The New Orleans Square Haunted Mansion Paper Model Kit
Design Process
The construction of this paper model of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion is based upon the dimensions of my 3D model, which I created in Newtek's Lightwave 8.0 . I translated the 3D shapes into 2D schematics (using Photoshop), which I then print on heavy-weight matte paper for construction. I create all of the art using Photoshop, and Illustrator.

NOTE: These models were created in the early 2000s. My processes, software and
skill-set have since progressed. :) ~ Ray

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January 2, 2006
The New Orleans Square Paper Model Comes to Life!
I've been extraordinarily busy with work lately, but the holidays gave me a small break to FINALLY begin the process of converting my 3D model of Disneyland's New Orleans Square Haunted Mansion, into the long awaited paper model kit!

The first thing I needed to do was to break down, and simplify the geometry of my 3D Lightwave model, in order to design the first paper prototypes.
Below you can see the rendered results. This is probably a very accurate representation of what my first plain paper prototypes will look like.

The next step will be to unweld all of the polygons, and position them flat on the ground, and determine how I want the objects to be cut, and folded.
This rendering does not include the verandah ironwork. Due to the intricacies of the ironwork, I might experiment with printing them on clear acetate. That way the openings in the lace work will be transparent, without having to deal with the tedium of cutting out a million little openings!

The next few weeks will be extraordinarily busy again, but I will try to continue working on it in my sparse, spare time.

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February 3 , 2006

I am in the process of "unfolding" my Lightwave 3d model of the New Orleans Square haunted mansion, into flattened elements which can be used as templates for the model kit.

At this point I can't tell what the level of difficulty will be. I believe that the construction will have the same level of difficulty as the Liberty Square model, but it will likely have many more construction steps. The New Orleans Square model has many more "floating" elements, such as the verandahs, porches, and ironwork, which will require more construction explanations than Liberty Square model required.
Have I mentioned how much I hate writing instruction manuals?!
This one will be a doozie!

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February 12 , 2006
New Orleans Square pre-proto
I am now preparing the rough versions of the mansion elements so they fit within an 8x10 inch area, and I am arranging the pieces to make best use of the space. I decided to put together the pieces which make up the first and second floors of the mansion.

It looks fine, but compared to my Liberty Square mansion model, the scale seems to o small. I want this model to be roughtly the same size and scale as my Liberty Square model.
I need to add the porch, third floor, roof, and cupola in order to get a better sense of the size. I was pretty sure that I already sized the model to be the same scale as Liberty Square. I will have to wait an see.

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February 13 , 2006
New Orleans Square pre-proto
Yep. The New Orleans mansion parts were not to scale! I don't know how that happened, but I am glad that I built that simple wall test (Feb 12)! It would have been very annoying to discover the size difference later in the process!
I am also glad that I made the graphic of the side-by-side mansions for the post made on Noverber 11. It showed me that the top of the second floor porch needed to be close to the height of the Liberty Square second floor windows.
The bad news is that now some of the New Orle ans mansion pieces no longer fit on an 8x10 inch area. It is not a major problem. It just means the model will need to be constructed with more pieces, and more printed sheets. I actually had the same problem while designing the Liberty Square Paper Model Kit.

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February 27, 2006
New Orleans Square Paper Model Prototype Update
After spending some time scaling, and arranging the model pieces to fit an 8x10 inch page, I have begun the process of designing the folding logistics. One of my first battles was designing the roof. As with the Liberty Square Haunted Mansion, the roof of New Orleans Square is rather complicated. It took 3 prototypes to get it almost right (it still needs some tweaks,
and a slot/tab system to make attaching it easier).


After making several very complicated attempts to create the core of the mansion, I think I have settled on a much simpler design. The exterior mansion walls have many angles which are not apparent at first glance, and the third floor has a completely different floor foot print than the first and second floors.


And here is the mansion core, topped with the roof. I have to admit that I have not been very excited by this project up to now (it took lots of very dull work to get it to this point), but seeing it now has definitely given me a nice boost! It is sitting on a shelf next to my completed Liberty Square paper Model, and it will be screaming at me to finish her!

Eve n though there are many more things to design, I HAVE to get the cupola on this NEXT!

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February 28, 2006
New Orleans Square Paper Model Cupola
The cupola didn't need any modifications! It came together without a hitch!
The porch needed to be split into two pieces because it didn't fit on a page as one piece, but it gave me the space to make each section a separate "box", instead of them being open bottomed shells, as I had originally planned. This makes the porch a much more robust, solid construction. This will be very important once I get to the matter of building the ironwork verandah, and the portico columns.
It might look a little sloppy right now, but that is because most of the elements are not glued into place yet, and look a little loose.

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March 1, 2006
The Portico
I jumped the gun again, but I really wanted to see the pieces for the front portico!
The columns require a lot of scoring, and tiny folds, and the pediment is a single folded piece, so it will be a challenge to the uninitiated, but the results look pretty g ood!

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March 2, 2006
The Porch
I am beginning to add the ironwork to the porch and verandah. I'm having a difficult time determining the fit of all of the pieces. This model is made from plain paper and its weakness is taking a toll. Once I get a few more elements in place, I will use what I have discovered to tweak the model, then I'll begin a new prototype made of heavyweight paper. For those of you unfamiliar with my process, this is the first of what will probably be 4 or 5 prototypes before I come up with a final design.

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March 3, 2006
Prototype #1 Complete!
Well, it is a bit wobbly, and skewed, but the first prototype of my New Orleans Square paper model is finished!
I discovered a few problems which I hope are minor.
The pillars were about 4 mm too short.
The third storey is about 1 cm too short, causing the pediments to
partially cover the third floor windows.
The verandah roof seems to have some conflicting angles.
But it sure looks like it is supposed too!



Here is a comparison between my Liberty Square model
and the New Orleans Square model.

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