Measure Twice, Measure Again

This weekend was not only a fun one, but also very productive, in terms of my project. On Saturday I went to the Science Center for their celebration of National Engineers Week. While there I got to talk to engineers from the ASCE and NCSEA about my project and they had some helpful hints about where to find more research information.

But besides conversing with experts, I have been doing some more work on my model. Starting with the original boundaries, as mentioned in Episode 177, I have split the cross-section into 12 sectors then again into 34 sub-sectors. This makes measuring and building much easier. Now I can list all the buildings in each sub-sector and their relative measurements which will then be used to construct each building.

So far, I have measured each sector and sub-sector and have inputted those measurements into a Excel spreadsheet to convert from feet to centimeters. The scale for the model will be 1 mile to 1 meter. This gives me a model length 191cm by 63cm. Once I finish checking a rechecking the conversions today, tomorrow I will go to Home Depot and purchase the wood needed for the base. I think that 1.5in plywood should get the job done.

As soon as I get the wood on Tuesday, I will start to measure out the sectors and sub-sectors onto the wood. The next step will be sketching out all the roads, train tracks, and landscaping so once each building is finished it will fit right into its respective area. Then using balsa wood, I will begin creating my first building: Chase Field.

Comments or questions? You know what to do!