Tinselman

Hugely Great Small

As devoted tinsel-readers already know, tinselman is a ginormous fan of the miniature. That's why his brain practically exploded at the tinselmagically amazing Musée des Plans–Relief! Why, he asks, are there no tourists at this remarkable collection of historic diminutives?... especially when they're housed in such a central location: in the heart of Paris' 7th arrondissement, at the Musée de l'Armée.

click images to enlarge or click here for flickr set

• official website

• previous tinsel-miniatures
 

Scale Model Archive – Cities

Soviet Era Moscow, photo by Natalia Grishkina ©

Faithful readers of tinselman are fond of all things diminutive. And of course, nothing can be more impressive that a gigantic city, rendered in miniature form. This is why I have gone to incalculable trouble seeking out these scaled down wonders and bringing them together in this handy archive. For your tinselistic enjoyment!

New York, photo by Hurricane Joost (cc)

Edinburgh, photo by only alice ©

Shanghai, photo by Simon & Andrew ©

Shanghai, photo by Andrew Currie (cc)

Nanjing, photo by paul_ark ©

London detail, photo by HalderStream ©

London, cityofsound.com

Old Jerusalem, photo by MyNameIsOtto ©

Sydney, photo by mpgilbert ©

San Francisco, by Bechtel Engineering

Rome – 4th Century, photo by D. Lauvernier ©

Singapore, photo by mikeleecs ©

Havana, photo by nfolkert ©

Beijing, photo by Tom Vanderbilt ©

Cincinnati, photo by srhbth ©

Pompeii, photo by Chenzofilms ©

Tobu World Square (thanks, Don Draper!)

Legoland (thanks, Richard Ackerman)

Paris, under glass (thanks, malcolm)

If you know of other any other decent cities for our archives, let me know. I'll add it to the ever increasing list (as long as it's a half-decent photo).

More cities from past posts:
• Hiroshima
• 22 Acres of Brooklyn
• Futurama - City of the Future
• Futurama Film (great!)
• New York

Continued below are some photos that don't exactly count as "cities", but I couldn't bear to leave them out...

Reykjivik, photo by The Morally Superior One ©

San Francisco in Jell-O by Elizabeth Hickok ©

Copenhagen Settlement, photo by Robert Ra ©

Looming

In an flash, 10,000 civilians were killed in Hiroshima. In the days and weeks to come, thousands more would die. The hypocenter (the orange sphere) was triggered at about 600 meters above Aioi bridge. This miniature illustrates that exact point in time.

Here's another Hiroshima model, in striking before-and-after format...

 

 

Update: Thanks so much for all these great comments! Please keep it up! And just so you know, these miniatures do not overtly lay blame to one country or another. As far as I understand their purpose is more left up to the viewer, though there is text in one of the museums about the state of nuclear proliferation.

Here are some excerpts from the account of P. Siemes, survivor of the Hiroshima blast...

More and more of the injured come to us. The least injured drag the more seriously wounded. There are wounded soldiers, and mothers carrying burned children in their arms. From the houses of the farmers in the valley come word: " Our houses are full of wounded and dying. Can you help, at least by taking the worst cases?" The wounded come from the sections at the edge of the city. They saw the bright light, their houses collapsed and buried the inmates in their homes. Those that were in the open suffered instantaneous burns, particularly on the lightly clothed or unclothed parts of the body. Numerous fires spring up which soon consumed the entire district. We now conclude that the epicenter of the explosion was at the edge of the city near the Yokogawa Station, three kilometers away from us.

We take off again with the hand cart. The bright day now reveals the frightful picture which last night's darkness had partly concealed. Where the city stood, everything as far as the eye could reach is a waste of ashes and ruin. Only several broken skeletons of buildings completely burned out in the interior remain. The banks of the river are covered with dead and wounded, and the rising waters have here and there covered some of the corpses. On the broad street in the Hakushima district, naked, burned, cadavers are particularly numerous. Among them are the wounded who still live. A few have crawled under the burnt-out autos and trams. Frightfully injured forms beckon to us and then collapse. An old woman and a girl whom she is pulling along with her, fall down at our feet.

