This water tank is built around a small tin can, which used to hold sliced mushrooms. This can seems just a bit too tall, and the water tank looks faintly bizarre, though it is not too bad.

The can is wrapped in two layers of cereal-box cardboard, with the decorated side sanded to remove its gloss, and the gray side out. The outer layer is scribed at 3/32" intervals to represent the tank staves. I can't remember what I scribed it with, but it should be a smooth but not sharp tool. You want to indent the cardboard, but not cut into it. After scribing, use something round to roll and shape the cardboard so it will hold its shape while the glue dries. White glue works well. You can put a bunch of rubber bands on the tank until it dries.

The tank hoops are fine iron or copper wire, with the ends twisted together and bent down to resemble a turnbuckle. The joints in the hoops should be staggered as shown in my drawing. The bottom hoop is a glued-on paper strip.

The roof of the tank is not quite a cone; it is a sort of pyramid, made of six triangular sections. I laid these out on a piece of cardboard so that they were all joined together, with a small missing section. Scribe each section with board lines, then cut out the roof and glue the un-joined sides together with a small strip of cardboard underneath. This will force the roof into shape. Glue it to the top of the tank. Add ridge flashings and a conical cap of typing paper, and make a small rectangular hatch out of cardboard.

The remaining details are the water gauge and the plank the spout counterweight rides upon. Both of these are made of cardboard, with narrow cardboard flanges on each side. The gauge is painted white, and lettered. Note that the numbers should start low at the tank top and increase toward the bottom, because the level is shown by a weight that hangs from a cord that runs up, over a pulley,and down to a float inside the tank. My drawing is wrong. Glue a small piece of dowel to the gauge to represent this weight.

This is a good time to paint the tank. Mine is boxcar red, with a black roof. I used Rust-Oleum spray paint, which was probably a mistake. The black was good enough, but the red primer isn't very flat. Fortunately, the tank collected some basement dust and now looks all right.

The tank sits on twelve stout posts, braced with 64 diagonals. See my drawing for their arrangement. The supporting frame is cross-shaped in plan, with four beams on top the posts. The outer beams are much shorter than the inner. On top of these are the tank joists. It all looks complicated but it is not too bad to build.

Cut the posts, beams, and joists out of 1/8" square stripwood or fireplace matches. I used hand-cut strips that were slightly larger and pretty rough. The diagonal braces are made of cereal-box cardboard. White glue is used at all joints. A good trick for gluing on the tank joists is to draw a circle the size of the tank and lay a piece of wide masking tape on it, sticky side up. Arrange the joists on this tape. This will keep them evenly spaced when you glue them to the beams. When the glue is dry, paint the tank base. I used black Rustoleum in a spray can.

The last detail is the spout. A 1/4" dowel can be filed and sanded to the proper tapered shape, and its end can be cut at an angle and a short piece glued on to form the bend. This will look a lot better with some sanding. Make a dummy pulley of wood, with a hole drilled through it. Drill the two extended tank joists and the spout to accept a wire pivot, and attach the spout. Use a thread for the spout cable, and a piece of solder for the counterweight. Mount the tank on twelve wooden foundation blocks, painted to simulate concrete, and with a 1/8" dowel at the center for the supply pipe. You are done; find a tender to fill.