Paper, Plastic or-- Metal?

This site is dedicated to paper modelling and to movie/TV subjects, but now and then it's interesting to compare the paper medium to other popular model mediums. Paper models seem to have been around for about as long as we've had foldable paper. Certainly the advent of mechanical printing brought along paper models in abundance. Check the 19th century Eiffel Tower model I featured in this post. By the way, my first paper model build was a Bucky Fuller geodesic dome that appeared in Popular Science Magazine in the1960s.

But as a dedicated modeler, it's doesn't hurt to keep up with the history and range of modeling around. Wooden models predate paper models, of course and were the principle hard model format until the 1950s. This type of modeling is probably the most skill-demanding modeling medium, requiring skills at tooling, carving and sculpting. There are still amazing things being done in  wood today, though, such as the impressive large scale automobile models shown  in the videos of this fellow at Woodworking Art.

However, in the 1950s plastic manufacturers looking to expand the markets of their new technologies rightly anticipated a growth in Baby Boom home hobby crafts. The plastic model kit industry took off so successfully all other model mediums took a back seat in the modeling limelight. The polystyrene kit remains the most common model medium after three quarters of a century, but it has competition.

I've been a personal computer owner pretty much since they became commonly available and got my first color printer in about the mid 1990s. Eventually I became aware of that talented graphic designers were creating interesting paper models you could download, print at home and build yourself. This was new-- models over the Internet. I quickly accumulated hundreds and have built a fair number of them. These are similar (if somewhat lessor quality) than the fancy printed models that could long be purchased at bookstores and such. (My first downloaded paper models were these very easy ones.)

Of course, high tech never stops progressing and the concept of printing your own model has now moved from paper to plastic. The 3D printer movement has come into being in much the same way the Internet paper modelling movement did. Someone designs a graphic file, posts it and the user downloads and prints it at home, just in a plastic material rather than on paper. I've not stepped up to this arena yet, but the technology seems to be maturing so I might go that way soon.

Also, as a paper modeler you should be right at home with the later day metal models made popular by Metal Earth and others. Punched and, sometimes, printed on thin steel they are essentially paper models in metal. You start by folding or rolling parts into shape. Assembly is different, however. Rather than using glue you fit tabs into slots and simply bend the tabs over. I have built a few and find it fun, though the tiny size can make assembly quite tedious.

I see no reason all these modelling mediums cannot coexist. As a longtime modelling enthusiast I've built models from wood, paper metal, and styrene. It's always nice to vary one's model building diet now than then.