Update 2: I recommend the film The Fog of War, an insightful interview with Robert McNamara, who takes an honest and insightful look back on his life – WWII, Japan and the Cold War are especially interesting... and disconcerting.

Update 3: For a response to this post, read Looming Comments.

• Additional Photos of Museum
• General Tibbets and an Army of Ultramen – Previous post
• With God on Our Side – Previous post

A New Dawn Rises!

I have a confession to make. Of late, I had begun to become discouraged with our Republic (of Tinselman). I had such hopes, such great ambitions for our fledgling nation. I dreamt that it might slowly grow, mature and eventually age, like the finest French Bordeaux. However, lately I've been forced to wonder, is the Republic of Tinselman forever frozen in that awkward prepubecent stage?

This was far too difficult for me to face alone, so I called Brad [Pitt] and before I could a word out he said, "Hey man, have you heard?! I mean, what d'you think?!"

"Brad" I said, "Of course I've heard. Everybody's heard. I can't get––"

He started laughing, "No, no... I'm not talking about Shiloh. I'm talking about the metropolis! I mean... the presentation! You know... From Emergence to Inferno. Oh God... it's gonna be great, I mean totally frickin' wonderful! I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we... oh god, oh god!" And he suddenly broke into uncontrolled laughter.

Finally Angelina came on the phone and I began to get it all straight. It turns out there was indeed to be a very important presentation. She wouldn't tell me a thing about it, other than it was created by "Wilmey", "Russ" and herself and was to take place in L.A. on June 7th. Of course, it took me a bit to realize who "Wilmey" was... turns out it's her pet name for our very own Adam Wilmer and... well, I did go to this presentation and... honestly, I guess there's no reason to waste anymore time... let me just describe it...

I arrived at Grauman's Chinese Theater at 2:14 in the morning – a discreet time. There were people everywhere. I knew not a one of them. At 3:00 a.m., I was sitting on one of the plush theater-seats next to Brad and Angelina. A moment later, the lights dimmed. A shimmering, lilting music began and the curtains parted to these words...

The Boys Presents...

From Emergence to Inferno

With Special Appearance by Angelina Jolie

Angelina elbowed me and pointed to her name. And I have to admit, I was beginning to shiver with anticipation! And I was bothered only slightly by the fact that the curtains were jammed halfway across the screen. Oh well. In the next moment I utterly forgot about it; I was simply lifted away (in a transcendental sort of way) by the sweet whispering emanating from the THX surround sound system. Angelina elbowed me again, mouthing the words, "that's my voice, that's me!"

Over a black screen, she said this (in her finest british accent)...

It is June 3, 1996. Two men... "the boys"... are standing above the ashes of the greatest city that ever was and ever will be. It is a sad moment. And yet, the boys are as happy as dancing happy little larks.

Suddenly an image appeared and there was Angelina on the silver screen, larger than life, and the boys behind her danced. I swear, they really were just like happpy little larks... it was uncanny (see top photo).

Angelina: The boys wanted it to snow today. This is what they told me. Silly boys... it does not snow in L.A.. But they said it would cover the ashes... a snow-veil, so to speak. I slapped both of them, playfully. Brad laughed when I did that. Then the boys slapped me back. Then I accidentely knocked one of Wilmey's teeth out. He he!

The above image came on the screen and Angelina, still whispering dramatically, continued: "Who are the boys? Why are they important? To answer this vital question, we must push back the hands of time to... another time, another place, to what we like to call Out of Africa. That is where our dream was born. Emergence. The dream of a city. A city commissioned by own illustrious Khan. A city for the Republic of Tinselman. A city constructed of toilet paper rolls. A city conceived and built by sub-Mayor Wilmey and his trusty assistant Russ."

The Angelina in the film continued talking but I could no longer hear her. Now I was weeping uncontrollably. And oh, the next shot was so beautiful...

I didn't even need to hear Angelina to know what this was! A statue! Carefully sculpted to bring glory and honor to me! Khan Miller! But before I could soak it in, this popped onto the screen...

