Hooper & Co Diorama

[Pierre Rivard]

The Vallejo Still Water looks very good. 

This diorama will look awesome when you do B&W night scene lighting pictures.

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, Pierre Rivard said:

The Vallejo Still Water looks very good. 

This diorama will look awesome when you do B&W night scene lighting pictures.

Thanks Pierre . . . . . The random patchy effect of the still water adds a great deal of realism to this diorama, and here is a sample photo for you :

David

[Anglia105E]

The 1:32 scale Pyro kit of the 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II ' Towne ' Car is nearing completion. Within the next day or so this model should be ready for the European Tram Car diorama. There are some finishing touches needed for the MiniArt tram car kit in 1:35 scale, and I am very much aware that these excellent MiniArt kits are designed and manufactured in Ukraine.

The Pyro Rolls-Royce does have a partition window between the passenger compartment and the driver's compartment, which is a nice touch, and you don't get this partition window in the 1:24 scale Italeri Phantom II that I built.

David

[Anglia105E]

The tram car build is completed, and this one has taken 3 months and 10 days to finish.

Now that both the Pyro Rolls-Royce and the tram car are ready, I can concentrate on the diorama and the photography.

The Still Water will be applied around 24 hours before the photo shoot, and I shall wait until the canned fog arrives before applying the water effect, and also using the fog effect. The 1:35 / 1:32 diorama has been moved down from the top of the Hooper factory and the attached photos were taken in this new position.

There will be some advanced B&W photography, as well as colour photography of this European House diorama very soon, and the topic will be posted in the ' Dioramas ' section rather than in this ' WIP: Dioramas ' section as a completed project.

 

David

[Anglia105E]

Here are three early experimental photos of the tram car diorama . . . These are B&W shots, with no still water effect or fog effect added yet.

Thanks for looking guys !

David

[landman]

That is very realistic, especially the middle one.

[Anglia105E]

2 hours ago, landman said:

That is very realistic, especially the middle one.

Thank you Pat . . . .  I am quite pleased with these early shots, and I am confident that I can create the wet cobbled street effect, such as immediately after a rainfall shower has occurred. The fog in a can is more difficult, and I was struggling a bit with the lighting source and angles last night.

David

[Anglia105E]

Just a few B&W photos, this time with added still water and fog effect. The process needs a little further refinement.

David

[Anglia105E]

These two photograohs show the 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II parked on the wet cobblestone road outside the town house in Geneva, Switzerland.

This motor car model has been built from the 1:32 scale Pyro kit of 1967, and the Alfred Hitchcock figure is a 1:32 scale 3D printed figure by Shapeways.

David

[peteski]

These are very artistic photos, but with all the working lights I'm wondering why the streetlight is not illuminated?

I'm also curious as to what is the loop of what seems like fishing line on the roof of the trolley?

[Anglia105E]

10 hours ago, peteski said:

These are very artistic photos, but with all the working lights I'm wondering why the streetlight is not illuminated?

I'm also curious as to what is the loop of what seems like fishing line on the roof of the trolley?

Very observant Peter, and you have picked up on two issues in particular . . . . Please allow me to explain.

First of all, the 1:35 scale street lamps by MiniArt do not have a hollow centre to the post, whereas the 1:43 street lamps by Pico do have a hollow centre. I wanted to run a fibre optic strand up the post to the lamp at the top, but the MiniArt street lamp won't allow me to do this.

Well spotted with the ' fishing line ' objects on the roof of the tram car. Those are the fibre optic strands that are linked to an LED bulb, which is strapped to the underside of the tram car chassis. Unfortunately, those fibre optics have to be routed through the passenger area, then up through the roof, and then back down through the roof to the interior lamps. I thought about how I might disguise those fibre optic strands, such as having a standing figure inside the tram. In some of the photo shots the fibre optics are not so visible, and they can sometimes blend into their surroundings.

Thanks for pointing out these errors Peter, and I am aware that there are other errors too. This diorama is a work in progress, so there will be ongoing progress hopefully.

David

[Anglia105E]

Having added a mature oak tree to the diorama composition, and also the figure of a gentleman who is boarding the tram car, here are just a couple of photos to show the other side of the tram car.

David

[peteski]

15 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Thanks for pointing out these errors Peter, and I am aware that there are other errors too. This diorama is a work in progress, so there will be ongoing progress hopefully.

