Scratch built scale model miniature: TV and HiFi repair store

Here's my latest 1:24 scale scratchbuilt miniature building, the Footscray TV and Hi-Fi Repair store. There was one piece of surgery I had to make to fix it today, and then I decided to light the interior - this is coming from someone who is decidedly amateur when it comes to home electronics! But one LED bulb later, it makes a world of difference to the overall effect!
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[@carlosallende2595]

Here it is 2022, or what's left of it, and I just saw the thumbnail for this building, and small as it was/is I recognised it immediately. I like to do drawings of interesting houses, shops and pubs etc, and have been attracted to this building's decadence as well (having driven past that particular shop on a daily basis for yonks). You have captured it so well, it is amazing! I've been amazed by your postings for years, never picked you as being Melbournian!

[@susanbeem6324]

I buy pre-wired LED's with resistors and a battery holder with a switch, then hook them together and hide the battery holder inside something, like a dumpster or chimney. Your build is terrific. Love the faded paint and the grunge. I always have trouble aging stuff after I have spent so much time making everything perfect to start with.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Hi Susan, the ageing and weathering is definitely my favourite part. Thanks for the tip on pre-wired LEDs, I'll do a bit of looking into that. Cheers, Dave

[@ModelNerd]

Another fantastic scratch build, Dave - very impressive. Fibre optics also make great lighting for models and are surprisingly easy to use too - you literally just make a circuit with an LED as you have, then attach 10-20 fibre optic cables to the LED, giving yourself lots of light points with minimal electronics work.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

I can see I'm going to have to look into this. Thanks Model Nerd!

[@markedwards5106]

Absolutely shocking Davo!! Do not worry mate, you are not alone in lack of knowledge about electronics, you should be proud of yourself for having a go. I love the exterior of the building, the graffiti and the faded signage and the birds nest tops it off nicely. It is truly a treat to see your work.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Mate, I feel I should know a lot more about electronics. But that's what life is for, to keep learning new stuff every day!

[@gordonenquist36]

Very good capture of the real deal. Do not worry about "doll house", in their world it is known as half scale cuz they work mostly in 1:12. More modelers should try structures, can add a load of reality with cars, trucks and figures. One detail I would like to draw attention to is the scuzzy stuff that joins the bricks to pavement, good eyes. Cheers Eh!

[@usssaratogacv3lefevre978]

Great job Dave, and the light is the finishing touch. It was a shame not to be able to see all the detail inside.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks mate, glad you liked it :)

[@Qu33f0]

Amazing!

[@ZygoteBrownDesigns]

Burglary 101 there Dave....going in through the roof

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

You know how people type "LOL"? I literally did just laugh out loud like a crazy man when I read your comment Zygote :)

[@seansfc]

So cool

[@kurogiza]

Another beautiful build. As soon as you mentioned which building it is, I googled it and wham, exact replica :) Yes, the real building is a tad taller, but that does not detract from how cool this build is. I'm happy you got the roof off, and added the LED, it adds just that much extra coolness to it. Looking forward to what you do next!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Chris - and respect for checking up on me! :) How amazing that we can pretty much look up any place we want to and see what it looks like, no matter where we are in the world. We live in incredible times.

[@ShaneSemler]

Daaaamn! That front door is a masterpiece! The bricks, weathered signage, all gorgeous! Good work!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Shane! :)

[@valborchardt3596]

Never mind Dave, not everyone is electronically inclined. You did an awesome job, it looks great. Thank you from South Africa

[@bugler75]

Wonderful representation and build! I wouldn't the doll's house stuff, my mother builds dolls houses and there's good money to be made in them. And i'm sure your houses would be first class!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Bugler! I'm not quite ready to hit doll house territory just yet, I promise! :D

[@bugler75]

Dave's Model Workshop yes , i understand, it’s scary female dominated territory! Lol

[@TheSteelRoad]

mate that turned out great!!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@allandavis8201]

Your skill at scratch building is without doubt second to none, fantastic. I have never tried my hand at building my own scenery and buildings but would like to try, so your videos give me fantastic tips and tricks of the trade, so to speak. Thanks for sharing your work with us all. 👍.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you DJ! It's a lot of fun, I promise once you try it it's hard to go back to building commercially available kits!

