The Sainte Chapelle

[Tonino]

Several years ago, during a Paris vacation, I visited the Sainte Chapelle. It was a sunny day and the sight of the immense windows, their colours, their shine, was something marvellous. I'll never forget it.
Some time later a dear friend of mine, returning from a trip in Paris, as he knows of my cardmodel passion, took me an "Instant Durable" cardmodel of the Sainte Chapelle. It is a little nice reproduction of the building with a removable facade to show the inside with the famous coloured windows. Obviously the windows are printed on cardboard and not transparent. Suddendly a lamp turned on in my mind: why don't try to reproduce the wonder of the glass windows in some way? Let's give it a try...

 

[Tonino]

The first step is to build the complex ceiling



Then, prior to build the walls, I should decide how to make the windows. I started scanning the wall parts (inner and outer) and printing them on trasparent sheets.


Here you can see (above) the original outer wall and (under) the transparent copy.

Then I removed all the windows from the paper walls and pasted the transparent copies from behind


The resolution of printing is nothing special but the general effect is pretty fine.

 

[Revell-Fan]

Oh, this is gonna be fine! Great idea to use the tranparent sheet!

 

[Tonino]

The floor and the apse has basic details but they are not the main subject of the internal view...



After closing the walls I realized that the windows, completely cut off, has a poor appearance in the external side.


Luckily I never waste anything so the cut windows was recovered to obtain some more details to add to external side.


Now they are slightly better from outside...


...and the inside view has improved as well.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

You are doing a FANTASTIC JOB on this!!!
I like how you made the windows. It has more of a "REALISTIC" look to it!
The interior shots are AMAZING and quite REALISTIC as well.
I will be following this thread.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

 

[Tonino]

External completion...

A little backside painting before mounting windows ornaments


wall detailing


roof build...


the spire...

and the facade


almost done... only have to make the usual little, repetitive and boring series of little things that are common in this kind of subjects...

a lot of those still to do...

 

[Tonino]

The little paper chapel is complete!

 

[Tonino]

... an "human" point of view




...and an experiment with a little light inside.



You can use it as a night lamp for the kids' room...

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

You did a SPECTACULAR JOB on this project!!!
Thank you for sharing this with all of us!!!

 

[Tonino]

Thanks to you for your nice comment!
I feel so gratified being among other people who share my same passion and who can well understand the joy that a little thing like this can give to his builder when he looks at the result of his work. My wife doesn't understand this feeling, she say all those paper things are only dust-collectors... Thank god there is Zealot.com!!!

 

[ansoff]

This is really impressive. Am I right that you laser-printed the windows onto the transparent sheets? I didn't think that there was any way to do that with inkjet.

 

[Tonino]

You're right. I first tried to print on transparent sheet for inkjet but the result was very bad. The transparent for ink jet has rough surface and matt finish. The colours were very pale and dull...
I had to find someone with a color laser printer and, using gloss transparent sheets, I had pretty good results (as of the colours... even if the resolution is not the "optimum"...)

 

[Revell-Fan]

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! A true work of art! Not only a night lamp but also a VERY atmospheric X-mas deco!