Posts by John

Quote

Originally posted by Leif Ohlsson
Oh, that little boat, within the little ship - you are making making me want, half seriously, to go your way, down intstead of up, in scale.

Leif

Jim,
You have Leif thinking of dabbling in small scale again. Your work is the epitomy of small scale rendering. You know, I like Leif's idea of scaling up for some things. Take ship detail for example. Always thought it would be nice to bring the scale of a 24 pounder up to about three inches. Then you could really get into the gun tackle and carriage details. Maybe to do this, you would have to settle for a partial model of a specific section of deck. Can you imagine a fife's rail with stauntions and belaying pins built up in paper? What about blocks with actual sheeves in them? Leif would be at home here!
John

Hi Jim,
I think our paths have crossed on ship modelling forums. I marvel at your work here. You do incredible things with paper! In a past life, I dreamed of building a 40 gun frigate. (Harold Underhill plans). Then it was downgraded to a brig of war. ("Irene") But I was in over my head and do not possess your skills.
Really enjoying this fantastic USS Constitution build.
Still dream of turned brass cannons on a planked quarterdeck every now and then.
Cheers...John

Hi Leif,
You are right. Hohenzollern and Michel are at opposite ends of the spectrum! But you know, even though I complain about the jarring colours and simplistic artwork, there is just something about Hohenzollern that is appealing. I am tempted to glue up the couryards and sprinkle on something synthetic to tone down the yellow! And yet, from what I hear, there is a historical significance to the model's naivete and age. I've never been big on plastic trees and dioramic additions. For me, it gets in the way of the architectural integrity and focus of the model. That's just me.

I must admit, working with paper again, instead of cereal box cardboard is a treat - and a lot easier on blades! (Buying them in bulk lots of 100 is not such a bad idea). Whereas Hohenzollern represents the infancy of cardmodelling, Michel represents the epidomy of artwork and printing processes that can render the beautiful and subtle patina of wood, metal and stone.
Cheers...John

Hi Ernst,
Very kind of you to include the two pictures of models on display. I see three on the table that I have built: Przemyslaw Tabernacki's Frauenkirche Dresden,Neuschwanstein Castle and Berlin Cathedral. I have not built Reichstag Berlin. If I lived in Europe, I'd spend much of my time admiring these magnificant specimens. You can see my humble renderings of them at:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~jmadill2/JLCardmodelling/
Thanks again,
John

And this is one of the insert window/door units. The template allows the unit to be simply put in place as one unit and adjusted before the glue dries. There are no individual tabs to adjust.

Ready to assemble the tower.
John

Das ist eine der einzufügenden Fenster/Tür-Einheiten. Die Schablone erlaubt es die gesamte Einheit vorher zusammenzusetzen und trocknen zu lassen. Es gibt keine einzelnen Klebestreifen zum anpassen.
Fertig zum Einbau in den Turm.

To avoid having the casings collapse when the window/door units are pressed against them from behind, small strips of basswood have been glued under them. Shown here.

Um zu vermeiden, daß die Fensterrahmen einknicken, wenn die Fenster von hinten dagegengedrückt werden, habe ich kleine Holzstreifen darunter geklebt. Hier zu sehen:

The back of the shell is shown here. Note the two disks. They will be glued under the tabs to create the shape of the tower. The corners will be rounded.

Hier ist einmal die Rückseite der Aussenwand gezeigt. Beachtet die zwei Scheiben. Diese werden unter die Klebelaschen geklebt, um die Form des Turms zu erzeugen. Die Ecken werden abgerundet sein.

The shell of the middle tower is piereced with eight openings - four large rectangular windows above and four small round topped tall doors below. This photo shows the outside of the shell with the openings cut out.

Die Wand des mittleren Turms hat acht Durchbrüche - vier große rechteckige Fenster oben und vier kleine, oben gerundete, Türen unten. Dieses Photo zeigt die Aussenwand mit den ausgeschnittenen Öffnungen.

