News / display models
A paper model kit of the GPO
Often, it is these huge, imposing buildings which impress us most when we view a city like Dublin. A few weeks ago, I stood in front of the GPO, wondering how I could make a model kit out of this beautiful monster! So far, I've only made an A5 kit of it - the A4 kit will be available soon!
My tiny Gpo A5 kit, takes about 10 - 15 minutes to build. The completed model is 55mm tall. The most difficult bit is to cut out the little figures on top of the facade gable. I use a craft knife for this - usually before I cut out the rest, so that I have more grip.
An archeological diorama: Gallarus Oratory
Up to now, most of my kits have been colourful streets of shops and pubs, so this new kit of Gallarus Oratory is quite different. I visited the oratory last April and was fascinated by its beautiful shape, like an upturned boat, so smooth and regular, and yet so rugged.
I followed the pattern of the stonework very closely while painting the model. I love the way it sags in places, and how the colours vary.
The kit itself includes interior stonework as well as the grave beside the oratory and the beautiful stonewall forming a crescent shape 
around it. I painted a base onto which the various parts of the kit can be placed in a very realistic arrangement.I really wanted the diorama to be authentic and educational from an archeological point of view.
As with all TinyIreland kits, very clear, easy to follow instructions are included, making it the ideal gift for archeologists young and old! Click on the images to buy it now....
Fascination with the familiar in miniature
Recently, I made a series of paper models for a wedding: 18 models of Dingle and Annascaul pubs. Each table had a pub on it. I cut out all window panes and inserted light to make them come alive. The feedback I got from wedding guests was that, not only were the models beautiful, but the most fascinating thing was that they were familiar places in miniature. There is something magic about seeing a place we are familiar with in miniature - something that brings us right back to those childhood experiences we had with dollshouses and miniature railway layouts...
I once visited an amazing Ship in a Bottle Museum in Holland: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bottle-ship-museum , where the fascination with the miniature is taken to the extreme. After months of very detailed work and preparation, the tiny ship model is finally ready to insert into the bottle. Once inside, the masts and sails are pulled into the upright position using carefully prepared strings.
My models are not as elaborate as that. I paint my facades/ gables etc as big as I want to before scanning them all into my computer where I process them into models. Thanks to modern technology, I can work in large format and the computer shrinks it down to miniature for me.
This allows me to work at ease, exactly at the size I like. Also, I can easily insert drawings of impressions and ideas I gather about the building or town.
I begin by drawing and painting on paper, but continue to create in the computer. The most exciting bit is, of course, when the model is finally printed out and I assemble a miniature 3D version of my artwork. It's magic!
Whenever I return to see the "real" versions of the buildings I have made, I feel strangely excited - I feel a very special bond between me and the building - as if we somehow know each other....
