Paper Models as Propaganda During the Spanish Civil War

[Thumb Dog]

Hi Tom,

I agree that 45 lb paper seems a bit light for the dioramas. I usually work in 110 lb, with a stack of 65 lb at hand in case I need to roll a gun tube. I'm always interested in expanding my digital collection, just a bit overwhelmed right now. Thanks, and I'll be in touch.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

In an earlier post, I mentioned I would be leaving the Galvez Instrumentos de Guerra series and turning to paper models published by the Spanish firm known as Recortables Baby. As so often happens while researching a subject, something comes your way that changes your plans. Papermodelers friend, Tom Greensfelder, was kind enough to offer copies of his collection of four additional Instrumentos de Guerra. Though they are published under the same heading, they are a separate series, numbered 1-4, and are not models as such, but rather small dioramas known as Escenas del Frente, or Scenes from the Front. They were earlier submitted by Tom in a post to this thread, and they are now available in the Downloads section of Dioramas and Bases. Thanks, Tom.

Over the weekend, I had the chance to build all four dioramas, and they are shown here in the attached photographs. The dioramas are pretty self-explanatory, but the Spanish titles are worth translation. Let’s hope I’m close.

Number 1. Artilleria, Bombardeo de Fortificaciones, or Artillery Bombardment of Fortifications.

Number 2. Ataque con Carros de Combate Tanques, or Attack of the Tank Combat Cars.

Number 3. Bombardeo de Barco Pirata, or Bombardment of Pirate Ship.

Number 4. Caballeria-Entrando en Pueblo Conquistado, or Cavalry Entering a Conquered Village.

Pretty aggressive stuff. In the lower left corner of each page is a slash of color. This red, yellow, red diagonal has been placed on the page to indicate that the actions seen in the dioramas are the work of the Nationalists. This blatant propaganda was not seen in the earlier series.

I’ll take just a moment to describe the construction of the dioramas. When I build a card model, I build for cleanliness first, and strength second. I have a number of models that are over thirty years old, and with careful handling and continued use of my summertime dehumidifier, they should outlast me. The bases and backs of the dioramas are backed by picture framers’ mat board, while the images themselves are printed on 110 lb. cardstock, backed with another layer of 110 lb. board. I use Elmer’s Glue-All throughout. As can be seen by the edge-on photo, I also use 1/8 inch basswood strips to keep the paper scenes straight. Instead of using individual colors to cover the white edges of the cut card, I used a medium gray for all the edges on the models. This saves time, and gray edges look like shadows, something these models need.

When photographed head-on with light from above, there is no real definition to the different stepped elements. They all blend in like a flat painting. To shoot these subjects, I lowered my lights so that shadows would be cast onto the next image behind. This makes the photo appear more three-dimensional.

Well, that’s more than enough for now. My few Recortables Baby models are finished, and we’ll see them next time.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Tom Greensfelder]

Beautiful job on all four, Thumb Dog! And thanks for the detailed description of your working method. Looking forward to what you've done with the Recortables Baby.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

Thanks, Tom.

The next Spanish publisher to produce card models during the ’36-’39 civil war is known by the unusual name of Recortables Baby. The name may have come from their early involvement with cut-out paper dolls, but why use the English spelling for Baby? Whatever the answer, the firm is known for printing some of the most artful and desirable paper models of the Spanish wartime years.

My collection is limited, as I have only found six usable scans so far. But I know there are more examples out there, as I have seen some rare, built-up models in photographs of the 2009 exhibition of Spanish Civil War paper models at the Museu d’Historia de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

First up is this remarkable model of a bomber, titled, “Avion de Bombardeo, Ultimo Modelo.” Looking for all the world like a block of flats, the model is reminiscent of the slab-sided French bombers of the interwar years…read Amiot, Potez and Bloch. Printed on a sheet measuring 32.5 X 22.5 cm, this work of an unsigned artist is consistent with others of his Recortables Baby models, namely the mottled gray surface and the fanciful outline of the completed subject. Taken as a group, these models appear to be somewhat different than the aforementioned Construcciones Costales offerings in that the Baby models do not usually carry recognizable flags or emblems indicating which side of the conflict the model supports. The uniforms of the occasionally included paper soldiers may be a giveaway, but I don’t know enough to say. Printed in Barcelona, the city was part of the Republican forces until it fell to the Nationalists on January 26th, 1939. Just over two months later, the awful war was over on April 1st, 1939.