Hi Jens,
Thank you for placing the age of this interesting model. I now have more respect for its historical importance to the craft of card modelling. The early precision and attention to detail is present here. Acquired the publication from Peter Heesch at H&B Precision Card Models, Virginia.
John

Hi Thomas,
Thank you for the wonderful aerial photos. Definetely keepers to accompany the model. You actually took these real time this month? Incredible!
Cheers...John

P.S. I am using the 'vivid' setting on my camera. I think I better get it off. The colours jump out enough on their own.
J.L.

This shot shows the gate tower and the ramp up to the courtyard on the right.
The next step in this construction is the raising of the bastion 6cm so that the outer curtain walls can be added. I plan to build a substructure that will carry the weight of the castle. The walls will not bear weight and will simple 'hang' around the edges.
John

Hi Rick,
Thank you so much for the photo of the fighters flying by the castle. This means a great deal to me! For me, building architectural models is just the beginning of the historical research connected with the structures. You have brought this castle to life!! I must show this photo to my brother-in-law, an RCAF doctor stationed in Germany in the 60's.(3 Wing)

Here is a shot of the castle courtyard completed with the exception of the fountain in the well and a few other minor pieces.

Hello Knooty,
One does not have to be able to read the text of these posts to recognize some of the finest model work photographed. Outstanding!
Cheers...John

Michael,
Yes, this model does look almost like a child's toy! I mentioned in my opening post that my first impression of it was 'Lego!' I really don't understand how his model fits in with the Schreiber line. I didn't think I was going to enjoy the build, but it drew me in. It is packed with interesting architectural details.
It is huge! I had no idea it was going to be over two feet long and a foot high. Its dimensions are 66 cm long, 36 cm wide and 34 cm high. What you see in the pictures so far is just the upper level of the model. When its done, it will be raised up 6cm and surrounded completely by a curtain wall and circular gardens.
Thanks for the interest.
John

And a corner detail...

The bottom of the base...

The base of the middle tower projects over the top of the lower tower creating a ledge. Its fascia angles inward. Considering the difficulties encountered with attaching previous fascia, the decision was made to cut off all tabs on the paper base (1st photo), temporarily attach it to a thin plate of MDF and sand and file the unit to shape. This allowed the tiny right angled jogs at the corners to be accurately bevelled. The paper was then removed. The four corner sections of the shaped plate were cut off and glued under the paper base. (2nd photo) The third photo shows a corner with the compound mitres. I am at the stage of cutting the four fascia strips into individual pieces to suit the angles and glue them around the hard edge of the MDF.
Note the gap left between the reinforcing card and the edge. This will later allow the top of the lower tower to seat itself properly.

Die Basis des Mittelturms ragt etwas über die Kante des unteren Turm hinaus und schafft so einen Überhang. Das Gesims steht schräh nach innen. Nach den bereits beschriebenen Schwierigkeiten mit vorangegangenen Simsen, wurde die Entscheidung gefällt, alle Klebelaschen der Basis abzuschneiden (erstes Photo), sie zeitweise auf einer dünnen MDF-Platte zu befestigen und die ganze Einheit in Form zu schleifen. Dies ermöglichte es die kleinen rechtwinkligen Überstände an den Ecken mit den richtigen Abschrägungen zu versehen. Dann wurde der Karton wieder abgenommen. Die vier Ecken des geschliffenen Platte wurden abgetrennt und unter die Kartonbasis geklebt (zweites Bild) Das dritte Photo zeigt eine Ecke mit den vielen Gehrungen. Ich bin grade dabei die vier Streifen der Gesimse in einzelne Stücke zu zerschneiden und sie um die harte Kante des MDF zu kleben. Man beachte die Lücke zwischen dem Verstärkungskarton und der Kante. Sie sorgt später dafür, daß die Spitze des unteren Turm vernünftig paßt.

The Bastion so far...

A different angle...

