Odds 'n' Ends: Opéra de Paris

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.

Along with L 'Instant Durable's Métro de Paris, I picked up the card model of the Opéra de Paris in a gift shop back in the summer of 2004. I admit that my main reason for getting the model is because of the role the Palais Garnier plays in Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera.

The above picture of the uncut postcard (approx. 4 1/4" x 6 1/2") comes from Moduni. Below is a photo of my completed model.

The postcard is printed on a heavy card stock that makes it a little difficult to cut out the fine details like the golden statues at the front of the building. That said, my biggest challenge had to be three domes. The two smaller domes got the best of me and I was never able to get them shaped correctly and you can see in the picture that they look more like spiky crowns than actual domes.

As I mentioned in last month's post for the Métro, there are several designers for L 'Instant Durable's models, but I cannot find a designer to credit for the postcard.

Below is a photo of the actual Opéra de Paris. I hope that it will give you an idea of how well designed the model is even working at what might be 1/1000 scale.

Odds 'n' Ends: Métro de Paris

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.

L 'Instant Durable's Métro de Paris is a card model that I picked up in a Paris gift shop in the summer of 2004.

The above picture of the uncut postcard (approx. 4 1/4" x 6 1/2") comes from Moduni. The photo below is of my completed model.

L 'Instant Durable is a well known French publisher card model publisher. Their 3-D postcard models were all over Paris, and were easy to find. They publish more than 150 cards with 100 architectural models. L'Instant Durable offers nearly every famous French building like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Sacré-Cœur to name a few. They also publish card models from other European countries.

The postcard is printed on a heavy card stock that makes it a little difficult to cut out the fine details like the lampposts. I ended up splitting some bamboo skewers and gluing them against the back of the two lampposts to reinforce the sign as a whole.

There are several designers for L 'Instant Durable's models. Since the larger models are printed as books, it is easy to find who worked on each one, but I cannot find a credit for the postcards.

The 3-D card model is beautifully rendered and colored. To give you an idea of how well designed the model is I have included a photo of the actual Pigalle Métro station. (My apologies to the person who posted the original vacation photo online, but it was the best example I could find.)

I when I picked up Métro de Paris (station Pigalle), I also purchased the Opéra de Paris and will information about it shortly. Of course now I wish I had picked up more of the postcards.