scratch - building with BB

[Beano Boy]

There has always been a place in my fancy for old faded books,and although i have collected some in the past i thought little of actually setting to and making some in a most abstract way.





Seen above is one out of a few i did before i took a break.

With toying with my feeble efforts so far,lets say i needed lots of practice which i enjoyed immensely.


So as i returned to arts and crafts again a few tiny sample open book covers seemed happily to freefall upon my time table, and i'm sure the small production line of printed paper card will get even better in detail with my dear Mrs B,helping me out again with the printer.



Pencil marks pressed home makes it real easy to fold the book covers.



Yes they certainly fold up forming a nice book spine.



Simple. it sure looks it.

The process involved is one of gluing them upon a paper strip. It is?
Sure enough it is Pards. Entry in the Journal, BB,is simply back being his usual self.







All stuck in a line makes it easer to cut them off.





Each book was reduced down to 40 in height on my pc gallery setting, and these are to be the largest size books. By cutting and manoeuvring the A4 Size paper in the printer Mrs B, was able to print 35 open book covers ,so several bound volumes 10mm by 5mm will spread out upon my old bookcase or perhaps another that is already in the planning stage.

Now i must just add here that Sheets of Open Ended Books can be bought on the Web,but not in the reduced size for my needs. Those sheets are for dolls house furniture.

When glued and bent over a long strip of paper card all in a line, these will have the covers free to flap open and each book can be easily cut off later. Scoring the paper with a few lines using a sharp pointed craft knife can be made just to part some of the layers that make up the paper card. However my hands tremble so i doubt i will be able to do that safely. So i only advise what could be done.



i figured out by making lots of books of differing sizes that they would tumble upright in a natural style along any book shelf. The plan having been put into action fourteen days ago now requires more long stretched out lines of downsized book covers to be printed out.



Using me comic Book Annuals, a noble ambition indeed.

post script bb, has copied several beano and dandy's too.
Eh! Is there no end to this compulsive disorder?
button it wingnut or else, said the little button.
Ya! Somebody get a rope?
Now, now guys. We can't have smilies hanging about the place gathering dust on Benno's Figure Forum.

Thank you to everyone looking in for a visit. It is you that make my time spent well worth it.
So until the next one, you stay safe, and try help others if you can. BB

[Beano Boy]

i spent lots of time by eating into my unusual days as they unfolded. The quest to find pictures of printable old books was on. A quest is good for me as it adds more incentive upon such travels. With that done and dusted the scaling down process using my new P C was soon accomplished with each book put into a single tidy file. My settings were 45,50,55 and 60 in height and all were printed out with assistance from my Mrs B. Of which i am extremely grateful. Over two hours to print lines of 3 or 4 books soon flew past. This great learning curve total ended up with 267 books.

Having been taught how to reduce long columns of copied books ,and use the printer now means i can plough onwards into other directions without help from my dear wife, who quite frankly has enough to do without getting caught up into my overactivity of each days play. Well she has taken up painting extraordinary pictures during the 15 months of our home isolation.

Yes all well and good,but what's with all these books?, Asked WingNut.
Time will tell, in a new beginning of making do with little.
Perhaps i could help? Well you could sweep up in the Library!
after all the floor is covered in tiny off cuts of paper from bb's snipping, snip, snip adventures.
Yes a jolly good idea Little Button. So go get the brush WingNut ? Eh! What's a brush?
Believe me Pards,this could go on all the live long day.




And so it was that the little book production line has made great advancement with only one single copy of each book printed out. All folded now they await the next stage. That will fall up upon another exercise day.



4 CM Figure!


For now for me it is nearing Tea Time and my daily visit to ZOOM !. See you soon. BB

[Peter]

The library is almost open!

[MABO]

Looks like in Alexandria...

[Bluefalchion]

Marvelous little books! Most of the old books I have seen have pages that have yellowed with age. But, perhaps these were newer at the time period our clever and resourceful Paul aka BB has chosen to depict...

