Anglia105E

The sheer amount of workmanship and man hours that have gone into this little car......... it doesn't get any better than this. Miniature automobile engineering at it's absolute finest. All I can say Mark...... you are indeed the ' Scale-Master ' David

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

This one photograph I think, captures the essence of the 1:43 scale Hooper & Co diorama....... taken in black & white and using only natural daylight, the camera is shooting into the light directly. The horse drawn carriage is particularly haunting in appearance. Over to the left there is a strange image of the model building, as it is reflected in the television screen...... as though it has once been a feature of some TV programme, back in the days before colour. David

Nice job on the fuel island JC, and as you say..... big feet, small bike! Excellent scratch building on your part. David

The second Bentley has arrived ahead of schedule...... this is the silver Minichamps 1956 Bentley S1 Continental Flying Spur, and already I can see that this model car does photograph very well. This Bentley should look splendid when it is standing on the crimson flooring of the showroom, especially alongside the 1930 Bentley 8 Litre and the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I. I keep forgetting that these are 1:43 scale model cars and this time last year I wouldn't have thought that I could go smaller than 1:24 scale to produce the diorama effect at this level. Of course, a large part of the enjoyment of building the larger scale diorama was the building of the styrene kits, which is not part of the smaller version, simply because they are all diecast model vehicles. David

Picked up this one today, and not opened the box yet ! 1:43 scale Minichamps diecast 1956 Bentley S1 Continental Flying Spur in Silver David

I like your Pontiac build very much Jason...... and the scratch built trailer / camper / caravan is really well done..... you must be proud of the whole result. David

Thank you Anders..... yes, the 1:43 Silver Cloud in sand /sable is from Oxford Diecast, and there are some nice Vanguards models as well. Having picked up samples from Corgi, Whitebox, Minichamps, Lansdowne, IXO, Brumm, ERTL. and Eaglemoss, I have found that the best quality and also the most accuracy is to be found in the Lansdowne model cars. These are white metal models and made in England, but they are usually expensive.Typical prices are around £80.00 GBP. David

A second Bentley motor car has been ordered, which will be arriving by the middle of next week, and this is a 1956 Bentley S1 Continental Flying Spur in silver, and produced by Minichamps the German company. Here are some photos of the completed paving sections, primarily to show how the height of the paving is now correct in relation to the car and also the figure. David

The second of three pavement / sidewalk sections is now completed, which is across the street from the Hooper building, on the Bennet Street side. This length of paving has the street lamp mounted on it and one of the belisha beacons also. Here are some interesting shots of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud that is parked just inside the entrance to the vehicle lift. The salesman is standing at the ground floor showroom window, looking across Bennet Street towards the street lamp. These photos are making use of some late afternoon, early evening natural daylight as the sun goes down. David

Work on the pavements / sidewalks is progressing nicely and the height of these is being reduced from 6 mm to 3 mm. Today saw the arrival of the 1:43 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I in Sand / Sable two-tone paint finish.....this is a particularly well detailed model for this small scale. David

This is my favourite Rolls-Royce of all the models, and Oxford Diecast is the only company that produces the Silver Cloud I from 1955 to 1959. The Hooper Empress Silver Cloud I has the coachbuilt body, also by Oxford Diecast, but I particularly wanted the standard body version of this motor car..... ' the finest motor car in the world ' ( FACT ). As you can see, they really have produced an extremely accurate model in this small 1:43 scale which is remarkable really. David

Looks like you are off to a good start with the 3D printing Yordan.... the manhole cover is very good and once painted and weathered will be just what you need for your diorama. Be careful with the frame of the manhole cover, as it could be easily broken. Then again, my manhole cover frame broke while I was pressing it into the well of the road, but a broken manhole cover is probably even more realistic. If you look at my photo above your photo, you can see the 1:24 scale manhole cover over to the left of the smaller diorama. David

Bought this one on Ebay, Gary..... and it is arriving tomorrow...... 1:43 Oxford Diecast Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I in Sand / Sable. David

Thank you Yordan..... how is the 3D printing going? Here are the two dioramas placed together, now that the roof top wall has been added to the larger 1:24 scale diorama. I have the option to paint the wall Magnolia to match the rest of the building, or I could paint the whole of the building including the new wall in white acrylic Gesso, to be the same as the smaller 1:43 scale building. David

