Chris’s world

Detail of Chris Wauchop's Centurion tank
Detail of Chris Wauchop's Centurion tank

My husband, Chris Wauchop, is well-known to the modelling (hobby) world. His particular forte is airbrushing and weathering and his passion is for building WW2 aircraft, but also very competent with armour modelling and science fiction/fantasy figures. His attention to realism and detail are beyond belief. The shovels in this image from the Centurion tank are about 25mm. He constructs and paints the interior cockpits of 1:32/1:48 scale aircraft in full detail – it is almost impossible to see the detail without using a magnifying glass. This is usually many hours of intense work. That’s inspiring!

Where I’m coming from

Detail of Kirribilli Pub Theatre set design
Detail of Kirribilli Pub Theatre set design: The 'Future Shock Horror Show'

Three days in (to this new phase of my life) and I have been having fun reflecting on work in the eighties – some design work that I did at the Kirribilli Pub Theatre. I designed sets for 12 shows in 10 years, and designed costumes for the last 3 years with my sister, Shan Krauth.

Each set had two or three changes – the flats would be hinged and would swing open to reveal a new scene during the show. So the design often had a couple of flats that remained when the scene changed. The theatre was small (audience of 100 seated at long tables); the stage absolutely minute (about 4 x 3 metres) so I was always trying to create an illusion of depth or movement to extend the space.

The costumes had to be comic and allow for quick changes. I couldn’t sew very well, but I could ‘construct’ out of fabric and papier mache and I could paint on fabric.

Shan was the seamstress. We had so much fun designing for each character and selecting the fabrics – always on a tight budget.