It has been a slow day at the Gallery. I have had time to spend on Hohenzollern. The hole in the end of the armoury is now covered with the back of a chapel wall. The nine little rooves of this chapel posed a problem. After installing three of them on one side, I realized that the fourth and all subsequent ones were larger! There are three on each side and three at the front. You guessed it. I put the three that were intended for the end on a side. To solve the problem I modified the remaining ones.

...and here is the courtyard with the exterior wall applied. Note that the tops of the inner merlons are slightly highter than the outer ones. Rather than cut them down, I will touch them up with watercolour.
While I'm on the subject of watercolour, here are the colours used to touch up scored edges. The colours are so bold it is easy to use colours right out of the tube. The roof's blue is touched up with Cerulean Blue (W&N Series 3AA). Naples Yellow (W&N Series 1A) is great for the many yellow sections. Indian Red (W&N Cotman 317) is a bit darker but works well on the crenels and merlons.
I have yet to try the watercolour pencils recommended by Leif. The tan colour of the curtain walls will be an excellent spot to try the pencil watercolour.

Cheers...John

This shot shows the construction of the chapel courtyard. The substructure can be clearly seen. The lower edge of the white cardstock shown in the photo has NOT been glued down. The bottom tab of the exterior wall to be added next will slide UNDER these white supporting card pieces when it is applied.

This shot shows the added Michaelis Chapel directly opposite the armoury. The courtyard will ramp down to lower levels on the right, and the entire model will be lifted up 6 cm by surrounding curtain walls.

Hi Leif,
I am a part owner in a gallery and spend many hours hosting. Often it is very quiet with few visitors and very little foot traffic passing by. To keep myself sane (with something to do), I sit on my little stool at the counter and cardmodel! The hours then fly by. It is often a great conversation starter when visitors do come into the Gallery. (I am a woodturner and this is also where I display and sell my work.) So you see, the model that I work on at the gallery can move along quite nicely in a six hour shift. Right now, it's Hohenzollern at the Gallery and Michel at home.
You are inquiring about the spray adhesive. Have I misled you? I mentioned that I spray adhesive a stiffener to the bottom of courtyards. I mean I use a spray adhesive to glue the printed sheet to a 1mm or heavier piece of card stock. Are you asking about the spray product or did you think IT was some sort of thickener? Sorry for the confusion in my text. By the way, the spray adhesive is the best on the market, not to be confused with many of the cheap craft adhesives on the market. If that's the information you want, let me know.
Thanks for the inquiry. We learn so much on this forum.
Cheers...John

Here is a shot of the end of the courtyard. Note the round stair tower. A lot of the towers are partial in their lower sections and complete once they pass above the rooves. To keep the lower sections from spreading out while being pressed against walls, templates are glued under their tabs to hold them to their correct shape.
John

Here is the addition of the armoury on the right side of the courtyard. Note the two octagonal stair towers on each side of the portal. Because there is no access to the armoury building from below, a hole was cut in the end of the building to allow the roof to be supported while the back of the towers were being glued to the roof.

Hello,
I can not read the text of this thread, but am following the photos with interest. I have three Betexa models to build - Zamek Breznice, Hrad Pernstejn and Zamek Orlik. If we could communicate,I would ask for your opinion of the fit of the parts. In some sense, I find the artwork rather simplistic in detail.
John

The third shot.

The second shot.

Here are three final shots of the body of this Hamburg landmark. It is time to put it safely in its box and store it away while the middle tower and then the clock tower with its cupola are being constructed.

Hier kommen noch drei letzte Bilder vom Hauptschiff des Hamburger Wahrzeichens. Jetzt ist es Zeit es sicher in einem Karton zu verstauen während der Hauptturm und dann der Uhrenturm mit seiner Kuppel gebaut werden.