[@colossalbigfoot256]

Looks great. One of the best builds you’ve shown in this genre. Magnets mate! My firehouse has removable roof and one wall to show interior. Magnets hold it well.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you! Originally I had no plans to make this interactive, but I think magnets is a good idea!

[@oldbaldfatman2766]

April 22, 2022---Thanks for the video as this is the kind of look I want, but for some 1/35 scale zombie/apocalypse dioramas.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Cool, that would be a very interesting diorama!

[@MikeCindyWhite]

Awesome work Dave! Super cool buddy!! 👍👍

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks mate :)

[@wysiwygsd]

Wonderful, lovely work. I think the battery would look terrific hidden inside a trash can or a dumpster...

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you. I'm planning to simply hide it inside the building.

[@jsdeangelis]

Hi Dave. This is incredible work. I've been watching a ton of your channel over the last few days as I experiment with scratchbuilding, and its been a tremendous resource. You're a real artist.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Eddard! Scratchbuilding is the best, it's addictive. Very hard to go back to commercially available kits once the scratchbuilding bug bites...

[@DominicFawver]

Love the amount of detail, even to the alarm tape on the large plate glass windows.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Dominic!

[@jaquesevers2355]

Amazing

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@ozisnice]

I can do the electronics but no way near being able to do the building yet. Bravo!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Life is all about learning new skills :)

[@ozisnice]

@@DavesModelWorkshop yeah building is coming hard for me

[@kerryadams8922]

Just fantastic Dave without the match you could not tell the model from the photo of the real store door! Wounderful work and congrats on your first attempt at lighting. It realy made a huge difference. You just keep getting better and better ... Looking forward to your next build. Kerry

[@RecklessModelling]

Nice! If you sand the surface of the led then you get a more defused light.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Ahhh, that is a great idea! Would you recommend a fine sandpaper, or coarser?

[@RecklessModelling]

@@DavesModelWorkshop fine to medium will probably do it. Only needs to be on the surface. You have plenty of plastic on an led to try different grits if you want though

[@rubenkaiser517]

great work man! congratulation

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Ruben!

[@diecastgarageisgone...9531]

Really nice! Beautiful details.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@philRminiatures]

Looks beautiful and real, great looking building, excellent job!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Phil!

[@Octabust]

Wow!!! Amazing!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@ArmourEmpire]

First class mate. Smashing work

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@malcolmbolton1473]

Outstanding work once more dave,well done,top marks,cheers

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Malcolm!

[@cygnusx10]

very nice work - well built and lots of attention to detail. fantastic.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@MojoDevirus]

Another smashing one Dave !!! Outstanding work. =)

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Mojo!

[@wwkdiecastmore5647]

Great work Dave, everything was awesome!....Bill

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Bill!

[@jennimorgan394]

SPECTACULAR!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@WSNO]

Hey there!! I found your channel in my search for a good place to learn scale modeling (to use as film miniatures) and I wanted to let you know that your work is fantastic and your videos have been super great for helping me visualize and understand the process better. This is the first video I found n the building itself is what initially drew me in haha Keep doin your thing, its really really good!!!

[@ian-van-driesche]

World class again!..When are you expecting the egg to hatch?..Cheers, Ian

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Any day now mate ;)

[@garyparker2969]

NIiiiiCcccee ,, God Bless All

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks as always Gary - how's your summer? It's cold here at the moment!

[@jennimorgan394]

Never lock a door unless you have its keys in hand. 💋

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Ahhh, I wish I had followed that advice :)

[@bhuddabelly1]

i think this is your best yet! how did you do that brickwork? would love to see a step by step

[@bilgerat7694]

Well if you can light a shop, I'm gonna have a go at building a R/C unit from spare parts, thanks for sharing mate till next time have a good one

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Respect, now THAT is something I would love to see!

