Model Minutes US was started in 2005 as a partnership between Model Minutes (Canada) and Essence Technologies to form Model Minutes US (MMUS). MMUS is the exclusive distributor of Model Minutes Model Rocketry products.

The partnership's objective is to improve the sales and to grow the number of kit choices of the Model Minutes Model Rocketry products.

Model Minutes was started in January 2000 with a determination "to specialize in the creation and manufacturing of paper and cardboard models.

"We have a passion and like all those who have a passion. We wish to share and transmit this passion to others.

" You will find in our kits guidelines, practices and exercises that will allow you to become more familiar with the paper and cardboard model on one hand, and with rocket model building on the other hand."

Paper Modeling - General: Card Modeling or Paper Modeling is the art of creating models with paper. Models are built up from appropriately colored, cut, and folded pieces of paper, usually a stiff cardstock. Many models are available as kits, with pre-printed pieces to be cut out and assembled by the modeler. It's also possible to build entirely from scratch.

Paper models can be surprisingly sturdy, and can stand up to handling well. They derive their strength from their structure; even seemingly flimsy paper can be strong when it's shaped properly.

Once you've mastered the basic skills, more complicated shapes can be formed from these basic ones.

The basic operation of paper modeling are cutting, with scissors or a knife, scoring and folding, bending, and gluing.

If you can use scissors, you can build a paper model.

Paper Modeling - History: Paper has been used in modeling since its invention thousands of years ago, but those ancient modelers probably did not use paper for the construction of entire paper models. The roots of the modern paper model go back to 15th century Europe, where the printing technology and the paper came together. These first models were very simple rectangular pictures, to be cut out and glued to wooden blocks as toys or educational aids. At first, religious themes predominated, but over the next several centuries, they evolved to cover a broader set of topics.

Printing technology took a step forward in 1796, with the invention of lithography, which allowed the production of clear images for large press runs. The paper models were developing too. The rectangular cutouts began to follow the outline of the figures, and a folded strip was added at the base to allow the figure to stand on its own. Then extra pieces were added, to be glued to the face of the figure to give a three dimensional effect. By the late nineteenth century, the models were fully three dimensional. The JF Schreiber company of Esslingen, Germany began publishing paper models in 1831 and is still publishing today.

Paper modeling as a hobby had a heyday in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but in the 1920's began to wane in popularity, as competition came from mass produced wooden model kits and metal toys. In the 1940's, wartime shortages of wood, metal, and labor produced a resurgence of interest in paper models.

In the 1950's, in the US and Western Europe, the competition from plastic models gradually crowded out the paper ones. Some companies, such as JF Schreiber and Wilhelmshaven in Germany, continued to produce high quality kits, but the medium couldn't match plastic's popularity. Simple, 'tab-and-slot' models were also produced for use as promotional gimmicks.

In Eastern Europe, were polystyrene was less ubiquitous, paper models continued to be popular, and a great variety were and still are produced.