Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 181

2367. Large Models.

If large models of houses or buildings are made, the windows are constructed of talc or thin gla.s.s, covered with net or muslin. The frames of the windows are made of cardboard, neatly cut out with a sharp penknife.

2368. Countries.

Countries should be made of cork, because it is easier to work.

Although the starch-paste is very agreeable to model with, yet it is liable to shrink, and therefore, when in the ma.s.s, one part dries quicker than another, so that there is not equal contraction--a great objection to its employment in accurate models. Cork, on the contrary, may be easily cut into all forms, and from abounding with pores, it is remarkably light--no little consideration to travellers.

2369. Topographical Models.

Topographical models may, however, be formed of plaster of Paris, but the weight is an objection. A model of a country on a moderate scale--say one-eighth of an inch to a square mile--with its mountains, valleys, and towns, may be thus made:--A model having been first made in clay, according to scale and plan, moulds should then be taken of various parts in gutta percha, rendered soft by dipping it into hot water, and the parts cast in paper cement.

2370. Paper Cement.

i. Reduce paper to a smooth paste by boiling it in water; then add an equal weight each of sifted whiting and good size; boil to a proper consistence, and use.

ii. Take equal parts of paper, paste, and size, sufficient finely-powdered plaster of Paris to make into a good paste, and use as soon as possible after it is mixed. This composition may be used to cast architectural ornaments, busts, statues, &c., being very light, and susceptible of a good polish, but it will not stand weather.

2371. Other Parts.

The several mountains and other parts being formed, join them together in their proper places with some of the No. i. paper cement, rendered rather more fluid by the addition of a little thin glue. The towns are made of a piece of cork, cut and scratched to the form of the town; steeples of cardboard, and trees of blades of moss. Sand is sprinkled in one part; looking-gla.s.s in others, for the lakes, bays, and rivers; and green baize flock for the verdant fields.

2372. Monuments.

Monuments, ancient or modern, are better constructed of cork, on account of the lightness and facility in working, more especially the ancient ones.

2373. Ruins.

Ruins should be constructed of cork, according to the directions given above, and when it is necessary to represent the mouldering walls covered with moss or ivy, a little green baize flock, or moss chippings, should be attached by mucilage to the part; and oftentimes a brush of raw sienna, combined with varnish, requires to be laid underneath the moss or flock, in order to improve the effect.

Prostrate columns and huge blocks are effectively represented in cork, and should be neatly cut out with a sharp knife, and the various parts supposed to be destroyed by age picked away with a pin or blunt knife afterwards.

2374. Cities and Temples.

We will suppose that the model is to represent the Temple of Theseus at Athens, which was built by Cimon, the son of Miltiades. In the first place we must obtain the necessary dimensions, and then, reducing the number of feet to fractional parts of an inch, form a scale suitable for carrying out the whole. A piece of wood of the necessary size is procured, the plan marked out in pencil, and the ground on which it stands imitated in cork, by cutting away the parts that are not required with a sharp penknife, and adding others with glue.

The floor of the temple is now to be glued on with common glue, for we should remark that the liquid glue does not dry quickly enough for cork modelling, and is not so good as the old plan; the sides and ends are formed of cork sheets, marked with a lead pencil to represent the blocks of stone; and ruined and broken parts imitated, by p.r.i.c.king the cork with a blunt penknife or needle. The frieze, representing the battle between the Centaurs and Lapithae and the metopes in mezzo-relievo, containing a mixture of the labours of Hercules and Theseus, should be drawn upon the sheets of cork according to scale, and coloured with a little lampblack and raw sienna, to represent the subject intended, if the scale is small; but if the model admits of it, the groups may be neatly carved with a sharp penknife from the cork, which has been previously outlined with pencil.

The next thing we shall have to do is to strengthen the interior of the model, and this is done by glueing small pieces of cork, at irregular intervals, at the angles formed by the junction of any parts; these are put on the inside, and lastly, the roof is affixed.

Any parts that require to be coloured, may be touched up with varnish or water colours, and lichen, &c., affixed with mucilage where it is requisite.

