Anglia105E

Some very realistic looking pieces you have there, Bill....... nicely done. David

Here we have a 1:43 scale Jaguar MK I rolling chassis, with a Mini ' Spy ' Camera strapped to the chassis floor....... this gives a driver's eye view of the diorama setting as though seated at the wheel of a 1:43 scale car. This link takes you to the short test video, and here are a few photos of the setup. https://youtu.be/h7wD7ZYxRSQ David

Cheers, Don...... I would like to keep the line invisible if I can, so we shall see how it goes. Thank you for your words of encouragement. David

This is a link to one of the better test videos for this project, but the fishing line that is pulling the model cars is too visible. Previously, the line was not visible, and this is because the light source has been moved. The overall movement is smoother, apart from the slight pause where the car and caravan pass over the hump in the road surface. For the first time, the Ford V8 Pilot manages to stay on the road, and does not veer over to the left and onto the pavement (sidewalk). https://youtu.be/Zk9eJRVnhPw One of the three funeral procession cars has a squeaky axle I think, so a drop of oil is required. When the music track is added, the squeaking axle noise will not be heard anyway. Here are a few photos to show the position of the G-clamps, around which the fishing line is running. David

Welcome to the best model cars forums in the world, Mence...... you will find loads of useful information on here, and all provided by knowledgeable, friendly members........ I am based in Derbyshire, England and I visit the site every day. Currently building 1:24 scale dioramas and cars, also collecting 1:43 scale cars and building 1:43 scale dioramas, specialising in Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars ( 1950's, 1940's, 1930's and 1920's ) David

Fascinating animation video, Don...... just watched City of Tiny Lights and it must have required a considerable amount of work to produce that 5.5 minute video. The red VW beetle among the traffic near the beginning is clever, which leads to the traffic pouring over the edge of the road. Not seen it before. David

Thanks, Don.... and I would imagine that idea would work, and in the meantime I am looking at Raymond's suggestion to include some sort of pulley along the length of the fishing line.. I can see this working quite well, by one means or another. Certainly, it is fun to play around with these theories. David

Thank you, Raymond....... and indeed, that is something I need to include as part of the mechanism. I understand what you are saying, and I will try to fix that up. However, there is the possibility that at least one of the three cars in the funeral procession is grounding slightly, which could even be the hot glue that I used to attach the fishing line to the chassis screws, or maybe the road surface has a bump where the two diorama baseboards join together. We shall see! David

Well, these are not Rolls-Royce cars, as both the hearse and the limousine are Austin Princess models...... I have taken one tyre off the limousine today, and it seems to be perfectly round, with no lumpy bits. Experiments continue with the operation of the fishing line mechanism. Today, some spy cameras arrived in the post, so I am currently playing with these to see how they work..... each of the three cameras is only 20 mm x 20 mm x 15 mm in size, which is like a large dice. David

Here you are, Don.... any kind of card or thick paper used to make a roach with. green card from the back of rizla packs is widely accepted to be the best. the rizla box itself is also considered to be roach material. in desperation, a cigarette box could be deemed roach material.

Hello Don....... As well as these small ( 18g ) M&S Curiously Strong Mints tins, I have many of the larger ( 50g ) tins, which are very useful for keeping model building bits in. Marks & Spencer charge us £1.25 for 18g, after previously charging us £1.25 for 50g, which really annoys me, believe it or not! Thanks for looking at the videos, and it seems to be the tyres on the Austin Princess limousine that have flat spots...... might have to pinch some tyres off a less important Oxford Diecast model car. Cheers, David

Here are links to a couple of very short video tests, on YouTube, which show the idea that I am currently working on. This is all about using a technique with fishing line to simulate the movement of five vehicles on the 1:43 dioramas. On one side of Western Avenue, there is a funeral procession of three black cars travelling slowly in one direction. At the same time, on the other side of the road there is a Ford V8 Pilot travelling in the opposite direction, and the car is towing a caravan. The front of the hearse is being pulled by an invisible line, while the two cars following the hearse are also linked by fishing line, and a long line is then attached to the rear of the last car in the procession, leading around two steel posts and back along the other side of Western Avenue. This line is pulling the front of the Ford Pilot, and the car is towing the Willerby Vogue caravan with the fitted towing attachment. Early days yet, but the jerky motion of the cars needs to be smoother, which is caused mainly by the slightly lumpy tyres on the limousine. The Pilot tows the caravan very well, surprisingly. I have tested this idea previously in 1:24 scale, but these diecast smaller scale models are somewhat heavier. After trying to tie knots in the fishing line without success, I used a hot glue gun to attach the line to the small screws on the underside of each chassis. https://youtu.be/efRBDZ7WLz0 https://youtu.be/ASUEM4DpJoA David

