WUBIN

IN THE BEGINNING... The start of the railway. The tracks were laid on the baseboard in 2000; it was not until about 2002 that the roads were added. The baseboard is plywood, in an angle iron frame and painted mission brown. To make most use of the limited space, it was necessary to delete one of the sidings, as the prototype has four sidings.

This is essentially the same stage of landscaping in mid 2003, but with some completed buildings added, and a train in the siding. In the final plan, the tracks in the background will be hidden behind a painted backdrop.

AND THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID... The next stage is to add 'soil'. This is a plaster mix which has been coloured brown with student's acrylic paint. I used a paint brush to brush a layer of plaster onto the base board, and then laid a paper towel onto the plaster, and then brushed more plaster mix to the top of the paper towel. The paper towel provides strength, plaster on it's own will crack more readily. The final stage is to sift fine dirt on to the plaster and rub it in before the plaster sets, vacuuming up the excess a week later.

This shot was taken in July 2003. It depicts the row of shops in Arthur Street, with the Wubin Trading Co in the foreground. At this stage, I have completed about half of the buildings necessary for the model.

This was my first attempt to scratchbuild anything. It is a model of the house in which my grandparents lived for most of their life. This was made in 2002.

AND THE WEEDS STARTED TO GROW... Some bushes and weeds have been planted in the foreground, behind is the nearly completed Wubin Hotel. The grass is green jute string, cut to short lengths and glued in place with aquadhere. Sawdust dyed various shades of green, as well as natural coloured sawdust representing dead grass has also been glued to the soil. Scouring pads have also been used to make bushes.

This photo was taken in March 2004. A few people are busy moving goods around the loading dock. There is still a number of buildings to be completed, a lot more grass and vegitation to be planted and many finishing details yet to be added. The painted backdrop has been completed, many thanks to my mother for her artistic assistance.

This site will be updated as the model progresses.