Download - Egyptian Pyramid Building Instructions

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Egyptian Pyramid BuildingInstructions.

This Page Includes:Kinds of pyramid molds

Pyramid block specifications

Sand blasted pyramid with decorative inner chamber

Smooth block challenges

Quick easy pyramids

Pyramid With Tomb Chamber

A Note For Parents With School ProjectsWe only sell rubber molds! (as shown on the left). The blocks shown in the

instructions below are cast using the mold we send you. You will not receive building

blocks in the mail, but the means to cast your own building blocks out of plaster.

For a quick introduction about block casting, visit our Quick guide for the beginnerpage. For complete instructions on casting and painting, look at the bottom of our

Home page.

Kinds Of Pyramid MoldsThere are 3 kinds of pyramid molds. All of these molds contain the same blocks. The only difference is the texture. Anyof these molds can be used to make the outside of the pyramid on any of the models shown here (including the doorway).

You do not have to put an inner chamber on your pyramid. If you do not, you can still make the top lift off. The insidewill be hollow and you can place items inside it. However, additional molds are used to make a straight walled inner

chamber if you choose to have one.



Mold #90Chipped stone texture

Mold #91Smooth texture

Mold #92Sand blasted texture

Pyramid Block SpecificationsThe sizes of the pyramid blocks are shown on the left. The blocks are made soyou can stack normal building blocks on top of them, under them, or use them to

make inner chambers in your pyramid.

The only odd thing about the blocks isthe height. The 5/8" height isnecessary to keep the angle of theslope correct.

Using the pyramid blocks with regularblocks is fairly easy. When stacking

them up, 4 pyramid blocks equal 5 regular blocks. Also, stacking 2 pyramid

blocks is the same height as 2 regular blocks plus 1 floor tile.

The small square block on the left is used to fill in so you can make the inside walls of the pyramid flush. It can also be used to

support the inside to the pyramid while you're building it.

Sand Blasted Pyramid With DecorativeInner Chamber

For this project, you will need an additional mold.

Mold #92 will give you the sloped pyramid blocks, but you will also needMold #96 for the straight walls and decorative pieces for the innerchamber.

Cast the #92 pyramid mold 19 times and cast the #96 basic blockmold 10 times to build this pyramid.

If you don't want to buy an extra mold, you can still build the pyramidwithout the inner chamber. Your pyramid would be hollow instead ofhaving straight walls on the inside. To do this, just follow the instructionsfor the Easy Pyramid further down the page.



for the Easy Pyramid further down the page.

Mold #96 includes all of the decorativepieces shown here.

Mold #96 has blocks that can be used to make a secret door.

Although this pyramid does not have a secret door shown on itsconstruction, you can find out how to use the secret door blocks on theTips & Tricks 17 page.

For ideas on using mold #96 for tomb passages, please look at theDetailed Tomb pages.

1.

For this pyramid, I decided to make mounting it as easy as possible. I went to Wal-mart and looked for the thickest card stock item I could find to mount this on.

In the office supplies section (where they have markers and poster board) I found achild's manuscript practice board. Children practice writing their letters on thisboard which can be wiped off and used again. It cost me $2.97 and is almost 1/8"

thick solid pressed paper board (very sturdy).

2.

You want to cut a 10" x 10" square out of theboard. I used a large paperback book to helpme draw a square line.

Then I used a heavy pair of scissors to cut theboard to size. If you don't have scissors, youmay have to use a hobby knife and a ruler.

Peel the thin top plastic coating off so theglue will stick.

3.

We will start by makingthe inner chamber walls.

Glue 10 of the split

blocks. These will be usedfor the base. Be sure the thick half is facing

you (so the holes won't show).

Glue the other pieces as shown. The step

block goes on the bottom under the door.

4.

Add the pillars onto the wall in the placement shown. Be sure youhave at least a 1/2" between the pillar and the edge of the wall.



Make 2 copies of this wall section.

5.

The back wall uses thepieces shown. Do not

glue the blocks shown

in green! These areused as spacers.

Afterward, remove thegreen blocks and add the

two statues on eitherside. Make 1 of these.

6.

The doorway wall uses

the pieces shown. Donot glue the blocks

shown in green!

Afterward, remove the

green blocks and addthe two statues on

either side. Make 1 of

these.

7.

Next you will need

to pre-glue severalrows of blocks. You

may want to pre-glue for all of the

steps, then go backand assemble the

whole pyramid at

once.

Here's what you need to glue for the first level. The first photo shows

the pre-glued rows of pyramid blocks. The second photo shows therows glued down to the paper board.

8.

At this point you want to test fit the inner chamber walls. The spacerblocks reaching in from the outside walls should butt right up against

the chamber walls to keep them straight.

