Houses of the time of the military, houses for peaceful games ...
A cozy doll house and its inhabitants ... Maybe you should forget about all the troubles that surround us today and go back to childhood? Or is it a very serious occupation that can give a lot and teach a lot?
Which was built by Jack.
And this is wheat,
Which is stored in a dark closet
In home,
Which was built by Jack.
Samuel Marshak
Creators of the reduced world. Today, when many of us are forced to stay home because of the virus, it makes sense once again to return to the topic of creativity: what else to do while sitting at home? And for some people this “idleness” is a real gift of fate.
People took up (finally!) The repair, or even indulged in engaging in model art. And on the pages of VO we already talked about soldiers (and business on them!), And about modeling armored vehicles, and even casually touched ship models and aviation. What was not said is about the mock-ups of doll houses. And this hobby exactly today breaks all records of popularity among both children and adults.
Today, our story within the framework of the cycle "Creators of a shrunken world" will again go in parallel: on the one hand, about what passion for doll houses can give a person with hands and head, and on the other hand, we will get to know two such houses and the inhabitants of one of them, as well as manufacturing technologies. Suddenly, someone will like this activity during self-isolation ...
Such a house could be purchased from us at magazine kiosks, and then assembled and filled with all kinds of accessories. But without the inhabitants. They must be bought separately.
The front wall of it opens wide, on hinges like a two-leaf door, and here is what can be seen inside it
Let's start with stories. It is known that the oldest doll house was made in 1558 (although it is believed that in 1611) by order of the Bavarian Duke Albert V for his daughter. The house was not preserved, but there is a description of it, from which it is known that there was a room for needlework and a bathroom!
The bathroom, of course, is not as luxurious as in the house of Duke Albert, but in its own way is also very sweet
Already in the XVII century, doll houses began to be used as visual aids for training young ladies in housekeeping. Utensils, furniture, curtains, miniature books and even knitted purses were masterfully made, as if accidentally forgotten on the edge of a table.
The houses were populated with figures of people of all sizes, and, of course, they needed clothes, so tailors also got involved in this business. And not only tailors! For example, Queen Victoria of England had a collection of 132 dolls, of which she dressed 32 herself, and then furnished the palace puppet theater, which is now on display at the Museum of London. Home cabinets appeared - cabinets on legs with doors, and toy houses in which the roof was removed and all the walls were opened so that the figures inside could be played. And, as always, there were very expensive, elite noble houses that amuse the pride of their owners, and more democratic, to the tastes and wallets of everyone else. In England, in the Victorian era, every decent nursery had to have its own dollhouse. In Germany in 1900, a doll house cost an average of 10 to 75 marks. There were inexpensive folding houses made of cardboard, and even then houses from just one room appeared, with such a house you could play on the table.
But the most famous house, of course, was Queen Mary's House, commissioned by the architect Mary Lutens Queen Mary - the wife of George V. Since 1925, he was in Windsor Castle. Everything in it was the latest technology! Underground parking, where there were six limousines, refrigerators, first-aid kits, elevators, closets and even a waste tank - nothing was forgotten!
Dollhouse can be multi-storey and expensive
The British tend to love their monarchs and even their quirks. And since the British press constantly wrote about the Queen’s hobby, the fashion for doll houses literally captured England.
It can be portable: on the roof, like a suitcase, a pen!
Not very long, this house retained a palm. In 1956, John and Jane Zweifel decided to create a model of the White House. The layout took 14 years and about one million dollars. The weight of the house is about 10 tons! It has three hundred meters of wires and six miniature televisions, and even tiny bulbs - without counting. Moreover, the decoration of the Oval Office in it is updated all the time, as soon as it is updated by the next president!
Originals turn mannequin heads into a dwelling. You can make a series of such houses. Well, the buyer gets the mannequin and cuts it according to your instructions. But how original! After all, no one has this!
Today the most popular scale of the house is 1:12, and the most popular styles are Victorian, British Colonial, American Wild West and pop art.
But here, first of all, “VO” is here, this is, firstly, and secondly, the topic of modeling as a form of leisure and a certain income. Therefore, we will continue further in this vein.
Imagine any diorama on a scale of 1:35 with the same tanks "Sherman" on the street of the Italian town. Narrow street, typical houses with trellised shutters, clothesline with several rows. And the tanks, and the townspeople, and the lack of rear walls on the houses facing the street, and there - furniture, and residents at the windows, and a couple, which all the tanks and allies are "to the bulb," because they are busy with a completely different ... In short, there a life. And it can be an absolutely gorgeous set, like those made by the Miniart company.
