Québec et Place-Royale en Panorama, L'Instant Durable, 1:400 [FERTIG]

  • Model: Québec et Place-Royale en Panorama
    Publisher: L'Instant Durable
    Copyright Date: 1991
    ID Collection Number: 25
    Scale: 1:400
    Number of Parts: 230
    Number of Sheets: 17
    Dimenstions: 44 x 64 cm. Height, 34 cm.


    This is a very appropriate time to be building this panoramic model. This is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. A lot of celebrations are now taking place in one of the oldest cities in North America.


    Alain de Bussac, Director of the L'Instant Durable collections states," If there is one city in North America that has kept alive the traces of its past, it is Québec with its (four) centuries of history."


    Éditions L'Instant Durable, 1991



    Dies ist eine sehr passende Zeit, um dieses Panorama-Modell zu bauen. Es ist nämlich grade 400jähriges Jubiläum der Gründung der Stadt Quebec City. Zur Zeit finden eine Menge Feierlichkeiten in einer der ältesten Städte Amerikas statt.


    Alain de Bussac, der Direktor von L'Instant Durable sagt "Wenn eine Stadt in Amerika die Spuren der Vergangenheit am Leben erhalten hat, dann ist es Quebec mit seinen 4 Jahrhunderten am Geschichte"

  • The build begins with the placement of eight edge parts around the front of the model base. They represent the water's edge of the St. Lawrence River. They have been cleverly painted the colour of the water so that you get the feel of the land sloping right down to the river.


    It's almost déja vu with this base. It looks so much like the base of the Institute de Paris when turned upside down. But where the Institute's water edge at the Seine is terminated with a stone embankment, Quebec City's foreground leads into the water. Of course, today, that water's edge is also built up.


    Forgive me if I slip into history from time to time with this model. The site chosen for the first habitation here on the St. Lawrence was a good one. It afforded easy access to the river banks, a sheer cliff for protection at the back and a strategic spot to control river traffic.


    Champlain knew what he was doing in 1608!

  • The sheer cliff rising above the river is quite impressive. Its face is covered with mature trees and wild vegetation growing on the rocks and in the crevices. The artist, Hughes Renier, has done a fine job of rendering this material with water colour.


    The vegetation is built up in layers and should be applied from the top of the cliff down. Note the coding used on the tabs to ensure that the parts are placed in the correct spots. The extensions on the tabs bring the pieces out in relief.

  • You will see the location of the funiculaire in this photo. This historic railway makes the 210-foot trip from the Dufferin Terrace to the Lower Town at a 45 degree angle. In more or less continual service since 1879, the original steam engine and open cars have been updated, most recently in 1997.

  • Hi John,


    After returning from Qebec one week ago, I will follow your report with special interest!


    Greetings Andreas

  • Thanks Wolfgang. This model is a lot of fun to build.


    Andreas, the last time I was in Quebec City was nearly forty years ago with about sixty kids in tow.


    The cliff has been extended across the back of the model. Can you imagine trying to get up that cliff in a car? Notice the road turning and abruptly ending at a gap on the right.

  • The designer of this model has very effectively foreshortened the depth of the model at the back. You will recall that I mentioned that the inclined elevator ran down the cliff at a 45 degree angle? Well everything has been compressed or squashed to reduce the depth of the model and yet give all the detail in the background. Thus the panorama.


    Well, here is the road that goes up the cliff. Cleverly designed.

  • Good day, Mr. John!


    Im from Ukraine! A lot of time, I have watched your hand-works! And I want to say, that you are the Master of architecture models (Sorry, my English is very bed (temporally), but Ill try!!!) !!! Amazing works!
    I like to build architecture models, but in Ukraine I cant by good models (for example LInstant Durable, Schreiber Bogen, etc), because nobody trade it
    So, I will enjoy all of your reports, including this Panorama of Québec!!!


    Best regards, Zhyrair (from Kiev)!!!

  • Quote

    Original von John
    Andreas, the last time I was in Quebec City was nearly forty years ago with about sixty kids in tow.


    The cliff has been extended across the back of the model. Can you imagine trying to get up that cliff in a car? Notice the road turning and abruptly ending at a gap on the right.


    In nature, the cliff road is not so dramatic as it seems on the model. But as you wrote below, because of the foreshortening depth of the model, the proportions are not correct.


