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Hooper & Co Diorama


Anglia105E

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Thank you Jay.... pleased to hear that you like my diorama and the scale model motor cars. I just have time for a few finishing touches to the Fred Astaire Phantom I and then the entire project gets transported to the big show in a few days time. Although I do have several kits that I would like to build and these would have looked great in the exhibition, time has run out and what's done is done!

David

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On 6/15/2018 at 7:41 PM, landman said:

She is a beauty. Old Fred must have had the bucks to indulge like this.

I concur.  I have never been very attracted to the FM version of this RR but David has sure made some significant improvements upon it. Brilliant addition there. I look forward to seeing photos of the finale. 

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The Hooper & Co diorama is now on display at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club Annual Rally at Burghley House, Stamford.

Thursday 21st June was the longest day, setting up everything before the show. Friday 22nd June was the first day of the three event days. Here are a few photos of progress so far.

David

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Second day of the RREC show and lots of visitors all day to the Hooper & Co diorama table.

Sold one Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud 1 scale model motor car to the owner of the real 1:1 car. Tomorrow, Sunday 24th June the owner has kindly offered to let me drive his Silver Cloud, most probably on grass, around the grounds of Burghley House. I am of course extremely overwhelmed by this opportunity, to drive the best motor car ever produced in the world.

David  ( thanks Pat from Ontario )

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Thanks for your kind words of ecouragement, David Mitchell.

Today I was allowed to drive a 1957 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I by the owner. For only 20 minutes I drove around the grounds of Burghley House in Stamford and I did not want the wonderful experience to end. The car is an absolute dream to drive and you could not hear the engine running..... no vibration, no sound....  The sheer quality of the interior is something to behold. The car feels huge, and it is indeed huge. Five photos below show me sitting at the wheel of this Rolls-Royce... a once in a lifetime experience for sure.

Lots of interest in my diorama exhibit and many interesting people, mostly Rolls-Royce owners, including one man that had done even more research on Hooper & Co than I have, plus a man who had worked for the company building London buses. Another man who looked at my model was a person friend of John Blatchley, who was responsible for designing the Silver Cloud.

There was a young boy on his own, two young girls in their twenties, elderly men and women, people from France, Australia, Germany, Holland as well as all over the UK, all showing genuine interest in the Hooper & Co diorama 1958.

David

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On 6/15/2018 at 7:41 PM, landman said:

She is a beauty. Old Fred must have had the bucks to indulge like this.

I think I see a guy in 7th heaven! Well deserved.  What's the story on ghe Cadillac? Yours by any chance! The diorama looks fantastic in its complete form.

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Yes Eric.... Cloud Nine, Seventh Heaven, Over the Moon, are all terms that spring to mind. The Cadillac was parked all on its own, in an area away from all the Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars at the show. I thought it was so beautiful and so interesting that I ducked under the cordoned off roped area and took a couple of photos that you see here. Can you tell me what model Cadillac this is? Please excuse my lack of knowledge about Cadillacs, but I would like to know what year it might be, and what type.

Thanks for the comment on the diorama in its complete form and I am rather pleased with the result.

Yes David Mitchell.... I certainly could get used to owning and driving a Silver Cloud, it would feel like your favourite shoes, or your favourite jacket that just makes you feel absolutely comfortable. You may be right about the S3 car and there were so many German registered cars, as well as French and Belgian ones.

David

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Thank you Anders.... I have driven many different motor vehicles in my life, but this was the best ever drive, by far. The diorama did look good on the trade stand, in between a Rolls-Royce 20/25 HP rolling chassis project and the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation stand.

David

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  • 3 weeks later...

Following on from the diorama exhibition event I am now moving on to some further advanced photography. Some results from two recent photo shoots are shown below. Both of these compositions are intended to tell a story, which can be interpreted by the person viewing the photographs as their imagination will allow. Hope you find them interesting and there will be more!

David

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Thanks Gary..... always nice to meet a fellow enthusiast of black and white photography. Not only does it allow your imagination to consider the colours, but also I feel that the black and white format can provide more dramatic effects if used carefully. The quality of light, and particularly the technique of ' shooting into the light ' permits some adventurous possibilities that colour photography doesn't always favour. I like to take risks when it comes to pointing the camera directly towards the light source, which typically can be early morning sunlight. Some of my shots were taken at different times of day and with varying amounts of cloud cover.

More photos appearing shortly, of a broken down MG TC sports car outside Hoopers ground floor showroom window.

David

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As promised, here are some photos of a scene outside Hooper & Co., where a 1948 MG TC sports car has unfortunately broken down on Bennet Street, immediately before the zebra crossing. There is a pool of oil on the surface of the road just under the driver's side of the motor car, while a mechanic is investigating the engine bay on the passenger side. The managing director of Hoopers, Osmond Rivers, is looking on from behind the ground floor showroom window with interest. Later, a Police constable arrives on the scene and engages the mechanic in conversation.

David

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  Here are a few photos for you, and a little story that is attached to the original photo. Around 1958 we think, or certainly between 1959 and 1961, the original black and white photograph shows my Dad in the centre of the group of people as they are waiting to set off on a company coach trip for the day. This was in Nottingham and all the people including my Dad were the staff that worked at Lake Carpets, where my Dad was a carpet salesman. I believe the coach trip was destined for Skegness, or possibly a similar seaside resort such as Mablethorpe, Cleethorpes or Scarborough. There appears to be 32 people assembled for the pre-trip photo, five of whom are ladies and the remaining staff are 27 gentlemen.

What I have tried to do, with my limited resources, is to re-create a black and white photograph using my diorama building, the scale model of a 1950 Bedford OB Duple coach, twelve of my 1:24 scale figures with the central figure being Osmond Rivers, who as the managing director of Hooper & Co does actually resemble my Dad very closely.
This is my best attempt at re-creating a rather special family photograph of mine. There is also a very similar photograph that shows two Bedford OB Duple coaches on a different coach trip from Nottingham.
 
David

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Thank you Gary, and I did try to take great care in arranging those two figures, so that they would appear to be having a face to face conversation. The pool of oil is a piece of resin that I had left over from moulding and casting, which I then transformed from white to black using a permanent marker pen. The managing director of Hoopers is watching the event unfolding outside his showroom window and probably thinking this breakdown would not have arisen had the owner of the MG bought one of his Rolls-Royce or Bentley motor cars.... but then again, an MG owner might not be in the fortunate position to purchase such a fine automobile.

David

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