Tamron Hall

Miniature metropolis

Photographer Michael Paul Smith combines miniature models with real backgrounds to re-create the town he grew up in.

Sense of scale

Photographer Michael Paul Smith, a former museum display designer, combined miniature models with real backgrounds to re-create the Midwestern town of his youth. This photo reveals the actual size of the models he uses.

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Post Card Image
1/24th scale model buildings and vehicles.
The telephone pole, stop sign, the white house and the tree (far right) is real and is about a block away from the models. The models themselves are sitting on a table.

Miniature metropolis

In this photo, the telephone pole, stop sign, white house and tree (far right) are real, and about a block away from the models. The models themselves sit on a table.

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1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser

At 20 feet long, the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser was one of the largest automobiles ever produced. This model and the diner behind it are 1/24th actual size. Smith put LED lights in the building to make it glow.

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Diner-interior
If you look closely at this picture, you can start to see what was used to
create some of the objects.
For example: the stools consist of painted plastic plugs used to fill screw holes.
The metal pieces that hold the plugs are finishing washers found in furniture making.
And the two coffee pots are clear plastic beads with metal washers on top.
Keeping everything in scale is actually THE most important aspect of model making.

Ready for business

The stools inside Smith's model diner consist of painted plastic plugs used to fill screw holes. The metal pieces that hold the plugs are finishing washers found in furniture making. The two coffee pots are clear plastic beads with metal washers on top.

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1950 Ford Crestliner by the tracks
This is one of those shots where the universe smiles and sends along a slow rolling train as I take the picture.
By chance, the distance between the model and the train was perfect.

Model Ford, real train

By pure luck, a real train rode slowly through the background just as Smith took this photograph of a model 1950 Ford Crestliner.

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Research Building parking lot 1958
I found this abandoned building a few towns over from where I live.
The whole place felt like the late '50s and the building looked like a research lab from that era.
I had to sneak in the parking lot, with my diecast models and quickly set up the scene, trying to get as many shots as possible.
Because I was so rushed, this is the only good picture I was able to take.
But I think it captured the feel of times past.
I reduced the blue content to give the impression of a faded Kodachrome.

By an abandoned building

Smith snuck into the parking lot of an abandoned building to use it as a background for his diecast models of 1950s automobiles.

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Front and rear

Smith went for a snapshot quality in this photo showing both front and rear views of a 1/24-scale model Chevy from the 1950s.

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Elgin Sales and Service
There was a vintage photo in the local hardware store which showed the building as it was, back in the day. There was nothing glamorous about it, but it felt incredibly authentic and not as Hollywood tends to portray the past.
For this photo shoot, I found an abandoned parking lot. in the old section of my town, and recreated the past as best I could.

Portraying the past

Working from a vintage photo in a local hardware store, Smith strove to re-create the past by photographing his models in an abandoned parking lot.

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Orbit Ice Cream Stand -1959 Chevys
Orbit Ice Cream Stand -1959 Chevys
Orbit Ice Cream Stand -1959 Chevys
As soon as I finished this model, I placed it on a wheeled cart and rolled it out to the
parking lot outside the shop.
It was mid summer and the temperature was well over 90 degrees which caused the polishing wax on the cars to melt.
I had to work quickly so as not to damage the diecasts.

The shoot was a success because this picture says SUMMERTIME!
These beauties are West Coast Precision Diecast models.

Summertime

On a 90-degree day, Smith wheeled this model of two 1959 Chevys outside an ice cream stand to a parking lot outside his shop to capture an authentic summer look.

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Saturday night 1933

Smith used smoke to help make the sky look less flat in this photo of model cars and houses re-creating his hometown as it might have looked on a Saturday night in the early 1930s.

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Movie theater

Model cars stand outside a model movie theater with a provocative-sounding double bill: "Pickup" and "Girls of the Night."

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Tornado in the mid-west 1936
I had just watched the making of Blade Runner and was inspired to do some indoor model photography using smoke.
For the backdrop, I propped up a piece of textured foam core, painted it gray and lit it from below, using a yellow light.
Then I set fire to some damp newspaper in a bucket and lit a few sticks of incense to \"fog the set\".
Here is the result.

Stormy skies

Smith ignited some damp newspaper in a bucket and lit incense to add smoke to this photo. The result is a street scene as it might have looked as a Midwestern tornado approached, circa 1936.

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1958 Edsel Station Wagon
I braved the elements today and headed over to the park to photograph a real outdoor snow scene.
When I found the appropriate spot, I set up the diecasts then proceeded to douse the base with water and shake a box of baking soda over everything.
I have to say, it looked liked it just snowed in 1/24th scale.

Winter scene

A 1958 Edsel station wagon, 1/24th actual size, is at the center of this winter scene. Smith used his local park in wintertime as the background, but the snow on the model cars was achieved with baking soda and water.

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Dink's
This is one of those photos I kept studying and rethinking. The original Dink's Speed Shop postcard looked correct, but didn't feel settled to me.
The short version of a long story is that I finally decided the custom fender skirt on the Ford was distracting. [Forgive me Danbury Mint for removing it and adding a chrome spear. ]
I re-shot the photo and although it pretty much looks like the original, the subtle difference now feels right.
Perhaps this is the curse of having been a museum display designer and an art director.
To slightly alter a famous quote: \"The MADNESS is in the details\".

Car customizing

Smith worked from a picture postcard of a local business called Dink's Speed Shop for this photo. To give it the right look, he removed the custom fender skirt on the model Ford and added a chrome spear.

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At the trailer park

Smith manipulated a yellow filter to give this photo of a model car and trailer a vintage look. The trees in the background are real.

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Our little bungalow

A 1941 Chevrolet stands outside a bungalow in the same 1/24th scale. The trees and telephone wires, however, are real.

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Sense of scale 1
I saw this photo initially as a mistake, but after the fact, it gave a precise sense of scale to the model.

Finger of fate?

What looks like the hand of a giant intrudes into this photo, helping reveal how Michael Paul Smith manipulates models against real backdrops.

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J&L Steel night glow photo shoot
Here you can see the size of the set and how it's really quite cobbled together.
This shot was taken right before I poured
water all over the road.
With the overhead room light turned off,
the only light source is the 60 watt bulb aimed low at the buildings.
The buildings themselves each have one 10 watt, white christmas tree light in them.
Nothing fancy here.

The man and his models

Photographer Michael Paul Smith is in the foreground of his 1/24th-scale model town. Each building is lit from the inside by one 10-watt white Christmas tree light.

•See more of Michael Paul Smith's models

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