SnipFold

Wayside Chapel

An elongated three-bay nave with real arched openings, a ground-bearing entrance belfry and a short four-hip steeple.

Materials

  • 180-220 gsm cardstock
  • PVA glue
  • Scissors
  • Craft knife and cutting mat
  • Ruler and scoring tool

Finished size: 66 x 114 x 94 mm including foundation

Steps

CutValley foldMountain foldGlue area

  1. Print, cut and score

    Print at 100 percent and measure the 50 mm ruler. Cut all 11 pieces, including all arched waste areas, before folding. Keep the 2 mm thresholds below both entry arches. Score dashed folds; do not cut the tabs.

  2. Mark the foundation

    On B measure from its lower-left corner: nave rectangle x=6..60, y=28..108 mm; tower x=22..44, y=6..28 mm. These give 54 x 80 and 22 x 22 mm footprints. Use light pencil; all walls stand at z=0.

  3. Stand the front and side walls

    Fold F bottom and two vertical side tabs inward 90 degrees. Fold L and N bottom and rear-edge tabs inward 90 degrees. Glue bottom tabs inside the marked nave rectangle and F side tabs inside L/N at their front edges. Keep walls 54 mm apart and eaves 44 mm high. Let these three walls set with the rear still open.

  4. Close rear wall, prepare roof lands

    Fold R bottom tab toward the nave interior 90 degrees, glue to B, and glue L/N rear tabs inside R. Square the 54 x 80 mm shell. Fold both gables slope tabs 90 degrees inward along the roof edges. Fold each long eave tab inward 53.471 degrees from its wall plane so it rises at 36.529 degrees above horizontal. Leave roof H off for finger access.

  5. Build the ground-bearing entrance tower

    Fold T1-T4 bottom and right-edge tabs inward 90 degrees. In order front/right/rear/left, glue each 4 mm right tab inside the next wall; close T4 to T1 last. Reach through the open top to press seams. Maintain a 22 x 22 mm square, 76 mm tall; keep arched openings free of glue. Dry fully before mounting.

  6. Mount tower and align passage

    Glue the tower bottom tabs onto its marked B footprint; rear face T3 meets F at y=22. Align tower and nave centerlines at x=27. T3 and F doorway arches overlap to form the passage; glue only the solid contact areas beside the opening and below the gable ridge. The tower bears directly on B, not on the nave roof.

  7. Fold and close the short steeple

    Fold S three radial mountain creases until its four base edges form a 22 mm square. Fold the 3 mm radial seam flap into the fourth face and glue under its free sloping edge; press from the open bottom before drying. Apex must stand 18 mm above base. Fold the four 4 mm base tabs down into vertical planes (31.430 degrees from their unfolded continuation). Dry-fit over the tower: apex z=94 mm, base z=76 mm.

  8. Cap the belfry

    Apply a thin glue film to the outside of S downward tabs. Lower them inside T1-T4 so the four steeple base edges sit on the tower top rim. Tabs extend to z=72, above the belfry arch crowns at z=70. Press through the bell openings and allow to set upright.

  9. Close the nave roof last

    Mountain-fold H ridge by 73.058 degrees from flat, giving an inside roof angle of 106.942 degrees. Dry-fit ridge at z=64 and x=27. Front edge is flush at y=22 behind the tower; rear edge reaches y=105, a 3 mm overhang. Side eaves reach x=-3 and 57. Glue H underside to the four gable slope tabs and two eave tabs, first one slope then the other. Press outside over the glue lands and let dry without loading the steeple.

  10. Measured assembly check

    On the finished dry model measure foundation 66 x 114 mm, nave 54 x 80 mm, eaves 44 mm, ridge 64 mm, tower 22 x 22 x 76 mm and apex 94 mm. Check six side arches remain open and entrance passage aligns. This is an assembly target, not a completed physical verification.

Notes

The 3D model shows each piece in its finished, idealized shape; the exploded view only spreads the pieces apart. It is not a paper-physics simulation: curved shapes are forming guides, not exact physical folding or proof of developability, and intermediate fold shapes are not supplied.