A Model Billiard Tournament

A Model Billiard Tournament – The diagram shows how this billiard table and the players will appear when completed. It is a fascinating little model and will certainly give you great pleasure to construct. It is made from white cardboard, paper, screws, matchsticks and tiny coloured balls.

Make the green baize cloth to measure 2 in. wide by 4 in. long. Cut a piece of cardboard to this size and paint it green with your water-colours. Mark the semi-circle and spot as shown in the diagram. The sides for the billiard table should be fairly thick (3/16 in. deep) card, painted to represent mahogany, and should be gummed all round the four edges, bent at the six pockets as shown. Six wood screws will make excellent legs for the table and if these are painted with dark brown enamel they will look most realistic. The ends of the screws can be threaded into the pockets.

Now the table is complete, so you will need players to perform at the tournament. Cut these from matchsticks on the lines of those neat little figures illustrated. Cut the legs and arms with your penknife and paint the trousers and waist coat with Indian ink. The faces can be red and the hands pink. Fashion a cue from a piece of matchstick, tapering to a point and painted with brown enamel. Gum the cue to the hands of the players as shown. You can use those coloured round sweets of a suitable size for very realistic billiard balls.

Place the model table and the players on a piece of card board, that has been painted in deep red. The players can be made to stand up by gumming their feet to this board and leaning the bodies against the table.