Fuch's Künstler-Modellierbogen Nr. 7

Title: Fuchs' Künstler-Modellierbogen zur Herstellung der Münchener plastischen Pappspielwaren nach Entwürfen von H. Krebs München
No. 7 Unteroffizier, 9 Mann (non-commissioned officer with 9 soldiers)
Publisher: Berthold Fuchs, Munich, about 1914
Scale: approx. 1:15
Printing process: Multi-color zincography
Sheet size: 1 Sheet 63 x 46 cm, without instructions
Additional information: Article by T. Damberger in ZGK 20 with supplement Fuchs' Künstler-Modellierbogen No. 19 Hauptmann z. Pferd (captain, mounted)
Special features: The model comprises 10 figures (1 non-commissioned officer plus 9 soldiers). Their arms are movable so that different poses are possible, e. g. different ways to shoulder arms.

Information about image resolution and printing

• The model sheet has a size of 7400 x 5511 pixels. If printed it in the original size of 63 x 46 cm this equals a resolution of about 300 dpi.
• The image has been edited slightly: Reduction of heavy paper yellowing, removal of scan artifacts.
• If you want the figures to match the size of the figure (about 14 cm) of the supplement to ZGK 20 you need to print the sheet in original size (63 x 46 cm).

Download this model

Download PDF file approx. 62 MB

Download JPG file approx. 53 MB

Download TIFF file approx. 77 MB

The complete article by Tobias Damberger was published in Zur Geschichte des Kartonmodellbaus, vol. 20

2D paper soldiers: Printing two-dimensional soldiers has a long tradition that goes back to the middle of the 18th century. Publishers like Schreiber in Esslingen and Scholz in Mainz offered many such soldier model sheets. Each war lead to new and larger print runs, with an apex at the time of the Great War (1914-1918). These “flat” soldiers needed to be reinforced with cardboard or wood. To place them upright they needed to be mounted on a support of wood, or the addition of a paper strut on the back side.

3D paper soldiers: The publishers “Verlagshaus Berthold Fuchs”, seldom mentioned in today’s sources, were located in Munich, Hohenzollernstraße 112. We have no information about the overall time span in which they published card models. They produced model sheets for three-dimensional figures in excellent quality; they came in various sizes and price ranges. Their scope encompassed simple black-and-white contour models, printed on paper, to multi-color prints on rather heavy cardboard. All types of models were printed in 3 different sizes: small, i. e. 31 x 24 cm, medium at 47 x 31 cm and large at 63 x 46 cm. The corresponding price of the color prints was 10, 20 and 40 Pfennig. In line with the spirit of the time Fuchs published several soldier-themed models around the beginning of the Great War. We can date these models pretty accurately by the content and the introductory words of the catalogue: “At this time the imagination of our youth is mainly occupied with the great struggle of the peoples. Their main interest is our armies and their leaders, the various battlegrounds by land and by sea, and everything that is connected with war”. The Fuchs models were particular insofar that they had many movable parts that were not glued on but had a removable plug-in mounting. In addition, these 3D models stood upright as built, without the aid of add-on mounts and struts.

1. Each figure has 6 parts: torso with legs, 2 arms, head, waist belt and bayonet. All parts of a single figure carry the same roman number, from I to X, the last being the non-commissioned officer. Each individual part has a letter designation. All figures are assembled in the same way, the following exemplary instructions refer to figure IX.
   As usual for hand-drawn, “artistic” model sheets, the mirror-image parts of the model cannot be superimposed quite exactly. But this model has an additional problem: the central strips connecting the halves of the torso are too short for the actual circumference of the torso. Since you can adapt the central strip only between the legs, if at all, it is easier to adapt the side parts to the central strips than the other way round. Please see the drawing to the left for clarification.
2. Score the dotted lines before cutting the parts out and applying the incisions at the marked places. Note that these marks are somewhat confusing. To clarify, the torso needs incisions for both arms and for the head, the white belt needs a small incision for the bayonet c.
3. When gluing the parts, begin with the boot backs; fold them back and glue them back to back, then trim excess material from both front and back. Fold the central strip of the torso and glue it, tab by tab, to the sides. Take care that the folding lines of the strip and the torso contour corners match exactly.
4. Fold both arms a and b and the head along the symmetry lines and glue them back to back. Take care not to apply glue to the white tabs of the arms! Trim excess material from both front and back. Insert the arms a and b into the corresponding slots of the torso, using the white tabs. Insert the head into the top slot of the torso.
5. Round the white waist belt and glue it around the waist of the torso. Fold the bayonet along the symmetry line, glue it back to back and trim the excess (trimming from the front side is sufficient). Insert the bayonet into the slot of the belt, do not glue.