Published on 12, July, 2020
A few people have been talking about model-making recently, and showing photos of models they've made (Plastic). Sunflower, too, was commenting on Robert's photos of rooftops, saying how fascinating she finds them. I'm the same - and I think it's partly to do with seeing the world in miniature, as it were: looking down on the world and trying to figure out what's going on behind those doors and windows, under those rooftops. When I was a kid, we lived for a few years in a London tower block. I used to love nothing better than to go up to the top floor rubbish chute room alone and stand there, by the window, looking out at the windows on the rest of the estate and the surrounding streets. Looking at the toy cars and the ant-sized people going about their business far below. Seeing it all laid out like a 3D map in front of me.
I don't really make models myself, though I've often thought about taking it up. I know the fascination, though, of seeing these miniature versions of things - especially in mock-ups, like you find in some museums.
I thought people might find this article interesting. I'd not heard of Bekonscot before, but was instantly enthralled. I must try and pay it a visit sometime - on a quiet day.
Tim Dunn, one of the volunteer workers there, comments: "You mustn’t deride how people find their happiness. Many people with Asperger’s and autism find pleasure and a level of safety in making or looking at models, and if you’re an introvert, how better to spend your time?"
He's right, I think. For me, it's also about being able to establish a sense of order: 'I've created this, and I can make it work in a way that satisfies me.'
And it's a great way of releasing the imagination...
Shrinking the World
Thank you that is very kind of you
WoW that’s brilliant ~ we have so many wonderfully talented people here
Thankyou, here is model I made and shared on a facebook group just before Christmas 2017. I call him Father GitSmash :)
I love that, thats fascinating ~ I always say us autistics are the most interesting and fascinating people on the planet! I have barely any idea of what you're talking about but I love it and I love that your family bought you such wonderful and thoughtful gifts.
One of my favourite childhood memories is of visiting the model village at Skegness which I revisited this year.
Your post has made me smile so much :) thank you
Hi all, I absolutely love models. I remember back when I was a child we went down to Dartmoor a few times for a week at the end of the summer holidays, and the absolute highlights from my point of view were going to Babbacombe model village near Torquay and usually a trip to Dobwalls to ride the miniature railways.
These days I do dabble a bit with building models but I'm not hugely productive as I do have a tendency to easily get disheartened if things start to go wrong. One thing I do a lot though is researching techniques for achieving all sorts of weathered effects on vehicles and buildings as it holds an endless fascination for me - I can spend hours and hours scouring the web for new ways of doing things. Just before Christmas I was playing around with mixing ratios of sand and very fine fish tank gravel to mix with plaster to make a Warhammer 40k scale concrete that would let me make rubble for model bases that not only looks right but reacts to damage in the right way. Warhammer 40k is another overlapping interest of mine as I find not only all of the background fiction incredibly satisfying and another place I can easily lose myself but also the models when built can be used as a tool to socialise when I feel the need and am brave enough to want to go and play a game at the local store.
Just this Christmas I was lucky enough that my family got me a bunch of books on things like modelling rusty metal, wood and using oil paints as a weathering medium. Also lego - Everyone loves lego!
Fascinating. The presenters made a fair few assumptions which shows they're clearly not of a similar mindset to him but they made a good presentation. I would love to read his memoir and see his art work.
It seems (to me) he was simply expressing himself, like all of us, in the best way he could and it seems he did a good job of it.
I've never heard of him before. Thanks for introducing him to us. He sounds like a truly remarkable person who had a good heart.
It looks like heaven :)
Mine's already built!
I often do this in the computer game called 'The Sims'. I build various houses and construct families to play out various scenarios - to be honest I didn't realise how much this game stems around model building until I just thought about it. Explains why I can lose hours on it at a time!
I think I'm going to build my dream living/home place to live. It'l be like a dream board but in 3D! It won't cost much if we get creative in our thinking and if we get on the look out for interesting bits of materials etc that we can use. Then we can all display them at the worlds first autistic custom model show. No competition, just enjoying our own and each other's creations :)
You can also buy some amazing things for literally pennies, from people abroad, usually, who are building up their accounts, so they sell stuff like beads and ribbons etc, all sorts of interesting stuff for next to nothing. It's great fun receiving them.
This is putting ideas into my head! I have threatened to make some space in the loft for a railway set or dolls house and have dismissed it purely on the cost....
That really is beautiful and I can see a lot of love and time went into it. Happy memories I am sure.
Thank you Ellie - hope you have managed to make it through the festive period in one piece too! :-)
I've mentioned 'outsider artist' Henry Darger before, I think. Not a model-maker, but a writer and artist - and an extraordinarily creative and imaginative man.
He never published any of his work (which included a 15,145-page fantasy novel) or exhibited any of his hundreds of paintings and collages, and asked for them all to be destroyed after his death. He lived in the same one-room apartment in Chicago for over four decades whilst working as a hospital janitor, and is known to have had only one friend in that time. Definitely a spectrumite, I think!
'...Darger himself felt that much of his problem was being able to see through adult lies and becoming a "smart-aleck" as a result, which often led to his being disciplined by teachers and ganged up on by classmates. He also went through a lengthy phase of feeling compelled to make strange noises (perhaps as a result of Tourette's Syndrome) which irritated others'
His enormous creativity seems to have been sparked by a photograph, as the bio explains.
Henry Darger
There's also a number of videos about him on YouTube, including this short documentary.
The Secret Life and Art of Henry Darger
WARNING: some may find his imagery gruesome or otherwise disturbing.
Thanks. I will have a look.
Ebay is your friend. I pay next to nothing for my models. You can still buy those matchstick kits - and people who get them for Christmas often sell them as unwanted gifts - there's bargains to be had.
Golly! And just look at that early '70s bedroom wallpaper!
I love models but don't get much opportunity (or have the money to buy them) to make them any more. As a child I absolutely loved Lego and construction kits. We used to get these matchstick models. Literally making a model out of matchsticks. I think there was a card frame to stick them on. It took a lot of patience but I loved it. I wasn't much of a girly girl but I did get a dolls house one year and I loved decorating it and putting the lighting and the furniture in. It took years as it was done room by room.
I did voluntary work in my local library - a computer 'buddy' - and got on well with all the staff and the public. People used to pick training slots with me, even though we had several 'buddies', because I was patient and encouraging. Then I went for a job at another branch in a nearby town. The head librarian at mine did a good personal reference for me. I gave a great interview, giving excellent examples of my public service, library volunteering, etc. I told them about the book classification codes I devised as a kid.
I didn't get the job.
I didn't bother to get feedback to find out why. It was my seventh failure with them.
Maybe I was just smelly or something.