Photos by the author

This is the latest kit from Heritage Models, or to his friends, Roger Pattenden. Although, at first sight this may look like the original Globe from Roger, this is the �other� Theatre that originally stood on the south side of the Thames in the days of William Shakespeare. The Globe Theatre has been rebuilt on almost the same spot as the original, but the Rose is being rebuilt a little farther from home, in America.

Roger asked me to make his kit as a test to make sure that �all�s well that ends well� as the bard would have said. As a tribute to Roger's ability, what you see here is very little changed from the kit that will appear on the shelves.

This kit comes in Rogers the usual style. There is the front cover and back cover with a brief history of the theatre. On the inside of the covers are the instructions and detailed diagrams. The artwork is up to his usual style and standard.

Having made many of Roger's models I looked forward to this brand new kit. Read on to find out if my preconceptions were justified.

Pic 1. The basic building is made up of an outside wall and three inner levels, so there is a lot of reverse scoring, as you can see here. This is the ground level and the walls need reverse scoring but the pillars need front scoring. The tabs are scored on the front. The lower tabs are attached to the A4 base.

Pic 2. Here we have the completed piece. In this picture you can see the first level but it is the same technique as the other levels. These walls come in two pieces and I glued the first one in place and added the stage before continuing with the second half.

Pic 3. Part of the outer wall is now in place again, this wall comes in two halves. You should be able to see the panels that lead from the entrance to the standing area. I painted the reverse sides to match the front. However, once the kit is complete, this is hardly noticeable.

Pic 4. I had to open the doors in the outer walls! This gives a good view of the stage. As you can see I had �depth of field� problems with my camera.

Pic 5. The stage and back stage walls are in place. Also a series of pillars are attached to the outer wall. I really liked this touch because it makes a simple job of positioning the next floor.

Pic 6. Here is the (English) first or (American) second floor.* As you can see it follows the same system as the ground floor.

Pic 7. I was afraid that this floor would not fit properly inside the outer walls. �O ye of little faith� I thought, remember this is a Heritage model. Needless to say my fears were groundless. It slid into place perfectly, the inner wall and pillars mentioned above positioning the model exactly. I did not bother to glue this in place because I realised that the top floor would keep it in place.

Pic 8. This shows the private boxes. These are built over the stage and were used by the rich as a place to be seen. The placing of these parts was one of the very few points that Roger and I discussed.

Pic 9. This is the top floor. The walls are made in the same way as the others but here a roof is added to protect the actors. A word of warning. Roger pointed out that if you look down on the roof it does not line up with the stage. This is not a fault with the kit but an accurate representation of the original alignment. I�m not sure how he knows this, I�m sure he wasn�t around in the 16th Century!!

Pic 10. As with the middle floor, this one drops into place without a problem. I added a few spots of glue to the middle level tabs because the inner wall in this level supports the roof.

Pic 11. The main part is now complete with the roof in place.

Pic 12. There is an additional building, which is made up of two pieces making the main walls another piece making the front bay and lastly the roofs and chimney.

Pic 13. The completed model. Roger tells me that a small signboard will be added to the final kit. This model took me just over a week to make. Despite being a prototype, there were very few problems and these were mainly cosmetic. The fit was excellent which always helps. You may have guessed from the above that my preconceptions were justified. This makes into a great model and is comparable to Roger's earlier Globe kit.

I mentioned earlier that Roger asked me to �test� this kit and when it was completed we had dinner to discuss the building. It was a deliberate decision to meet at a restaurant just across the road from the full size Globe Theatre!

Summary:

*Editor's note; in the USA a building's second floor is the first one above ground level, in the rest of the English-speaking world the ground floor is known as a ground floor, followed by first, second, third etc. This can (and has) lead to problems for foreigners planning illegal bungie jumps!

  Return to the Main Page