The purpose of good assembly instructions is to help the assembler (you) construct the project easily and safely with the least amount of headaches. Considering that The American Miniature Theater is made of cardboard... and you are not going to be using any power tools... this should be fairly easy to do. Just follow the Four Rules & Three Building Tips and everything will work out all right.
Rule #1
Read & Follow The Instructions
My father never read the directions when he assembled my Christmas toys. As a result, I had a toy garage that resembled a Picasso sculpture and a bicycle whose handlebars kept falling off.
Some writers of instructions assume you know as much about the project as they do. As a result, they either skip over important information, presuming that you know it already (and you don't) or they drown you in techno-babble that only an expert can decipher. In my opinion. they haven't written helpful instructions. They've created wastepaper.
I promise to try to make these instructions as easy as possible. There are a couple of tricky areas but I'll go slow. I will provide a check list so you will not miss any steps.
Rule #2
Take Your Time
I cannot assemble The American Miniature Theater in one sitting and I created it.
There are a number of reasons why this project cannot be rushed. First of all, you are going to be working with X-Acto knives and/or single edged razor blades for some of the small work. Yes, you could slip and cut part of the miniature theater wrong. You could also slip and slice open your fingers. Trust me. No miniature theater looks good splattered with bloodstains. Gluing takes time... basically because glue takes time to dry. If you should try to attach one piece to another while a third's glue is still wet. the whole thing could fall apart. Let the glue completely dry before going onto the next step in that section.
Finally, don't panic. Just work on it a little at a time. Some folks stress out too quickly. They get nervous and/or tense while working on delicate things so that, after a while, their fingers knot up and don't want to work right. Put it aside and come back to it later. Who cares if this takes you two days or two weeks (or more) to complete? This project should be a labor of love, not slavery. Don't drive yourself nuts over it. It's just a miniature theater.
My tip for building The American Miniature Theater? Do it while watching television. Enjoy your show and then piddle with the theater during the commercials. This also works while watching movies on your VCR. Just hit the pause button whenever you want.
Rule #3
Don't Get Ahead of Yourself
Some people rush ahead, cutting out all the pieces at once. Don't do that! Do not cut out anything from its plate until you require it. That way, you'll have less of a chance of losing pieces.
Rule #4
If All Else Fails, Reprint
You completely trash one of the pieces you are working on. No problem. Just print out a fresh plate and start over.
Building Tip #1
Layer by Layer
Why follow these annoying directions to the letter? Because we are going to be doing layering for greater stability.
Some pieces of The American Miniature Theater are highly detailed while others are virtually blank. Most of those empty ones will be used for support. The concept is simple. Two pieces glued together is much sturdier than a single piece of flimsy card stock. The Proscenium is going to be three layers sandwiched together. Think of it as creating your own plywood.
Because of this layering, if you miss a step, you cannot go back and undo something. You cannot disassemble glued parts without tearing them to shreds. Whatever you do, do not rush this project.
Building Tip #2
Cut Twice
When cutting out the pieces with scissors, cut the space between the pieces then go back and cut on the lines. Yes, this takes longer but it helps keep the finished pieces flatter because the narrow bits you trim off are what becomes curly.
Building Tip #3
Sticky Fingers
Elmer's White Glue has a nasty tendency to stick invisibly to one's fingertips only later to adhere to the surface of your paper projects, leaving behind dirty fingerprints that you cannot remove. When you see this (*Wash Hands*), clean your hands before proceeding. You will think you are a surgeon preparing for an operation by the time we are through but, having constructed four of these theaters myself, I know how angry I get when I leave a big old nasty thumbprint behind.
I will assume you are starting this project with clean hands.
In Summary
You are going to be:
Printing sheets of cardboard.
Cutting out pieces of cardboard.
Folding cardboard.
Gluing cardboard together.
Do not try to make this project
more complicated than it is.
Because it isn't.
Please read all of this data.
It should answer all your question
and make the construction of
The American Miniature Theater
relatively painless.
