WELCOME TO OUR SMALL WORLD OF MINIATURE ARCHITECTURE!
WHO WE ARE
Archiminima is a family architectural studio run by Andrey Belokon and Anna Sholomitskaya. Andrey is the creator of all replicas and construction sets; Anna helps making them and runs the shop.
Archiminima is a family architectural studio run by Andrey Belokon and Anna Sholomitskaya. Andrey is the creator of all replicas and construction sets; Anna helps making them and runs the shop.
ARCHIMINIMA REPLICA
Archiminima Replica is a series of architectural miniatures that represent real buildings, first of all European castles. We started this series in 2014 with Slovenian castles, beautiful and easy for us to reach, but replica's geography is constantly expanding.
Our miniatures are made of lead-free pewter (98% tin, 1.5% bismuth, 0.5% copper).
Archiminima Replica is a series of architectural miniatures that represent real buildings, first of all European castles. We started this series in 2014 with Slovenian castles, beautiful and easy for us to reach, but replica's geography is constantly expanding.
Our miniatures are made of lead-free pewter (98% tin, 1.5% bismuth, 0.5% copper).
We do have certain criteria to decide what to model next. A candidate should a) have historical value, b) have artistic value, c) be a typical representative of its class. If a building has undergone minimal rebuilds or, if it is a ruin, has a shape that is easily recreatable, then chances are that it fits the criteria for value and type. And, of course, we take into account some specific conditions inherent to our technology.
ARCHIMINIMA STRUCTURA
Archiminima Structura is an architectural construction set of small building blocks that look and feel like stone. It is Andrey's materialized childhood dream to have a construction set from which he could build complex castles for his toy railway.
All castles have realistic details - merlons, machicolations, arches with keystones. Even medieval toilets have been recreated! Some towers have housings for chain bridges.
The blocks are waterproof so you can leave them standing in your garden in the rain. Or you can glue them together with starch so that they do not fall apart when you move them around - see how we prepare the starch glue here. If you soak a starch-glued structure in water for just a few minutes, it will again become a small heap of building blocks. You can then remove the remaining glue with a soft brush.
All Archiminima Structura building blocks are white and take paint very well, so you can easily change their colour.
Archiminima Structura is compatible by scale with HO model railways and 15 mm wargaming terrain - so in creating your own small world on your desk you can use the entire universe of numerous manufactured landscape items and figures.
There are two types of structures: complete stand-alone buildings – we call them basic sets - and extension modules that can be connected to each other to form larger structures according to your own design. Individual building blocks will be also available in our store.
Below is an example of what you can build using extension modules:
Archiminima Structura has one important feature that makes it stand out from other existing building sets: It allows you to build octagonal towers.
Technology
The production of Archiminima involves three stages. All the blocks are made by hand in our workshop.
After a structure is designed and put on paper, aluminium master blocks are made on a small milling machine and a lathe.
The production of Archiminima involves three stages. All the blocks are made by hand in our workshop.
After a structure is designed and put on paper, aluminium master blocks are made on a small milling machine and a lathe.
When the aluminium master blocks are ready, rubber moulds are produced from liquid rubber available at hobby stores.
Material
When moulds are ready, liquid material is cast into them to form building blocks. We use safe casting materials for hobby use (comply with 1907/2006 (REACH), 91/155/EWG material safety standards).
When moulds are ready, liquid material is cast into them to form building blocks. We use safe casting materials for hobby use (comply with 1907/2006 (REACH), 91/155/EWG material safety standards).
A bit of history
This is what the first brick looked like back in 2012:
This is what the first brick looked like back in 2012:
One of multiple experiments with pigments:
We will be happy if you share your designs, tips and tricks with us, and we will publish them in our blog. We are working on the idea of a forum but we do not have it right now. Anyone can publish comments in the blog, anyway.