And Angelina was no longer talking. Now she was singing with the voice of an angel. It was a heavenly melody; her lyric went thus...

Four toilet towers,
Bring to them your commerce.
Big road leads straight to it,
In winters, springs and summers.

Then the voice seemed to almost transform into that of a man. It began singing operatically, very quickly (and deep) and, though it was not an especially attractive voice, it had a lot of heart. Immediately I knew it must be Adam Wilmer and he sang these words...

What about the orges?
We have an orge problem!
Someone kill the orges!
The orges are invading!

Then the slow sublime voice of Angelina...

Don't you worry 'bout the orges,
Our stormtroopers will chop their eyes.
We'll throw them in the orge-ovens,
And we'll be eating orge-pies!

It went on like this and there was all sorts of delightful bits, and the orge plot went weaving through all of it, continually growing in intensity, but the theater burst forth with youthful raw energy at the sight of the Khan's personal "parking garage" and "awesome cars" (which are guarded by his own pet dinosaur)...

Or there was the gruesome, but unexpectantly touching sequence: the Gehn Whark Hanging Tribute Ceremony...

And then the lush (and closely guarded) "Battery Park" that powers the city with four massive C cell batteries...

All said, the presentation was exhilarating. Wondrous! But nothing matched its daring climax... (I'm shivering).

For a moment, the sceen went black and Angelina, Wilmey and Russ began reciting a poem... or something like a poem, their voices inseperably woven together (and yet grossly contrasting). In solemn tones, this is what they said...

Life... all things end.
Even empires must eventually... die!
Decayed to ashes and covered,
By our grief;
A veil of snow.

The screeen slowly dissolved to an outdoor scene, very similar to the first image from the film, with the exception that Angelina, Wilmey and Russ were standing, hand in hand, behind the city doing this weird dance thing. And they continued with the poem...

Angelina: Fire cleanses all.
Wilmey: Fire is fun to play with!
Russ: Fire is pretty and orange.

Angelina: Fire is the symbol of eternal passion!
Wilmey: Do you have the matches?
Russ: No, you idiot, I thought you brought them!

Then... silence. It turns out Angelina had the matches. She bent down and... lit the city ablaze!

It was such a beautiful and fitting end for the Metropolis of Tinselman! The entire theater was sobbing! How perfectly stunning! How horrifyingly lovely! We wept.

Of course it ended exactly as it had begun... with the boys dancing over the ashes. And yet there was one small addition. It turns out Wilmey was really determined to see some snow, so he did this macro slow-motion salt shaker thing as Angelina spoke...

Mourn at the ashes,
There's enough to fill a silo.
Hearken to the silent veil,
And I will name my baby Shiloh.
A new dawn,
Whoah-Hey!
The Republic of Tinselman liveth...
Forever!

I cried many times that night. And I had a great and an important realization. Yes... the Republic of Tinselman certainly is forever frozen that awkward prepubecent stage. We can never grow. We can never mature. We can never age. And all of this is awesome!!!

Note: Metropolis of Tinselman model and From Emergence to Inferno by Adam Wilmer. Wilmey deserves much thanks and kudos for such great descriptions of each and every area of the city! Please overwelm him with kind and flattering emails!

Elephant on Your Eyelash

Willard Wigan, a self declared "micro-miniaturist", creates his masterpieces within the eye of a needle, the tip of an eyelash, or a grain of sand. According to his web site,

When working on this scale he slows his heartbeat and his breathing dramatically through meditation and attempts to harmonise his mind, body and soul with the Creator. He then sculpts or paints at the centrepoint between heartbeats for total stillness of hand. He likens this process to "trying to pass a pin through a bubble without bursting it." His concentration is intense when working like this and he feels mentally and physically drained at the end of it.

His subjects range from elephants to Elvis to the Liberty Bell to Santa Claus (and more).