Sorry, it was not my intention to point out errors - I was simply curious about what I noticed.

While Fiber Optic Lightning is handy, have you considered LEDs?  There are lots of very small sizes available and they are quite affordable.

 

You can even buy them prewired on eBay.  If you look on eBay for example for "0603 prewired warm white led" you should find some good deals.  LED wlll likely be brighter than the fiber optics, and the wires are much easier to hide (like glue them down the lamp post).  I use LEDs almost exclusively in my models.

Edited March 15, 2022 by peteski

[Anglia105E]

Thanks Peter, and I don't mind anything that fellow members might pick up on while viewing my photos. This process is very usefull to motivate me and consequently address any issues / errors / observations. Usually, I just need a little push to get things done !

Yes, as regards LED's, I shall probably end up using some for this project because the routing of fibre optic strands is a bit of a challenge, if I am honest.

While I was sourcing the fibre optics on Ebay those LED's in a range of sizes did appear on my screen, but at the time I was locked into ' tunnel vision ' with the fibre optics. This is why I find all comments by members on MCM forums extremely useful.

For the red lights on the front of the tram, I used a red Sharpie on the tip of the two strands. Would this work on an LED also ?

David

[peteski]

14 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

For the red lights on the front of the tram, I used a red Sharpie on the tip of the two strands. Would this work on an LED also ?

There is no need to do that.  While you could use Sharpie on the lens of a white LED to change its color there is no need to do that. Just use red LEDs. The diode die inside a red LED will emit red light.  Same goes for other color LEDs.

Early LEDs only produced red light. Later on green and yellow LEDs were manufactured. They were all rather dim. As technology advanced, LEDs got brighter.   Then blue LEDs revolutionized the lighting industry.  The white LEDs are actually blie LED die which is coated with a phosphor which emits other colro lights to make the light appear white.

Here is a basic explanation of what LEDs are (from  https://www.ledsmagazine.com/leds-ssl-design/materials/article/16701292/what-is-an-led  ).

In the simplest terms, a light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current is passed through it. Light is produced when the particles that carry the current (known as electrons and holes) combine together within the semiconductor material.

Since light is generated within the solid semiconductor material, LEDs are described as solid-state devices. The term solid-state lighting, which also encompasses organic LEDs (OLEDs), distinguishes this lighting technology from other sources that use heated filaments (incandescent and tungsten halogen lamps) or gas discharge (fluorescent lamps).

Different colors
Inside the semiconductor material of the LED, the electrons and holes are contained within energy bands. The separation of the bands (i.e. the bandgap) determines the energy of the photons (light particles) that are emitted by the LED.

The photon energy determines the wavelength of the emitted light, and hence its color. Different semiconductor materials with different bandgaps produce different colors of light. The precise wavelength (color) can be tuned by altering the composition of the light-emitting, or active, region.

LEDs are comprised of compound semiconductor materials, which are made up of elements from group III and group V of the periodic table (these are known as III-V materials). Examples of III-V materials commonly used to make LEDs are gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium phosphide (GaP).

Until the mid-90s LEDs had a limited range of colors, and in particular commercial blue and white LEDs did not exist. The development of LEDs based on the gallium nitride (GaN) material system completed the palette of colors and opened up many new applications.

So you can purchase LEDs of different colors to be used in your projects.  Then to power the LEDs you will need to limit the current (which controls the LED brightness).  You will need resistors.  None of this is "rocket science", Anybody can do this. See  https://www.instructables.com/LEDs-for-Beginners/  There are many LED resistor calculators on the Internet, so you don't even have to do the math.

Here is a link to one of my models with LED lghts: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44000.0

[Anglia105E]

Thank you Pete, for the highly detailed explanation about how LED's work, and I do have a much better understanding of the technology thanks to your post. I have just been reading through your build that you posted some time ago, back in 2012, regarding the BUSCH Mercedes Sprinter van. From the moment that I realised these vans are N gauge, I was fascinated by your attention to small detail. That was lucky finding that the non-illuminated models did have the lighting conduit inside. Soldering at that scale must require considerable skill I would have thought. I do have an N gauge railway layout that my Dad built shortly before he passed away, and this layout does have some tiny vehicles as well.