[@bilgerat7694]

Keep an on rustification GB

[@davart2226]

Most LED's will operate at 3vdc so you could have use 2 AA batteries and not needed the 9vdc with the resistor it will operate at 9vdc-14vdc

[@andrewbuttigieg2018]

Love your work Dave. If I can remember correctly, we had a TV repaired here back in the 80s. . Fantastic detail and that old school vibe of the western suburbs. Have you gone to any other suburbs out west? Sunshine has some interesting building's and old shops dotted around. .but for how much longer though. Cheers and thanks for the videos.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

I like Sunshine - have visited it many times. There are great pork rolls there! :) Yes, agree, it's changing rapidly...

[@ChrisSmith-nm8gb]

Well that turned out really nice. You going to end up doing every building in town?

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

only the run down decrepit ones!

[@wolfpack4694]

Really enjoy your scratch builds Dave. Wondering how to estimate exterior dimensions of a structure I want to model and am scratching my head. Am going to try an app called tape measure to take a picture of it. Wondering how you do it Dave, and am hoping it’s more than a SWAG using the M1A1 eyeball. Any ideas appreciated! Keep up the great videos!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Hi John, I measure one or two easily accessed pieces (length of a windowsill, for example) and then I extrapolate from that. Open a photo in Photoshop, see that the window is 200 pixels wide (for example). 200px = 1000mm. So each pixel = 5mm. Then I can measure everything else I need.

[@styrenehelp]

Fantastic building. So like the real one. Did you do a video of the build?

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

I started Bilko, I promise I did. But then I got so into the build that I forgot to keep recording after I was about 1/3 into it. I do feel guilty!

[@styrenehelp]

@@DavesModelWorkshop The end product was the real star of the show. Maybe just release what you have?

[@Colin399]

Your models are works of art, you should exhibit them.

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks Colin. I did hold an exhibition in March, before COVID-19 closed all galleries here in Melbourne. I will have another, I promise.

[@kellogggscornflakes]

I grew up not too far from here! If you happen to have an exhition, that would be amazing!

[@triruns]

Gorgeous, Dave! Though I have to wonder why you sealed up that amazing interior in the first place. Did you take it over to the real business?

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

You know what, I hadn't even thought of doing that, but it's a great idea! Thank you Triruns :)

[@martinsparks7860]

Where the hell do you live ? 1970's Harlem ?? Lol . Splendid work fella ! , I've never seen a better replica of an actual building .

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Heh heh, no, it's actually a very gentrified area of Melbourne. But what I love is that there are still pockets that haven't succumbed yet. I promise you, directly across the street from this TV shop is a huge ugly block of apartments that is brand new.

[@paulharrington1140]

Great job with the build, did you insulate the joints on the wiring so you don't get any shorts

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Ummm, no - I think i have some work to do! Thanks Paul! (Embarrassed...)

[@PetrikNZ]

@@DavesModelWorkshop That was my concern too. Hope that got sorted.

[@buildfalcon8117]

do you sell your dioramas after building them?

[@bradhouston4734]

Hey Dave, at least your “Doll house” looks like a good place for a knife fight or shooting!! 😂 BTW. Do you know many other people around Aus doing this sort of thing. I have some sci-fi script ideas that I want to film with miniatures as much as possible, but am wondering how to end up with entire streets or key building to blow up ! 😀🕺🏻🎥🏖🇦🇺

[@tgfcujhb7583]

Is this eevblog's workshop?

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Nope. But I did just check him out - I've never seen his work before, looks like fun!

[@michaelc9310]

What's next Dave?

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

I've got a commission to build a house, it's more modern than I usually make, so should be a challenge!

[@michaelc9310]

I think i heard cracking and crunching... LOL

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Oh yes, a lot of cracking and crunching...

[@bjsteg79]

Not related to the video directly, but kind of.... your red boarder around thumbnails make it very difficult to see what videos I've watched and and which ones I have not

[@bjsteg79]

You're a ridiculously talented scale modeler, love watching your vids!

[@DavesModelWorkshop]

Thanks for the feedback, I've taken it on board :)