(via: boingboing)

We Make Money Not Miniatures

Artist Xing Danwen didn't build these architectural models, but she did take photos of them. What's more, she retouched little miniature versions of herself into the miniatures. She says,

The figures act out totally imaginative roles as part of different plots and in different spaces that I visualize when I look at these models. For example, “I” am sometimes a white-collar office worker brought to despair by job pressures and spiritual emptiness. Sometimes “I” am a materialistic woman enjoying a life of pleasure and dissipation. Or “I” am a young girl who has accidentally killed her lover in a mood of anger. Together the resulting pictures compose the episodes of the urban fiction.

If you're a fan of miniatures, like me, I recommend visiting her site, where you can take a look at all her photos so far. Or if you find yourself in Toronto, you can see her large prints in person at the Gallery TPW.

(via: we make money not art)

Mount St. Tinsel

On this beautiful, flowering, spring day, loyal Republic of Tinselman minister Adam Wilmer has volunteered to do the extraordinary: design and build our very first Republic of Tinselman city. We are awed. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Minister Wilmer.

I remind you, this Wilmer fellow is one talented son of a bitch. He's the very same guy that designed and created the Republic's fabulosio flag.

The details are thus: The city will be constructed out of toilet paper rolls because that is Minister Wilmer's medium of choice. The city will be constructed in miniature because the citizens of the Republic enjoy miniature stuff. And yeah, the city will be mayored by Brad Pitt.

Let me explain. The blogoshere has felt a tremor; oceans of tears at Bryan William Jones' Transvestic Draculina story. Just minutes after I posted it, Brad Pitt himself called me. He was weeping, which I really didn't get. He's got a really stupid sounding weep... it's almost funny. But then Angelina got on and it was just so damn real. The tears. The shared emotion. "Angelina," I said, "it's like this. When you're up there, on the silver screen, you and Brad, especially together, you both are so gorgeous, my God, it's not just acting, it's angelic."

And she wept and I wept. And Brad, he wept too. It was beautiful. "Robyn," he said, "I want to be a part of this... this tinselman thing. It's time for me to be more involved."

"No Brad." And that was difficult to say, but it was the right thing to say: "No, it's not time yet. You're not prepared. You need to clear your mind, to break the never-ending cycle of your self imposed fears. Consider this, just consider this one word because, in a manner of speaking, you've become trapped in the well of yourself. And I know this because I am the Khan of Tinselman. And the proclaimer of all things that are right and correct and true (and beautiful)." They had to agree with me there and they laughed, uncomfortably. I didn't laugh.

They wanted to know the one word. "Don't rush the Khan. He can sense your fears," but I think they were getting tired of the whole Khan thing so I dropped it and said the word... "Africa".

For about five minutes we all sat there in perfect silence. It was one of those moments where no one knows what to say, one of those processing moments. I kept waiting and waiting. I read a few blogs. I read a newspaper article. And I finally realized they had hung up on me.

Wow, I couldn't believe how completely rude they were! Little did I know, they had immediately called their agents and practically set up a mini sabatical to Africa. They left almost immediately and have since said it was the perfect thing and it was exactly what they needed but it's not what I meant at all! And... they cut off all communication to the outside world. So I had no way to contact them and say, "Hey! Angelina. Brad... really dumb idea. Especially being pregnant and all. I was only talking about renting the movie... Out of Africa.

But get this... turns out they recently, and quite "coincidentally", watched it while in Africa. It changed their lives (of course). And this is so beautiful... Angelina's water broke in the middle of the film but she couldn't stop watching. So they watched it again and again, nine times, throughout her labor and during the birthing! She said, and I quote (because I recorded the conversation), "because me and Brad, you know, we're so much like the two of them, I mean Meryl and Robert... oh, they were just so damn gorgeous! Just like us, you know! Like, and it's all there in Africa and, like... we're in Africa. And thank you, Khan. Thank you for giving all this to us. What did you think of the film?"

I had to admit I hadn't seen the film... it just sort of came to me. A Khanlian Word of Knowledge, so to speak. But I was overjoyed to hear her call me Khan. They had come around. They were ready to enter the fold.

And this is where we come back to our main subject: Minister Wilmer's toilet paper Republic of Tinselman city. We will need a mayor for this city and now that Brad and Angelina are obvious tinselistic loyalists (unlike William Shatner, who was a pig and a scoundrel) and because Brad Pitt was such an inspiration to our own Bryan William Jones, I have chosen Brad Pitt as the new Mayor of The Metropolis of Tinselman.

