HAND-CRAFTED MODEL OF ARLINGTON ROW COTTAGES IN BIBURY

NOT EVERY MODEL comes out of a box, and here is a beautiful example of traditional model making at its best.

TEE report: The model - made to approximately 1:72 scale - is of a row of old cottages called Arlington Row, which lie in the English village of Bibury, deep in the Cotswold Hills west of London.

The video (below) gives you a good feel for the rustic reality behind the model.

The main material used for the roofing (below) was modelling putty. Rolled out flat, the surface was lightly scored to outline the tiles and ridge line.

The model maker was Ken Larwood of Kent, who spent more than 650 hours on the construction. That's a hefty chunk of time, and definitely more than a few evenings in the hobby room after work. In fact, working a full seven-hour day, you'd spend around four months on the job before you'd match Ken's build time.

The cottages of Arlington Row are very old, dating back to the 14th century. Generations of weavers have used wool from local Cotswold sheep, a breed that is well known for the high quality of its fleeces.

The model was donated by Ken to a local visitor spot, the Cotswold Woollen Weavers.

The detail incorporated is remarkable, right down to the vegetables growing in a cottage garden (below). 

In case you're down Cotswolds way, the Woollen Weavers are well worth a visit and are based in the delightfully named village of Filkins. It's not all soft stuff on sale when you get inside either - on our visit, we spotted some tempting tin robots and other collectibles.