You can start production with the manufacture of bricks at different scales ...
The same story, but at home in ruins ... Scattered broken brick, broken glass in the windows, walls with traces of bullets, charred roof beams. There are those who do it themselves with love. And there are lazy people who prefer to buy a set of parts. And you can start the "production" with the most ordinary "bricks" on a scale of 1:35!
All home parts can be cast in epoxy resin in vixint molds
And you can make from ordinary cardboard packaging!
People love the series. And the more original they are, the better! For example, it can be a series of houses - rock monasteries. And to them in addition - the Brazilian favelas or something else as exotic. People are generally greedy for exotics, so why not ?!
A very original would be a large-scale set made on a U-turn of the magazine “Technique - Youth” No. 6 for 1943
It shows a house in Stalingrad and how it is defended ... That's what it is called: “House of Stalingrad” and show how our soldiers defended it. The set itself consists of several sets, that is, the buyer has a choice. Very historical and patriotic. Especially if the kit itself will complement not only the assembly instructions, but also the corresponding text.
Here is a picture of a house from a magazine. But there is a real monument house in Volgograd! Came, photographed outside and inside - and inhabit it with people. A manual in Russian, English, German, French, Chinese and Japanese!
But will not it be interesting, first of all, abroad, a three-story typical Russian house of the beginning of the twentieth century of some prosperous merchant with a shop and a rented basement for workers! Such houses have survived. You can restore their interior and furnishings from photographs, make copies of furniture and accessories from museum collections. For the same British, Germans or French, the Russian merchant house is such a wonder that it can cause interest. Naturally, the strategy for the development and launch of certain sets on the market needs to be thought out, the issue of advertising and the legal status of your production should be resolved, that is, to take everything seriously. But on the other hand, that this is a pleasant and interesting activity is undoubted.
"House-stump", "house - ladies' boot" (and even with the elevator!) - you can think of anything you want ...
But even if you start making such a house “just like that”, just to please your child, your work will be fully rewarded. “Dad makes me a house!” The delight that you will hear in these words will remain in your heart for life, moreover, your matured son or daughter will talk about this also with their children, and your creation will decorate both your own home and the home of your children.
Doll houses have become the subject of horror movies, they are so popular ...
One movie is worse than another!
We often say that modern parents cannot bridge the bridge to their children, that they don’t have communication, that their life goes on in parallel worlds. So, working together on such a house is just a great way to get close to your child, to confidentially talk heart to heart while working.
But this is my house for the granddaughter, which I made with her when she showed a craving for needlework ... A typical half-timbered house
And, of course, the child’s mind is at the tips of his fingers and his brain develops when he does something with his hands. To participate in the manufacture of such a house for a child is just what it can do. Well, let him participate with you. And the reward for your diligence and patience (and you cannot do without it!) Will come.
All small accessories (door hinges, fasteners, the same door handles and bells) are sold today
Materials for making a dollhouse can be the simplest, of course, if you do not plan on mass production. Then, of course, you will need expenses in large volumes. For example, for the manufacture of large-scale bricks, it will be necessary to make a large vixint form immediately for many bricks, and not even one. Viksintovye forms will be needed for curly cornices, platbands, caryatids and cupids that adorn the facade, and they, in turn, will need to be ordered by someone if you yourself, for example, can’t make a miniature torso from plasticine.
The shutters are made of chopsticks for coffee. Window frames under a wild stone - chewed, cracked bread!
Those who have the skills of an electrician may well establish the production of miniature battery-powered luminaires with LEDs instead of light bulbs. Such lamps are at a great price. Moreover, as always, the Chinese took notice here, having thrown into the market even the lamps “from Tiffany”. But there were so many porcelain chandeliers, sconces, kerosene lamps that there will be enough samples for your age. The “Master of Kerosene Lamps” sounds quite good, and this niche is still not very densely occupied.
A separate niche is food. It can also be molded in vixint shapes, and then painted with model paints. A lobster with vegetables on a porcelain dish will always look great, as well as a Christmas goose with legs tied with ribbons or the same rosy turkey.
Lobster with a side dish of vegetables! And this is not a Chinese craft, but the work of my wife, who, like her granddaughter, took an active part in creating this house
In a word, you can do all this if you wish. Make for your children and even turn this activity into a good business.
- Vyacheslav Shpakovsky
- Want to become a commander of an ovarian army? Earn on the soldiers!
Creator of the reduced world. Figures of Igor Ivanov
Borodino on the table. Figures and dioramas
Military dolls from the Hermitage collection
Military dolls for adults
Figures of soldiers from the Army Museum in Paris
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