Anglia105E

Pleased to hear that you are having a lot of fun with this project Joe, and I find the whole diorama thing so absorbing. You can lose yourself in a 1:24 scale miniature world. Once the building starts to take on the feeling of a real place ( in your head anyway ) then the figures, the vehicles and the street furniture all become more important. I like to take a lot of photographs of the diorama scene, and every once in a while one particular photo comes up that has something special about it. David

Interesting to see that you are giving attention to the outside walls, keeping in mind that it is the interior walls that will be on show ( I presume ? ) The building in my diorama has most of the attention on the outside walls anyway, and only recently have I begun to focus on the interior walls. For me it is the background boards that are now presenting me with a challenge, which is how to get the perspective right and also the sky in the background.

Very nicely done Mark, and as others may have mentioned this is an unusual subject for a diorama, and it really works too! David

The door is perfect and is the photo of the filing cabinet with the calendar on the wall, inside the diorama or is that 1:1 ? ( I'm not sure ). David

Very nice build you have there George..... and excellent work with the Molotow Liquid Chrome pen too. I am liking these pens, and tend to use it more than Bare Metal Foil these days, except for larger areas of chrome. Your colour combination of two-tone green works really well and I would say is right for 1940's and 1950's David

Really like the work you've done on the doorway and the window, and this diorama has a nice feel to it now. All good Joe ! David

Thanks Joe, and here is the latest addition which is a Tamiya Morgan 4/4 sports car. This will be finished in Ferrari Giallo Modena Yellow, applied over Halfords white primer. David

Interesting to hear that you remember Plimley Motors Richard, and I did a great deal of research into the whole area and history of Victoria BC because I was building a 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud that belonged to a lady called Margaret L Sayward-Wilson, who you may know was the daughter of Joseph Sayward one of the founders of the Royal Colwood Golf Club. During my research I traced the detailed history of the original car that was delivered to Canada in 1958 and the lady ordered the car from England to be painted in Velvet Green, which appears to be black at first sight but reveals dark green in bright sunlight. I received copies of letters sent from Rolls-Royce dealers in Vancouver and Montreal to Mrs Sayward-Wilson regarding the maintenance of the car. It was all very useful information, although I never did locate a photograph of the car, or indeed determine the registration number while the car was in BC. Here is a photo of my completed build. David

Right Christian, must get a Sherman tank on the streets! Embassy reg of course. Oh I see now.... you don't mean a TANK.... you mean a large car. David

Wise words indeed Richard Bartrop...... and it's funny that you should mention a Canadian diorama, because I have an idea lurking at the back of my mind that would involve Victoria, British Columbia and the old Rolls-Royce dealership that was there. Plimley Motors Limited I believe ( also in Vancouver ). Now that would be an interesting diorama for sure..... David

You are probably right Snake.... by restricting myself to 1950's, London, Rolls-Royce and Bentley, this immediately rules out a lot of cars that I cannot have in the scene. Is that what you mean? One day I need to build a second diorama that would not be so restrictive. David

Thanks to Michael in South Carolina, and always good to hear from someone who knows their subject. I also like the Citroen C4 Fourgonette delivery van and so far I haven't built one because it wouldn't have been a vehicle that you would expect to see on London streets in 1958. There are lots of model cars that I would very much like to build, but they have no place in my period diorama, such as the 1950's American cars, which really appeal to me. The purpose of the diorama is to display the models, rather than put them on a shelf or in display cases. Heller do seem to provide us with a choice of cars that seem to have been largely ignored by other kit manufacturers. David

That is an impressive catalog but what are Heller kits like to build? Compared to say Revell, Tamiya and Emhar for example, what sort of quality can be expected from these French kits, and do they stand up well in terms of accuracy and instruction sheet design? The reason I ask is that having built many of the leading manufacturers models in 1:24 scale, so far I haven't built a single Heller kit. I do like the look of the Hispano Suiza and the Talbot Largo especially. David

To see the daylight bouncing off that purple roof..... more than a work of art.... it's poetry! Wish I could get close to that glass finish with my paintwork. David

Enjoyed watching your video build diary and this is interesting because it's an Airfix 1:16 kit of the AC Cobra. Several parts of the build stood out for me, the walnut dash and instruments, the fabric of the seating and the engine..... transformed from glue bomb to intricate perfection in detail. Excellent job Mark ! David

When I said ' overdue ' the weathering effects, I did of course mean ' overdo ' David

Now it's looking like a real workshop..... just a bit dirty. David

Really nice build Michi, and you must feel proud of the work you put in over one year. Don't worry about the sunroof, it is not unusual for Revell to get the instruction sheet slightly wrong. When I built the 1:24 Revell London Bus there were warnings on different forums about some instructions that were wrong way round. Good job ! David

Continuing to experiment with the lighting source around the diorama area. Here are a few shots of recent developments. You can see a ladder leaning against the street lamp which is there for the lamplighter who will light the gas lamps in due course. The Morris Minor Traveller is at the mock-up stage for the chassis and body shell alignment, seen here photographed alongside one of the Rolls-Royce Silver Clouds. The British Racing Green paintwork is awaiting polishing with Meguiars Carnauba Wax David

The broom is so real looking and the outside surface of the trash can is spot on. It would be so easy to overdue the weathering effects, but you've pitched it to perfection. David

Hope you don't mind me chipping in at this point, and I am by no means an expert, but I deal with Steve at Hiroboy / Zero Paints in this country and generally have not run into any problems. Like you Joe, I apply two coats of light grey primer which is Zero airbrushed, then three coats of colour which is also Zero airbrushed, and then wait 24 hours and apply Clearcoat Lacquer, also Zero airbrushed. All I am suggesting is that you could use Zero Paints airbrushed Clearcoat Lacquer as an alternative to Tamiya TS-13 rattle can. Just recently I am now experimenting with Halfords grey primer rattle can, and also I have used successfully some decanted cellulose Rolls-Royce paint on a resin bodied scale model car. The Zero Paints airbrushed colour is going on over the Halfords grey primer, and one last comment from me..... I have successfully chosen not to apply clearcoat of any kind and instead polished the body shell with Meguiars carnauba wax polish, applied with microfibre cloth and finished off with yellow duster. Produced a high gloss shine this way, and no clearcoat used. David

Very professional looking this build...... that shade of blue is the new red ! You must be really pleased with the result. David

That floor surface works Joe, and even at the mock-up stage you can see where this is going. Good job! David

Welcome Tim, and I think you'll find building scale model motor cars more interesting than building aircraft, ships or military stuff, although to be fair ... each to their own in this free world. David

Most impressive Mike, and all the more so because you are working in N-scale. How on earth do you get all that detail into something that small ? My diorama is 1:24 scale and I dare not go any smaller ! You will be creating a project within an area that is 12" by 12" square, whereas I have an area to work within that is 36" by 31", so I take my hat off to you Mike. I did consider building a 1:43 scale diorama, mainly because the choice of 1950's diecast model motor cars was greater than 1:24 offers, but N-scale !!! David