How to use the Portfolios in The Wingrove Collection

All of these plans were drafted for my own personal use, for building the types of models illustrated here, and are used in conjunction with the accompanying photographs. They are not intended to be the final word regarding how the model will look, rather this is the skeleton from which and on which the model is created. My final arbiter is always 'does it look right' when compared to the photographs of the original, not 'is it exactly to scale'. This is because the aim of my miniature is to show the intangible character of the original, which may not necessarily be accomplished by adhering strictly to exact scale with every detail. A model built to a scale of less than a 1/4 must of necessity employ the use of license, ie cannot be built exactly as the original, if only because the lack of strength of the scaled down materials would mean that the model would collapse if it was touched.

It should be remembered that there is no physical connection between the subject and the plans, or the plans and the final model, other then the eye and the hand of the creator of the model. This is scratch building in its purest form and is to my mind the ultimate in creativity.

In my work there are three stages to the creation and use of these plans;

A set of very rough sketches are made when collecting data from a new subject. These have the dimensions added, that are taken directly from the subject, which can be several hundreds in number. Notes on colour and particular detail are also added to this first draft. Up to a hundred or so detail photos are also taken at this time to store an overall impression of the subject and to note particular detailing, usually, if it is possible, from several angles.
This is now put together in such a way that a general arrangement set of views are created to a scale of 1/15th (.0666" = one inch). If this is a 'Full' set then it will include some engine, chassis, (undercarriage for the horse drawn vehicles) and interior detail. If it is a 'Curb Side' set, then only external body features will be included. The scale of 1/15th allows the largest of cars, Bugatti Royale and Duesenberg, and the largest of carriages, to be accommodated on a single A3 sheet. It was also the scale used by Ettore Bugatti in drafting his Bugatti Type 41 Royale chassis plans. These completed scale general arrangement plans contain NO dimensions as it would hide the detailing, and it is a full set of these plans (from 2 to 6, A3 (420mm x 297mm) size per vehicle) that are included in each Portfolio.
The final stage, and one that all who wish to make use of these plans will have to undertake, is to measure and take off from them a note of each of the dimensions that they will need to make the individual parts for the miniature. I do this with another set of rough sketches, whereby I am able to dissect the part I wish to make into manufacturable parts (a starter motor or spring shackle may be made of one or a dozen parts,) and add my working (scale) dimensions to these. The basic overall dimension of the item if it is large enough, should be obtainable from these plans, while the finer detailing will be ascertained from the photographs and added in proportion to the indicated size available. The detail photographs are as important as the scale plans in this method of working, which is why I have not been prepared to release the plans before finding an economical way of being able to provide the requisite number of photos with each Portfolio.

Although only ship and car models are shown at this time, one can get an impressions of what is possible when building from very similar data and plans by checking out the various Galleries at <www.geraldwingrove.com>. If, when viewing some of the models illustrated here, one is not certain whether you are looking at a miniature or the full size vehicle, then I have achieved my aim.

Click the eye to view a sample of a Portfolio and Supplementary data photos.

List of subjects on file 1600 to 1989

Almost all of the subjects on file have been visited, at which time extensive data was collected by way of photographs, dimensions and notes on colours etc., with the aim of drafting a set of scale plans for the building of a fine detailed miniature. The exceptions to this are a number of the horse drawn vehicles. These are held on file as copies of original scale working plans of the period. It is intended, as time permits, to locate vehicles to match the body style and undercarriage configurations of these so that we can then redraft the plans on computer into a more usable form.

The data photographs were taken of the actual vehicle or similar with a Minolta 35mm SLR camera (several models over the years) or more recently with a Leica digital still and Panasonic digital Video cameras. They are raw data, taken only for their content, at whatever angle that would show this, in many cases in the worst possible lighting conditions, and with the vehicle located in a restricted space on a museum floor or in a private collection. Flash photos of highly polished subjects in a restricted area are not ideal. In some cases we were able to have the vehicle moved out into the open, but to photograph a black and chrome engine in bright Californian sun presents almost as many problems. Many are not the best of photographs, but those selected for inclusion with the plans, I do consider to show the information that was intended. Almost all of the early ones are in black and white.

Early 1/15th scale plans were mostly drafted in ink (just a couple in pencil) on drafting film and copy very well. From 1990 we moved to an Apple Mac Computer running ‘MicroStation’ CAD software, and since that time all subsequent plans have been drafted on a computer and printed at 1/15th scale on an Epson printer, as are the photo pages.

('MicroStation' is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems Inc.)

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