Thanks Raymond, and very observant of you...... The curbs and the paving should be different sizes for the two dioramas, but they are not. At the moment I am dealing with this problem. The paving is made up of foamboard and styrene sheet paving slabs, and it is 6 mm in height. However, this height needs to be reduced to 3 mm, which will be balsa wood. You see, the curbs and paving on the 1:24 scale diorama are 6 mm in height, so I made a mistake by constructing the 1:43 scale diorama with the same height paving. This is a careless mistake, considering how precise my calculations are for this project. The layout has not changed, because there are two streets, one of which is St James's Street running in front of the building and the other is Bennet Street which runs along the side of the building, as you look at the only corner. Perhaps it looks confusing to you because I have placed the smaller diorama over the top of the larger version, and the back of the 1:43 scale building is very close to the front of the 1:24 scale building, if that makes sense? Once I have the space to display the two dioramas side by side, but away from each other, then you will see the layout more clearly. David

That is a nice tidy way to keep your paint jars organised Pat, and good use of a thread spool rack too. Good job! David

Thanks a lot Pat..... as someone mentioned when viewing this comparison of the two dioramas, I thought the difference in scale between 1:24 and 1:43 would be greater, but there does not seem to be all that much of a ' jump ' from one to the next. The two main reasons that made me decide to construct the smaller version were, firstly the choice of model cars available in 1:43 scale for the 1920's. 1930's, 1940's and 1950's period is much greater, and also I wanted to achieve a more accurate representation of the Hooper building this time. As we speak, the roof top wall is being added to the larger version of the diorama, and this is a direct result of my realising that this low wall running along the top edges of the roof was essential to the correct appearance of the structure. David

Thank you Gary...... and you have a good point.... the backing boards made of plain white foamboard do need to be in place, because as you say the viewer is distracted by the clutter around the two dioramas. This was just a quick batch of photos to get the moving operation on record. David

Seeing Double ! For the first time the smaller scale diorama has been brought into the same room as the larger scale one, and placed as close as possible on the same worktop. The two models will not be displayed this close, so this is just a procedure to compare proportions and evaluate the result. You can see from the photos that the 1:43 scale Hooper building is more accurate in terms of the windows and the coving. The 1:24 scale Hooper building will be having a roof top wall built shortly, which does have quite an effect on the overall height of the structure. I have positioned a 1:24 scale black Citroen on Bennet Street near the zebra crossing and the same car in 1:43 scale, in the same position. There are other identical features such as the telephone kiosk, post box, belisha beacons, bus stop, bicycle and a single figure standing by the telephone kiosk. There is more work to be done, but I thought this would be a worthwhile exercise to put things in perspective. As always, thanks for looking. David

Just goes to show.... a Ferrari doesn't have to be red. The blue and yellow colour scheme works really well, and very nicely built too. David

There is a now a bus stop on St James's Street, which is entirely scratch built, from balsa, styrene, clear transparency, paper and card. This small 1:43 scale model was assembled using super glue, styrene glue, PVA glue, and Crystal Clear glue. Here are a few photos showing the AEC Regent RT London bus with the new bus stop that is only standing on a glue dot, as it is not yet sunken into the paving slabs. Two additions to the vehicle collection include the 1948 Ford V8 Pilot and the 1954 Triumph Renown, both of which are 1:43 white metal cars from Lansdowne Models. While part way through the photography, I noticed the bus has some red paint showing through the black paint of the front mudguard, so this will need attention! David

I like your '52 Hudson Hornet very much Pat.... in fact, seeing this build of yours makes me want to buy a 1:24 scale Hudson Hornet. It is not likely to fit into my 1958 London diorama, but I do like the look of this car. Loads of chrome on a stylish cream body seems absolutely right to me. Which kit is this Pat, if you don't mind me asking? David

I like all three of your dioramas JC...... the trawler fishing boat being my favourite.... ( is it a trawler? ) David

Thank you David Mitchell..... I do agree with you actually, regarding the flat lettering. I wasn't entirely happy with it and your suggestion is very helpful indeed. The lettering listed below is Times New Roman size 24, Normal +24pt Bold, Black...... HOOPER & Co. Ltd. HOOPER & Co. Limited HOOPER HOOPER AGENTS AGENTS COACH BUILDERS MOTOR BODY BUILDERS TO H.M. THE QUEEN The remaining lettering is Times New Roman size 20, Normal +20pt Bold, Black MOTOR MOTOR Your silhouette mask cutter machine sounds marvellous, and I appreciate any samples that you can post to me.... many thanks David. David