Hobbs’ Choice…of materials

46 year old Mineral City Depot model in card with balsa bracing

Galen wondered in the comments section of the review of Pictorial House Modelling by Edward W. Hobbs if Hobbs recommended any materials we might consider unusual. I didn’t think he did, but I decided to go back and have another look. Here’s a list of Hobbs’ recommended materials along with some one-liners about what he  suggests using them for:

Bristol board

2-ply for small models like those in 1/8” = 1’ scale; 4-ply for larger works; although various plies can be used in different situations.

Bristol board seems to have been around forever as a primary model making material, but as with all manufactured things, it was invented at some point in time. Looking around the internet the short story appears to be that it was first made in Bristol, England (I’m not sure by what company) sometime around 1800; however, it wasn’t named in honour of Bristol the city, but after Frederick Hervey, the 4th Earl of Bristol. Strathmore’s 500 series Bristol board, which is a mainstay of cardboard structure modelling and the one I like to use, was invented in 1893 by the equally old Strathmore Paper Company that was founded in 1892 in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Apparently Bristol board was the second paper product the company manufactured. There are lots of Bristol board manufacturers, and everyone seems to have their favourite, but the key here is that it’s been around in one form or another for 200+ years. Given its high quality, it isn’t surprising that Bristol board has long been a preferred modelling material.

Fashion board

A lower cost, and somewhat lower quality, substitute for Bristol board.

I don’t know what this is other than the book says it’s cheap, not as white as Bristol board, and spongy. I’ve looked through my old books on making miniature buildings and I find mention of Bristol board substitutes such as strawboard, ticket board, pasteboard, pulpboard in many of them, but only saw ‘fashion board’ mentioned in Wickham’s 1948 Modelled Architecture, which noted that it, along with ‘watercolour board’, are artists’ materials, being high-quality cards faced on one or both sides with papers of various texture. 

What seems to me the most interesting non-Bristol board cardboard for miniature buildings, at least as far as story is concerned, is ‘International Pasteboard’ that Chris Pilton mentions he used to build the models in his 1987 book, Cottage Modelling for Pendon: 

The material which I use for making Pendon buildings was bought in Bristol in 1941 by Pendon’s founder, Roye England, just before the shop was destroyed by enemy bombing. He bought £10 worth, which in those days meant a good large stock ever since. Although bought in Bristol, the card was not in fact Bristol board (apparently its skin is too brittle). It was apparently called ‘International Pasteboard’ and came in sheets varying in thickness from 0.2mm to 0.75mm.

Whether it’s fashion board or some other product, it looks like Bristol board has always been a pricey material, and most writers have had to mention some reasonable quality, lower cost alternatives. 

Mounting board

Their textures can make them useful in special situations.

Plaster of Paris, Plasticene, Playwax, Sealing Wax

Could be used to make entire models or parts of them.

Necol

A type of plastic wood.

Pine, mahogany, or oak

For bases.

Strip-wood

Species and sizes aren’t specified.

Fine sand or emery powder

For roads and paths.

Small pieces of slate or stone

For scenes needing rocks.

Small pieces of mirror or waved glass in blue or green

For representing water

Sponges or loofahs

For modelling vegetation.

Flock or flock wallpaper

For covering surfaces like lawns or fields. Hobbs notes that flock is hard to obtain except near cotton mills.

Seccotine, LePages, Croid

These are glues.

Oil, watercolour, or poster paints

Poster for cardboard models; Oil for wood or plaster models; Watercolour for small models.

It’s important to keep in mind the book was published in 1926 in England, and so it deals in brandnames and materials that were common then and there. However, the list doesn’t seem that odd reading it here in Canada close to 100 years after publication.  After substituting a few modern brandnames and materials, it could be used as a list for shopping the internet. Although, you’d be missing out on many modern developments.