[Rupert Cordeux]

I have just started designing a new model-kit of Lincoln Cathedral ( UK ). To the uninitiated, it is one of the largest and most beautiful cathedrals in Britain. It stands above the city of Lincoln and can be seen from many miles away. It is one of the wonders of the world.

The proportions of the proposed model are not derived from existing drawings or plans, but from satellite images and photographs taken at a distance in order to minimise distortion.

Sources seem to differ on the precise length and breadth of the building and are vague about whether the proffered measurements are internal or external. Nobody, however, disagrees on the interior height of the nave or on the height of the central tower. So that is where I start. The number 1.275 - almost mystical to me, converts feet to millimetres for the model and so the Central Tower at a height to the pinnacles of 271 feet works out at 345 mm or for ease visualisation,13.5 inches.

Here I have drawings which show that my workings-out translate to an authentic west facade, one of the most iconic parts of most cathedrals and so a part which must be got to look right. I was a bit worried about how low and sprawled the main part of the cathedral looks, but I have checked this to my satisfaction.

Next, I will start making the trial-run boxes for all of the main parts. It will be big! Almost as long as Ely, perhaps not quite as massive as York, but with far more monastic remains and so covering a bigger area.

My 1990 model-kit of Lincoln Cathedral which some of you may know, was OK, but very wasteful of card, rather poorly drawn and in parts, very difficult to make. This model will seek to put all those problems in the past and, drawn at 3 x the finished size, will be more detailed and more stunning than all that have gone before.

SO. WATCH THIS SPACE.

I have added some recent watercolours done near Banbury for a bit of variety!