Hooper & Co Diorama

[Anglia105E]

Thanks Gary..... still searching for that elusive photograph that has a touch of brilliance, and I haven't found it yet....

David

[olsbooks]

The b&w photo is fantastic.  

[Anglia105E]

Thanks JC...... sometimes b&w does produce the right mood for the scene, as I am sure you must have found yourself.

David

[Anglia105E]

The flagpole has been scratch built and is now in place at the corner of the roof top. The bus stop down in the right corner of the photo is part of the 1:24 scale diorama baseboard, so it has no relation to the 1:43 scale building. Currently, the plywood baseboard for the 1:43 scale diorama is having a second sheet of plywood glued to it as an extra laminated layer, to deal with a severe case of warping at one edge only. This is why the smaller scale building has been placed alongside the larger scale building, while the glue dries over a 24 hour period. It is a bit of a mystery as to why only one relatively small area of the baseboard has suddenly decided to bend upwards, particularly around the corner where the bus stop is located. None of the other areas of the board have warped.

David

[QbanFam]

On 3/31/2019 at 9:04 PM, Anglia105E said:

The installation of the first working street lamp is completed and the chimney stack is in place up on the roof. The two halves of the 1:43 scale lamp post were inserted tightly into a hole in the pavement, then the length of wire that has the last LED light in the chain was pushed up inside the lamp post from under the pavement and the two halves were glued together. The glazing unit was placed over the end of the wire at the top, then the four post frame was lowered over the glazing unit and the lid of the lamp was glued in place on top.  The remaining wire and lights passes under the pavement and any lights that are not required have black PVC tape wrapped around them to prevent any light being emitted. . I am rather pleased with the result and I did expect this to be more difficult.

All the rest of the wire and lights will run along the back edge of the diorama baseboard and into the Hooper building, where the controller box will be located inside the office. I haven't figured out yet how to wire up the second, third and fourth street lamps, because the space inside the lamp posts is not wide enough to accommodate a double thickness of wire / cable.

David

Sweet!! Makes me want to climb up the ladder to the roof.

[Anglia105E]

The view from the roof is well worth the climb, Yordan...... you can see all the way over to St James's Palace down at the far end of St James's Street.

David 

[Anglia105E]

The following series of photos show the improved baseboard which now has 6-ply thickness rather than 3-ply, and this has dealt with the warping issue. The long paving section that has the bus stop at the end of it is now laid flat and level. I have added two wooden beams to the underside of the first floor, which is also the ceiling of the ground floor. This has strengthened the general structure of the building and levelled out the crimson floor of the first floor showroom. There are a couple of shots of the entire collection of 19 vehicles in 1:43 scale, which will not usually appear in the diorama setting all at the same time. It does give some idea of how many cars can fill the space on St James's Street, which is a four lane road for two-way traffic.

David

[Anglia105E]

Early morning sunshine is streaming in through the large window of the ground floor showroom. A motor car sales representative watches over the gleaming new Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud that stands prominently among the shadows as they dance upon the highly polished crimson floor. It is this year's 1959 model, resplendent in sand and sable, and this will be one of the last of the 6-cylinder engined cars that Rolls-Royce has been producing since 1955, soon to be replaced with a slightly larger V8 engine. The car we see in the showroom has the standard body as supplied from the Rolls-Royce factory in Crewe, as distinct from the bespoke bodies by coachbuilders such as Hooper & Co and others.

David

[landman]

I love the sunshine photo. Is the Rolls at Hooper's to get rebodied or do they lower themselves to standard factory cars?

[Gramps46]

Looking really sharp in the sunshine.

[Anglia105E]

Thanks for your comments, Pat and Gary...... I think Hooper's did deal in some standard bodied cars, both Rolls-Royce and Bentley, and when a car was being built specifically for a distinguished customer they would order the chassis ready assembled, and then mount the coachbuilt body onto the rolling chassis. The body would have been hand made at the Acton factory. Hooper's also sold Daimler motor cars and the carriages were for display only later. The sunshine in the most recent photos was provided by a single 100 watt daylight bulb, mounted low down and also very close to the building.  The camera was placed at the Bennet Street window, with the lens touching the window glass so as to avoid any unwanted reflection.

David

[Anglia105E]

The evening bus is departing from outside Hooper & Co., just before the lights come on...... the daylight hours are fading and weary passengers are making their way home. This is the 294 to Romford Station.

David

[Anglia105E]

Two Bentley motor cars and two Rolls-Royce motor cars are being displayed in the upper showrooms. The salesman is seeking to find the best position for each car, with regard to the angle in relation to the surrounding walls and also the light coming in through the windows. It is most important to be able to present these fine examples of automobile engineering from their absolute best perspective.

David

[landman]

Very classy display.

[Anglia105E]

Thank you Pat..... clearly, the interior walls of the showrooms need to be attended to. I'm not quite sure what sort of wallpaper or paint might have been used during the 1950's for car showroom walls, so I will have to do some further research on this matter. There are no interior photographs for the Hooper & Co building unfortunately.

