Folks - I've obtained via a rather strange route a copy of Geoffrey
Deason's 'Simple Cardboard Models'. This is one of the best books ever
published on card modelling and these days is very hard to find.
As I already have my own copy, I propose selling the second one, and to
this end I am offering it first to those whom I know are most likely to
appreciate it - the members of this list.
The copy is in excellent condition, but has a couple of finger smudges
on the cover. No tears in cover or pages.
Listed below (from Steve Brown's Cardmodel FAQ - www.cardfaq.org/faq/)
is a review I wrote for the FAQ many years ago. My views have not changed.
The price, because of its rarity is US $100 - I've used US dollars as
most list members will have a ready idea of their local currency's
conversion rate to USD. While this might seem expensive, I recently saw
a copy sell for $130 and it was not in as good condition as this copy..
Shipping, of course, will be extra, and will be by Australia Post. You
can get an idea of the likely cost of the postage at www.auspost.com.au,
and allow a weight of about 500 grams . The book - about the size of an
A4 page and a centimetre thick - will be wrapped in plastic and
supported by thick card to prevent damage in transit. Originating post
office has a postcode of 2600.
I'll allow a week for members, if interested, to respond - after that
I'll put it up on eBay or one of specialist book site. Please respond to
me off-list at [email protected].
Bob Pounds
Canberra
(Review begins)
Geoffrey Deason was among the doyen of card modelers. His interest
stretches back to his boyhood, and over the ensuing years he had a great
influence on card modeling both as a practitioner and a promoter. Deason
was a regular contributor to a wide range of British modeling magazines,
principally those of the old Model and Allied Publications (MAP) stable,
and especially "Scale Models". At one time he was editor of the
company's "Model Cars" magazine, and I certainly recall his articles in
"Model Boats".
His major work was a book published in 1958 called "Cardboard
Engineering with Scissors and Paste", which was reprinted in 1969 under
the title "Simple Cardboard Models". Ninety per cent of the book is
devoted to scratch building and covers road and rail vehicles, ships,
etc, and usually also dealt with motorising the models, where this was
feasible. Curiously, there is no mention of aircraft. Deason was a
contemporary of Micromodels' Geoffrey Heighway -- indeed, in the book he
has a photograph of a small car model which he made from three business
cards and "which was the prototype for a Micromodels model".
His scratch modeling tips were brilliant. I have never found anything to
match his method of producing wire-spoked wheels for sports and racing
car models. Deason was also a great advocate of jigs - for all sorts of
jobs. His construction guide for the wheels, great and small, of a
traction engine is particularly impressive. While he was not a 'rivet
counter' in terms of absolute accuracy, he was very much of the school
that the finished product should be as accurate as YOUR SKILL LEVEL
PERMITS IT TO BE. In other words, the end result should be satisfying
for the constructor in terms of his or her ability at that time. He did
not condemn the neophyte whose skills did not match a more advanced
builder.
But he always encouraged builders to learn more. And this is the great
advantage of the book: no matter what your skill level, there is sure to
be something in it that you will learn. For example, the gum-strip
technique for shaping the very complex hull shape of the Paddle Tug
"Anglia" is not something a first-time builder would be wise to
undertake, yet would be a very appealing new method for compound curve
shapes for someone with reasonably advanced skills to try.
Deason did not like the simple 'cut-out'. If the original of the
component being modeled was three-dimensional, then insofar as it was
possible for it to be so, the model must be, too. Yet sometimes his
modeling instructions seem to say the opposite. It was really a clever
inspirational ploy. YOU were encouraged to try adding a bit more. In the
instructions for his model River Clyde puffer, the deckhouse has only
card cut-out windows. However, a builder, having reached that stage, and
having developed a level of self confidence, would hardly resist adding
clear plastic or cellophane "window panes" (this modeler included).
Deason seemed content to model almost anything but equally it is clear
that ships were a great love. In 1972 he released "Cardboard Ship
Models" which details construction methods for three model boats that
ranged from a very simple destroyer to a reasonably complex coastal ferry.
Indeed, I recall an article in "Model Boats" (July 1975) in which he
outlined construction of a model boat (SY /Cardella/) which then was
fitted with a live steam engine. His goal was to sail the boat across a
particular lake, and as I recall the venture succeeded.
.....
Deason's books are absolutely the best thing for a card modeler to find.
I have a reasonably comprehensive library of card modeling books, but
none approach the craft with the seriousness and intent of purpose of
Geoffrey Deason's.
(ends
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