I made a number of changes to the bomber, most of them subtle, but one quite obvious…I lengthened the wing by 1 ½ inches. I don’t feel the need to build my vintage models as per the designer’s desires. That would usually lead to a weak, floppy model that I wouldn’t want in my collection. With my computer and a simple Paint program, I can alter a model into a buildable condition. My photos include shots of my first, quick try at this build. The stubby wing, ill-fitting nacelle, mismatched front glazing and the oversized bomb-pod made for a disaster of a model. Also, I have never liked the brightly colored areas that indicate where to glue parts and subassemblies, so those for the empennage and nacelles were removed with a few keystrokes. Note the photograph of the two unbuilt bomb-pods to appreciate how much I had to reduce the part to get it to fit under the fuselage and wing.

The finished project is quite reminiscent of the tin toys I grew up with and still enjoy. This build took a bit more time than usual, but I’m happy with the results. Hope you like it, too.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Tom Greensfelder]

Thumb Dog, another nice job. I've altered vintage models myself, but only to correct bad fits or reverse them to provide a backside. Your approach of altering them to create the model you want opens up a whole world of possibilities that hadn't occurred to me.

I also appreciate your approach to edge painting. Again I typically would use black or gray, but I like very much your use of the dominant color in the part.

I found a short mention of Recortables Baby in the catalog for Francesc's show and according to that they were on the side of the Republicans, the anti-fascists.

I'm attaching a list of the Recortables Baby I have. Not so many, but let me know if you would like scans of any of them.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

Here is the second Recortables Baby card model to be discussed here, the Ambulancia Cruz Roja, or Red Cross Ambulance. A very simple model, the body is made up of just two parts, the body and the radiator. I took a bit more time with the wheels, making each by gluing two mat board circles together, then covering both sides with the eight supplied printed wheels. The treads were made from strips of paper taken from the fuselage of the bomber seen in the previous post.

When I built the Costales ambulance, I copied the red cross from the roof and put one on each side of the white body, telling friend and foe alike that this was indeed an emergency vehicle. No need for such antics here, as the Baby ambulance comes festooned with 15 red crosses all its own. Also included are a trio of medics, ready to dash, grab and dash again, all in the aid of the wounded.

The three medics are notable for their size when compared to the diminutive ambulance. But their most outstanding feature is their uniforms. While the ambulance offers a passing nod to camouflage, the red and white stripped uniforms must really stand out in the fog of war. At a distance, the stripes would have blended into a big pink target. Running around a battlefield in a pink uniform carrying a box of morphine does not sound like a good plan for a long life. Yet, here they are, doing their best for their fallen comrades.

And now for a bit of housekeeping. I have been trying to include a front and back shot of each model, as well as an image of the uncut model, too. I’ve missed a couple here and there, so here they are. First up is the south end of the north bound Costales armored car. And secondly is the uncut sheet for the Recortables Baby bomber we saw in the last post. That’s all for now.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

This time we take a look at the Canon Antiaereo, or Antiaircraft Cannon. The uncut sheet looks to be an easy build, but no, some of the parts took more than one try. The gun tube was designed to be scored and folded into an eight-sided barrel looking more like a light pole than the business end of a cannon. I decided to roll the barrel, but it just would not make in 110 lb. cardstock. 65 lb. stock was the answer…I should have known better. I didn’t remove the dashed lines from the part, as the dark gray hides the dashes pretty well.

In the last Recortables Baby model, the Red Cross Ambulance, I made up the figures using the provided fronts and backs of the paper medics. They turned out pretty well, but I usually don’t trust that the two different drawings will match. For the cannon’s crew, I used mirror-image parts so the little men present the same visage on both sides…not a bad tactic for a soldier in a war that is not going to plan.

I drew up the muzzle for the barrel, as none was provided. I try not to leave white, open tubes on my card models. Gun barrels, ship’s funnels and large exhaust pipes are all covered with a paper part or a little flick of watercolor paint if the part is small.

The uncut sheet is presented here in two parts, as that is how I saved it from the net. More to follow…

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

While the Spanish Civil War was a modern conflict that employed aircraft, submarines, big-gunned ships and armored land vehicles, it’s interesting to note how many of these “modern” weapons were hopelessly out-of-date. Compared to the newly outfitted Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe of September, 1939, the Spanish Civil War can be thought of as a hand-me-down war. Great War cannon with their rifling scoured away after firing thousands of rounds, one-off, fabric-covered aircraft pressed into service as ineffectual bombers, truck and bus chassis repurposed as unique armored cars and old, damp ammunition made for a situation where the horse was often the most dependable technology on the battlefield.