[Beano Boy]

Yes i understand the aged yellowing pages Bluefalchion ,and it is good to have your thoughtful input. The paper card i am using is an ivory colour on one side and white upon the other, and the printing paper being sure enough white on one side. i hope to print a few pages for open books, but most of them will be stacked , rank and file up each entire wall.

Within My Novel,
The Jungle Photograph, i wrote of Sir Percy's Library way back in 2005,
and here i am making parts for its 3D setting with masses of loose books galore everywhere.

Thank you Jan,
Alexandria, with its Library in the time line of Julius Caesar, would be great to do but i don't think Mrs B, would care for me setting it on fire for a photo shoot.

Peter, one day it might be open after Covid19, but i fear many who visit will only be using the available row of PC's.

Until the next one,take care. BB

[Susofrick]

Really love your little books!

[Beano Boy]

And so it was that another day dawned and it being a Wednesday which saw me cutting out and trimming my small books. It sure was a very enjoyable time. Hobbies are meant to enjoy, and not hard hacking'ly endured. So i used a new sharp pointed craft blade in my craft knife. A something that made light work upon my table that tucks under my easy chair allowing such fun i have already mentioned.




Thank you Gunnar. You are the Librarian!
Today as an illustration only shown here using my ruler, that depicts the look of stacked up books.



Having found more open book covers on line, means i will have a crack at reducing those too. i will also be drawing up my plans later for high rising book shelves.

See you soon. BB

[Bluefalchion]

Those little books look really nice in stacks. Such a natural feel to them.

All I can say is "wow."

[Beano Boy]

Many thanks Bluefalchion after all it was you yourself that set my fancy upon another wide open roadway into my evolving hobby of making do with what one has. Sometimes all that is needed is a friendly nudge in the right direction.



These leather bound book covers are the smallest upon this section. The craft knife points to the area that defines the size of each books spine. So they are a bit fiddley-dee, but doable to fold them over ,then slip the inside paper card home that has been glued up and well fit for purpose. Once cut out and trimmed the width of spines should make a good display to the average eye, that has a heart to view them. A few slipped in between much larger sized ones can create little areas of depth and shadow. Well i in my own compulsive disorder am not that tidy so higgledy-piggledy will suit my outlook view fine.

News papers can also be copied and down sized and cut out to fit on the little railway ho oo style figures or indeed much larger ones too. i did some many years ago that were fixed into relative place upon my wire, paper and white glue converted figures. Although printers then were not really up for such a slick efficient task. Well none were, upon the high street back in my day.

Giving out old tips and ideas can often become to others fresh new ideas and so the learning curve continues on and on in others. BB

[Bluefalchion]

It appears to me that the demise of our dear BBs eyesight and fine motor skills was announced prematurely.

Good show with these tiny books! I am very proud to have offered a modicum of inspiration.

[Wiking]

Who read all these books?

[Beano Boy]

I managed to have a hobby day yesterday, which saw the advancement that i have achieved using the printer to print out reams of little book covers. By turning the A4 size paper around after printing out one corner the other corner was then printed. By taking the paper out of the printer and cutting it in half meant another corner could therefore be printed upon both pieces. Which in total gave me 92 pictures per paper copy sheet. There was enough room to add another differing strip of six, but that was 6 individual covers that i didn't have at that time. now however blocks of 60 is possible

By collecting full size pictures i ended up with a whole page of them that i could then 'sniff and sketch', then in one operation downsize them all in one swipe because it involved only one unified picture and not in the case before of having to do 24. Of course simple mathematics came into play to add up all the reductions required , so four columns at 50 in height gave me the setting of 200 on my PC, and the computer converter did the entire length at the same time. Yes i hope this all makes sense.

So what now? i have another 86 open cover pictures kept on file that when time allows i'll be able to print out in order to make the pictures in the library an ongoing eccentric illusion.

Until the next one take care,
and help others if you can. BB

[Peter]

Are you planning to read all those books?

They look really nice Paul!

