Anglia105E

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

Thanks for the comment Pat, and this is exactly what I am going to try to achieve. Each composition of the cars , the figures, the interior or exterior of the building, combined with the lighting, the camera angles and as you say, what is actually going on in the scene needs to allow the viewer to use their imagination and sort of believe that it's real. David

Thank you Peter...... I hope to produce some highly realistic photographs now that I have almost all I need to work with. Watch this space! David

Liking the coffee pot Joe, and nice shine on the surface of the desk. I can quite understand how it would take one week of work to produce this desk and chair, with all it's accessories. It's not just a simple matter of placing items from a Fujimi kit on the desk... there is more to it than that. The secret to a successful diorama is in the detail, absolutely. When you look at your own photos you can immediately see if something has worked or not. David

Thank you Joe..... and I feel more confident about the direction in which the diorama is going, now that the lighting issue is sorted. Do the 12 volt dolls house lights generate any heat, and I only ask because the LED aquarium lights do not generate any heat..... just wondered? David

Very realistic looking food items...... and a toolbox without fries is not quite as interesting ! David

Thanks Gary, the new lights make all the difference. I am trying to work out how to produce photographic backgrounds in A2 or A3 size, that will lead the viewer's eye into the distance at the end of St James's Street, and also Bennet Street. This can probably be done, but it will be tricky to get right. Still toying with the idea of having wet roads and wet vehicles, either just after it has rained or during an actual period of rainfall. Looked at some possibilities, some of which are feasible. David

My daily drive is a 1994 Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 litre Turbo Diesel Automatic with Overdrive and Super Select 4 wheel drive. She's 24 years old and a grey import, having spent the first 8 years of her life in Japan. This vehicle tows a boat and trailer that is 2 tons fully loaded to Cornwall from Derbyshire which is 350 miles. The Pajero has the full Winter package for extreme Japanese Winters, which includes two batteries. Only does 26 miles per gallon. David

Here is an update on the 1958 Hooper & Co diorama..... the lighting system that I have persevered with over the past year has now been removed completely. In place of this is a proper 1:24 scale dolls house type lighting system. There are two coloured stained glass Tiffany style hanging pendant lamps in the ground floor showroom, which are ideally suited to the 1950's period feel of the building. Upstairs to the first floor showroom there are two white Tiffany style lamps hanging from this ceiling and no lighting on the second floor which is office space. You can see from the photos posted that the system has produced a much warmer yellow / orange glow, rather than the blue tinge of the LED aquarium lamps. This allows me to come up with some more realistic and advanced photography, using the diecast and styrene or resin model motor cars of the period. All the clutter of bulky lamp fittings and cables has been removed from the diorama setting, so the result is a tidy, well concealed layout that is more controlled. I hope you agree that the photos show a marked improvement. Thanks for looking. David

Well I can see Bill that you have put in the same amount of work and attention to detail with the license plate as you have with every other aspect of the build. This is why you have created a truly wonderful model and something that most of us scale model car builders can only stand back to gaze upon in awe. Now that is how you do a license plate... you should see my 1:24 scale registration plates, which I thought I had spent a lot of time getting right, but they are not in the same league at all. When you say 20 years in the making, do you mean you started this build 20 years ago and you are still adding to it ? Some model builders have said on this forum that if they don't get a car finished pretty quick, they lose interest and the project never gets finished. David

Thanks Phil, the tin I have is Wilko Yacht Varnish and it says Clear / Gloss ( so it's both . David

Thanks Joe..... work in progress continues... David

The whole concept of a 100% scratch built scale model car is model building on a very high level. Absolutley fascinating to follow your progress. I found myself moulding and casting so many parts for a 1:24 Rolls-Royce about a year ago now, that I began to think in terms of making a boxed kit, complete with my own box art. Further down the line I realised that even if I did manage to mould and cast every part of the scale model car the obvious question would be, what do I do with the finished product? One kit in one box.... where do you go from there? Also, the cost involved to produce that one model meant that the project was never going to be cost effective, not that I fully understand the money side of it all. It was something that I wanted to do, and therefore didn't really see it as a marketable product. David

That's right Christian, the FX4 taxi is closer to 1:20 than the 1:24 stated on the box, which you and I know does make a difference. Put that taxi next to a BIG car like the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and the taxi just looks ridiculous. Would like to see the older Routemaster bus like my conversion below, plus others like the Morris Minor Traveller, van or saloon, Ford Cortina MK1, Ford Anglia 105E as my profile name suggests, and something like the Jaguar MK 7 or MK 9...... David

I would like to see a 1950's type Austin FX3 London taxi, black cab, in 1:24 scale because this car is available in just about every other smaller scale. It is well known among scale model builders that the Revell 1:24 scale Austin FX4 London taxi is actually too large ( out of scale ) which is a real shame because generally I do like Revell kits. David

Well done with this excellent build of yours, and the Coral Blue colour really suits this car. Dashboard is stunning and doesn't need the wood grain. Nice model and you must be proud of it. David

I would just like to add my comments to this topic regarding Molotow Liquid Chrome pens, based on my experience using two pens so far. This is a truly marvellous product in my opinion, and I am a person who usually swears by Bare Metal Foil. which I also regard as a marvellous product. Whereas BMF takes more time and effort to get it right, I find the pens are much easier on small parts, as long as you don't go over the same area more than once. Here's a magic formula that I discovered by trial and error.... if you coat your scale model car part with Yacht Varnish, then leave it to dry 24 hours, when you apply the liquid chrome by pen the resulting surface is super shiny. So in this case, the varnish is not applied over the liquid chrome but under it. With such good results I shall certainly be ordering a 30 ml refill for my pens. Oh, and the price in England is £5.75 ( around US $. 7.89 ) David

Thanks Phil, and although I wasn't sure if the original Hooper & Co showrooms had framed paintings on the walls, I have seen artwork on the walls of a Rolls-Royce dealership in London. Somehow it is a feature that suits the building in this diorama. David

Just realised Tyler that your topic extends to four pages, so my previous comment was after I had viewed the first page only. Excellent build and some very original ideas too. As others have mentioned, your figures show more interesting poses than the commonly found fixed pose. You have put in a huge amount of work on this, and the end result shows the quality of your workmanship. The lighting system is very effective and the welder is a star element. David