Petrin Tower, Prague / Praguemodels / 1:150

W

Wojtee

Member
Jun 8, 2008
151
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16
Prague, CZ
This is a model with a story.
Tower at Petrin in Prague was built in 1891 by Czech Tourism Club (mind, there was no mention about Czech Republic yet, Prague was still a small provincial city in Austrian-Hungarian Empire). Members of the Club visited the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889 (by means of a special train) and were awed by the Eiffell Tower. When they returned home, they decided to raise money and build similar tower. Thus a Cooperative for Tower at Petrin was founded. The tower itself was built very quickly, starting in March and completing in July.
The tower is still accessible and celebrated (a very nice age of) 120 years this year.
You can see the view (and read more funny Czenglish) here:

http://stovezata.praha.eu/en-petrin-tower.html

The model itself was constructed and published as a very limited edition (some 20 pieces, of which I know about one or two built), which I missed (the price seemed to me pretty steep that time). But, luckily, the author decided last year to print some more, and that is where humble me comes in :)

The model in 2D looks like this:



Parts printed in colour on white paper, parts printed in black on gray paper (steel parts), a few parts laser-cut and a few parts printed on transparency.

Goes together like this:













These round parts are laser-cut. Next is a good plain old hand work (requires a peace of mind and a very sharp knife (I use OLFA scalpels)). Modelling masochism starts here:





Triangles and triangles and triangles and even more triangles (with occasional trapezoid :mrgreen:) I am thinking about the buddhist monks and their mandalas.

But it starts to look like a spider´s webbing or as an technician´s lace now...





That is first and second level. Some 12 more will follow (but they will get smaller when closing to the top).

To be continued...
:wave:
 
Wow, very interesting story. It will make a wonderful display when done, and has a great story to go with it!

That was made in 1891!! That is incredible. The link has an excellent panoramic view that you can control with arrows to get a nice view of the really beautiful town! :)



observation-tower-on-petrin-prague.jpg
 
The model is not in what is there to see, but what is not. There is much more holes than parts :D





Zathros, I think I would like to live in that age. It seems that everything was very fresh and new, the technology and science started to advance greatly, and Europe was not that bad place to live in. (And yes, now I know, in some 25 years there would be World War I, but that is a different story). And (in my opinion) the founding of these Clubs and Associations (which was possible only after 1860) led finally to the movement, resulting in a new free Czechoslovak Republic, which emerged after WWI. It was not only the Tourists Club, but also Sokol (a sports club with strongly patriotic accent) or the American Ladies Club (which were, in fact suffragetes, "imported" from the USA (not the ladies, but their ideas)).

romanmodels: I got it directly from the author. He had this site www.praguemodels.cz , but the site seems very dead now and I don´t see him online anymore. So I think some other problems took him (this has happened already and he "returned from the dead" after some 2 years of inactivity). The site would be worth checking now and then.
It did cost me (approx.) 40 USD the original set and 20 USD for additional laser cut parts (the railings, you can see these in the last two pictures).
 
I think I would have done well in that era. I was a machinist for 16 years and back then, it was a very respectable and honorable trade. It still is, except for some pencil pushers (accountants) that have the power to think their jobs are more important and pay themselves accordingly.

I was going to ask you about the fiddly bits, but you have that covered! :).
 
Somehow, I forgot to cover the build here, too. So, here goes:

The first floor:
Windows glued on the transparency, put together, added laser-cut railing, finished.






The spiral stairs (these are two spirals intertwined, one for going up, other for going down). The work seems as endless as the stairs when you climb them. It is not that hard, anyway :)






(that is for the lower part, and there is twice as much for the upper part)






No way I was doing this at once, I had to put some other work inbetween :)

Cutting, gluing, trying...





And that would be it. No more parts to cut :)

All the parts for the upper construction:


Now, before I put it all together, there is the basement to make.





(It would not end well if I experimented this way after completing the whole tower :oops:)

Hoping to have it finished by friday, so that there can be a premiere on an local exhibition :)
 
You have a Masterpiece on your hands. The model is so true and the lines so excellently executed! This is a showstopper. Very nice, and please continue sharing. :)
 
Well... I sort of forgot to post here. And there is a story to it, too:
I took this showstopper to stop a show. I sort of underestimated the construction strength and the packaging, so some things moved, some things deformed, sort of like this:


You know that FFFFUuuuu... pictures? That is how I felt wall1

Then I got calmer, took it out of the box and started reinforcing. The verticals first, the horizontals and diagonals after that. With the perpendicular flanges (which are actually there), the base got much sturdier. So, now it looks how it should, again :)
Repairs in progress:



I will get to it sometime yet. Some finishing touches still needed. But it is a good conversation starter already.





 
Beautiful! You may wish to put a rod up the center to give some support because as the paper absorbs moisture from the air, it might cause it to collapse, and that would be a tragedy. Well done! :)
 
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