Miniature Time Traveller Issue 1

Miniature Time Traveller Magazine Issue #1/19 www.miniaturetimetraveller.com MEET A MINIATURIST—Barbara Melbye, Nelson, New Zealand With her quick fingers and inventive mind Barbara can create some interesting and lovely pieces. A friend found a dilapidated dollhouse that Barbara immediately knew had a lot of potential as a New Zealand seaside bach. This will feature in our next Summer issue. The Art’s Movement is another style Barbara likes to recreate and her lovely room box displays two beautifully made sofas of the period, along with a coffee table, a John Duffy project, and a tea trolley from another convention workshop. She designed and made the bookcase herself and it features tiny shells that she has picked up from local beaches. Shells that featured again in some of her other work. When asked where she does all this exquisite work she gave a little smile and said ‘”in my lounge” and added “my husband, who has since passed away, was always very supportive of my miniatures hobby and he used to help with conventions and exhibitions, carrying and packing things and generally being very helpful. “ When questioned further she did acknowledge that most of her bits and pieces were stored away in two very large cupboards in the spare bedrooms. “This hobby” she said “ keeps my mind active and I am always learning new things and new ways of making things. The Nelson Club is an active one and I always enjoy attending the meetings.“ Barbara Melbye has been a member of the Nelson Miniatures Club for 15 years. Her daughter saw an article in a local paper on the start up of the club and persuaded her to join. She works in 12th scale to 48th scale. The railway cottage, not yet completed features such tiny treasures as Jewel Lewis’s fimo dinner set laid out on the kitchen table and the miniscule radio on the mantle. The lounge is Barbara’s favorite room. Below: The interior of the cottage Below: The exterior of the Railway Cottage made by Rae van der Logt— Nelson at the same workshop. Right: Barbara’s little English Cottage was made at a workshop. It is 48th scale or 1/4 inch equals 1 foot in old measurements. The change to decimals was largely ignored by miniaturists as the scales were standardized globally. Parts and items can be ordered with confidence from the UK and USA in inches and feet. Most Miniaturists work in imperial measures to keep their scales straight.