Intro to Miniature Model Making
Adult Course | Registration opens 5/6/2025 7:00 AM MDT
This introductory course teaches the basics of miniature model making by inviting students to create a 1:12 scale model of a space that means something to them. This could be a space from your past that holds significance to you, a room described in a book, or something you dream up. Students will work with materials such as foam core, polymer clay, and reinvent material scraps, found objects and recyclables into new mini creations. Students will learn the basics of working at a small scale, sketching out their ideas and translating it into it's physical form, and how to properly use an X-acto knife to cut clean crisp lines.
Session 1 (3 hours):
Introductions
Understanding Scale
Materials Overview
Brainstorming and Sketching Plans
Construction of the room
Session 2 (3 hours):
Wall treatments and flooring
Adding 3D elements
Session 3 (3 hours):
Continuation of building out the room details
Session 4 (3 hours):
Continuation of building out the room details
Sharing your creation with the class
Required Materials:
5-6 Sheets White Foam Core 11” x 14” x 3/16” (or a larger sheet to cut down)
X-acto knife with extra blades
Self-healing cutting mat 12” x 18” (or larger)
Straight edge ruler
Paper for sketching plans
Pencil and Eraser
Flat Head Straight Pins (for sewing)
Elmers All Purpose Glue
Acrylic Paint Set and Assorted Foam Brushes
Suggested/Optional Materials:
Recycled & Scrap Materials of any kind that you’d like to repurpose
Fabric Scraps
Polymer Clay
Becky Wareing-Steele
Becky Wareing Steele is an artist living and working in Denver, Colorado specializing in small scale sculpture and public art. Her work deals with the commonalities that exist in our shared experiences through the examination of scale and environment. Through her sculptural and photographic work with 1:160 scale figures and 1:12 scale objects she explores the impact of scale and how it affects our perception of the world around us. This impact can also be found in the way we perceive ourselves in our environment.
In more recent series she has developed narrative components to accompany the works, allowing the viewer to connect with the piece on a deeper level. Using settings familiar and accessible to everyone is a key component of her work. Through this process she is able to alter the way people view everyday situations, seemingly mundane at times, and invite the viewer to think about their place in the environment by altering the scale.
Wareing Steele holds a BA in Art History from Colorado State University with a focus on Intuit Art.