David

[QbanFam]

The ambient lighting is incredible. Combined with the floor shine and reflection makes it very real.

[Anglia105E]

Your comments are much appreciated Yordan...... I am experimenting quite a lot at the moment with the lighting, shadows, reflections and composition. Hopefully, the 1:43 scale model cars will have a high degree of realism about them, providing I can get the camera angles and distance correct. My Kodak camera only just fits inside the two upper floors with a few millimetres to spare, and there is about 2.5 centimetres clearance for the camera to be placed inside the two lower floors. Outside the building the camera is at ground level for this 1:43 scale, while for the 1:24 scale photo shoots the camera is usually on wooden blocks that place the lens at the height of a 1:24 scale person, approximately 3 inches is at eye level.

David

[QbanFam]

28 minutes ago, Anglia105E said:

Your comments are much appreciated Yordan...... I am experimenting quite a lot at the moment with the lighting, shadows, reflections and composition. Hopefully, the 1:43 scale model cars will have a high degree of realism about them, providing I can get the camera angles and distance correct. My Kodak camera only just fits inside the two upper floors with a few millimetres to spare, and there is about 2.5 centimetres clearance for the camera to be placed inside the two lower floors. Outside the building the camera is at ground level for this 1:43 scale, while for the 1:24 scale photo shoots the camera is usually on wooden blocks that place the lens at the height of a 1:24 scale person, approximately 3 inches is at eye level.

David

Well, you are doing an awesome job with great results.

[Anglia105E]

Today I received confirmation by phone that I have been allocated exhibition space on a trade stand at the 2019 RREC Annual Rally, Burghley House in Stamford for my two Hooper dioramas. This is excellent news and gives me 48 days to prepare all the models, as well as the logistics of transporting both dioramas to this prestigious venue. The Annual Rally is the largest event in the world for Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars, so around 2,000 cars will be attending from most countries. The event organiser has given me a prime location in the main marquee, as indeed she did last year, and this will be an exciting opportunity to display the two Hooper buildings and all the cars in both 1:24 and 1:43 scales. Already I have booked my hotel for the 5 day trip in June, and it is time to brush the dust off the model cars that are stored in boxes. At the moment  am building a 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II which is a 1960 car that was once owned by Osmond Rivers, the Chief Draughtsman and Managing Director of Hooper & Co. The 1960 car does not fit into the 1958 diorama of course, as it was purchased by Mr Rivers after the company closed at the end of 1959, so it will be displayed alongside the main exhibit.

Here is an interesting photograph of the styling department for Rolls-Royce at their re-located premises in Crewe, which shows the designer of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, John Blatchley and his two colleagues working on 1:4 size clay models of the new designs at the time. Each design had a code name to keep the design a secret before releasing the new model to the press at large.

David

[Gramps46]

Great news for you on the confirmation, congratulations.  The studio photo is interesting.  I wonder what scale those would have been?

[Anglia105E]

Thanks a lot Gary...... the most common scale they worked in was quarter scale...... so 1:4 in clay. Not all those models in the photo are 1:4, so maybe 1:8 ?

David

[olsbooks]

Now those guys were artists with clay.  Have a friend with several now working on starting a museum.  Amazing stuff.

  Hope the show goes well.

[Anglia105E]

Thanks very much JC...... I don't think I could possibly sculpt a 1:4 scale motor car model out of a rectangular lump of clay, not that I have tried it.

Your ideas are always intriguing JC, and when I see a topic posted by you, I just know it's going to be something off the wall and unusual.  You must have a unique creative mind.

David

[olsbooks]

Years of industrial fumes, corruption,  corporate politics, a bad marriage, being broke, poor health, etc,etc etc.  Wouldn't have it any other way. No victim here...i'm a survivor that finds peace in saying "no" to trends of the day.   

Commence rant: I respect woodland scenics and the great supplies/kits out there today but, to me, using low end stuff or repurposing "junk" is more enjoyable even if results aren't "as good".  Its a safe and non destructive form of defiance, revenge, and/or perhaps fulfilling some sort of subliminal messianic complex.  

Same principles apply for your great creation.  Is it perfect? No.  Its better.  Its original..it came from within. You're turning dreams and visions into tangible objects. Acceptance and approval of others aren't primary inspirations or lasting motivators.

Just my opinion.

[Anglia105E]

Clearly expressed, JC...... and I agree with you entirely. Scratch building, using all sorts of ordinary objects and especially those that would have been thrown away, is very rewarding. Mostly because we are working in plastic, it means that something like a 2 litre plastic Coke bottle can suddenly provide many 1:24 scale windscreens ( windshields ) and in fact the thickness of the screen is more accurate to scale than the kit plastic usually. From glueing a kit supplied windscreen to the inside of a Rolls-Royce body shell, I suddenly realised that the Coke bottle plastic when glued to the outside of the body shell looks far more realistic, and also has a nice curve to it.

David