|
Hi All,
It’s so nice to see the name Paper Models International on these pages again, and I join with FRD and the others here in their appreciation of our late friends, Lou and Barbara Dausse. Their knowledge, generosity and fair business practices are truly missed by us, “old-timers” in paper modeling.
I bought my first paper model, the Meta Model 1/24 scale Hughes H-I Racer, from PMI back in the early 1980s. I had never built such a model before, but I took to it immediately and quickly ordered a larger list of models. When the flat cardboard package arrived, I found that Lou had thrown in a couple of models I hadn’t even ordered. Add “salesman” to Lou’s accomplishments.
After building pre-printed models for a time, I, as so many of us do, started thinking about designing and publishing my own design. But what to design? The modeling world didn’t need yet another Supermarine Spitfire, while a more esoteric model probably wouldn’t sell enough to justify the work and expense. Then it hit me…why not write and publish a book? In the early 1990s, there was no book in the English language that served as an introduction to the paper modeling hobby and the idea seemed like a natural. I contacted Lou and presented my thoughts and he was instantly supportive. When I asked him if he could give me a break on the cost of the models I would need to produce a book with a wide range of subject matter, he said no, he would give me the models free of charge if I simply paid the shipping costs.
This was a remarkable turn of events. Not only were Lou and Barbara going to invest their time and money in my book by freely providing the unbuilt paper models, they agreed to distribute my finished book through their annual PMI catalog. In any project like this, distribution is key. Nobody wants to be in the, “Thousand Books in the Basement” club.
For years, until my run of 1300 copies was sold out, my book was sold through PMI’s catalog. This entire project was an important chapter in my life, and I owe a great deal to Lou and Barbara Dausse. I was hopeful when I saw FRD’s first post in this thread as I always felt it was a shame that PMI didn’t live on after Lou and Barbara sold it. I’m so sorry things have not worked out for the once esteemed Paper Models International.
The photographs below show the cover of my 1994 book, Card Modeling, The Art of Creating Scale Model in Paper and a mug and note in Barbara’s hand sent to me after I delivered my first shipment of books to PMI.
Score and fold,
Thumb Dog
|