Welcome to History Maker

Could we take the opportunity of welcoming you to History Maker and to introduce ourselves.

We are a family who love history, and we make, so we have been told, beautiful, realistic and historically accurate museum exhibits and models. We use our years of artistic experience and apply them to model making to produce something unique because we want them to be an attraction in their own right and thereby generate additional interest to your project.

Many models and exhibits that you see on display seem dead and boring, doing little more than act as padding to fill up space, and your visitor barely glances at them as they pass them by. We have given this some real thought and it seems that without an exceptional initial impact, the eye feels that it has taken in everything of value from a distance, and sees no reason to get any closer.

With that in mind we must succeed in grabbing the attention of the visitor, of making a substantial initial impact!

We do this by using only the most realistic and natural looking scenic materials. These are layered and textured from close turf, to coarse turf, underbrush and then to bushes and hedges. The effect is to present the most life like scenic displays possible. Our houses and buildings, walls and fences are highly detailed creations all made by ourselves in conjunction with museum staff who have researched their authenticity. We paint them using highlights and shading A final dry brushing and inking gives them that period feel. The combination of these twin approaches really works and encourages the visitor to get closer to the display...just maybe there is something worth looking at here!

We now need to keep that viewers attention by getting his interest and holding it there. Our models are filled with wonderful miniature details. They can have a major theme such as market day with people coming in from all the outlying countryside, a fleet in port off loading cargo for distribution, a society wedding, or even a major battle or siege . Not only do we theme our exhibits but we populate them with vignettes of period life. Criminals in stocks, carts and wagons laden with barrels and sacks, a galloping horseman, gossiping ladies..and gents. Cattle, sheep pigs etc etc .

By putting in these extra details we create a narrative. History then becomes their story as the viewer is invited to use their imagination to decide what is going on and why.
We really want the public to get excited about their past, especially their local history, and if we can assist you in any way to achieve this we would be delighted to hear from you with your ideas.

Thank you so much for visiting and please look at the images of our commission for the production of five major historical models for the prestigious Waterford Medieval Museum.

Colin Patten
Artist History Maker

Make your history come alive with our realistic Historical Models!