"Icosahedral Madness" Topic

Irrational Number Line Games' Idea of the Week gives a walk-through on making a couple of geodesic scifi structures. You can expand the technique to make a lot of different types of structures as well, so give her a shot and show us what you made!

Clever. I didn't know they made triangular-grid canvas like that. Covering the seams with plastic strip would yield a neater look, but might be more trouble than it's worth.

I experimented a little with a couple of ideas for a "frame" with this one … toothpicks, tape, etc. Each time I did it, the extra futzing ended up pulling the seams apart more than the reinforcing the structure. The issue is to do it "right" (i.e., so it lays flat and doesn't warp the shape of the final piece) I think you would need a custom "v" channel that was at the exact right interior angle to match the shape of the structure.

I also tried two different basing techniques. The one I show, with gluing it into clay ended up making a fairly stiff structure.

If you can figure out another way to make a frame for something like this, I would love to see it.

Also, if you go pick up some of the triangle pieces (they make circles and ovals, too), post what you do with them. There are tons of other shapes you could do with these.

I think I may have found a way to make my "Coring Room":

link

Dan
TMP link

Dan – That's a great idea! I hadn't thought of using these pieces to make a part of another building, like a roof. If you do that, I would recommend making a thin frame for the base of the roof so you can lift it off by the base instead of picking it up by the grating pieces.