The Maquette

When I was in college taking fine-art classes and pretending that I was a sculptor I frequently heard the term ‘maquette’. I had no idea what it meant, but since it came from ‘the art community’ it immediately became mysterious and enigmatic.

Could it be a new form of art?

Maybe it’s an eccentric painting method like Raku or sfumato…

Perhaps it’s a secret society of master artisans…

Turns out that ‘maquette’ just the French word for ‘scale model’. Yawn.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always thought that scale models were pretty cool, but I didn’t really understand the value until I actually made one. Turns out that a scale model is pretty darn useful, and in large scale pieces, it is essential.

It’s much better to make an error on a 12 inch project than on a 12 foot project.

Here is the scale model of the frame for the new reaper. It’s made out of 1/8 inch wooden dowel and high-temp hot glue. I got the head from a cheap Halloween decoration (it just happened to be pretty close in scale).

This is a 1:12 scale model. Most of the models I do are 1:12 because the math is easy. One scale inch equals one real-life foot.

I call it the ‘simple’ scale.

That is French word, it means… uh… ‘simple’.