent it from slipping through the holes. Having thus prepared the supports, place them as far apart as you wish to extend the railway, and run a cord around the two wheels and tie it. Then set the supports a little farther apart, if necessary, to tighten the cord. Run another cord from spool D to
A Water-motor, steam engine, or whatever power you can get with which to operate the railway. A bicycle inverted with the tire removed from its rear wheel has been used satisfactorily, as has also a sewing-machine with the belt slipped off and the cord from the spool put in its place.
A good substitute for the tin tracks ordinarily sold in shops for toy railways will be found in those shown in Fig. 357. These
Fig. 357.—The Tracks.
Tracks consist of quarter-inch strips mounted upon pieces of cardboard. Make a small gimlet-hole in one end of each stick, and drive a short finishing nail in the opposite end (see Fig. 357). Cut the cardboard strips the length of the sticks, and tack them to the sticks as shown in the illustration. If inch and one-half spools are used for the car wheels, the inside gauge of the tracks should be an inch and three-quarters. By lapping the cardboard strips over the ends of the sticks, and the sticks over the ends of the cardboard strips, and placing the nail dowels in the ends of the sticks as in the drawing, a strong track is formed when the pieces are fitted together. This may be extended to any desired length by adding more sections to it.
Fig. 358.—A Top View of Car Truck.
Fig. 359.—Spool Wheels.
The Cars for this railway will have their trucks constructed alike, and it is a simple matter to transform a car from one style into another. Figure 358 shows a top view of a truck. For the bed of this cut a three-eighths-inch board twelve inches long by two and one-quarter inches wide, and, after rounding the ends as shown in the drawing, cut a mortise at A and B two and three-eighths inches from either end. Procure two one and one-half inch spools for wheels, and drive a wooden peg through the hole in each, cutting off the ends so they project a little beyond the hole, as shown in Fig. 359. Then bore four holes in the edges of the truck-bed with a gimlet at C, D, E, and F (see drawing), and, after setting the spools in mortises A and B, pivot them in place with small finishing nails driven into the wooden pegs. These nails should fit loosely in the gimlet holes. In order to drive them into the exact centres of the spools, it is best to locate these points upon the ends of the pegs before placing the spools in the frame. A quarter-inch hole should be bored in the top of the truck-bed at G and H (Fig. 358) in which to fasten the two uprights I and J (see Fig. 360). Make the uprights four inches long and whittle a peg upon the lower ends to fit holes G and H (see Fig. 361). Bore a hole with a gimlet in the top of each and run a piece of heavy wire from one to the other, bending it as shown in Fig. 360. Fasten K between I and J, as shown. Place a small brass ring upon the wire before you fasten it in place. A small hook should be screwed into one end of the truck and a screw-eye into the other end for couplings, should you wish to hitch two or more cars together.
Figs. 360-361.
A Gondola Car, such as shown in Fig. 362, should have its truck made similar to Fig. 358, with the exception that it should be two inches shorter, in order that cigar-box strips can be used for the side-pieces. Cut the strips an inch and one-half high and fasten them to the bed of the car with brads. This car may be used as a trailer.
Fig. 362.—A Gondola Car.
The car shown in Fig. 360 is a rather crude affair, but with a little more work may be transformed into a better-looking car—
Figs. 363-364.
