Pasadena Central Library Paper Model Display

[dto]

After a long hiatus, the Southern California Paper Modelers Conspiracy has struck again in Pasadena, California! (Yes, the city that holds a Rose Parade every year.) Two large display cases now feature paper models through the month of June. "Paper Models in the Internet Age" focuses on the transformation of our hobby after the Cold War, as Eastern European model designers adopted new technology to create high quality artwork, while the growth of the Web and online commerce spawned a flood of new paper models, many of them free downloads.

The second case has a smaller exhibit, "Paper Models -- From Pasadena to the Stars!". This centers on aerospace models connected to Pasadena's history, including honored former residents Professor Thaddeus Lowe and Pancho Barnes, the Vin Fiz, and JPL space probes. Also included are tips for downloading and building paper models, a gallery of various paper models and handouts. Both cases are in the northeast section of the library, in the "Business Wing".

Many thanks to fellow Conspirators who assisted in this successful infiltration, including Bob Penikas and Jason Sutton. Also special appreciation to Papermodels.com forum member Darwin Grigg, who contributed two "before and after" Maly Modelarz kits of the same plane to highlight the dramatic changes between the "burlap" models of 1970 and the new generation seen by 2002.

(Hopefully photos will be posted soon -- should have taken the closeups BEFORE closing the glass doors, but this took far longer to set up than expected.)

David T. Okamura

[Don Boose]

I look forward to the images and wish I could have been there to meet dto, Darwin, Bob Penikas, and Jason Sutton in person and to see their models.

Don

[MichaelS]

This is great!! A few years back my pla#$%teeq club did displays at quite a few libraries. We even did a huge display for the foyer of the traveling Titanic exhibit. It was more work than you can imagine but we all really enjoyed doing it.

Looking forward to pics....

MS

[dto]

Here's two photos of the exhibit.

Photo #01

Shelf One has an overview of paper models prior to the digital and online revolutions -- some Rigby models, a Jack Armstrong plane, an Alan Rose book, Micromodels, a (very small) Wilhelmshaven boat, then leading to a direct comparison between two Maly Modelarz kits, courtesy of Darwin Grigg.

Shelf Two focuses on pioneer Chip Fyn and Fiddlers Green's transition from postcard models to digital format.

Shelf Three spotlights Canon Creative Park, which I thought had the most variety of introductory and intermediate models in one site. (This exhibit was to help promote the library's STEAM program for young students.) Thanks to Jason Sutton for that magnificent Oriental Dragon!

Bottom shelf covers some of the more recent printed models, with die cutting, sound and light modules. Also the handout tray.


Photo #02

Shelf One: By special request, we included Pasadena-centric models, They still fondly remember Civil War balloonist Professor Thaddeus Lowe (a nearby mountain still bears his name), and his granddaughter Pancho Barnes, so models of the Intrepid balloon and a modified Travel Air "Mystery Ship" were added. Bob Penikas built the Vin Fiz, which landed on the current Cal Tech athletic field in 1911, Two PaperPino globes and a JPL-themed "rocket garden" fill the remaining space.

Shelf Two begins with two "spokespeople" offering downloading tips -- a pirate warning of digital piracy, and a zombie who didn't practice safe downloading or updated his antivirus program. Then some "Tools of the Trade", an explanation of paper models vs. origami, and funs things to do with paper models -- shrinking them to extremely small sizes, or using the parts as templates, as Bob Penikas did with his "Coke Zero".

Shelf Three gets crowded with little paper people -- hako-clones, cubees and more. A full-sized printed Wolverine smirks while Kirk and Spock discuss intellectural property, "fair use" and "fan art". Some miscellaneous models and an automata end this level.

Shelf Four featured Delta 7 Studios, followed by so many models that a bulldozer had to pile some into the far corner!

And yet, there were so many items I wanted to include, especially in the historical display. I had another Rigby book, an older Dover book, a Peter A. Zorn, Jr.'s kit, examples from LS, Wilhelmshaven, J.F. Schreibner, and GELI to represent Western Europe, a PMI catalog, and a more recent Halinski kit showing realistic weathering effects. But as you can see, I was barely able to squeeze in the basics.

David T. Okamura

[MrConk]

Thank you for this exciting news. I had no idea of this happening and yet I live only 4 1/2 miles from the library. Thank you again.

[Don Boose]

Great display, David!

[dto]

Thanks for your comments. One reason why I kept mum until now was that I wasn't completely confident this would happen, and then all kinds of last-second snafus delayed me. (And of course, we ARE a Conspiracy!) ;-)

Even though I had the case dimensions, it was difficult to visualize how it would all come together beforehand. That's why it took seven hours on Saturday, and an additional hour on Sunday adding stuff I forgot! And there's things I learned only by hands-on experience -- since the case interiors are illuminated from above, wide bases should be avoided on the top shelves, or the items directly below will be blocked from the light filtering through the glass shelves. But of course the rockets needed bases to stand erect, so...

And there's WAY too much text, which had to be in a font large enough so people can read from at least two feet away (the cases are already a foot deep). That's why I lost so much space for the model kits mentioned above. I was even thinking of superimposing some signs over a Wilhelmshaven sheet, but that looked too cluttered.

Casual viewers will probably just glance at blocks of text, but people tend to follow cartoons. That's why I had some characters directly "speaking" to the audience with word balloons, or engaged in conversations with other models. Hopefully that will keep folks interested.


David T. Okamura

[MrConk]

I hope to go to the library tomorrow. Will there be (hopefully) any contact information available?

[elliott]

Sounds wonderful David. Wish I were there.

[dto]

MrConk, Conspiracy members Jim Nunn, Jason Sutton, Bob Penikas and myself usually gather every third Friday at the IPMS Orange County meeting. See International Plastic Modeling Society, Orange County for location details. Or PM me here.

David T. Okamura