I see how you have used black paint to mask the escape of light from within the vehicle, and that was something that I noticed with those fibre optics. Quite a lot of light is visible from the sides of the fibre optic strands, both on the underside of the tram car and also inside the passenger area.

I enjoyed reading your article further, with references to decals, resin casting masters, the radio antenna being the thickness of a human hair and converting the Mercedes grille to a Dodge grill ! Wow ! Your model building skills are far superior to mine. The idea to use a brass tube to mount the van in a static position is sound enough, from a safety point of view, and recently I have been looking at the possibility of using small magnets mounted on the underside of 1:43 scale vehicles, along with magnets mounted on rails underneath the diorama baseboard to provide movement of the vehicles.

David

[peteski]

Thanks for the compliments David. I did not know that you were familiar with my N scale FedEx van.
It is nice that you inherited your Dad's N scale layout.  It probably also brings back some nice memories. I don't have a train layout, but I have been adding details to couple of friend's layouts, and I belong the local NTRAK modular club.
I have some photos of another illuminated model, in a larger scale.: http://classicplastic.org/pete-w-pb.html  .

Using moving magnets under the roadway to animate vehicles is a workable idea. It is done commercially in H0 scale.

As far as LEDs and precision soldering goes, I do have an advantage over average modeler due to the fact that I have been involved in electronics since early teens, both as a hobby and later in a professional capacity.  I have been also using LEDs in my projects almost as long.  But LEDs are not rocket science, and more and more modelers are using them for model illumination.  There is plenty of info about LEDs on the Internet, and if you don't want to go at it yourself, there are also LED lighting kits for model being sold by online vendors.  Advantage of using LEDs is that wiring (using thin enameled magnet wire) can be easily hidden, the are bright, and the light can easily be directed (even just by painting some opaque paint over the LED).

As far as soldering goes, it is an acquired skill, but it is not very difficult. Again there are plenty of video tutorials on YouTube.  Good quality pencil-type soldering iron with a fine pointy tip is also helpful.  I have a professional temperature-controlled rework station, but for years I got by with a a basic pencil soldering iron. Nowadays, you can get a decent quality temperature-controlled station for less than $100 US. For ful disclosure, I do use an Optivisor magnifier for delicate soldering operations.

I hope that you will be able to embrace the LED technology to expand the range of lighting techniques available for your excellent diorama and other models.

 

[Ian McLaren]

Fantastic undertaking, well done!

[Anglia105E]

2 hours ago, Ian McLaren said:

Fantastic undertaking, well done!

Thank you Ian . . . . I do find it more difficult working in 1:32 scale and 1:35 scale, and I think that I am more comfortable working in 1:24 scale.

David

[Anglia105E]

I received some bad news this afternoon by email . . . .

Dear David,

Thanks very much for your email – lovely to hear from you!

Regarding the 2022 RREC Annual Rally at Burghley House, Stamford . . . . 

We have had to scale back The Hunt House marquee quite significantly due to the availability of marquees at the moment (so many events taking place on the same weekend as ours!), therefore we sadly won’t be able to accommodate your dioramas this year. Fingers crossed we will be able to next year though as your work looks really amazing!!! 

If we are able to squeeze you in anywhere else I will be in touch 

Kind regards,

Ailsa

Ailsa Plain | Events Manager

RREC | The International Club for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Enthusiasts

Footnote  :  I was told by Ailsa at the 2021 Rolls-Royce event on 27th June last year that I could have three tables for the 2022 event.

When I emailed the RREC events manager one week ago, I then received the above email reply........... Disappointed, big time !!!

David

[Anglia105E]

Well, having not posted on this topic since 31st March, so a 6 month break if you like, I am now back on track. Due to various distractions, which included the European tramcar build from the kit produced by Miniart of Kiev in Ukraine, also the JFK Love Field Airport garage diorama, as well as the Airfix Jaguar 420 and the Airfix Triumph Herald, followed by the Hasegawa Suzuki SJ413 Samurai . . . I am now fully committed to the next part of this Hooper & Co. diorama.

Previously, I have built and painted seven 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I model cars. Only one of those cars came close to the level of model building that I am striving for. Now I have started to build the eighth Silver Cloud, and this one is going to be something special. To the best of my ability I am aiming to produce a professional standard model.

This time I am following much more detailed and lengthy procedures with regard to the preparation of the body parts before painting, and indeed the paint finish has to be a true representation of what you would expect to see on the full size Rolls-Royce motor car from the 1950's.