A Street Car such as is shown in Figs. 363 and 364 being an example of what can be made. The sides, ends, and roof of this car are made of cardboard, the patterns for the cutting of which are shown on page 339. Figure 365 shows a cross section taken through the centre of the car. The two side-pieces A should be first prepared as shown in Fig. 366. With a ruler and lead-pencil draw in the windows about as shown in the drawing, using double lines to indicate the sash. Then, with a sharp knife, cut out the centre of each just inside of the inner line. These windows may be left open or may be covered on the inside with tissue-paper. If tissue-paper is used oil it to make it more transparent. When the two sides have been prepared, bend each along the dotted lines (see Fig. 366) and tack one to each side of your car truck as shown in Fig. 365. When properly bent, the distance between the upper part of the sides should be two and three-quarters inches. Cut the two inner ends of the car the shape of Fig. 367, using a compass with a radius of two and one-half inches with which to describe the curve at the top. Draw in the panels and sash lines as you did those upon the side-pieces, being careful to get them on the same level, and cut out the door and window openings. Fasten these end-pieces between the sides with glue, and also tack them to the uprights of the car (I and J, Fig. 360), which will come just inside of them. The roof is made in two sections (B and C, Fig. 365). For B cut a piece of cardboard twelve and one-quarter by three and three-quarter inches (Fig. 368), draw the curved end with a compass, using the radius shown on the drawing, and slit the corners as indicated by the dotted lines. When this piece has thus been prepared, remove the wire from the top of the truck (see Fig. 360). Bend the cardboard over the sides and ends of the car, and lap corners D and E over F and G, and H and I over J and K, tacking them with thread to hold them in place. To fasten this part of the roof to the top of the car, cut a number of small strips of linen, and glue them to the under side of the roof and to the inside face of the sides and ends of the car (see Fig. 365). The upper portion of the roof C should be made out of a piece of cardboard bent into the shape of Fig. 369 and cut at the ends so the upper portion of C projects a little beyond its sides. Draw the ventilation lights upon the sides of C as shown on the drawings, and then fasten the piece upon the top of B with strips of linen in the same manner as you fastened B in place. C should now have the same curve to its top as B. Cut and glue a piece of cardboard in each end of C to complete the roof. The shape of this piece is shown in Fig. 370. The outer ends of the car should be made as shown in Fig. 371 and tacked around the ends of the wooden truck platform, and also fastened to the under side of the roof with strips of linen. The window openings may be cut in the ends, but it will make a stronger car if they are simply drawn upon it. Cut four cardboard steps similar to Fig. 372 and tack them to the sides of the front and rear platforms. When the car has been put together, replace the wire in the tops of uprights I and J (Fig. 360), running the ends through the roof (see Fig. 363). Paint the sides and ends of the car yellow with brown trimmings, and paint the roof a light gray. Water colors can be used for the purpose. Letter the name of your car-line upon the sides and the number of the car upon each end and side. The route should be lettered upon strips of cardboard with pins run through them as shown in Fig. 373, these strips to stick in the roof of the car (see Figs. 363 and 364).
Having seen how the car is made, you will find it a simple matter to make designs for
Figs. 365-373.—Details of Toy Street Car.
Other Cars, using the same scheme for the trucks, and altering the patterns for the sides, ends, and roof, to suit the design.
Nothing has, as yet, been said about the
Operation of the Railway, and though Fig. 355 probably shows sufficiently clearly how it is run, a few words may be helpful. The car or cars are placed between the wooden tracks, and the trolley (or cord attached to the ring on top of the car) is tied to the trolley-line as in the illustration. Upon starting your engine, water-motor, or whatever motive-power you have, the car will run from one end of the track to the other. When it has reached the support of the trolley-line, it will stop long enough for the cord trolley to pass around the wooden wheel, and then run in the opposite direction until the other support is reached. It will thus be seen that the trolley hangs to the upper part of the cable, or trolley-line, in running one way, and to the lower part on the return run. In changing the direction of the run, the ring to which the trolley is attached slides to the other end of the car.
Fig. 374.—The Railway Depot.
A Station such as is illustrated in Fig. 374 is made out of cardboard and mounted upon a seven-eighths-inch board large enough to form a railway platform. After cutting out the side-and end-pieces, with door and window openings placed as shown in the illustration, fasten them together with strips of linen glued in the corners. Make the roof low and extend it over the platform upon each side and over the gable-ends, as shown in the illustration. Paint the sides of the depot the regulation depot red, and the roof a shingle or slate color. Paint the door and window-sash black, letter the name of the station upon the gable-ends, and with a ruler and lead-pencil rule off the boards upon the sides, and the slate or shingles upon the roof. As this is a typical railway station, two may be made of the same pattern, one for either end of your car line.
It is generally easy for a boy to get hold of a set of old clockworks, for a discarded clock of some sort is almost certain to be found in the household storeroom. If the main-spring is intact, it is highly probable that a little tinkering and cleaning will be sufficient to put the mechanism in working order, at least so that it can be used for running small engines, automobiles, and other mechanical toys that most interest boys.
