Fascinating Vintage Paper Models to Print
A colourful collection of 37 vintage paper models to print, including buildings, people, planes, ships, cars and more. These charming old cut-out sheets are part artwork, part toy and part tiny engineering project.
There is something wonderfully clever about old paper model sheets. What starts as a flat page covered in walls, wheels, people and tiny tabs could be cut, folded and glued into a miniature building, train, ship, figure or even a whole little scene.
This collection brings together vintage paper models from several historic sources, including colourful French examples published by Pellerin & Cie, models featured in Von der zweiten in die dritte Dimension – 500 Jahre Bauen mit Karton, plus a few other interesting finds from old books and archives.
Some were made as toys, others as educational or promotional pieces, but today the uncut sheets are fascinating in their own right. I love the bold colours, tiny details and slightly puzzling layouts, part illustration, part engineering project.
I’ve divided the collection into three simple sections: buildings, people and transport.
If you enjoy vintage printable toys, you might also like my collections of vintage paper dolls and Vintage Japanese toys.
Why Paper Models Were So Popular
Paper models were once an inexpensive and entertaining way to make something impressive from a single printed sheet.
They combined drawing, cutting, folding and construction, and could turn the latest trains, ships, cars, aeroplanes, famous buildings and popular characters into something you could actually build at home.
They were affordable, easy to print and distribute, and needed little more than scissors, glue and a bit of patience.
How to Download the Vintage Paper Models
To download a model, click on the title above the image to open the high-resolution version. Then save the image to your computer and print it at home.
If you plan to build one, slightly heavier paper or thin card usually works best. You can also use the sheets simply as vintage artwork, or for collage, junk journalling and other paper crafts.
I’ve kept the original colours, printing marks and signs of age wherever possible, as they are all part of the charm.
Vintage Paper Model Buildings
Buildings were a natural subject for paper modelling. Printed walls, roofs, towers, windows and doors could be folded into everything from simple houses to churches, castles and grand public buildings. The flat sheets are often just as lovely as the finished models, with decorative façades, patterned roofs and rows of tiny architectural details arranged across the page.
A few of the building paper models also contain people, so there is a bit of crossover with the next section.
Model 1: La Boîte Secrète de Nevers
Not every vintage paper building was a church, château or railway station. This wonderfully cheeky French model appeared in the satirical magazine Le Rire in 1904 and, once assembled, became a miniature brothel complete with tiny characters and a moving mechanism. It was essentially a grown-up parody of the period's popular paper construction toys.
Jan de Haan was a Dutch publisher who specialised in colourful children’s prints in the late 1800s. His range included cut-out and construction sheets like this cheerful windmill, printed in bright lithographic colours and designed to be snipped apart and assembled into a three-dimensional toy.
Another Jan De Haan vintage paper model.
Model 4: Nouvel Opera Complex Paris
The site has a wonderful collection of vintage Paris maps.
Owen Jones's Grammar of Ornament has a great collection of architectural details from mosques.
Model 7: Theatre Stage and Orchestra
Paper Model 8: Russian Posting Station Log Cabin
Gothic stone church with grey roofs and figures.
Model 10: Children's Theatre With Characters
Includes a bandstand and formal gardens.
Paper Model 14: Grand Parisian Salon
If you're interested in vintage interiors, check out the collection of watercolours from Brighton Pavilion.
Vintage Paper People
Vintage paper models also included dolls, soldiers, theatrical characters and articulated (jumping jack) figures.
Some were designed to stand, others could be dressed or posed, and many feature wonderfully detailed period clothing and costumes. They sit somewhere between a toy and a fashion illustration.
If these appeal to you, check out my vintage paper dolls and vintage trades.
Model 16: Jan De Haan Jumping Jacks
Dutch and Turkish costumes.
Model 17: German Scythe Sharpener
With a wheel of craft vignettes from 1897.
With a wheel of trade vignettes.
Includes a clown and a soldier.
Model 21: Male and Female Pull-alongs
Paper Model 23: Billiard Players
Model 24: Jumping Jack Soldier
Vintage Transport Paper Models
Trains, cars, ships and early aircraft were especially popular subjects.
These sheets are a lovely mix of illustration and engineering, with wheels, wings, funnels, and carriages carefully laid out, ready to be cut and assembled. They also make a small visual history of changing transport, from steam trains and sailing ships to motor cars and early aeroplanes.
You might also enjoy my collections of vintage bicycle posters and airline posters.
German paper models of motorway traffic.
Military jeep and soldiers.
Model 28: German water and air
Showing an airship, biplane, steamships, a sailing boat and a hot-air balloon. The site has a wonderful collection of vintage hot-air balloon prints.
Complete with pilots and spectators.
Complete with pilots and passengers.
With conductors and passengers.
Vintage British model card kit for a Third Class Pullman railway carriage.
A board game sheet with a winding road track through a village, cars and figures
Believe it or not, the first successful submarine was built in 1620!
More Vintage Paper Treasures
Whether you decide to build them or admire the artwork, these old paper models are a lovely little piece of printed history.
I especially like the cleverness of turning one completely flat sheet into something three-dimensional with little more than scissors, glue and patience. I tried something similar with my vintage circus diorama, another fun example of old-fashioned paper play.
For more related printable vintage ephemera, check out the vintage circus posters and vintage board games elsewhere on Pictureboxblue.
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