Wombat Creek Tramways

The domes are clad in copper sheets. I still need to add details such as capping along the ridges and decorative features.

The clocks at the entrances are in place. Not quite as the original building in Melbourne. The first attempt was too big and didn’t allow enough room for the well-dressed banker to enter without his hat been knocked off. Handrails will be added to the steps aiding the elderly costumers.

The photo on this update may not show much progress compared to the previous one, but there are a few additions to the Bank. First of all the floor is in place. The floor pattern is – like the facade – modelled from Flinders Street Station, Melbourne. Whilst the original has a full octagon pattern the bank only received ‘a half octagon’. Instead an internal wall will separate the entrance hall from the offices and the vault. The staircase down to the vault is in place. Quite some work went into the stairs, but unfortunately they are not visible from the outside. As a result I have decided only to model the visible interior. It will be a compromise which will save a lot of time and the building may be finished not too long into 2021! The columns above the entrance are made from chicken skewers (after I have eaten the chicken!) and foil from cake cups (again I ate the cake first).
The pavers in front of the building are made from Scalescene prints. The uneven surface resembles the original surface. It will be a challenge to do the steps leading into the Bank. The grey base of the bank is too dark and will be repainted.
The roof is loosely placed on top of the building, which explains the gaps. The base of the roof is bending a bit, but should be flattened with the balustrades in place. The domes will be clad in green copper sheets from Scalescene.

Have you ever tried to work with ‘spherical geometry’? Well, if you have to construct a dome you certainly have. Triangles have curved sides and the sum of the interior angles exceeds 180 degrees. It is even possible to construct spherical triangle with two right angles! Great fun and difficult to get right.

The bank is now ‘crowned’ by one large and two small domes. The photo illustrates how the larger dome is supported by 8 curved ‘beams’. The drawing for the beams was done in OpenOffice Draw. Since the curves originates at the corners of the octagon they do not follow a circle but are slightly ‘elongated’. This will create semicircles at the middle of opposing walls.

PVA glue, clothes pins and a lot of patience helped getting 8 segments in place. They don’t not match up as well as I wanted, but the domes will be covered with copper panels from Scalescenes.

Just waiting for Covid-19 restrictions to be lifted and the printing can be done. Until then the work on the Bank has come to a halt.

Just a small up-date on the progress with and around the Bank. Windows are now proper framed.
Next to the bank a department store is under construction. It is a card-board kit from Metcalfe. It is low-relief and was intended as such, but due to its depth the building will not fit along the back of the lay-out. Instead a rear wall will be constructed and the store will eventually sit nicely next to the bank.

Until it is possible to get printing done at Officeworks (still out-of bounds due to Covid-19) the interior of the Bank and the back of the department store will have to wait. Likewise the pavement in front of both buildings. Instead the attention will be on the roof. I can do some work but again some printing has to be done.

The flat roof has been cut and the construction of roof details can commence any time.

The gaping window holes have also been filled. The window frames were drawn in OpenOffice Draw and printed on transparent self-adhesive labels. Each frame has been done in two copies -one for the outside and one for the inside of the building. The frames were stuck to a sheet of clear plastic before glued in place. The are slightly opaque but less than shown on the photos. The front windows still need some panels and posts, before they are finished.

The back of the Bank will not be visible once the building is in its final position in Wombat Creek, but I still want it to appear as well done as possible. At least I know it is done right!

For the time being bits and pieces are sticking out at the ends of the wall because I don’t know, how wide the adjoining buildings will be. Part of the wall features may be extended to the two walls at the end of the building.

The construction will continue with the flat roof, which will be detachable. That will give me access to the interior of the building, which will be visible through the front entrance. Window frames are also high on the agenda.

We are still on strict lock-down in Melbourne with a nightly curfew and only allowed 1 hour of daily exercises less than 5 km from home. That makes life a little bit difficult, but thanks to the Internet I have be able to keep modelling the Bank.

It is no secret it is modelled after the grand facade of Flinders Street Station. I have been able to google a floor-plan, which has given me the length of the main entrance. In addition to this I have a drawing which is no to scale, but still a great help getting the dimensions right. The main source of information though, is Google Street View! In short – the model so far has been done without a recent visit to the station.

Since my last post the facade has undergone some progress. The walls are almost finished. The dentils (small squares at the top) are numerous, cut and glued in individually.

The stain-glass window is taken from an almost front-on photo. To get the size and shape right I scanned the cardboard cut from the opening and with Photoshop adjusted the photo to fit the scan. Two copies (one reversed) were printed on a transparent self-adhesive label, cut out and stuck on each side of a lid from a take-away container. Perfect fit first time! I will use the same method with the flooring. Scan the odd shape of the floor and get the tiles to fit.

Next my attention will go to the back of the building. Even it can’t been seen from a ‘normal’ viewing point, it must be done up nicely.