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Willard Wigan – model maker (light aircraft)
History of Model Microfilm Aircraft
Since the earliest times, wood has been carved and shaped to create artefacts from the purely utilitarian to the most beautiful and intricate sculptured works of art. Wood as a material is light, supple, and workable; it has strength, and separate pieces may be easily joined. It has the natural beauties of grain and variety of texture, although it lacks the weight and lasting quality of stone.
Although wood is vulnerable to damage, there remains ample evidence about methods, developments and styles in carving and sculpture in different areas of the world at different periods in history. The history of this art form is therefore a huge subject.
As discoveries have been made, so artists and craftsmen have found ways of recreating and adapting those innovations in their work. The advent of aircraft has consequently brought with it specialist painters, sculptors, carvers and model makers fascinated with the notion of flight who have wanted to capture that spirit in their own particular field and in their own personal style. Willard Wigan, famous for his micro-sculptures and larger works, has, in addition, developed his own techniques for producing delicate microfilm model aircraft, the subject of this Handmade programme.
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