PA MediaA Scottish artist has been celebrating the beauty of Edinburgh’s pubs by recreating them in the form of “surreal” miniature models.
Keith Crawley, 55, initially made a model of his house in July of last year as “a bit of fun” before turning his attention to the pubs in his hometown of Edinburgh the following month.
“I decided to make pubs because pubs for me are local landmarks,” Mr Crawley, who is also a model maker, told the PA news agency.
PA Media“The first one I made was The Auld Hundred and I got sucked in, it’s like Pokemon – you feel like you then have to make mini versions of all the pubs.
“Many have beautiful architecture or designs so wanted to capture that.”
He has so far replicated 12 pubs in tiny form including Barony Bar, the Cask & Barrel and The Conan Doyle, with each creation taking anywhere between three days to a month to complete depending on the complexity of the design.
To begin the building process, Mr Crawley often uses Google Street View or Google Earth as a reference.
PA Media“I use polylactic acid (PLA) filament on the 3D printer to build the main structure of the model,” he added.
“I’ll then use a computer aided design (CAD) software called Blender to build the faces of the pub and once I’ve got that done, I’ll print them out and put the shape together.
“I use Photoshop to create the windows and doors for the pubs and print those out, cut them out and stick them in to the spaces I’ve allotted for them.”
He added he uses “old school model making methods” to complete his mini masterpieces including using materials like mounting card if a pub needs to look as though it is on a hill and adding everything from railings to street signs to ensure they are as true to form as possible.
He has sometimes ventured to the watering holes he has drawn inspiration from as he said “Google Street View can only go so far”.
“I went to the Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar to see what was at the back of the place,” he said.
PA Media“I realised it was on a hill, so sometimes you have to go into the nooks and crannies to find out what is hiding in there.”
He added making Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar has been one of his highlights from the project as he had a enjoyable time building his own version of the infamous Greyfriars Bobby statue.
Some staff at the pubs Mr Crawley has made have also reacted to his creations, which he said has given him a real “buzz” to continue with his endeavour.
“When I did The Auld Hundred, my sister put up an Instagram post and the pub replied saying it was amazing,” he said.
PA Media“I’m not one to walk into pubs with my work usually but I met a friend at the Cask & Barrel and I happened to have my pub and a number of the bar staff saw it and they thought it was a bit surreal to be looking at a model of a place they work in.”
He often posts his work on Facebook via the page Keith Crawley Art and Instagram under the handle @kiwikaboodle, where he regularly receives compliments or nuggets of information about the history of the pubs he makes.
“It’s quite special when you get people who have been to these places commenting and hearing a wee bit of history about the place,” he said.
PA Media“I think people have a fascination with miniatures because it’s almost like you’re a giant looking down on something small and you feel amazed by the detail and it just captures your imagination.”
He has encouraged others to try their hand at making models, even if they would not necessarily consider themselves to be a creative at heart.
“I started with Lego and then I moved to model kits and if you make a mistake, you can start again,” he said.
“There should not be a barrier to doing something like this and just having fun because that’s the whole point of doing these projects in the first place.”
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