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MODEL GALLERY

Top Grade 1907 Berger Model 1/6 Scale - This page contains photos of several models built of painted or stained mahogany. "Top grade" indicates that the models are as detailed as I can make them in this scale. The 1907 designation is arbitrary. It refers to a well known set of photographs taken in 1907 in the alley beside the garage where the guillotines were stored. The guillotine in the photos was probably built between 1871 and 1889, so I could as easily refer to this guillotine as a 1871 Berger or an 1889 Berger.
High Grade 1907 Berger Model 1/6 Scale - This page contains photos of a few models built of painted or stained oak. "High grade" indicates that the models are less detailed than the Top Grade listed above. In most aspects they are identical to the Top grade models but some details are omitted or simplified to make them less costly. Note among other things the braces made of angle iron, the lack of post hinges, the simplified bolts and the lack of frame tension rods.
1/4 Scale Model of the Swedish guillotine - This page contains photos of a unique, large and highly accurate model of the Swedish Berger guillotine. The model is built of painted mahogany, steel and brass and stands three and a half feet tall. Pictures in this gallery show the model next to the real Swedish guillotine.
1946 Rastatt Fallbeil 1/6 Scale, bloodwood and painted steel - This very detailed replica is a near exact copy of the fallbeil built in 1946 for post WW2 civil executions in the French sector of occupied Germany. It was the fallbeil used for one of the last executions in West Germany in 1949. It is currently exhibited at the Strafvollzugsmuseum in Ludwigsburg.
1792 Guillotine 1/6 Scale - This page contains photos of a number of 1792-type guillotine models. These models are built of painted oak, steel and brass. They are inspired interpretations of what Tobias Schmidt's first guillotine may have looked like.
Several models of French Revolutionary guillotines in 1/6 Scale, painted oak and steel - These models represent guillotines used in the first half of the 19th century. Design based on historical documents and observation of several actual guillotines preserved in European museums. They include improvements made by Tobias Schmidt on the second generation of his guillotine put in service in the 1793 and 1794. They are more complex models than the basic 1792 design above.
More than a 1793 Guillotine model, this is a full "reenactment" - in 1/6 scale - of the last minutes of the king of France's life on January 21, 1793. It includes the scaffold, stairway and four figures in historical garb. This was a rather large project inspired by period engravings and paintings.
German 1854 Fallbeil Model 1/6 Scale - This page contains photos of a 1/6 scale model of a German fallbeil, inspired by the one from the Munich Stadelheim prison. Model is constructed of steel and oak.
"Reunion" Guillotine 1/6 Scale, painted oak, steel and brass - This oversized model is loosely based on the guillotine that was used by the French on Reunion Island until 1954.
"Senegal" Guillotine 1/6 Scale, painted oak, steel and brass - This unique model is based on the one known photo of the guillotine that was used by the French in their African colony of Senegal. Very little is known about this guillotine which appears to have been built around 1850. A blade, alledgedly belonging to this machine, was sold to the Henker Museum in March 2009.
Some of my guillotine and fallbeil models have made it into books, posters, exhibits and museums. Here are a few examples.
1860 Guillotine, 1/6 Scale, painted oak and steel - This model was built as a novelty cigar cutter for a smokeshop but never lived up to the cutting requirements. Based mainly on the 1792 design it includes a number of improvements from newer guillotines.
Guidotine 1/1 Scale, painted oak, steel and brass - This full size replica of a French Berger guillotine was built by the Henker Museum in Switzerland from my drawings. Very impressive!
Older Models - This page contains photos of a variety of models that I have built over the last 5 years.