Some years ago, I was hooked by a curious form of scale modelling which uses paper as the raw material. Paper modelling has distant roots: it was popular in the late 1800s and is still used today for static modelling purposes. The high level of scale fidelity and realism that an accurate design can reach (as well as the strength of the resulting model) seems incredible, in spite of the everyday nature of this medium. The more paper models I built, the more I enjoyed the experience. I explored all kind of subjects; cars, missiles, ships, buildings, science-fiction, trains, and (obviously!) aeroplanes. Surfing the net today you can find a lot of free downloads of paper models designed by more or less talented artists, and some of them are really intriguing. All you have to do is to print the files on common or photographic paper, cut the parts and start gluing them together with white glue. No paint, no sawdust, no smelly glues; just the kind of modelling you can do on the dinner table at teatime. Looking back, after a while I moved on to control line building and flying, and static paper modelling was forgotten. Years ran on. One day, while I was looking for something unusual to build, I came across a static model by Fabrizio Prudenziati, one of the most talented paper model designers in the world.
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