Telč Castle and Church

[AlanG]

Here I am again. This time I am popping up with some architecture, as a change from motorcycles. This model is a representation of part of the historic centre of Telč, a town in the southern Czech Republic. This was largely built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and contains a long and broad main street surrounded by renaissance and baroque style shops and houses, with a large "chateau" at the north-western end.

The model, from Betexa, shows the chateau and adjacent parish church. It is to a rather large scale, 1:200, and is big - quoted as 900x300x500. The instruction page says that it is(was) intended to be the first of several models covering the complete medieval centre of the town. However, this was dated 2007 and there is no sign of further models yet, so maybe this aim has been abandoned. If it ever comes to pass, the result will be an enormous model!



The model consists of approximately 350 parts on 24 pages, each a little larger than A4. Instructions consist of a page of general advice on paper modelling and one of specific instructions in each of three languages - Czech, German and English. There are also several line drawings on the inside cover pages, and three photographs of the finished model on the outside.

So, onward...

[Kevin WS]

So onward!

Pretty big - but looks like an enjoyable model. Certainly one I would like to build!

Look forward to following your progress!

[elliott]

Always interested in architecture models. I'll be following your build with interest.

[AlanG]

Hi Kevin and Elliott - good to have you on board. The ride may turn out a bit bumpy before we are done, though.

We start straight in with some tricky work. Two long arcades surround the "English garden" to the east of the main building complex.



The fronting arches are lined with curved "ceilings" to simulate the wall thickness.



Then little rolled columns are added.



The whole thing goes on the front of the passages.

[AlanG]

The first arcade can now be placed around the "garden", and have its outer wall and roof added. The corner is embellished by a small tower.




Now the second side. The outer wall slopes down towards a gateway which leads to a causeway across the lakes which form the town's northern defences.



The inner passageway through this gate was odd. It is a simple rectangular tube with skew ends, but the ceiling has been drawn with its ends skewed the wrong way, so it makes up into something horribly twisted. However, because I had scanned everything to start with it was easy enough to produce a corrected version, just flipping the ceiling piece.



The busy appearance of this corner of the model is quite pleasing.

[AlanG]

We continue around the garden with the remaining side and roof of the of the gatehouse.



This model follows the "suspension" principle wherein none of the internal walls extends down to the ground plane to give a firm footing. Everything is suspended from something else all the way to the outermost components. This means that at this stage everything is rather floppy and distorted. However, I found with Hrad Pernštejn last year that the method works rather better than I expected - as more parts get added, things straighten up without building up excessive stresses. Any distortions left at the end can be eased out with internal bracing and reinforcement once the desired shape is clear. There is another benefit over the solid-block style that the underside remains relatively unencumbered and open, so access for fingers or tools to position gluing tabs accurately is much easier. So I shall persevere with it as is, and hope that it turns out OK in the end.

Now for the next range of buildings, and the ground which anchors this end of the model.



Alan

[Mike Stamper]

Been there, done that and bought the kit. I can't remember when I bought the kit, but we visited Telc ten years ago. The story goes that the "owner" didn't like the surrounding buildings and decided to flatten the town and create a more "pleasing" route to his palace.

It's a shame they didn't make the village - It is a very picturesque road and is about 4 times the width of a normal road with fountains and statues down the middle.

If it's OK I'll see if I can find some of my pictures. On the other hand - try this

Houses on the square | Telc.eu

The buildings are reminiscent of the older parts of Prague.

We spent two weeks driving round the Czech republic visiting many castles and Palaces - the choice was quite difficult because there are over 400 of them to choose from.

Take your choice from this site

CZECH REPUBLIC - Manors, Castles, Historical Towns

Cheers
Mike

[AlanG]

Hi Mike

Originally Posted by Mike Stamper

Been there, done that and bought the kit. I can't remember when I bought the kit, but we visited Telc ten years ago.

Ah, but did you make the kit?

The story goes that the "owner" didn't like the surrounding buildings and decided to flatten the town and create a more "pleasing" route to his palace.

Ah yes, not uncommon I think. Around here the old village at Wimpole was razed, and the occupants moved to a new site out of sight.

It's a shame they didn't make the village - It is a very picturesque road and is about 4 times the width of a normal road with fountains and statues down the middle.

We can still hope! It does look like a remarkable survival, though I imagine rather pretty-touristified nowadays.

If it's OK I'll see if I can find some of my pictures.

Any photos would be of interest, though there seem to be plenty of the main street and the principal parts of the castle on the web. Pictures of the more obscure parts of the castle and of the church next door would be particularly interesting.

All the best,
Alan

[AlanG]

Now for the first major building, which joins to the last range added, and encloses more of the north side of the garden.



This building contains a small courtyard which is built separately. This is a rather delightful unit, with its balcony and arched recesses.



It then gets added to the growing building.



Alan

[Mike Stamper]

I never did make the model. Although have made quite a few of the Betexa kits ( including Prague Castle). Prague was, I think the first of their kits to be printed matt, so all the buildings I have are gloss.

10 years ago I was still using film, so the pictures below are scans of photos. They were taken in June and you will see how crouded the place wasn't ;-) Tourists to Czech generally go on escorted tours and these seem only to include Prague and more recently - Czecky Krumlov (Most definately worth a visit). I drove round the country and outside Prague the roads were very quiet.

Cheers
Mike