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In the beginning |
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Raymond Berry is the artist behind Model Idols who has had a varied career in catering, advertising and teaching before turning a hobby into his own business. He first started creating models in 1973 after seeing the Disney cartoon Robin Hood. In those days there were no accompanying toy figures on the release of films so he decided to make his own with plasticine™. From those figures he progressed to the characters in Scooby Doo and many other cartoon favourites. He first experimented in 1977 in creating human forms with characters from his all-time favourite film The Poseidon Adventure. In honesty he admits those figures resembled more "blob-like" caricatures and has the photos to prove this! In 1990 he first used polymer clays so his creations could be fired in the oven and become permanent sculptures. The reason for this was he wanted to create models of Les Cagelles from La Cage Aux Folles as gifts for fellow cast members when he appeared in the first London amateur stage performance of the hit musical. In 1995 he decided to see if he could recreate famous stars from their films and started with Mae West. From there he created about 30 models perfecting his technique with each one. Then disaster struck - all his models were displayed on a large shelf in his dining room and one night the shelf collapsed - every model was smashed. Finally in the summer of 2000 he decided to try again and rebuilt the entire original collection from scratch and from there the numbers grew and grew to now having over 200 in the showpiece collection. As friends and family watched the collection enlarge, suggestions were made about developing this as a business and selling them to the public. However Raymond didn't feel entirely certain this was the right avenue for him as all the showpiece models have a special meaning to him either as a favourite film, character or celebrity. Then he started to make models for friends as presents. This involved detective work in determining who their favourite star was and that was when he realised that if he could create his own favourite stars, and those for friends then why not create the favourite stars that anyone who would want to have as their own models? So, finally in January 2006 Raymond decided to create his business and offer the opportunity to anyone who wants their favourite star or celebrity immortalised as a model and Model Idols was born. Raymond wants to thank and extend his love to his family and friends who have supported, guided and encouraged him in this venture. |
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