Anne Frank 1/60 scale model house

[adt70hk]

Afternoon all

So as you I know picked this up on a trip to Amsterdam and the house itself.

A lot of kit makers could learn a lot from this kit:

• Excellently presented sturdy box. Flip top lid along the left long edge, with magnet lock on the other side. Almost seems a shame to throw it away when I'm done.
• Very informative and clearly presented instructions that are easy to follow. Half the booklet is historical information and the other half instructions. You just flip it over as required and work your way towards the middle.
• 60 parts.
• Parts quality is excellent and they are faultless in their presentation...I know it's not plastic but it is VERY well done.
• The cardboard is about 1.5mm thick and done in A3 size sheets that fold down the middle to A4 size to fit in the box.
• Whilst you can 'pop' the pieces out, it leaves little cardboard tabs on the side that need trimming/sanding. A craft knife understandably gives a better finish.
• Fit - simply faultless. Nice and tight without being overtight, the whole structure is very rigid indeed.
• As for glue - none required at all. The structure is almost entirely self-locking and supporting. Some locking tabs are though needed on the base, as well as the front and back walls.

There are obviously some compromises, the most obvious being the stairs which are just straight pieces of cardboard.....but they are that steep in real life....more like ladders than stairs!

Unfortunately, the construction order means that the floors go in all at once, straight after the main supporting walls and each floor is then finished off. This means it can be hard to get decent shots and impossible to get an overhead view of each floor.

Anne, her family and the other Jews that were hiding with them lived in the rear of the property. It is often described as a secret annex but that it strictly speaking not correct.

It was explained to us that it has been translated that way for English speaking and other audiences. Apparently, architecturally the Dutch have a concept of a 'front' house, with an accompanying 'back' house. The 'back' house is not at all secret, it just can't be seen from the road at all (see below)**. The 'secret' bit was to build a bookcase over the connecting door into the rear house.

Quite how eight people lasted over two years in those small rooms....I do not know....especially as they had to whisper throughout the day and could not use the toilet when the workers were in the rest of the day, in case they have themselves away.

A word of warning, if you do want to visit it, you must book online..... and you must also book well in advance. We booked five weeks before our visit and even then many slots were fully booked.


*** @Jakko I hope I have described the front/back house concept properly and I can't remember the proper Dutch words. Can you assist?


Anyway enough waffle, pics (a surprising amount) below.

ATB

Andrew


PS you can download the instruction leaflet in full from their website https://www.annefrank.org/en/about-.../anne-frank-house-historical-cardboard-model/

PPS the build shots will follow in a second post.

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The house is between the two red lines on the left...as you can see not at all secret...just not visible from the road.
Courtesy of Google Maps.






Box and instructions

 

[adt70hk]

And now for the parts pics.

Sorry for the quality of some of them but the light in our dining room is not great.

ACW as usual.

Andrew


PS I cut out pieces and Junior assembled the house.

PPS Ok so I will need a third post there are that many photos....oops.

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[scottie3158]

Now that is something different, I will follow along.

 

[Jim R]

Looks very interesting indeed Andrew. I'll enjoy seeing this built. Certainly a very unusual model

 

[adt70hk]

And so now the build pics......at this stage we were about half way through

ACW as well.

ATB

Andrew

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[Jakko]

Apparently, architecturally the Dutch have a concept of a 'front' house, with an accompanying 'back' house. The 'back' house is not at all secret, it just can't be seen from the road at all (see below)**. The 'secret' bit was to build a bookcase over the connecting door into the rear house.

The Dutch word for this specific hiding place is het Achterhuis (with capital <A> because it’s a proper noun in this case). Achter translates as “after” or “behind”, and huis as “house”. So literally, it’s the afterhouse or behind-house — more loosely, the rear part of the house. English has no real single word for the concept, I think, and though I suspect it’s probably fairly Amsterdam-specific (or at least, specific to places where they have large, old buildings like this), most Dutch speakers would understand instinctively that achterhuis refers to a rear part of a (large) house, even if they had never heard of the Achterhuis.¹ (The related concept is voorhuis: voor meaning “front” — compare with English “fore” — for the part of the house towards the street.)

This is something that’s apparently fairly normal in Amsterdam, but not elsewhere much, I think. You get (older) Amsterdammers saying they lived twee hoog achter, approximately “two high after” meaning (as far as I can tell) “on the second floor, in the apartment facing away from the street”.

What is now the Anne Frank House looks to me like it was originally built as the part on the left in the photo of the model:

Probably 17th or 18th century and built for an at least reasonably wealthy merchant (no shortage of those in Amsterdam back then), given its overall appearance with four floors and the doors on the top floor. It looks to me like the more or less separate house on the right was built at a later date, possibly with the connecting passages added later still? I’m sure there’s a full history of the building available somewhere

If you show this picture to Dutch-speakers and tell them the bit on the right is the achterhuis, they will likely assume right away that the other part is the voorhuis, especially if they realise the street outside is all the way on the left.


¹ This is very unlikely Anyone who has gone to school in this country in the last 50 years or so will have heard of Anne Frank, and most others almost certainly did too.

 

[outrunner]

What a lovely thing that is.

Andy.

 

[davecov]

A nice model, Andrew.

I visited Anne Frank's house in 2015. We had queued for 90 minutes so that we could get in as soon as it opened. Within five minutes of being in there, the fire alarms went off and everyone had to leave until the cause of the alarm was investigated - it was caused by so many people inside. The alarms went off a few times before we could finally go round. It was a very thought-provoking visit but some people were annoyed that the space behind the bookcase was empty, photos couldn't be taken and nobody could go inside. I could understand why that was done but the selfie mob didn't appreciate it.

