T. A. Richardson

“ OF THE INSTRUMENTS NECESSARY. The first thing the artist must procure must be a board of fine, close-grained wood, free from knots, to prepare and cut the several parts of his work upon. The best for this cutting-board is beech, sycamore, or pear-tree wood; it should be, at the least, one and a-half inch thick, by twelve inches broad, and about eighteen inches in length. I should prefer it even thicker than stated, as continual planing of the surface to erase the marks of the knife soon reduces its thickness. ”

“ In modelling, as in painting, there are numerous tricks and contrivances for producing various effects; and as the painter will often value a bit of old scrubby, worn-down brush, so the modeller will find various cutting instruments materially assist him, such as the broken blade of a knife, a steel pen, a bradawl, &c., &c., many of these producing effects that more elaborate instruments would have failed doing. On page 33 will be found an engraving representing three requisite varieties of knives. ”

“ And though the grounds are laid out, the picturesque undulations of the surface, the ponds, flower-beds, arcades, terraces, lawns, shrubs, and trees, faithfully represented, let it not for one moment be supposed that by so doing we render what was before a work of art, a mere toy. ”

“ Rather at this juncture let him examine some model by an adept in the art, comparing his work with it. By these means he will be enabled to see the points in his own requiring 15improvement, and then let him continue to labour perseveringly and diligently until he gains a perfect command of his knife and materials, and few will be found but will admit that the result at last obtained fully repays him for his time and labour. There is no doubt that the art is of very great antiquity, and that in former times no building of importance was erected without one having been previously constructed. ”

“ The most convenient size of paper to work at for an ordinary-sized model will be made by doubling a sheet of the paper as first procured into four. On the paper becoming perfectly dry, the student must carefully draw each elevation of the building the full height from the ground line to the top of the blocking, being particular that every line both perpendicular and horizontal is perfectly true and square, and marking along faintly the lines for the cornice, strings, &c., &c., that may occur. ”

“ The advantage, in fact, the 30necessity for a steel blade, will be obvious; were it of wood, the pressure of the knife along its edge would indent, or cut it. This square will be found adapted for every description of large and small work, but should the cardboard be of great thickness it is apt to stir, and by so doing cause irregularity of line. To remedy this an instrument is used, called an adjusting straight-edge. A is a straight ruler of flat brass, or of steel, like the blade of the T-square. ”

“ To make our meaning perfectly plain, we annex an engraving of the appearance of an internal angle when at this stage of the proceedings. A piece of wood (deal) about 1⁄2 inch thick, should now be 56attached to the model from one side to the other (see page 57) . This is for the purpose of fastening the model, when completed, to its stand; it may be blocked with waste pieces, such as the cuttings from doors, windows, &c., and gummed firmly. Pieces or strips of cardboard should also be gummed along in the inside, at the level of the intended gutters of the house, to rest the roof upon. ”

“ Form any strings, cornices, &c., &c., that occur, by cutting the piece flat, and then cutting the square out of the middle to admit of the shaft, slip it over the shaft or body of the chimney, till it arrives at the position required by the design, where it is at once to be secured in its place. Perhaps our meaning may be rendered clearer by the accompanying illustration. A represents the cornice prepared in the manner described, and only requiring to be fixed in its place. B, the shaft or body of the chimney over which the cornice is to be slipped till it arrives at the dotted lines ”

“ It may, perhaps, be thought that these thicknesses of paper for the frames and backing are unnecessary, and that one might serve as well; but from experience I can assert, that unless this method 49be adopted, that flatness the work should have, will not be obtained. It may also be as well here to caution the reader against pressing with too great a degree upon the cardboard when it is under the action of the press. If too great a pressure is given, the cardboard will become so hard as to resist all efforts of the knife to cut through it. ”

“ Prepare a piece of dry wood about two or 89three inches wider all round than the building itself, cover it with cloth or velvet, the latter preferable, the best colour green, and cut a small groove out of the upper edge; this is to receive the glass shade, which construct thus: procure five pieces of glass, the sizes rendered necessary by your stand to form a square or oblong shade, and fasten all together by means of strips of thin paper and gum (the dull gold paper to be procured in sheets at any of the artists’ repositories will look best) at their edges. ”

“ A represents a chimney, the base of which is cut simply one way, to suit the slope of the roof. B, a chimney into which the ridge cuts, and the angle cut both ways from the apex. It will, as a general rule, be found better to put chimneys together with thin paper, even in the smallest models, a squareness being thus produced not to be obtained otherwise. ”

“ Balusters of grotesque, Elizabethan, or other patterns, when cut out of the solid stone, must be made by gumming the paper in different thicknesses, till that required is obtained, carefully drawing the pattern, and then cutting out with knife No. 3. Turned work, as circular pedestals for statues, sundials, gate-piers, balusters, &c., cannot be successfully imitated in paper, but are better turned in wood of some light colour, and then tinted with body colour to the required shade ”

“ In the inner angle (see fig. 2) no mitre is required; the end of one piece being cut square, they may be made to overlap one another. Lay the piece, whatever it may be you wish to mitre, face down upon the cutting-board; and then at a distance (equal to the whole thickness of the cardboard) from the edge draw a line; and at a short distance back from this line sufficient to let the point of the knife touch it when held slanting to the required angle, fix the adjusting straight-edge previously described ”

“ The windows and their frames must now be made and gummed at the back of the several openings; where panels occur paper of the same tint must be used, sometimes the pieces cut from the 47windows will form very good backing for such parts. For the window frames take some large-sized cream laid paper, and colour it to the tint you wish your frames to be. Should a representation of oak be preferred, it may be imitated successfully thus: First paint your paper yellow, gamboge and a little burnt sienna will do, and then prepare a thick colour with Chinese white and burnt sienna ”