    Nevertheless, there is a street on the back side of the Haute Ville, you would not believe that one could drive on it - especially in Winter (I think, it was one of the streets going up to Parc Lucien-Borne). But my Quebecian friend confirmed that they do!

  • Hello Zhyrair,
    Greetings from Peterborough to you in Kiev.
    Welcome to the Forum.
    Thank you for the kind comments. Have you tried ordering ID models directly from France? They are the publishers and do not require distributors.


    Hi Andreas.
    You mention the winter. The Quebec Winter Carnival is an event to experience.


    Cheers...John

  • There is a retaining wall at the top of the cliff on the right side that rises to a parapet at the front. It sits on top of the multi-folded cliff. It could be interesting to wrestle it into position.


    I have found with these parts that they have to be glued in place one facet at a time. Trying to glue the whole thing with all tabs wet with glue usually leads to disaster. You just can't concentrate on keeping all the planar edges mating properly at once. Also, when you start, you often think that the part is never going to fit. But as you progress, the creased part twists and bends and settles down allowing you to glue up the next tab.

  • But wait a minute. Did you see a glitch with the front of the parapet? There is a tab location that I know, by dry fitting, will not mate properly with another part coming up the cliff. Colouring it a yellow just is not good enough as seen here. What to do?


    Photocopying parts is great if you want to create some extra 'skin' texture material. That's okay if you have anticipated that you might need some. But what if you have the part glued up and then discover, as in this case, that a covering patch of 'skin' would come in handy? You see, you had to glue up the part to test its fit, and you may not have anticipated any problem.


    Well, I tried something for the first time. I pressed the glued up parapet face down on the photocopier's glass platen and copied the part. It worked. Yellow brick and my left hand was the result.


    A note of caution here. Close the lid of the photocopier as much as possible and turn your head away as it is copying. Isn't there a standing joke about photocopying parts of human anatomy in this manner??? Well, cardmodellers can do it too...


    John

  • Hi John


    Your modeling looks like it belongs to the field of noble art.
    Now I am resisting but something invisible force draws me towards Rubicon River where once I cross there I cant return to days of ship and aircraft..

  • Hi Yu,
    You have moved me to get philosophical. I crossed my Rubicon some time ago. Ships, planes and trains seem to me fleeting objects in time . We admire them. We love their power, grace and technology. We put them in museums to preserve and remember them.


    Buildings seem to endure.


    Now back to some paper. The foliage is only printed on one side. That's fine, because most of it is against the cliff. But there are a few pieces that can be seen from both sides. Painting the back side can give the correct tone of the part, but it can't replicate the texturing details very well unless you are a skilled artist.


    Failing in this catagory, I photocopied the part seen in this photo double size. In that way, when the copy is reversed and glued on the back side of the part, it does not matter if it fits - it just has to be bigger. Follow? Then the part can be cut out.

  • Samuel de Champlain established a fur trading post right here in 1608. He built a modest residence and warehouse fortified with a stockade and surrounded by ditches. In 1624, it was demolished and rebuilt as a larger post built of stone.


    Development of the colony was slow. Champlain died on Christmas Day, 1625. In 1653, the settlement consisted of only six houses.


    Éditions L'Instant Durable, 1991

  • Hi John,


    This seems to be quite a difference for you compared to most of your recently finished models - not only one major building challenging ambitions, but a collection of smaller and, seemingly, easier to assemble buildings that take the effect by looking at the "big picture". I might be completely wrong, though ...


    However, I´m watching closely again, enjoying myself!


    Best Regards
    Wolfgang

  • Good morning Wolfgang.
    Yes, you are right. This is something quite different for me. It's my first attempt at a panorama model. I rather like it. ID makes another one - the Pont-Neuf panorama in Paris. It looks as though it could be a bit more difficult to build.


    This one is close to my heart as I have many memories of teaching associated with it.


    About the level of difficulty. The little buildings can be deceptive. You think they could be folded up and glued together in a flash. Well, some are quite simple, but others fold up like a drunken accordion. Often, everything is in one piece - the walls of multiple buildings and all their roofs. The trick to keeping everything under control seems to be how you glue the part together.


    I'm sure Virgillia must have had fun with all his little buildings nestled around the skirts of Mont Saint-Michel at 1:500!


    I hope the build continues to hold your interest. Thanks for expressing your thoughts.


    Cheers...John