Few tanks were used during the Spanish war, as cheaper, home-built armored cars filled the mobile gun role. Those tanks that did serve were mostly of the WWI variety. As the photographs show, the Recortables Baby model of the Tanque depicts a somewhat fanciful rendition of the Renault FT, the first truly modern tank. With the crew stationed up front, engine in the back and a fully rotating turret, the FT set the pattern for tanks that is still followed to this day. A picture of a card FT is included for comparison. While the running rear of the model resembles that of the Renault product, the area between the treads is all imagination. True, the riveted, plate turret was a common fitting on the FT, but the hull as modeled is quite different than the French tank. That’s not to say the model doesn’t have its own appealing personality, with its aggressive stance and oversized gun. I call into question the keyhole shaped vision ports…any hole large enough for the cat to crawl through won’t keep out a well-placed round.

The original model employed some tab-and-slot construction, and I altered the scan to remove the offending marks on the running gear. Compare the two shots of the uncut sheet to see how the simple removal of the little offenders improves the final look of the Tanque. Love that spelling, by the way.

I employed a painted aluminum tube for the gun, with a quick swipe of 600 grit sandpaper to brighten the muzzle. All in all an easy and fun build. Recommended as a first Recortables Baby model.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Wad Cutter]

This has been a truly interesting trip into the toys for children at one time. My grandfather showed me some of the toys he as a child he built and played with is friends. I still remember some of them. I was only 8 at the time. Sad that as time has changed us all into the electric age. Some times. Some times I wonder what I might missed out on and also what about ore children? To many of them it's the world of texting which I'm afraid my wife has forced me into. I'll never walk away from paper. Thank you very much for the tour into history. wc

[THE DC]

Thanks for sharing both these models and the interesting history behind them.

Do you have the patterns for this plane and the airship?

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Thumb Dog

It’s back into the air, with the final two models from the 1938 Construcciones Costales Instrumentos de Guerra series, the Number 4, Un Trimotor and the Number 3, Zepelin.

The trimotor bomber may seem like an unlikely candidate for this group of models, but fascist Italy did supply the Nationalist forces with several low-winged Savoia-Marchetti bombers. The trimotor design was a stopgap measure to the problem of low-powered engines. Ideally, these medium bombers should have been equipped with only two engines, eliminating the third in the nose of the aircraft. The central engine, being just ahead of the cockpit was noisy, smelly, caused unneeded vibration and it obstructed the forward view. But it was necessary to increase the payload enough to make the machine a practical bomber. The model’s row of passenger windows was not usual on a wartime bomber, but as we have seen, the paper models in this series seemed to pay little attention to real world prototypes. This model was built from a poor scan, but I was lucky to find it at all. Original prints of these and other related models are for sale on the internet, and their prices are too dear for me. The internet sellers usually keep the images small and watermarked, so if a collector finds a large, clean copy, he had better pounce on it, good scan or bad.

The last model to be reviewed here is the Zepelin, or more correctly, Zeppelin. As a lover of all things dirigible, I’m pretty sure the Spanish Nationalists did not operate a six-engined rigid airship during the war. The model’s cross section has seven sides, unique among the big rigids, real or imagined. As usual, mirrored parts were necessary for the fins and propeller discs. The finished model is tricky to display, as it looks silly lying on its side on the shelf, hence the simple stand inserted in the model’s center of gravity. The flying Zepelin really caps off the collection, as the group photograph shows.

For those interested in the many foreign aircraft used in the Spanish Civil War, I highly recommend visiting Spanish Civil War Aircraft for an illustrated list of the remarkable collection of planes involved in the conflict.

I had been looking for the entire collection of Costales models for some time, and finally stumbled onto a set of all 12 in flickr. For some reason, I can’t seem to go directly to the poster’s account, so here is the location of the first image in his Costales collection, https://www.flickr.com/photos/kubink...in/dateposted/ Look below the large image to the thumbnails and go right for the rest of the Costales scans. Go left a couple of frames for a vintage Russian version of a Junkers F 13 paper model. While a few of the scans are not of the best quality, they are a place to start in your search for better images.

That’s all for this particular series of Spanish Civil War paper models, but there will be more to follow. Keep in mind their propaganda value, especially to the young mind. Children, adolescents and adults would have all been quite aware of the war, seeing marching uniformed troops, armored cars in the streets and warplanes in the air. Family members would have left home to fight the war. The publication of models such as these would have given the young mind a sense of participation and loyalty in the cause. I don’t believe the models were actually issued by the respective governments during the war, but remember, this was a war between fascists and communists, and support of a free press was not at the top of the list on either side. These paper models may not have been commissioned or authorized by the warring factions, but if they had displeased the local ruling powers, publication would have been halted, one way or another.

Here is the list of the models in this series, in English.
#1 Tank
#2 Battleship
#3 Zeppelin
#4 Trimotor
#5 Armored Car
#6 Ambulance
#7 Half-Track Truck
#8 Radio Station
#9 Fighter
#10 Submarine
#11 Airport
#12 Coastal Gun

Time to go build some more vintage models.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog