Cannon Creative Yōmeimon Gate

[Don Boose]

This is one of the Canon Creative simplified "mini" architectural models available here: Nikko Toshogu Shrine (Yomeimon), Japan Mini Version - Beginner Series - Architecture - Paper Craft - Canon Creative Park

The Yōmeimon (literally "Sunshine," or "Bright Sun" Gate), which I have visited, is at the entrance to the Nikkō Tōshō-gū (Shrine) about 160 km north of Tokyo, Japan, where the Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who unified Japan in the early 17th century, is enshrined. The model is approximately 1/180 scale and very simple, but it nonetheless captures the appearance of this famous structure.

Anne McCombs's version (Image 1) caught my eye at last year's International Paper Modelers' Convention in Sterling, Virginia. I have also been following with great interest the progress of Viator's Nekomura 1/300 Japanese city project (Small Japanese shops (1/300)) and am currently auditing a class on Japanese architecture at nearby Dickinson College, so this seemed like a good project to get me out of a period of non-paper modeling doldrums with a model that is within my modest and diminishing skill range.

I printed the one-page model on 0.19mm thick Neenah Bright White 67# paper and used Caran d'Ache Neocolor II water soluble wax crayons and Faber Castell PITT artist brushes to color the edges. The base was designed by Don Weeks (rockpaperscissors).

Here are a few in-progress images (Images 2-4) as well as images of the finished model. Even in simplified form, I found the hip-and-gable (iromoya) roof to be a challenge. It is a little askew, and I will probably try to make another, better, one in the future.

Don

[Michael Mash]

Admirable work Don, and nicely displayed.
I must say, Japanese builders really know how to design and make impressive roofs.
Building this one in card must have been a challenge.
Mike

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, Don. Well done on your Nikko Toshogu Shrine. Things look straight to me, and I’ve built a few “resting hill roofs” on my models, too. It’s tricky to balance all the curves and planes to get them right. Yours looks spot on to me. Good photographs, too.

I always like seeing other modeler’s work spaces and the non-modeling things they keep nearby. Is there a story about the chalk Japanese soldier and his flag? And the cup behind him with the Belgian and Imperial Russian flag peeking out from behind the soldier. Are you a secret vexillologist too?

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Don Boose]

Thanks for the kind words, Mike and Thumb Dog.

I picked up the little Asia-Pacific War era ceramic Japanese soldier boy at a shrine(!) sale in Japan in the 1980s, and he has been a desk mascot ever since.

I am not a vexilologist, but I like flags, and am friends with a vexilologist: Peter Ansoff, who is a member of this Forum and organizer of the annual IPMC in Sterling. The cup is a 1914 item commemorating the Belgian, Russian, French, and Japanese allies of the Great War that I picked up at an antique shop in England a few decades ago. The "CSL" mug is more recent, and is from the U.S. Army War College Center for Strategic Leadership.

Best,

Don

[smithdr]

Wow, Don...that turned out great! Super neat structure and execution.



Well done! I want to see that one "live" at a meeting too.


Dan

[SCEtoAUX]

Looks great.
There are some nice shrines and traditional buildings in Japan.

[MacSongLi]

Very nice work Don. It's a great looking shrine.

Gary

[Amccombs3]

Hi, Don! Happy to have helped you resume modeling activities. Your bases are always a nice addition. One thing that may not be obvious to others is how small this model is. I just measured mine, and it is approximately 1-3/16” x 2-3/4” (base) x 2-5/16” tall, or 4.7 x 7.0 x 5.9 cm.

As a side note, I’ve also been in a modeling hiatus for a little while. I had double cataract surgery recently and I’m still getting used to my new, improved eyes. I now have good distant, middle-distance, and reading eyesight uncorrected, but I will need glasses for very close-up work and I have to wait a few weeks for my new exam and prescription. Plus I’m working on a non-modeling hobby project that I want to finish before returning to the workbench.

[Vermin_King]

Very nicely done and displayed, sir.


I hope to get back to the craft sometime soon. Like many of us here, health issues. Also time. I didn't realize they had a mini version of this building at Canon. I will have to check it out

[rockpaperscissor]

The shrine looks terrific, Don. The fact that you've visited the shrine makes it a very special model. Anne, I've noted your absence. Glad (and relieved) to see you back.