Anglia105E

Cheers Les, and I shall see how the Revell interior fits the Gunze Sangyo. Thanks, David

Just realised that the VW Beetle is a Revell kit that I have, so not a Tamiya one. David

Hello Les . . . Yes, I did read somewhere that the interior parts are vinyl on sprues, and consequently they are difficult to glue and paint. Thanks for the offer, but I have a Tamiya VW Beetle somewhere in my loft storage, which is almost a complete kit. I have wanted a Gunze Sangyo kit for quite some time now, and when I saw the price of this VW it was decided. I used to own a 1:1 early VW Beetle that was a 6 volt car, but not the oval rear screen, so I think I shall paint this model in the orange colour of my real car. David

Ordered this Gunze Sangyo kit on Ebay yesterday, which is the 1956 Volkswagen Oval Window in 1:24 scale. This was only £30.00 GBP, so US$. 39.50 David

Your diorama is truly wonderful, Harald . . . . and your recent work on the Alfa Romeo Gran-Turismo by PYRO is very good indeed, especially the lighting ! I have recently completed the build of a PYRO 1933 Rolls-Royce Towne Car, which is also from the 1:32 scale Table Top Series of kits. You have captured the feeling of the 1931 Mille Miglia race so perfectly. Do you find these PYRO kits easy to purchase in Austria ? There are some PYRO kits on Ebay here in UK, and they were manufactured in 1966 - 1967, which makes them really good from that period, I think. David

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another beautiful crafted scale model Conrad and Yuko . . . . There is so much detail to see, and I am still looking ! David

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

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

Now that you have raised the question Karl . . . . I realise that my process of choosing the next build is as follows. I browse Ebay and start off by selecting my criteria for the search as ' 1:24 Rolls-Royce Kit ', then I search for ' 1:24 Spares or Repair ', then ' 1:24 Vintage Model Car Kit ', and if nothing comes up that interests me, I search ' 1:32 Rolls-Royce ', then 1:43 Rolls-Royce ' and various other Ebay searches realting to Dioramas, Figures and Buildings. I don't have much of a stash, nor do I list future builds, which is why I find myself browsing / searching on Ebay. As soon as something pops up that catches my attention, I study the description carefully and think about the price, and then go for it. Much detailed research follows the purchase, so that I know everything there is to know about that particular motor car. When you search on Ebay all sorts of stuff comes up, much of it not related to my search criteria, but the odd kit can be very interesting anyway. David

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

Such a beautiful motor car, and you are building this one in 1:8 scale too ! Good luck, Bruce. David

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

Thank you Pat, and I didn't know that. David

I might be wrong about the ' two ' stacks actually . . . . . There would have been only one stack if the engine wasn't a V8 or V12 ? David

I noticed the ' Diamond T trucks ' badge on the back wall in your two photos, and I remember the garage where I got my first job when I finished school at the age of 17 . . . . They had a Diamond T recovery vehicle and it was an absolute monster ! When the engine was started up for this truck to go out on a breakdown, the two vertical stacks were pumping out smoke and the sound was quite something. The engine was removed from that truck for an overhaul one time, and I had a close look at the internals of the engine. My job was partsman, so I had to source parts for the Diamond T engine. Happy days ! David

That is one extremely detailed diorama Conrad, and I can see that your wife has clearly put in many hours of painstaking work. Excellent ! There is so much to see in that wonderful model that I shall have to study it more closely ! David

You have some nice campervan builds there Carl . . . Also, you have packed a lot into a relatively small area of baseboard, which is a skill in itself ! Well done. David

Brilliant Pat ! The small group of standing figures looks very realistic in this shot. What a lucky find that TV camera was. David

Good idea to let her reduce the size of your kit stash ! David