Miniature Building Construction by John H. Ahern Soft cover

$75.00

Miniature Building Construction by John H. Ahern soft cover

Miniature Building Construction

John H. Ahern

Soft Cover

150 Pages

1st published 1950

Second Impression 1956

Third Impression 1969

Fourth Impression 1971

Fifth Impression 1973

Contents

I. ON CHOOSING THINGS TO MODEL I

The art of selection and elimination—Working from notes and rough sketches—Photography—Importance of roof detail—Collecting material—Country buildings—List of useful books.

II. TOOLS AND MATERIALS - - - - 7

Card and paper—Stripwood and plywood—Parcel strip—Building papers—Celluloid and Perspex—Adhesives—Pins and nails—Paints—Razor blades—Drawing and measuring instruments—Saws, drills, chisels, etc.—Shellac.

III. CONSTRUCTIONAL METHODS - - - 13

Cutting out and assembling—The layer method—Doors and windows—Wings and lean-tos—Sills and string courses—Roofs, hipped, gabled, parapeted, mansard—Cornices—Ridging—Flat roofs—Roof lights—Dormer and mansard windows—Porches—Bay windows —Timber construction—Painting and finishing.

IV. SUBURBAN VILLAS - - - 51

A typical modern design and variations—Semi-detached houses—Positions of flues and plumbing—Alternative wall finishes.

V. COTTAGES - - - - - 55

Local styles—A typical group—Thatch—Cottage gardens and outbuildings—Walls and fences—Devonshire cob—Weather board-ing—Half-timber—" Waterloo " cottages.

VI. FARMS - - - - - 66

A farmhouse design—Barns, sheds and stables—An arrangement

to fit a corner of a room--Farmyard details.

VII. WALLS AND FENCES 69

Materials and methods of fixing to the baseboard—Types suitable

for various purposes.

VIII. RAILWAY BUILDINGS - - 72

" Madderport "—A platform shelter and possible additions—Winchester, Southern Railway—A London Transport station—A goods depot design—Signal boxes and fittings—Locomotive sheds.

IX. SHOP FRONTS - - - - 93

External details, facial, etc.—Modelling a front with " return "—Window screens—Window dressing for various trades : a grocer, estate agent, chemist, greengrocer, newsagent, etc.

X. FACTORIES AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL PREMISES - - 101

Adaptable factory designs—Outbuildings, cycle racks, etc.—Warehouses—A timber merchant's.

XI. PUBLIC HOUSES AND INNS - - - - - 109

Rural and urban types.

XII. GARAGES - - - - - - - I12

A large modern design—Petrol pumps, etc.—" Bert's "—old tyres

and petrol cans—An A.A. telephone box.

XIII. THE -ULTRA-MODERN - - - - - - 117

Special problems for the modelmaker —Use of Perspex or glass—Some typical features.

XIV. LOW-RELIEF MODELLING - - - - - I2I

Background problems—A substitute for painted scenery—Flat frontages—Methods of construction—Some useful background schemes—Blending foreground into background, useful devices—Modified perspective—Where to place the horizon line.

XV. BACKGROUND SCENERY - - - - - - 137

Methods for the beginner—Materials—Putting on washes of colour—Effect of distance on colour—A simple tree background—Houses and street scenes.

XVI. LIGHTHOUSES AND HARBOUR LIGHTS - - - - 144

APPENDIX - -- - - - - - 146

THE principal difficulty encountered in the preparation of this book has been to decide where to begin and where to end. The scope of the subject is so wide that it seemed a hopeless task to try to include designs to please everybody, or to fulfil every purpose ; so I haven't tried. Most of the drawings, although not quite all, reflect my own likes and prejudices, or are included because they demonstrate how to tackle some specific problem. A few, however, reflect my dislikes, and it may possibly amuse the reader to make his own private guesses as to which these are. No prizes offered !

But this is not primarily a " plan book " ; its purpose is to tell the reader how to set about modelling buildings, and how to adapt the methods described and illustrated to the reproduction in miniature of any particular building he may fancy. And I have made no more than passing reference to the weighty subject of architectural styles. Most readers probably do not want to be bothered with such terms as Gothic, Classical, and Renaissance, and so many excellent histories of architecture are readily available that it would seem rather redundant to encumber the present work with matter which is obtainable from any good bookshop or library.

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