IT'S A SMALL WORLD

by Jen Groundwater

There’s a world out there that’s yours for the taking—or more accurately, yours for the making: the world of miniatures.

If you haven’t arranged doll-house furniture or assembled a model plane in decades, pull up a workbench: there’s been an explosion of creativity thanks to improved graphic capabilities; new building materials, tools, and techniques; the invention of 3D printers; and the rise of social media.

Miniature makers are having a grand old time sharing their beautiful, tiny creations on Instagram and other platforms. For some, it’s their life’s work: a miniature house, usually built at 1:12 scale (one inch = one foot), can sell for a staggering six figures.

Bill Robertson is famous for his historically accurate furniture and objects including items like tiny working microscopes and grandfather clocks. Creators like Chris Toledo, Kwandaa Roberts, and Vonelle build exquisite wee homes as perfectlooking as any contemporary show home, while the husband-and-wife team of Kevin Mulvany and Susie Rogers recreate ornate historic mansions.

Bridget McCarty makes magical miniature food and household items, while Joshua Smith and Kévin D’Alenti make gritty, startlingly realistic models of graffitied, run-down urban buildings, shipping containers, and even garbage cans.

These folks are Instagram celebrities, with many thousands of followers each. But regular people are also rediscovering the appeal of the miniature. Brett Shuttleworth of the NRC Hobby Shop in Nanaimo says sales of models went way up during the pandemic. Although the shop’s website lists hundreds of items, that’s just “a drop in the ocean of what’s out there,” he says. “There’s a slew of stuff available,” including the materials and tools to make your own models.

There’s room for everyone in the world of miniatures. A great place to start is by building things from pre-made kits, then customizing them yourself. Many people happily continue doing this for their whole lives. Others get a kick out of building their own items—model sailboats or railroads, scale miniature buildings, and so on—entirely from scratch, with materials and design limited only by their imaginations (and budgets).

From miniature food and other household items such as furniture, waste bins and now laptops, to gritty run-down urban environments and the ubiquitous railway town sometimes occupying an entire floor of a home, miniatures have exploded onto Instagram and other social media platforms as a worldwide phenomenon.

Either way, modelling is an ideal pastime for those who have (or who want) patience and perseverance. And for anyone who wants to feel the satisfaction of creating something tiny, beautiful, and very realistic.

Shuttleworth advises newbies not to panic if their early paint jobs don’t exactly match what’s on the box, and to make it fun: “Take your time. Find something that appeals to you, that you want to build, and enjoy it.”

Check out the incredible miniature artistry on these Instagram accounts

@wmrrobertsonminiatures @ibuildsmallthings @tinyhousecalls @lavenderbelle_miniatures @bridgetmccartyminis @joshua_smith_street_artist @kevindalenti @mulvanyandrogers

Local Littles... connect with these island-based miniatures and model enthusiasts.

Miniature World Victoria’s attraction celebrates all things small, with 85 marvellous miniature dioramas and displays, including scenes from space, history, and BC’s historic industries, along with doll houses, castles, cityscapes, and more.

Oceanside Model Railroaders You can help drive this group’s amazing model railroad at Railyard Games in Parksville! The shop sells must-buy miniatures and runs in-store games and miniature/ model events.

PDQ (Parksville District and Qualicum) Flyers If you want to get involved in model aviation, connect with this group, who build radio-controlled model planes and helicopters and fly them at various sites near Fairwinds.