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Card modelling, (referred to as paper modeling in the USA) is a compelling hobby. For decades card has been a stock material for building both imaginative children's toys and accurate scale models (for railway modelling, war gaming or display). Today, improvements in technology have given card a new lease of life and pushed it to the forefront of modelling activity.
Card model kits are extremely convenient as they can be stored and distributed electronically and printed out only when needed (a job within the capabilities of most modern domestic printers). Generally, there is no requirement for potentially messy painting.
Many model builders have a veracious appetite for kits and often acquire them at a greater rate than can be completed. Fortunately even hard-copies of card model kits are easy to store unobtrusively on a bookshelf, therefore posing no threat to domestic harmony. The tools required for card modelling are generally to be found around the home. Careful scoring of fold-lines is the key to accuracy of shape. Unlike plastic models, where completion of the kit generates a pile of waste in the form of plastic sprue, card models are created from sheets little more than twice the density of normal copier paper and hence the trimmings are easily recycled.
Where card scores (if you'll pardon the pun) over other materials is in representing architecture. Card lends itself to the kind of shapes involved and the intricate patterns that adorn many buildings are no problem either, since the models come ready-printed. The finished result can be stunning, as illustrated in the adjacent photo of Schreiber-Bogen's Frauenkirche. This particular specimen was constructed by expert model builder Graham Dixey. By clicking on the adjacent image, a larger picture can be viewed to better appreciate the exquisite nature of the fine-detail.
While there are a large number of card models available for architectural subjects in continental Europe, there are relatively few specimens representing buildings in Britain. One man who has been working valiantly to improve the coverage of British Architecture is Roger Pattenden of Heritage Models. He produces a number of excellent card model kits, including the number one best-selling Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Finally, for those newly embarking on this captivating hobby, Alvar Hansen's comprehensive book entitled "Card Modelling" is an absolute must. Available in the UK from Marcle Models, it is written in a wonderfully readable, informal style.