Dave

 

[adt70hk]

The Dutch word for this specific hiding place is het Achterhuis (with capital <A> because it’s a proper noun in this case). Achter translates as “after” or “behind”, and huis as “house”. So literally, it’s the afterhouse or behind-house — more loosely, the rear part of the house. English has no real single word for the concept, I think, and though I suspect it’s probably fairly Amsterdam-specific (or at least, specific to places where they have large, old buildings like this), most Dutch speakers would understand instinctively that achterhuis refers to a rear part of a (large) house, even if they had never heard of the Achterhuis.¹ (The related concept is voorhuis: voor meaning “front” — compare with English “fore” — for the part of the house towards the street.)

This is something that’s apparently fairly normal in Amsterdam, but not elsewhere much, I think. You get (older) Amsterdammers saying they lived twee hoog achter, approximately “two high after” meaning (as far as I can tell) “on the second floor, in the apartment facing away from the street”.

What is now the Anne Frank House looks to me like it was originally built as the part on the left in the photo of the model:

Probably 17th or 18th century and built for an at least reasonably wealthy merchant (no shortage of those in Amsterdam back then), given its overall appearance with four floors and the doors on the top floor. It looks to me like the more or less separate house on the right was built at a later date, possibly with the connecting passages added later still? I’m sure there’s a full history of the building available somewhere

If you show this picture to Dutch-speakers and tell them the bit on the right is the achterhuis, they will likely assume right away that the other part is the voorhuis, especially if they realise the street outside is all the way on the left.


¹ This is very unlikely Anyone who has gone to school in this country in the last 50 years or so will have heard of Anne Frank, and most others almost certainly did too.

Jakko

Thank you very much for that, that is very good of you indeed. I knew 'front' and 'back' wasn't quite right but I couldn't remember what it was.

Very much appreciated!

What a lovely thing that is.

Andy.

Andy, it is isn't it and to think I nearly walked out without it.....

A nice model, Andrew.

I visited Anne Frank's house in 2015. We had queued for 90 minutes so that we could get in as soon as it opened. Within five minutes of being in there, the fire alarms went off and everyone had to leave until the cause of the alarm was investigated - it was caused by so many people inside. The alarms went off a few times before we could finally go round. It was a very thought-provoking visit but some people were annoyed that the space behind the bookcase was empty, photos couldn't be taken and nobody could go inside. I could understand why that was done but the selfie mob didn't appreciate it.

Dave

Thanks Dave.

Sounds like you had a nightmare. Fortunately the timed entry means that although you occasionally get the odd blockage around something of particular significance it worked pretty well.

Are you saying you couldn't go into the Achterhuis as Jakko called it? We had full access and actually the tour took you up through the entrance behind the bookcase? They also had a very modern link built that took you from the top floor of the rear house in the main building to keep the flow going in one direction.

It was very well done indeed and thought provoking.


Thanks again all.

ATB

Andrew

 

[Mickc1440]

Something very different Andrew but very interesting. The last card kits I built were from the Metcalfe range for model railways.

 

[Jim R]

That has built up really well Andrew.

 

[davecov]

Thanks Dave.

Sounds like you had a nightmare. Fortunately the timed entry means that although you occasionally get the odd blockage around something of particular significance it worked pretty well.

Are you saying you couldn't go into the Achterhuis as Jakko called it? We had full access and actually the tour took you up through the entrance behind the bookcase? They also had a very modern link built that took you from the top floor of the rear house in the main building to keep the flow going in one direction.

It was very well done indeed and thought provoking.

Hi Andrew,

Since my previous post I have dug out my Anne Frank House book and spoken to my partner about our, unfortunately, chaotic visit. We did go into the Achterhuis via the bookcase but I recall that there was a bit of a commotion (another one"!) going through that entrance because some schoolchildren/students were taking lots of photos/selfies of the bookcase entrance. Once through we toured the rooms and like you, we exited via the new building next door (where we had got our tickets).

Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Something very different Andrew but very interesting. The last card kits I built were from the Metcalfe range for model railways.

I was just thinking it reminds me of something out of the superquick range of card railway kits Mick. This is a much more interesting and thought provoking subject though. Production standards and general detail are much higher as well.

 

[adt70hk]

Something very different Andrew but very interesting. The last card kits I built were from the Metcalfe range for model railways.

That has built up really well Andrew.

I was just thinking it reminds me of something out of the superquick range of card railway kits Mick. This is a much more interesting and thought provoking subject though. Production standards and general detail are much higher as well.

Thanks guys. Glad you like it. We've actually just finished it and I'll post up some pictures in due course.

Tim - You're right about the production standards, it is very well done indeed and definitely thought provoking.

Hi Andrew,

Since my previous post I have dug out my Anne Frank House book and spoken to my partner about our, unfortunately, chaotic visit. We did go into the Achterhuis via the bookcase but I recall that there was a bit of a commotion (another one"!) going through that entrance because some schoolchildren/students were taking lots of photos/selfies of the bookcase entrance. Once through we toured the rooms and like you, we exited via the new building next door (where we had got our tickets).

Dave

Hi Dave

Perhaps you should go back if you get the chance. Whilst the timed entry didn't completely get rid of the blockages at key points, it did mean that they were not too bad.

Apparently the new building on the corner, where we also went in and out, and where the shop was, was paid for by Steven Spielberg from the profits of Schindler's List.


Thanks again chaps!

ATB

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Completed pic thread is here https://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/anne-frank-1-60-scale-model-house-completed.41873/