FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 2, 3 January 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR THE LITTLE ONES

TOWN PLANNING

A SUGGESTED HOBBY.

My Dear Little Friends,— Long ago a friend of mine started to make a mode! township from cardboard, mounting all his little houses and shops and trees en a firm slab of -wood. As the years rolled on this little village grew and grew, some houses were pulled down, other newer and better ones being erected in their place. Now the model township, which is called "Cardville," is quite big, possessing a park, a big steepled church, quite half a dozen shops, as well as a number of houses, all made after the style of real houses and painted in several colours. Perhaps some of my little readers would like to make a model village too. If they started now and made the foundation, carrying out improvements whenever possible, in a couple of years the village should be quite large and should then be a model of which anyone could be proud. Let us first of all procure a slab of wood as large as possible. Three-ply will probably be the most suitable, as it is light but strong. In addition some good glue will be required. Of this it is best to get a liquid glue, which requires no heating. If you are going to go in for model making as I suggested at the beginning of this letter, you might as well purchase a sheet of light white cardboard. This you can get from the stationer's for a couple of pennies. All thicknesses of white board can. be had and it might be advisable to procure one sheet of fairly thick and one sheet of thin card. Having decided upon the kind of house you intend to make, cut •nt the various pieces and stick them together. For a start it will be found easiest to cut out the various parts of a model separately, afterwards glueing them together, for cutting out a model in one piece is hard. Sometimes you will find it possible to use match boxes and other little objects that can be found about the house as foundations and as little extras for houses, for streets or for parks and gardens. If you wish to make your model very accurate you may cut out the windows and paste transparent paper over the holes in place of glass, but for some it will be best to paint the windows and the doors. For trees «mall twigs may be stuck into the foundation, the grass being suggested with either green paint or moss, which is glued to the board.* _ With these suggestions to work upon even" the tiniest person can begin his or her town planning, for no matter how unskilled the first attempts may be, they can be improved * upon after-wards, one house giving way to another as the taste of the modeller changes with age. Little by little your f 7/ village will grow, and let us hope that it at last reaches the stage where it is a , complete town.