Noah's Ark

[Calebxy]

I'm going to make a replica (quite a big one) of Noah's Ark! And I'm even going to make tiny clay models of all the animals and put them inside! The Ark itself is going to be about a meter in length, or maybe even a bit bigger.

I have found a list of mammal genera. List of mammal genera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I can use this to find out exactly what animals to include. The Bible says “kinds”, not “species”, and I think genus would probably be closer to what it meant, so this list is good enough for me.

I'll probably be able to find similar lists for reptiles, amphibians (though surely they wouldn't have needed to go in the ark, if they can live in water?) and birds. The thing is, though, most of the animals will be very small. Relatively few types of mammals are larger than sheep, and with the scale I'm using, sheep will probably be about 0.5cm tall. So to make all those rodents, birds and tiny reptiles… I don't think I'm even going to bother trying to shape them. For the small animals, I'll probably just use a really tiny speck of clay.

But I'll have fun making the larger animals, like elephants, tigers and lions.

This is definitely going to be a very big, extensive project, but I'm sure it'll be fun.

I was planning on starting today, since it's the holidays, but never got round to it. Still, there's plenty of time left (not to do the whole project, of course. I just mean to get started). I think it would be wise to start with a small model first. I'll make one out of paper (perhaps today), just to get a feel for the dimensions and everything. Also, just to be clear, I'm going to have the Ark look more like a rectangular box, rather than the conventional boat design. Something more like this:

 

[NakedMoleRat]

I'm going to make a replica (quite a big one) of Noah's Ark! And I'm even going to make tiny clay models of all the animals and put them inside! The Ark itself is going to be about a meter in length, or maybe even a bit bigger.

I have found a list of mammal genera. List of mammal genera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I can use this to find out exactly what animals to include. The Bible says “kinds”, not “species”, and I think genus would probably be closer to what it meant, so this list is good enough for me.

I'll probably be able to find similar lists for reptiles, amphibians (though surely they wouldn't have needed to go in the ark, if they can live in water?) and birds. The thing is, though, most of the animals will be very small. Relatively few types of mammals are larger than sheep, and with the scale I'm using, sheep will probably be about 0.5cm tall. So to make all those rodents, birds and tiny reptiles… I don't think I'm even going to bother trying to shape them. For the small animals, I'll probably just use a really tiny speck of clay.

But I'll have fun making the larger animals, like elephants, tigers and lions.

This is definitely going to be a very big, extensive project, but I'm sure it'll be fun.

I was planning on starting today, since it's the holidays, but never got round to it. Still, there's plenty of time left (not to do the whole project, of course. I just mean to get started). I think it would be wise to start with a small model first. I'll make one out of paper (perhaps today), just to get a feel for the dimensions and everything. Also, just to be clear, I'm going to have the Ark look more like a rectangular box, rather than the conventional boat design. Something more like this: http://i42.tinypic.com/2aait0j.jpg

That is accurate to what the ark looked like. (Looks like you got that picture from the Bible Stories book) It is described as a big chest, not a boat like so many make it out to be. There is actually a see worthy reason why the ark would have been long and box like, and not a traditional boat. But that is a whole different topic........

 

[Calebxy]

That is accurate to what the ark looked like. It is described as a big chest, not a boat like so many make it out to be. There is actually a see worthy reason why the ark would have been long and box like, and not a traditional boat. But that is a whole different topic........

Indeed. That's why I'm going with that design.

 

[SlimeTime13]

This is gonna be so cool!

 

[Apollo]

Love it!

Cool Project!! :thumbsup

 

[Calebxy]

Thanks guys.

I made the paper model, which went well, except one end was at a slightly different angle to the other (so the whole thing is twisted a little). I've given it one coat of PVA glue, to make it slightly stronger and waterproof, and I'll put some more on later.

