Hooper & Co Diorama

[Anglia105E]

Thanks for the comment, David Mitchell...... nice to see you back here.

David

[olsbooks]

This scene turned out really well..As they all have.  Keep up the great work..

[Anglia105E]

Thank you jc....... and work continues on the Hooper & Co diorama, which is now approaching 2 years in the making.

David

[Anglia105E]

The large wooden crate has been loaded onto the Bedford OLBD dropside lorry, which has been covered with a green tarpaulin and secured with hessian rope. We see the driver of the lorry getting ready to leave the premises of Hooper & Co with his important load.... the contents of the crate are unknown to us. As you would expect, the managing director of Hoopers is keeping a watchful eye over proceedings. This is probably very early in the morning and well before the rush hour traffic builds up on St James's Street. The haulage firm has been instructed to proceed without further delay with this valuable cargo..... bound for a far off destination..... many miles from London.

David

[olsbooks]

Outstanding my friend.  Nice touch with the little story line to which a personal tidbit is shared. 

As a fiction writer, this is where i'm headed wanting to recreate scenes from my books.  Videos and what not created lacked that special "something".  The technology, lack of hard 3 dimension (versus computer generated), and so forth squelched the heart, mind, and intent.  It all came down to theatrics, volume, and flash.   Just my opinion of course and not intended to annoy  or take a cheap shot at those who create and enjoy that kind of stuff.  

With a creation like you have, I find it very easy to immerse myself into the scene watching it unfold and/or being an active participant.  Essentially, your creation kicks in and requires a form of thinking and imagination seldom called upon . All the senses are engaged without sensationalism.

It's a throwback to what they attempted on the introduction of the tv show, mr. Rogers neighborhood.  You have pulled it off to the level adults can "go there" if they so choose.  Alternate reality or safe escape it can be.

  Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.  You have set a high bar but proven it possible.

Peace

 

 

 

 

  

[Anglia105E]

I can see that you and I are probably on the same wavelength JC, and thanks for the complimentary comments. Each time I put together a scene, I find myself looking at the setting afterwards and asking myself these questions..... what is going on? What are the people in the scene doing there? What could possibly be about to happen? This fits in with your theory of ' safe escape ' because it is almost as though I am withdrawing into a 1:24 scale world and walking around the streets outside the Hooper & Co building, where it allows me to think from the perspective of a 3" tall 1:24 scale man. Hopefully, this process should help put together the whole collection of vehicles, buildings, street furniture, lighting and figures. I see the exhibition diorama as the big container, in which there are smaller containers that are like mini dioramas, and these can be moved around and changed on a regular basis. There might be the lorry unloading or loading materials, or a fuel tanker selling cheap fuel from jerry cans, or a chauffeur taking out the luggage for the owner of a Rolls-Royce motor car, or perhaps several people queueing at a bus stop...... a Police constable standing near to the Police public call box, a lady or a gentleman with a motor scooter or a bicycle..... these are all ordinary everyday things that are going on when you look around a typical city environment on a daily basis.

I have studied the work of Michael Paul Smith, who has sadly passed away very recently, and his work certainly inspired me to start this project. There are obvious differences between Michael's work and mine, such as there are no people in Elgin Park.... no figures at all, also he used diecast Danbury Mint model cars whereas I tend to use plastic kits that I have built myself, mixed in with a few diecast Franklin Mint and Danbury Mint models where appropriate. Michael set up his small table outdoors and he was a master of the forced perspective technique, as well as using his brilliantly constructed scale buildings indoors and outdoors. My diorama is always indoors, so I make use of 100 watt daylight bulbs, as well as both black and white and colour photography. Some of the photographic scenes have been captured from within the showrooms of the Hooper building.

David

[Anglia105E]

Just playing around with some showroom interior shots, and making use of the 1931 Rolls-Royce Henley Convertible, which is undergoing extensive repairs at the moment. A model builder friend of mine who lives locally, pointed out that a gentleman would take off his hat whilst inside the building..... a valid point indeed.

David

[landman]

Nice. What is the pile at the bottom of the stairs?

[Anglia105E]

Don't laugh Pat..... my fault, I knocked the fire bucket over and tipped the contents onto the showroom floor..... it is sand ( black pepper ).

David

[olsbooks]

Outstanding!

[Anglia105E]

Tried out some Vallejo acrylic paints, which I haven't used before. Applied a coat of Dead Flesh to the wooden crate, and then applied a further coat of Bone White over the first coat before it dried. Seems to be a more interesting wood effect than just the bare balsa and lollipop sticks wood. Here are a few more photos of the loaded wooden crate and the wooden pallet. The Bedford lorry driver is loading up ready to go, and attending to his tarpaulin and ropes.

David

[olsbooks]

That looks great.  The b&w photos are stellar...but admit bias.

Peace. 

[landman]

You caught the "mood" in those photos. I am assuming that is a Rolls engine. And what is in the crate? Furniture, a small car? And I couldn't resist using that kettle either.

