Trade Secrets: Making a mould and templates from a poster

When I make a copy or model of a classical instrument, I usually take inspiration from The Strad’s posters. I examine fine instruments in person as often as I can; this way I gather essential sculptural information needed to make a three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional set of plans, such as a poster or a book. In this article I explain how I use a laminated poster by The Strad to make a mould and templates of the archings, f-holes and scroll. I will also illustrate a novel way of using a two-dimensional f-hole template to draw an f-hole on to a three-dimensional arched violin with good results. The poster I am using here is of the 1649 ‘Alard’ violin by Nicolò Amati, published in 1992; it has exceptional photographs. It also has very useful information, albeit limited compared to more recent posters of other instruments…