“ In the simple scoring, proceed to cut out of the slate tinted paper pieces accurately fitting to the groundwork of the roof, then with the knife handle score these sides along, as you would ink in the roof lines in a drawing, closer at the ridge, becoming wider at the base, and parallel to each other. The latter by cutting layers of paper, gauged decreasing in size as before directed, fixing them to the groundwork of the roof beginning at the base, and overlapping them about 1⁄16th of an inch ”

“ Should the chimney come on the roof lower down than the ridge, the bottom of the shaft will have to be cut to the angle required by the rake of the roof only; but should the chimney be cut into by the ridge, then the angle will follow that of the roof on both sides, diverging from the apex. ”

“ Chimneys, those great ornaments to a house, at least they should be rendered so, but, alas! for the taste of some of our modern architects, are far more frequently the reverse, and what in able hands and with judicious treatment would prove a crowning feature and a material 80assistance to the design, becomes a glaring error and ruins the whole. So much for the architect: but should he fortunately possess the ability and taste to produce those necessaries to our comfort, with equal credit to himself and benefit to the design, how often do we see his work marred by the introduction of Messrs. ”

“ It is firm, though not hard, in texture, and not being too spongy, does not absorb to too great a degree the paste used in fastening together the sheets for the various thicknesses required, thus ensuring their firmness, a matter of the highest importance, otherwise in thin strips 21consisting of four, five, or more thicknesses of paper, upon their being cut each would part and defeat the desired end. ”

“ With many clients, even “perspectives” are poorly understood, which seldom fails to cause some slight dissatisfaction on their part when they see too late certain things that the eye would have detected in the model and corrected in the outset. Models are becoming very general, where buildings are subjects of competition ”

“ The size of board mentioned will be found most useful for all ordinary purposes; should the work be of very large dimensions, of course another must be procured, proportionally larger. Two or three boards of close-grained deal will also be found of service for cutting obliquely, &c., &c.
THE MODELLING PRESS. This apparatus will be found of essential service to the artist, as by its aid he forms the cardboard which is the basis of his model. ”

“ You had better place the pieces that came from between the mullions while cutting the splay, in their places again between the mullions, to offer resistance to the knife and prevent them bending. The eyes may be successfully formed by packing-needles of diamond shape, fixed in a handle. ”

“ First, paper upon which you intend to cut out any tracery, must be pressed closer together than that used for ordinary work, so as to afford more assistance to the knife when cutting on 109the splay. Having drawn the design of your window, proceed to cut out all the interstices with knife No. 3; then splay down from the nosing with knives Nos. 1 and 2, as each may be found useful, cutting through with one stroke, or rather with a succession of short strokes right through on the slant, boldly and without leaving a jagged edge; afterwards smooth your work with ivory or agate. ”

“ When all are prepared, they must be fixed most accurately in their places. The bell of the capital must be tinted previously, to resemble in colour the rest of the work.
105 Column, Circular.—This description of columns must be formed out of very thin paper, rolled as close as possible to the required lengths and diameters, thinning the paper at the extreme edge with a very sharp knife to conceal the join. If the columns are too small to be cleverly rolled, they may be turned as described for balusters ”

“ While all our attention is being turned towards Italian architecture, Gothic must not be forgotten, and though the general method of procedure is the same for both, yet there are numerous things which exist only in the latter style, and in consequence demand separate instructions. ”

“ No. 1 is a section of the cutting-board, showing the groove in which the piece of brass runs. 2, The brass, to which is attached the thumb-screws, by means of a screw through the eye at B. 3 3 3, Thumb-screws, to screw down the ruler upon the paper. The brass rule should not be less than an eighth of an inch in thickness, otherwise it may bend; if steel it will do a little less. ”

“ For, as it is well known, no colouring, however fine, will in a picture make up for bad and incorrect drawing, so in a model, walls out of square or windows and other apertures ill-cut will not present the wished-for appearance, though all the details be most skilfully and beautifully modelled. Draw in all doors, windows, &c., &c., with a very hard pencil, in order that the lines may be as fine as possible, and cut them out with knife No. ”

“ Hood Mould.—These may be cut with the “knife-compass,” and the mouldings worked by fitting a piece of ivory filed to the required form in lieu of the knife; they must be slightly gummed upon the underside to the cutting-board, to keep them steady while being worked.
I. Ironwork.—May be represented in either paper, tea-lead, thin sheet copper, or wire, depending on size 108and form; perhaps the easiest and best material for general purposes is tea-lead, i. e., the lead with which the tea chests are lined. ”

“ This instrument will be found particularly useful in cutting the necessary mitres for joining together the edges of the work, or for any other 32work of similar description, such as the copings to walls, mouldings of every description, &c., &c. Having now described these very important instruments in a way we hope may prove perfectly intelligible, we proceed to state the requirements in those necessary ones, knives. The number of these the artist will use, is regulated more by his own fancy than anything else ”

“ PLAN OF ENTRANCE DOOR.
51First draw the door with the extreme size of 52the opening of each panel, on a two-thickness sheet; on another two-thickness sheet, draw the same panels a size smaller; on a third two-thickness sheet, draw them a size smaller still; these being cut out and placed behind one another, and finally the backing; will admirably represent mouldings: by producing three separate lines round the inside of each panel. For work to 1⁄8 scale no further trouble will be necessary ”