Schreiber-Bogen Cologne
Cathedral
Matthias Harbers
Photos by the Author
Schreiber's model of the K�lner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) was for long one of
their biggest models and often viewed as a challenge to build. I
have seen built models in Germany, and when talking to somebody, who had built
it, he simply told me with a smile to be patient. Well, at least
I was patient in waiting for the day when I started working on the kit, which
had been in my stock for quite some time before I decided to do it.
It was a slow built which was stretched over about one year.
The kit comes on some 41 A4-sized pages holding some 751 parts plus pages with
the cover, a drawing of the historic building and instructions.
All the instructions are given as schematic drawings out of which many are on
the back of the pages holding the parts. For those of you who are
reading German the designer, Thomas Pleiner, offers also a detailed text on
how to build the model. I was impressed by the detailed drawings,
which were still made by hand in the classic style before computer aided design
became the norm. Apparently it took him some 18 months before the
model could be published in May 1988. When designing the model,
he tried to offer a model, which would be highly detailed and would still allow
for an easy assembly. It was one of the objectives from the publisher
to have a model that also a less experienced person could build.
Though this model indeed asks for some time and patients, I would agree that
this model can be built by a less experienced paper modeler. The
fitting was very good and following the instruction the model moved steadily
forward to its completion; and if you do not want to cut forever, you have the
option whether or not you want to cut out all decorations or leave them with
a black background. No matter how detailed you would like to build
this model, at the end you will have an impressive replica of the original church.
Therefore I would like to encourage everyone who is interested
in this model to take your time and build it - your time will be well spent
and you will enjoy seeing the model growing at your own hands.
I would like to thank Thomas Pleiner for sending me his German instructions
and a copy of his article in "M�ve 8/91" describing the design process.
Summary:
| Model: | K�lner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) |
| Kit: | Schreiber-Bogen |
| Designer: | Thomas Pleiner |
| Availability: | S&S; in Hamburg (http://www.moduni.de/) | Scale: | 1/300 |
| Difficulty: | Difficult |
| Number of Parts: | 751 |
| Instructions: | Schematic diagrams |
| Diagrams: | 4 pages generally good |
| Fit: | Very good |
| Coloring and Artwork: | Very good |
| Printing: | Very good on nice paper |
