Visiting My Roots in 1" Scale
My interest in model railroading always has been its function as a scale modeling medium - trains just happen to be along for the ride as moving structures in an architectural setting. Architecture is my passion, and with modeling being one of its principal forms of expression, model railroading is the art of 3-dimensional urban planning. Architecture - architectural history in particular - finds its medium in 1" scale modeling. 1" scale is my point of reference for model railroading.Recently, I took a break from the layout to spend a weekend at Chicago International - the largest 1" scale show in the world. In a hotel near Chicago O'Hare Airport every April, artisans and collectors gather for a long weekend of shopping for the latest and best creations from the best artisans from across the globe. Much like model railroad shows in format, Miniatures shows, as they are known, have tables and booths for artisans and dealers to display and sell their work.
Some tables, like this one, carry work in different media from different well-known and avidly-collected artisans:
Miniatures artisans work in every medium, from structures and rooms to painting, furniture-making, porcelain, bronze to plant-making and needlework. Very often, miniatures artisans are masters in their fields, such as wood carving, painting, needlework, jewelry/smithing and apply their expert craftsmanship to 1" scale. At this show I am continually amazed at how the artisans are very often professionally trained in their medium - many with advanced degrees in art, architecture, engineering and history - and approach their modeling accordingly. Most of the people I've met in model railroading enter the hobby as railfans, train enthusiasts or nostalgic toy collectors and approach the modeling according to their backgrounds.
An example of specialist-artisan work I collect is porcelain. In this medium alone, artisans use different full-scale techniques and historical styles to guide their work in 1" scale with a wide variety of pieces to collect. One artisan, Henny Staring-Egberts, whose work I avidly collect, specializes in reproductions of Dutch historical work in the Delft tradition. Trained in classical pottery and porcelain in her native Holland, her work masterfully captures the detail and techniques of the Dutch art in 1" scale.
Because I view modeling as an art form, I'm always interested the work and techniques of other scales and media. Like model railroading, Miniatures (most often 1" scale, but 1/2' and 1/4" scales are also represented) has its own organizations. One such organization, of which I have been a member for many years, is the International Guild of Miniatures Artisans (IGMA: www.igma.org). The 'Guild,' as it is often called, has certifications for two levels of expert modeling: IGMA Artisan and IGMA Fellow. Much like MMA in the NMRA, a rigorous process of perfecting one's art and juried selection confer these titles. (Although not covered here specifically, ship-building is another field of modeling that has fascinated me.)
My particular interest in 1" scale is the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th Century. In this period, blue-and-white porcelain, as illustrated here, was avidly collected. The Movement also developed many new techniques for finishing everything from furniture to dishes and the rooms themselves. Another example of Aesthetic Style artisanship is the use of different materials to create spectacular effect. While at the Chicago International Show, I had the opportunity to learn one of these techniques - applied mother-of-pearl - for furniture. Alice Zinn is an artisan who has perfected this technique as applied to Japanese and Chinese-styled furniture, which was avidly collected in the Aesthetic Movement. From her class on applying mother-of-pearl to furniture, I made this screen:
My training in architectural and cultural history draws me to 1" as the medium for expressing a 19th-century building, while HO scale is my canvas for urban landscape of the 1950s. Both modeling approaches have a lot of commonality, and learning techniques and tools from one inevitably opens up modeling possibilities in the other. The Show was energizing, and it gave me a lot of ideas for approaching the layout's overall aesthetic and operation, which I have already started to apply to the layout - particularly in the freight house complex, which is set to be the first area of scenery I want to tackle on the layout.
1" scale miniatures have taught me a lot about how to approach modeling in general and HO modeling in particular. But it is amazing to observe how little these two worlds (1" and HO scales) know about each other. This is but a brief rambling introduction.
Valuable References for this Essay
If interested in further reading, here are some good points of reference for the topics and artisans discussed here:
For more information about the Guild, visit www.igma.org
Chicago International is an annual show from Tom Bishop Productions, who offers similar shows throughout the world: http://www.bishopshow.com/blank-chv5
Karon Cunningham, whose table is pictured here with her permission, has more information at http://www.karoncunningham.com/
More information on Henny Starting-Egberts, whose work is also pictured here, can be found at http://www.ceramicminiatures.eu/UShome.html
Alice Zinn specializes in figures (animal and human) and different finishing techniques for miniature furniture: http://www.alicezinn.com/AliceZinn.com/Alice_Zinn_Designer_and_Creator_of_1_12th_Scale_Miniatures.html
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