In addition, because Minister Wilmer is building the city, he says he deserves to be sub-Mayor under Mayor Pitt. Fine, fine, so be it... whatever you like, Adam.

He also wants permission to make out with Angelina Jolie.

This is preposterous! She's a new mother, for god's sakes! And more importantly, she's your sister in the Republic! Your sister, Adam! You want to make out with your sister?! Have you frickin' lost your mind?!

Okay... whew.

To inspire Minsiter Wilmer in his most bodacious task, the Khan (me) has constructed a miniature mountain. Since my post yesterday, I have been chewing bubble gum like a madman and now I think I've completed my masterpiece. Because what's a city without a mountain? And so... the Khan will live at the top of this mountain (in his palace, which I have yet to invent, but it will be spectacular). All officials and Ministers live on the hillside in their funkturos. Down below all the citizens go about their hustle and bustle in the spectacular city of toilet paper rolls.

Don't be fooled by these by these miniature representations! The Republic of Tinselman is as real as your own skin and bones! Just believe it... and it becomes real. The Khan says it. It is true.

Note: I didn't really make the bubble gum mountain. It was made over a period of two years by a number of choral students at West High School, Corning, NY. An attempt to sale it on ebay as a "must have for any serious Bubble Gum art collector" failed. I can't imagine why.

(Mount B.G. via: geisha asobi)

For the Sake of Small

What happens when one of the world's most famous architects, Frank Gehry, is given 22 acres of Brooklyn to turn into his personal playland? Two things. Firstly, a lot of New Yorkers get very upset. Secondly, we get a couple of fabulistic miniatures out of the deal.

Here at the Republic of Tinselman, we're crazy about miniatures of almost any kind. About the buildings themselves, I can only leave you to comment.

These early "sketch" miniatures of the project may help you form your delicate opinion...

click photos to enlarge

Micro Disney

I've been hard at work on my scale model of early Disneyland and I'm now finally ready to reveal it. You will most definetely be impressed!... until you learn that my scale model is only a quick photoshop cheat. But it sure is fun!

(click photos to enlarge)

• Unretouched lagoon
• Unretouched aerial

(via: boingboing)

Futurama Returns (again)

Isn't that auditorium just a bit imposing? So brave? So new? So crazy-humungous? It's Futurama, GM's brilliant propagandistic tool, used to convince a 1939 American public (and leadership) that the future should be full of lovely things like conquering nature and replacing everything that's old with things that are powerful and massively overwhelming (see above lovely building).

In reality, Futurama was about selling cars. The masses (that's us) were larely not going to buy cars until there were sprawling (multi-billion dollar) roads built from one side of country to the other. But who was going to build those sprawling highways? These mega-modern freeways of tomorrow. General Motors? No frickin' way! And so they sold the masses (us) on a bright big beautiful vision of a perfect tomorrow. Futurama was one of these sales tools. Next thing you know, the government was tearing up the train and trolley tracks and making Futurama a reality.

Who can be blamed for all of this? Some may argue we're better off. Regardless, the exhibit itself must have been a monumental feat. And an impressive ride! I found this video of the ride online but you may want to start a little less than halfway through (the beginning is boring).

• Futurama Post – May 26th, 2005
• Futurama Post – May 25th, 2005

Images from the Futurama movie

So Splendidly Small

This was the real little China if there ever was one. Spendid China opened next door to Disney World (Orlando, FL) in 1993 but was unfortunately beset with problems and closed on December 31, 2003. From what I can tell, the original Splendid China in Shenzhen, China, is still operational.

Don't wait for anyone to post photos of the abandoned park. After the closure, the detailed miniatures were sold to the highest bidder. So... I provide for your tinsel-enjoyment these photos of the pre-2003 park.