Do not glue the inner chamber in place. Painting it will be very

difficult later on if you glue it in.



8. difficult later on if you glue it in.

Leave the inner chamber in place while you glue on the remaining

rows of blocks, but do not glue them to the chamber. It's a good

idea to remove the chamber after each row is dry to be sure it willcome out later on.

9.

Pre-glue these blocks to formthe second row.

Be sure the blocks arecompletely dry before gluing

them on top of the first row,

otherwise the pyramid will sag.

Also glue groups of two blocks from the pyramid mold around 3 sides. I'm

using these blocks because there are an excess of them.

Once again, do not glue them to the inner chamber! We want to remove

the chamber later on for painting.

10.

Pre-glue these blocks to form

the third row.

Be sure the blocks are

completely dry before gluing

them on top of the first row,otherwise the pyramid will sag.

Also glue single square blocks from the pyramid mold around 3 sides.I'm using these blocks because there are an excess of them.

Once again, do not glue them to the inner chamber! We want toremove it later on for painting.

11.

Pre-glue these

blocks to formthe fourth row.

This row willbridge over the

doorwayopening.

Once this row is dry, be sure you can remove

the inner chamber.



12.

Pre-glue these blocks to form the fifth row.

Glue this ring together but do not glue it on top of the

pyramid! You want this top section to lift off so you cansee inside the pyramid.

13.

Here is row 6 androw 7.

Row 6 has squareblocks from the

pyramid mold onthe inside.

14.

Pre-glue the last rows

together, let them dry,

then glue them on topto finish the peak of the

pyramid.

Glue the decorations

shown for the innerchamber.

15.

The sarcophagus stand is made by gluing the

blocks together shown in the first photo.

Place the pieces inside the tomb in whatever

arrangement you think looks good, but do notglue them until the pyramid has been painted.

Visit our painting instructions page for how to paint this pyramid. Thiswas painted using yellow craft paint and brown shoe polish.

Here are a few photos of the inside of the pyramid. Mold #96 gives youall the pieces to finish the inside, except for the standing miniatures you



see here.

The standing miniatures are from www.crocodilegames.com. They

have a very wonderful selection of Egyptian figures, both human and

fantasy creatures.

These miniatures were painted by Robert Sparenberg (aka Imahilus).

Below is a photo of the outside of the finished pyramid.

Smooth BlockChallenges

Getting the smooth blocks to line up perfectly can be a challenge depending on how picky of a builder you are. For my

standards, I feel the blocks line up just fine. I built the smooth pyramid with no sanding or special fitting whatsoever.

However, this section is directed to the perfectionist who wonders why gaps should exist at all. To begin with, the

original block pieces are machined to exact standards and fit together with no gaps. During the molding and casting

process, several things can happen.

First of all, you are casting pieces with a flexible rubber mold. No matter

how perfect the original is, the flexible rubber will move slightly when you set it

on the table and pour plaster into it. Also, depending on how you scrape themold, the blocks may vary in height slightly. Both of these factors will cause the

pieces not to fit as perfectly as the originals they were made from.

Lastly, because the blocks are smooth, any defects or chips will be more

noticeable. You also have to be much more careful not to chip the sharp edge

of the blocks. A textured surface will hide defects and chips.



of the blocks. A textured surface will hide defects and chips.

When the building is complete, all of these defects diminish when you look at the

complete picture. I feel that the pyramid molds are the easiest to cast and

are ideal for a beginner. They work great for school projects, and anyone 8 years old and up can easily make a pyramid

any size they want.

Quick Easy PyramidsThis pyramid is great for a school project! You will need to cast the #91 pyramid mold 11 times to make this model.Directions for making the base, sand and trees are on the Tips & Tricks 8 page.

1.

To make the job go easier and faster, you need to pre-

glue several strips of blocks together. This will

ensure that your walls don't sag later on.

When gluing each strip of blocks, place a straight

edge behind them such as a ruler or a book.

On row 1 you have 6 regular blocks and 1 corner

block. On row 2 there are 5 regular blocks and 1

corner block. Each row will have one less block in it.

2.

Here are the remaining rows to the pyramid. When they are dry,

each of the four strips of blocks will be glued together to form eachlayer of the pyramid.

3.

Glue together row 1. You can use a book or square edge of

some kind inside the pyramid to keep the angles at 90 degrees.

Continue adding strips of blocks until you get 3 rows on the

pyramid. If you want the top to come off (so you can look

inside), don't glue any more rows on.

4.Now complete the top of the pyramid separately by gluing together rows 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. This will

set on top of the pyramid to complete it when it's dry.



set on top of the pyramid to complete it when it's dry.

5.

The last step is to paint the pyramid. Since this is the easyversion, just use one color of paint - a dull mustard color with a

touch of reddish brown to it. I painted the top block gold to

add interest.