Fig. 377.—Top View of Wooden Frame.
Before taking a set of works apart, it is well to examine it carefully and note the positions of the various springs and wheels, so it will be possible to put them together again properly should you wish to do so. Without taking notice of this, you are likely to have a handful of wheels as a result, with which you can do nothing except perhaps convert them into tops.
Fig. 375. The Car Completed.
Fig. 376. The Framework.
The adaption of a set of works to
An Automobile Touring-car is shown in Figs. 375 and 376, the former showing the little machine completed and the latter its frame with the clockworks fastened in place. The same scheme as that used for the cars of the toy railway described in the preceding chapter will be followed in making
The Frame of the automobile, as that is about the simplest way, and makes a light, easy-running vehicle. The bed will be cut of a different pattern, however, as will be seen in Fig. 377. Lay out the piece to the dimensions shown upon this drawing, and then cut it out, making a mortise in each end for the wheels to fit in. The spool wheels should be mounted in the same manner as those of the railway cars, for which see Fig. 359, Chapter XXV, and the directions upon page 335. One end of spool A should be pivoted with a longer finishing nail than those used for the other pivots, so that when driven in place about half an inch will project beyond the frame. A small silk spool should be fastened upon this for a belt-wheel (see B, Fig. 377). The hole in one of these spools is about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, so, in order to make it fit tightly upon the nail, it is necessary to fill in around the nail with sealing-wax. To do this, turn the wooden frame upon its edge and place the spool over the nail, being careful to get the nail in the exact centre of the hole. Then hold a stick of sealing-wax over the spool, and with a lighted match melt the end and allow it to drip into the hole. When the hole has been partially filled, allow the wax to harden a little, and then press it down around the nail with the end of a match, being careful not to throw the spool out of centre by doing so. The hole should then be filled to the top.
We are now ready to prepare the clockworks for mounting upon the wooden frame. The works shown in Fig. 376 are from an alarm clock, but if you have a striking clock, or one with works a little different from those shown in the illustration, it does not make a bit of difference in the scheme for attaching the works. The three parts shown in the foreground of Fig. 376 must first be removed from the works. These will be recognized readily in any clock, as they are pivoted close together, and regulate the speed of the other wheels. When they have been removed, the main-spring will unwind rapidly. The frame of the works shown in the illustration is held together with nuts, so that in removing the wheels it was necessary to unscrew two of them, spring the frame open enough to let the wheels drop out, and then replace the nuts again in their former positions. If the frame of your clockworks is riveted together, the wheels will have to be broken out. A small silk spool, such as B (Fig. 377), should be fastened upon the small pivot which originally operated the clock's hands, for a belt-wheel. Lay the works upon a table with the face-side down, and, after centring the hole of the spool upon the pivot, fasten it in place with sealing-wax in the same manner as you attached spool B.
The works should now be attached to the wooden frame. Place them with the striker uppermost, near the edge of the frame, so that the small belt-wheels are in line with one another. Then bore a number of gimlet holes in the wooden frame and run copper wire through them, passing it around the posts of the clock-frame and twisting its ends until the works are firmly fastened in place.
A rubber band about an eighth of an inch wide and long enough to reach from one belt-wheel to the other should be procured for
The Belt.—This should stretch just enough to cling upon the spools, as more than that would cause too much friction.
Figs. 378-385.—Patterns for the Automobile Touring-car.
Before going any further with the construction of the automobile
Fig. 386.
Test the Machine, to be sure that it is in perfect running order. Wind up the main-spring, pressing a finger against one of the wheels to hold it in check until you are ready to start the machine. When properly made, the clockwork automobile should run a distance of from twenty to twenty-five feet upon a wooden floor, while about three-quarters of that distance should be covered upon a floor with a fairly smooth carpet.
The Cardboard Sides and other details of the automobile should now be made. The pattern for these have been so shown in Figs. 378-385 that they can easily be laid out to the proper shape and size by means of the process of enlarging by squares described on page 110, Chapter VIII. White cardboard should be used upon which to draw these pieces, and the thinner it is the easier you will find it to work with.