2375. To Model from Living Objects.

We will imagine that the reader desires to model the features of some friend, and as there is some difficulty in the matter, on account of the person operated upon having a natural tendency to distort the features when the liquid plaster is poured upon the face, and some danger of suffocation if the process is not well managed, we will proceed at once to describe the various stages of operating:

2376. Procedure (1).

Mix the plaster of paris with warm water, and have it about as thick as cream, but do not mix it until all is ready. Lay the person upon his back, and having raised his head to the natural position when walking, by means of a pillow of bran or sand, cover the parts intended to be cast with oil of almonds or olives, applied by means of a feather, brush, or lump of cotton: plug the ears with cotton or wool, and insert two quills into the nostrils, and plug the s.p.a.ce between each quill and the nostril very carefully with cotton.

2377. Procedure (2).

Cover the face with the plaster, beginning at the upper part of the forehead, and spread it downwards over the eyes, which should be kept _firmly_ closed, but not in such a manner as to produce any distortion by too violent compression--and continue the plaster as far as the lower border of the chin; cover that part of the chest and arms that is to be represented, and carry the plaster upwards, so as to join the cast of the face; then carefully remove each, and season for casting, by soaking or brus.h.i.+ng with linseed oil boiled with sugar of lead or licharge. Some persons boil the moulds in the oil; and many, instead of casting the face in one piece, and the chest in another, lay threads across the face and up and down it, leaving the ends out. As the plaster sets, or is nearly set, the threads are pulled through, so as to divide the cast into four, five, or more pieces.

2378. Procedure (3).

The back part of the head is moulded by having an oval trencher sort of vessel, deeper than half the head, and generally made of plaster, and boiled in oil. The back of the head being oiled, and this trencher partially filled with liquid plaster of Paris, the head is lowered into it, and the cast taken. The back of the neck is cast with the person turned over on his face.

2379. Procedure (4).

Each part of the mould is marked so as to secure accurate junction with the adjoining part or parts; sometimes with a x or , which, pa.s.sing over the junction of two pieces, serves to distinguish them.

2380. Procedure (5).

To model the face, join the several pieces, and tie them together with twine; then wrap some rag round the joints, to prevent the plaster oozing out, and pour in the plaster, made tolerably fluid, taking care to oil the inside of the mould very carefully first. When the outer part of the mould is nearly set, scoop out the centre with a spoon, and let the whole dry; then remove the strings, &c., and smooth off the edges of the joints upon the model with a sharp penknife, and carve out the eyes from the ma.s.s, otherwise they will appear as if closed.

2381. Wax Models.

Wax models may be made from the moulds used for the plaster; but when the wax sets at the outside to about one-eighth of an inch, the rest should be poured out of the mould; or, a smaller portion being poured in, it may be shaken about the inside of the mould until it is coated.

The pieces are removed, and the seams trimmed up, as in the plaster cast.

2382. Making a Cast.

If a cast be made in Gutta Percha from the model in plaster--or, what is still better, in fusible metal,--then, by pressing basil leather, moistened with water, into the mould, and strengthening the back and centre with chips of wood affixed by liquid glue, a very nice model may be obtained in leather, which, when varnished, will look like oak carving--especially if it be stained with Stephens's Oak Stain.

2383. Rustic-Work Seats.

Rustic-work seats, &c., may be constructed of wire twisted to the proper shape and size, and then covered with gutta percha, rendered soft by being dipped in hot water. The gutta percha should be twisted round the wire previously warmed, and gently heated over a spirit lamp, or dipped again into hot water, so as to allow the various parts to be covered with it. When the model is finished, it should be touched up here and there with oil colours--green, yellow, sienna, and Venetian red--according to fancy, and the effect produced will be very good.

2384. Dr. Clark's Pills for Nervous Headache.

Socotine aloes, powdered rhubarb, of each one drachm; compound powder of cinnamon, one scruple; hard soap, half a drachm; syrup enough to form the ma.s.s. To be divided into fifty pills, of which two will be sufficient for a dose; to be taken occasionally.