Already I have taken delivery of the two 400 ml aerosol cans of the custom mixed cellulose paints that are the chosen colours specific to this car, which is a 1958 Silver Cloud registration number VWX 1, and finished in Shell Grey (metallic) over Velvet Green . . . Currently, three different primers are undergoing tests, and these are white primer, grey primer and black primer. The kit that I am using is the 1:24 scale Revell Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II in black styrene. This model car will have pride of place in the Hooper & Co. showroom when it is completed.

David

[Anglia105E]

After dry sanding the body of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud with 600 grit, there was a single coat of Halfords white primer applied, followed by wet sanding with 1200 grit. . . I have decided to go with Plastikote black primer from this point onwards, but at this stage it was important to fit the windscreen, which will only be glued in place once all the sanding, masking and painting is completed.

The windscreen part is not the one supplied in the Minicraft kit, or the Revell kit. I am using the windscreen from a 1:24 Franklin Mint 1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I diecast model car. This seems to be the most accurately proportioned windscreen at my disposal. Several lengthy sessions of filing by hand were necessary to enlarge the opening of the body to allow the Franklin Mint screen to fit properly. While Minicraft and Revell expect you to insert the windscreen from the inside of the body, I am of the opinion that the screen should be inserted from outside the body, just as it would be on the real full size car.

Over the next few days there will be further wet sanding of the body parts, including the boot lid and bonnet (hood) panels, and continued application of the Plastikote black primer, with more wet sanding with 2000 grit. The grey styrene parts in the Revell kit that need to be chromed will have a coat of black primer, followed by a coat of yacht varnish brushed on, and then Molotow Liquid Chrome will be airbrushed over the varnish from a 30 ml refill. The liquid chrome pen tends to leave the odd streak here and there, so I shall try airbrushing this time around.

David

[Anglia105E]

One of the following photos shows the windscreen of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud from the inside of the body, and this has turned out to be quite a nice fit.

All of the grey styrene parts that need to be chromed, now have a coat of Plastikote Black Primer, as well as a coat of Yacht Varnish.

The Molotow Liquid Chrome from a 30 ml refill will be applied by airbrush, over the high gloss black surface of the parts.

Picked up some Tamiya Polishing Compound on Ebay, which is three 22 ml packs of Coarse, Fine and Finish grades.

The polishing compound will be used over the top coats of cellulose paint, which is two-tone Shell Grey (metallic) over Velvet Green.

Thanks for reading my posts on this topic guys . . . slow and steady is the way to go here !

David

[Anglia105E]

I have been quite busy with all sorts of things over the past week, but I am pleased to say that the progress with the Rolls-Royce build is nice and steady.

The chrome parts that were airbrushed look really good, and I shall leave these untouched for the full two weeks. I have painted the dashboard in a ' burr walnut ' mix over black primer, and this will be coated with yacht varnish later. The body parts had a final wet sanding with 2000 grit before applying one coat of the Rolls-Royce Shell Grey on the upper body, boot lid and bonnet panels, with the lower body masked off.

Following 48 hours drying, the Shell Grey has been wet sanded with 2000 grit, and is now ready for a second coat of Shell Grey . . . This procedure will be repeated for the lower half of the body, in Velvet Green.

Probably after around 5 days the body parts will have Tamiya Polishing Compound applied, following the three stage process of Coarse, Fine and Finish grades.

I intend to use the wiper arms and blades from a Tamiya kit of the Jaguar MK 2 for the Silver Cloud windscreen. These are nice quality chrome, and appear identical to the Rolls-Royce wipers. Certainly this will be a big improvement on the moulded wipers that were on the Revell body.

The Autopaints of Brighton Shell Grey is clearly more accurate than the Zero Paints from Hiroboy, but then I am using an entirely different procedure for applying the paint this time.

 

David

[Anglia105E]

Over in the bodyshop at Hooper & Co., the second coat of Rolls-Royce Shell Grey has been applied to the upper body of the Silver Cloud.

One of the bodyshop workmen and two of the managers are checking on the progress of the building of this fine motor car.

The paint finish at this stage will be allowed to dry and cure for a further five days, before the polishing stage begins.

Presently, the lower body is still in black primer, and ready for the top coats of Velvet Green.

David