I've been thinking about the interior design of it. The Bible doesn't give a lot of detail about that. It says that there were three floors, and there were compartments (for the animals, presumably). That's all the detail it gives about the inside. So, I was thinking maybe I'll have a row of compartments down either side of the ark, with either one or two in the middle. I'm going to put all the large animals on the lowest deck, so I'll probably have room for just one row of compartments down the middle (in addition to the two on either side). Then, for the other levels (which will have smaller animals), I'll probably have two rows going down the middle. It depends how big the compartments need to be to fit the animals inside.

Of course, I'll need to put some gaps in the rows going down the middle, so that the people can go from one to the other.

 

[eltee]

The animals, by kinds, were thought to be young pairs according to some theologians. Why bring a huge pair of adult elephants when younger, smaller ones would do? One of the controversies is the co-existance of man and dinosaurs. According to the Bible in Genesis, man and all creatures were created within the six days allocated to creation, so many Ark depictions include small dinos (most dinos were the size of sheep, we are more familiar with huge dinos such as full grown T-Rex's and brontosaurus types).

 

[Calebxy]

Well, I'll do that if necessary, but I'm not really worried about not having enough room, if that's why you mentioned it. I'm quite confident I'll be able to fit them all in there.

On the subject of dinosaurs, the 'days' in Genesis may well have actually been much, much longer than just 24 hours (the Hebrew word used is incredibly flexible, and is often used simply to mean a period of time. As a matter of fact, the Bible later refers to all 6 days as just one day). I'm not a young Earth creationist, and I'm making this replica according to my own beliefs. So no dinosaurs.

 

[Contec]

So no dinosaurs.

Don't forget the unicorns as noah did....

 

[Calebxy]

Don't forget the unicorns as noah did....

If you just want to mock, I would appreciate it if you did it on the Noah thread, and not here.

 

[Contec]

If you just want to mock, I would appreciate it if you did it on the Noah thread, and not here.

dude, chill.

 

[Egon Spengler]

Looking forward to watching your progress on this!

 

[Calebxy]

Looking forward to watching your progress on this!

Thanks.

My dad's going to help me make it, and he says we should make it with some light, thin wood. I agree, but I think it would be good to make one about half the size out of cardboard and paper mache. That way we can make sure we've got the design and everything right before making the wooden one. Would that be wise?

 

[Tarkin]

Yes that would be very smart. You guys need a prototype. Good idea! Oh wasn't the Ark made from gopher wood I believe it was called??

 

[Egon Spengler]

This might interest you. Man builds life-sized replica of Noah's Ark | Slideshow | Fox News

 

[Crank729]

That is accurate to what the ark looked like. (Looks like you got that picture from the Bible Stories book) It is described as a big chest, not a boat like so many make it out to be. There is actually a see worthy reason why the ark would have been long and box like, and not a traditional boat. But that is a whole different topic........

What book is that?

 

[Calebxy]

Yes that would be very smart. You guys need a prototype. Good idea! Oh wasn't the Ark made from gopher wood I believe it was called??

The Bible I'm using translates it as "resinous wood," but yes, literally it is "trees of gopher." No one knows exactly what type of tree it was referring to, but some people think it means cypress. That would make sense, considering cypress was very common in that part of the world, and was a favoured material for ship building (as it still is, apparently).

What book is that?

It's called My Book of Bible Stories, and it's published by Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

[Calebxy]

Here's a picture of a quick model I did in Google SketchUp, just to show the scale.

The tiny black dot to the left of the person is standing in for a rat, which is more or less the size most of the animals will be. As you can see from that, even if my Ark is quite sizeable, most of the animal models will be extremely small. I'll definitely just have to use un-shaped specks of clay for the small ones. On the bright side, that means that most of them will be really easy to make.

 

[Redtogusa]

Very interested to see how this comes out.

And yes, going by biblical history the dinosaurs would have been long gone by Noah's time. Six creative days do not signify six literal days.


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[Calebxy]

What do you guys think of this idea for the interior? Instead of having the birds in compartments, or cages, like the rest of the animals, how about I have them in baskets hanging from the ceilings (in the passageways between the compartments)? They could be similar to nests, and the birds would be able to fly around as they like, while having a designated place to rest and sleep. I think that would be a good way of utilising space, because otherwise you've got all that ceiling space not being used for anything.