UPDATE
You’ll see earlier iterations of this project below, but I wanted to introduce my latest version of the Hermes Baby typewriter here at the beginning. That seems sensible. I’ve also put some more props together for this piece to drop the typewriter into a more befitting environment.
From here on, you’ll see the original post, and subsequently the original ideas for the Hermes Baby.
Before this project really got going, the intention was to create something inspired by the Netflix series, Wednesday (2022). I loved the 1991 version of The Addams Family, and I was pretty hooked on the series… a full 31 years later (damn, I feel old). So, why a typewriter?
Wednesday’s typewriter (a German made Juwel) occasionally crops up in the series, so I’d decided to model a typewriter as my main prop. This ties in quite nicely to my recurring theme of retro or vintage technology in TV & movies.
I knew this was going to need some good reference material to even get off the ground, so I bought a cheap typewriter from eBay. At the right price point (and size), I generally favour getting my hands on some real-world reference material. There’s nothing like modelling something you can hold in your hands and scrutinise. There’s also the potential of creating some art with the real object later on too.
The model I ended up getting is a pretty dirty and tired Hermes Baby (~1940/50s), Not a Juwel. Nonetheless, a very interesting piece of product design that is a far cry from technology nowadays.
The project took a turn away from Wednesday fan art; a combination of being the wrong model and being some time after the series had peaked. The project became more of an exercise in modelling the specific typewriter I now own, for my personal amusement. I imagine this prop will creep into a few projects in future.
As a further exercise with this project, I decided to give the materials a little theme overhaul inspired by The Shining (1980). More specifically, the distinctive carpet designed by David Hicks (Hicks’ Hexagon) that features in The Shinings’ Overlook Hotel. The model of typewriter I’ve made isn’t correct for the reference (Adler Universal 39), but never mind. In future, I’ll try to be more of a purist.
Ready Player One (2018), which is a movie I love, also references the Shining and the Adler Universal 39. At some point, maybe I should model this typewriter too…