Leif,
Thank you for some excellent tips here. I have had the saturation and darkening effects using watercolours, but it has never been a problem with intense architectural colours on details such as deep red brick, dark brown timbers, forest green trees, etc. . It IS a problem with the light greens on this current model's roof. I must get some matt clear acrylic!
I have not investigated the watercolour pencils. They would certainly be cost effective when you know exactly what you want - and convenient. I assume you don't use water at all with them? They must be very soft.
Off to the art studio!
John

We are close to completion of the roof here. Note the yellowish tint to some of the roof sections. These printing mismatches are rather unusual for a Schreiber model, but to be fair to the designer and publisher, perhaps the vagaries of copper oxidation rates are being represented. (repair work on the roof... new metal...?)

Hier stehen wir kurz vor der Vollendung des Daches. Man beachte den gelblichen Farbton einiger Dachsektionen. Diese Druckfehler sind recht ungewöhnlich für ein Schreiber Modell, aber um fair zum Designer und dem Verlag zu sein, vielleicht sind einfach unterschiedliche Tönungen der Kupfer-Patina dargestellt (durch Reparaturarbeiten am Dach...neues Metall...?)

John

It occurred to me that I have not mentioned the three colours used to tint the scored edges of this model. For red brick, 'Indian Red' (Windsor&Newton/Cotman Water Colours) seems to do the job well. For copper sheating that has oxidized to that lovely green patina, I use 'Chinese White ' (W&N Artists' Water Colour) + 'Hooker's Green Dark' (W&N Cotman Water Colours). 'Payne's Gray' (W&N Cotman Water Colours) is watered down to represent quarried stone.

I'm sure the debate still rages as to the best way to colour scored edges of printed paper, but for me, it is hard to beat the subtle nuances available by mixing small amounts of watercolour. Although not needed on this model, almost any shade of brown for example, can be achieved with Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna or Burnt Sienna (with or without white).
John

Thanks Leif. But in the cold light of day, I had an overall view of the work, and it really is not that bad. Sometimes we tend to focus on a difficult area and lose sight of the overall project. I am sure that is how many models end up in the trash or sitting on shelves gathering dust. This cathedral is providing a lot of enjoyable building hours.
John

From the back:

Ready for Upper Roof:

Fertig für das obere Dach:

Hi Leif,
Oh my goodness, this is nice work - and I was fussing about fascia over 3mm high!
John

Here's the less than spectacular result of this fascia saga.

Hier ist das wenig beeindruckende Ergebnis der Gesims-Saga.

Leif,
I don't think you will be impressed with the result in the second photo herein. The first Photo shows the edge of the roof with its reinforcement. The second shot shows the results after the fascia was applied. It really is rather disappointing. What did me in this time was faithfully following the score lines. Earlier I was bemoaning the fact that the main roof was unmarked. Now I see that if that was the intent, it wasn't such a bad idea. By making the builder eyeball and measure each angle location and length of little fascia portion a much cleaner result is possible. If you score the lines as is, and it's wrong, you can't rescore again close by - the paper delaminates to the first score when bent.
Must not let this setback deter me from moving on. Now for the upper portion of the roof.
John

Leif,
ich glaube du wirst von den Ergebnissen in meinem zweiten Bild nicht so beeindruckt sein. Das erste Bild zeigt die Kante des Daches mit ihren Verstärkungen. Das zweite Bild zeigt die Ergebnisse nach anbringen des Gesimses. Es ist wirklich etwas enttäuschend. Was mich dieses Mal erwischt hat, ist daß ich treu den Knicklinien gefolgt bin. Vorher habe ich mich beschwert, daß die Markierungen beim Hauptdach fehlten. Nun sehe ich, daß es, sofern beabsichtigt, keine schlechte Idee war. Bringt man den Erbauer dazu mit Augenmaß zu arbeiten und jeden Winkel und Länge selber abzugreifen, erhält man ein sehr viel saubereres Ergebnis. Rillt man die Linien wie vorgegeben und es ist falsch, kann man nicht dicht daneben nochmals rillen - das Papier wird an der vorherigen Rille delaminieren. Aber davon laß ich mich nicht aufhalten. Nun zum oberen Teil des Daches.

The edge of the roof was then reinforced with cardstock.

Die Kante des Daches wird dann mit Karton verstärkt.