• Splendid China - Photoset I
• Splendid China – Photoset II

Atomium Reigns

Down, down, down we shrink, 165 billion times into the fascinating world of the atom. We're either exploring a single iron crystal or we're visiting Atomium in Brussels, a colossal molocular model, designed for Belgium's 1958 Expo by engineer Andre Waterkeyn. The Atomium was planned to be disassembled within six months. Now it's considered by some (like the ultra-reliable wikipedia) to be the Eiffel Tower of Brussels.

If you visit Atomium, you'll get a suprise treat: the atomic structure is so big that all of Europe beneath it has been sucked into a time/space vortex and become oddly miniaturize. In scientific terms, we call this phenomenon "Mini-Europe" and the sensation is strongest directly at the crystal's base.

Or it may just be a little park of miniatures. Unfortunately, they forgot to make a miniature of the Atomium itself, which would have been somehow perfect. What a disapointment! For that, you'll have to travel to Minimundus in Austria.

More links:

• Atomium on Belgium currency (before Euro)
• For Sale – Atomium's old panels
• Photos of other miniatures from Minimundus
• Tintin.com (also from Belgium, but really doesn't belong in this post)

Modest Messerschmitt

This is not a real Messerschmitt Me262. It's a scale model created by Fine Art Models, recognized by some to be the makers of the finest scale models on the planet. Vehicles are their speciality, but for the price (the above airplane will probably end up running anywhere from 7-12 k), you may want to pick up a plastic model kit from your local hobby shop and just try very hard to make it look good.

If you visit their website, don't forget to take a look at their oxymoronic Titanic miniature.

More Diminutive Domains

Don't worry... this gigantic man-shaped creature is not attacking New York. He's just restoring it. Rather, he's restoring a scale model of New York, located at the Queens Museum of Art, called The Panorama. With over 895,000 tiny buildings, the model represents the 320 sprawling square miles of the great city. Planes take off from its mini-LaGuardia and the city even lights up during a simulated night. Take a look...

   

Miniatures of a Great Miniature

In the early 1950s, Walt Disney began toying around with model trains and miniatures. It wasn't long before his miniatures began to grow; soon he needed more and more space to hold them. Eventually Disney accomplished his largest miniature of all by scaling up his beloved model trains to almost (but not quite) human size. Hence, Disneyland was born: Walt's very large scale model of no place in particular which, because of its stunted size, manages to feel oddly close... and cozy. The lampposts are shorter. The windows are shrunken. Even the castles and mountains are dwarfishly snug.

We, the public, have been enamored with Walt Disney's gigantic miniature since it opened in 1955. So what do we do to display our adoration for the park? We built miniatures of it! Here are loads of links to Disneyland miniatures (and other related links).

• Disney Train Model
• Carousel of Progress Scale Model (via boing boing)
• Mosato House Scale Model (see previous link on Monsato House)
• Shuco 1:90 Scale Disney Monorail
• Disney 50th Anniversary Monorail Model
• Disney 50th Anniversary Models
• Walt Disney with scale model of Sleeping Beauty's Castle
• Main Street USA Collection (Connect them all for a complete scale model of main street.)
• Walt Disney: One Man's Dream photos
• Blueprint of Walt Disney's backyard 1/8th scale railroad

        

(Russ Ullner's photos via The Disney Blog)

Futurama Continued

For those of you who can't get enough Futurama... go here, here or here.

Big Happy Futurama

If you had been lucky enough to visit the New York World's Fair in 1939-1940, you might have seen a sci-fi metropolis, similar to the the one shown above, at General Motor's Futurama exhibit. I'm talking the real Futurama. The original Futurama. The incredible 37,000 square foot Futurama, stuffed full of over 2,000,000 miniature buildings - Norman Bel Geddes' miniatized, ultra-modernized city-of-the future. The hit of the show! Lines to get in grew up to over a mile long!

Tiny cars, small waterfalls, little puffy clouds, miniature airplanes hovering by - all within an incredibly intricate landscape. Future, baby, future.

A second Futurama was created for the New York World's Fair in 1964-1965. Here, terrestrial cities, undersea communities and lunar colonies were displayed side-by-side, in one big, happy General Motors universe. Wow!

For more info on Futurama, check out The Journal of Ride Theory Omnibus, edited by Dan Howland.