Anglia105E

You did it, Mark...... your Caterham Super 7 is ' Under Glass '..... and what a beauty. This scale model car is without a doubt impressive, inspirational, extremely well built and any other superlative that I could think of. Having followed your build since I joined MCM during November of 2016, this means that I only missed the beginning of your project by one month I believe ! David

Good luck at the GSL show, Mark...... David

I can see the size of the flashlight that you have made, and the detail that has gone into this one small part of the whole model. Absolutely top class miniature engineering. Someone on here joked that the flashlight doesn't work, but having seen all your work to date.... I wouldn't have been particularly surprised if the flashlight had worked ! ( I think I must be joking also, maybe not? ). David

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

Good work Yordan..... the sidewalks, paving, drains and grates are really good. Your idea to create 3D-printed moulds and use Plaster of Paris to cast the pieces has worked well, and you can use the same technique to produce further pieces for your next diorama. David

Ah.... thought so.... this is why I like Shapeways Printle Shop figures, they are as good as you can get really.

That is one incredibly life-like figure, Pat....... where did he come from? David

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

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

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

I like where you are going with this Charles, and having seen your previous dioramas I am expecting this one to be of the same high standard. David

Ah yes, I see the styling now..... inverted bathtubs... very apt description. David

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

I like those two photos taken in the half shade, half sunlight..... where your build could easily pass for the real car. Excellent job Benito. David

You have done a very nice job on the '68 Pontiac there Thomas...... and it does look very realistic in your photos, especially with your background setting. Excellent build all round ! The vinyl roof works really well and that is a technique worth noting for all of us. David

I use Halfords Grey Primer in 300 ml aerosol cans, but this is UK so I guess it is not available in US ( sorry ). No issues with any kind of paint, even cellulose on plastic and resin. David

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

Brilliant idea, Jay...... and certainly when I first started looking through the series of pics I assumed that it was indeed a drawing! The more I look at it, the more I like it.... David

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

Really nice drainage grates Yordan, and the dual drain painted black shows how good these are. Considering this is your first experience of 3D printing, and also keeping in mind that this is free software, you can see how far you can take this. Anything you need for your diorama building can now be produced in CAD and 3D printed using your own equipment..... brilliant. Your imagination can run free! This is something I am going to have to give some serious thought. Was the 3D printer relatively expensive in your opinion, or do you see it as an affordable tool for your work? David

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

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

Thanks..... shows how much I know about early '50's American Fords!

Is that an old Hudson Hornet, Pat? ( the blue one on the trailer ) David

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