[Gramps46]

Superb pictures!

[Anglia105E]

Thank you JC, Pat and Gary..... you are correct in assuming that it is a Rolls-Royce engine Pat, and in fact it is a 6 cylinder in-line 7.7 litre engine from the 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Cabriolet de Ville. The large wooden crate does not contain a motor car, although the Bedford OLBD dropside lorry is able to carry a small car, such as the yellow Morgan 4/4 that I placed on the load area for some earlier photography. Inside the crate, as you suggested there could be some furniture, as Hoopers are in need of some furniture for their sparsely furnished showrooms and offices. Alternatively, the crate might be from the Rolls-Royce factory in Crewe and it might well contain a stock order of Rolls-Royce parts, which due to the crate's size could be body panels, chassis members, axle and suspension components, exhaust silence systems and maybe windscreen glass assemblies.

I see you have the kettle on the stove, just below the excellent fire extinguisher in your diorama garage setting. Those items in the Fujimi kit just make me want to build them and paint them.... I noticed two stoves, two tools cabinets, a sink and tap, a trolley on castors  and did they have a trolley jack like that in 1958?..... I've already put together the fire extinguisher and the kettle, and these small detailed parts just help to make a scene more authentic and interesting. Someone in a different topic did mention that Fujimi figures are much more accurate to 1:24 scale than the Tamiya ones, which are closer to 1:35..... and very important when it comes to placing a driver figure in the seat of a 1:24 scale car.

David

[Matt Bacon]

I choose to believe that the crate is labelled "Machine Tool Parts", but in fact contains contraband surplus weaponry being smuggled to an obscure South American republic. Invisible in the shadows over the road is a ginger-quiffed, button-nosed boy reporter in plus fours and his small white dog, observing proceedings and taking careful notes...

;-P

best,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

4 hours ago, landman said:

 

They must be VERY good engine rebuilders if they can turn a flathead into a boxer... ;-`p

best,

M.

[olsbooks]

Question for you (and landman).  How do you create your signs and paintings?  Do you use a laser printer and photo stock paper, make decals, or ????   Perhaps your technique might work for the for stained glass on the Robt. E. Lee if I slop over it with clear coat.

Peace.

 

 

[landman]

43 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

They must be VERY good engine rebuilders if they can turn a flathead into a boxer... ;-`p

best,

M.

Pretty well the only shop who can do it.

[landman]

16 minutes ago, olsbooks said:

Question for you (and landman).  How do you create your signs and paintings?  Do you use a laser printer and photo stock paper, make decals, or ????   Perhaps your technique might work for the for stained glass on the Robt. E. Lee if I slop over it with clear coat.

Peace.

Signs are reduced photographs, covered with clear tape and glued to thick cardboard or thin styrene with the edges blackened to give dimension. Technique borrowed from member Crazy Richard.

[Anglia105E]

2 hours ago, Matt Bacon said:

I choose to believe that the crate is labelled "Machine Tool Parts", but in fact contains contraband surplus weaponry being smuggled to an obscure South American republic. Invisible in the shadows over the road is a ginger-quiffed, button-nosed boy reporter in plus fours and his small white dog, observing proceedings and taking careful notes...

Interesting theory Matt..... and you have a similar sense of story telling to mine, when it comes to imagining what might be going on in the diorama scene. This is what I find so fascinating about the whole concept of building the scale model setting, and how it leads you into a miniature world that can be almost real. Your ' ginger-quiffed ' character could even be Tin Tin ?

David

[Anglia105E]

Jc, you were asking about signs and paintings..... and my technique is more or less along the lines of Pat's method. I find the painting or sign on Google Images, then insert the image into a Microsoft Word document, where I can reduce the image to a specific size or calculate 1/24th of the actual size. Then I print the small painting or sign on either regular paper, or thin card or possibly photo paper, using a cheap ink jet printer and if the image does not already include a frame, I make a frame for the painting out of balsa and paint or varnish it. For registration number plates I use Microsoft Paint to create the license plate, and then follow the Microsoft Word method to print the plates, before glueing the printed image onto cut out styrene plates for the model vehicle.

David

[olsbooks]

Thanks.  Stay tuned.

Peace.

[landman]

17 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Interesting theory Matt..... and you have a similar sense of story telling to mine, when it comes to imagining what might be going on in the diorama scene. This is what I find so fascinating about the whole concept of building the scale model setting, and how it leads you into a miniature world that can be almost real. Your ' ginger-quiffed ' character could even be Tin Tin ?

David

First thing that crossed my mind.

[Belugawrx]

21 hours ago, Matt Bacon said:

Invisible in the shadows over the road is a ginger-quiffed, button-nosed boy reporter in plus fours and his small white dog, observing proceedings and taking careful notes...

 

I think the term you're looking for is quaffed...

quiff

¹

[kwif]

ExamplesWord Origin

noun, plural quiff, quiffs. Slang.

1. a woman, especially one who is promiscuous.