Here's the finished pyramid. To see how to make the sand and

trees, go to the Tips & Tricks 8 page.

Pyramid With Tomb ChamberFor this project, you will need an additional mold.

Mold #90 will give you the sloped pyramid blocks, but you will also need Mold #100 for the straight walls inside thechamber. Cast the #90 pyramid mold 18 times and cast the #100 basic block mold 8 times to build this pyramid.

If you don't want to buy an extra mold, you can still build the pyramid without the inner chamber. Your pyramid would behollow instead of having straight walls on the inside. To do this, just follow the instructions for the Easy Pyramid in the

article above. Directions for making the sand and trees are on the Tips & Tricks 8 page.

1.

You can download and print the plans to this pyramid from the Building Plans

Page.

The pyramid is pretty heavy so I decided to use plywood as the base to build it on.

The base of the pyramid will be 10" x 10", so I made the plywood large enough to

add a tree or two later on.

2.

Next you will need to pre-glue several

rows of blocks. You may want to pre-

glue for all of the steps, then go back and

assemble the whole pyramid at once.

Here's what you need to glue for the

first level. The first photo shows rows of regular blocks for the inner

chamber. The second photo shows the pyramid blocks. Use astraight edge to help keep the rows straight.



3.To keep the base of the pyramid square, you can place a book inside while gluing

the sides down. Building a large corner out of Legos will also work.

4.

Glue the first 2 layers of blocks for the inner chamber on their side!

By now you probably know that the blocks are slightly taller than they are

wide. I've made the height of 4 pyramid blocks to be the same as 5 regular

blocks. However, there is a chance (depending on how you scrape the mold

and stack) that the inside chamber wall would end up slightly taller thanthe pyramid wall.

Stack the first 2 chamber layers with the blocks on their side to ensurethat the chamber wall is shorter than the pyramid wall.

5.

Lay down and glue the blocks shown. Do not glue the blocks in green or

you will need to cast extra basic blocks. The blocks shown in green allow

you to space the inner chamber evenly inside the pyramid.

Later on, these walls will have to match up to the sloping sides of the

pyramid.

6.

Here are the rows you want to pre-glue for

the second level. The first photo shows rows

of regular blocks for the inner chamber.

The second photo shows the pyramid blocks. Use a straight edge to help

keep the rows straight.

7.

Here I've added the sand texture to the base. You don't have to do this.

However, if you would like to add this, it's best to do it while the pyramidisn't very tall yet. To see how to add sand, check out the Tips & Tricks 8

page.

The blocks shown in green are the square blocks on the pyramid mold.

These are 5/8" high and are used to support the pyramid blocks.

Once again, lay the inner chamber blocks on their side so the height of

the inner chamber will be slightly short.



the inner chamber will be slightly short.

8.

Here are the rows you want to pre-glue for the

third level. The first photo shows rows of regular

blocks for the inner chamber.

The second photo shows the pyramid blocks.

Use a straight edge to help keep the rows

straight.

9.

This photo shows the third level in place. You will notice support blocksunder this level as well. Simply stack 2 of the square pyramid blocks for

these.

This time you don't have to lay the inner chamber blocks on their side. Just

stack them up normally.

10.

Since the inner chamber is going to be much lower than

the outside pyramid blocks, I'm going to add another

layer to the inner chamber.

Glue the regular blocks as shown and add them on. Now the inner chamber should

stick up above the pyramid blocks slightly.

11.

Here are the rows you want to pre-glue for thefourth level. The first photo shows rows of regular

blocks for the inner chamber. The second photo

shows the pyramid blocks.

12.

On the fourth level, the pyramid blocks and the inner chamber will meet.

Hopefully, the inner chamber will be flush or slightly lower than the pyramidwall.

Do not glue the blocks shown in green to thepyramid. Be sure to glue them to each other

though. You need this section to be removed later

so you can paint under the doorway easily.



so you can paint under the doorway easily.

13.Glue these strips together to form the remaining

levels of the pyramid.

14.

Assemble the strips to form the top of the pyramid

(shown on the right).

I painted the pyramid using the desert stone colors

shown on our Desert Stone Painting Instructions page.

If you would like a paint chip sample of the colors,

send me a self-addressed stamped envelope with a note,

or send me an e-mail when you place an order and I'll

send you them with your molds.

15.

Here's a few photos of the finished model. Directions for making the sand and trees are on the Tips & Tricks 8 page.

All your pyramid needs now is some treasure and artifacts.

http://www.hirstarts.com. All photos, articles and plans are copyrighted by Bruce Hirst and may not be used without permission."Castlemolds(R)" is a trademark of Hirst Arts Fantasy Architecture Inc.

For more information contact [email protected].

Download - Egyptian Pyramid Building Instructions

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