[Beano Boy]

Having lots of book covers cut out and folded i found time to cut a few long strips out so the next blitz of sticking the tiny things onto them and into place can proceed. It is a hive of extra activity here in Fiddle Wood,what with me a doing these dotty things, and my Mrs B, painting flowers to give away to friends. Well actually she is painting them upon beach pebbles, of which we bought because it is illegal to go on beaches to take a few. We must render to Caesar, so they came from Amazon via a company giving Licence to collect and sell them.



Upon the matter of questions Wiking and Peter.
No time to read any at this time. However i have read many of them in my former days of metaphorical studies that saw me delve into many a hidden secret.
BB, the Scholar i don't believe it.
I do said the highly educated Book Worm.

i hope the day to come, finds you having a good one.
Greetings to all those dropping in upon this topic on a daily trip to see, i certainly appreciate it.
You could come and join us upon this Forum if you whish, and do your very own thing. BB

[Bluefalchion]

"They" should start making 1/1 scale book covers look like this again. They really are beautiful. My paperbacks at home just do not look quite as classic.

[Beano Boy]

Thank you Bluefalchion.

After two days slog i just reached 1000 books although i must finish cutting 700 of them out, which will be a fun day Sunday for me. So sometime over the next couple of weeks the shelving system will begin going together. So i hope you will all drop by for a look see?
it was the plan in my head of dreams, to make the books first then the shelving units for obvious reason. Which is? To make it crystal clear, that they would all fit snug into place.
That sure makes sense ta me Pards! But BB,never made sense before. He perhaps has turned over a brand new leaf? Leaf what Leaf? Never mind that WingNut, you'll strain that which lays between your wings. What my Nut? Yes Yip. :yip. Yes indeed WingNut.

and so the plodding typing continues on...

It is interesting how many views of this small book section, on this open ended scratch building topic is attracting so much attention. Now comments are few and far between when placing stuff upon this Forum,but one must check out the daily views which is a true barometer and newer Members ought to take encouragement from it for all your efforts of work. So that is my sound advice guys.

Until the next one,take care of yourselves and help others if you can. BB

[Beano Boy]

[Beano Boy]

To many that moved it there along with many others like it ,thought little of this rustic looking type bookshelf, but the old Library that embraced it with its carefully mastered walls knew that this one would have a great secret to be concealed into place upon it. Yes the walls had the process of thought. What was it though? This i cannot say at present . However this i will mention in brief, it was a failsafe system put into place by the ancient ones that had designed it to be so. Just in case of system failure!

And so i have now reached the point of making the stand for upright books to lean their fronts upon.Little knowing if they will really shuffle into place within such a storybook tale as mine. BB

[Beano Boy]

The last few were printed out.



A guide i first used was a printed out facade of books for my bookshelves.



It worked out fine. A double thickness of book is shown in the picture above,of which there are plenty which should add heavy sagging weight to each shelf.

i must make mention that i stopped using my craft knife to cut out, as it was hard work bending over my table in order to do it. So i sat comfy like in my easy chair and snipped e'm off with paper sizers. It speeded up the work very fast indeed with books spitting out everywhere. Yes that's our BB.



Another bookshelf a double one this time was drawn out upon my pc in order to print out .

Moving onwards took lots of time,because i wanted a mountain of books and not just a few.
BB,sure is greedy! But making them is cheap as chips.


Using my Printer

i set the height of my double bookcase to print out at 450 size a type of blue print to guide my scratch-building eye upon, and the books were set at 350 size so i knew well beforehand that the books would all fit.
So working out by printing is a great help for anyone such as me. i have no idea what you mean BB? said the rather perplexed WingNut. Well one must first realise that the printed out books and wooden shelving are much smaller than are upon view here. They are? Sure they are, chimed in Mr Green.

A yogurt pot can hold over 350 cut out books.



Entry in this journal, Over 1300 books have been cut out using those extra large sharp sizers. which was super cool fast,remarked the Little Button. Yip bits of offcut paper flew everywhere. Declared the Cowboy who always sleeps in his now new shiny black boots. His old ones were buried in Boot Hill during the night before the Vultures had a chance at them. A dirty toxic job but some emoji has to do it. Not me!

Well guys until the next one take care. BB