Here is the second deckchair, and following on from the prototype this is a better version, I think. The fabric for the canvas is slightly longer, and also the coloured stripes are narrower. I have painted the frame of the second deckchair with Vallejo Bone White acrylic, and then over-painted the Vallejo Beige Brown of the first deckchair with the same Bone White...... and in order to assemble the lengths of styrene rod for the frame, I used a couple of pieces of double sided tape on the cutting mat, which held the frame steady while I super glued the corners. I was able to carefully prise the frames away from the double sided tape without breaking anything! The second version of the deckchair is on the left, with the first prototype on the right. David

Yes, it turned out quite reasonable........ all I need now is some seated figures in 1:43 scale, and a camp stove, teapot......By measuring one of our full size deckchairs and dividing each dimension by 43, the model was accurate to the nearest millimetre. If this had been 1:12 scale, or possibly even 1:24 scale I could have made the hinge mechanism work, to put up and fold down the deckchair...... perhaps a bridge too far in 1:43 scale ! David

A large part of today was spent making a prototype deckchair in 1:43 scale...... following a suggestion by a fellow local model builder, the idea is to have a couple of traditional stripey wood and canvas deckchairs outside the 1956 caravan. This is only my first attempt at making a deckchair, in any scale, and it is not yet good enough. The fabric needs to be slightly longer, and the stripes need to be narrower. After knocking up a simple jig from matchsticks and blu-tack, the frame of the deckchair was assembled from 11 pieces of Evergreen styrene rod, which is 0.64 mm ( 0.025 " ). The canvas fabric is tissue paper with stripes done in Sharpies. David

This is a 1948 Ford V8 Pilot E71A by Lansdowne Models in 1:43 scale, towing a 1956 Willerby Vogue Caravan, also by Lansdowne Models. David

Thanks, Pat...... and I always appreciate feedback, which gives me some indication as to how I am doing. David

Harold Brown's next door neighbour is returning from a one week holiday with his new caravan. This is during the Summer of 1958, and the neighbour's 1954 Ford Zephyr / Zodiac MK I has made a good job of towing the 1956 Willerby Vogue 4-berth, 14 feet caravan from London to Brighton, and back. Driving slowly along the narrow cobbled street, the motor car and caravan is approaching the white five bar gate, which leads to the small car park just behind the two terraced houses. This would be quite early in the morning, and the sun is rising on the other side of the houses. The neighbour has returned well before breakfast and there is no one else about yet. These are 1:43 scale models which have been photographed within the Victorian Houses diorama, and this area of the neighbourhood lies between the factory and the showrooms of Hooper & Co (Coachbuilders) Limited. David

I I particularly like this photo of yours, Kenneth....... very realistic from that angle, and lots of front end detail. David

This model car seems to look good from every angle, Kenneth....... and as it nears completion you must feel very proud of it. David

Harold's neighbour has taken delivery of a new caravan ( trailer ), and he is having a look at it while the car and caravan are parked near to his greenhouse. The car is a 1954 Ford Zephyr Zodiac MK I by Lansdowne Models, and this caravan is a 1956 Willerby Vogue also by Lansdowne Models...... Harold has been listening to his neighbour as he explained how this is the first caravan to be moulded entirely in GRP (fibreglass ). There were only 115 of these caravans ever produced, and to this day in 2020 there are only 5 or 6 of the real 1:1 caravans that still exist. Included with the white metal model caravan, Lansdowne has provided a couple of tow bars that can be attached to a range of Lansdowne model cars by removing and re-attaching a screw from the rear underside of the model car chassis. This sort of attention to detail and quality is why Lansdowne and Brooklin Models are recognised as being the best 1:43 scale white metal model cars in the world. As such, they do tend to fetch high prices when sold. The models were made in Bath, England and sold in large numbers. David

Nobody would know that is not the real engine, in the real car, Kenneth..... if you hadn't told them it was a model ! David

I guess the fourth one could be just laying on the pallet, awaiting it's turn to be mounted on a stand like the other three engines ? David

These are superb streetlight models, Raymond...... very ornate and well proportioned. From your carefully put together design, they will 3D print nicely and once painted you will have an important feature for your diorama. David

Yes, Pat...... they do still have yellow headlamps in France, but these days when you take your car from England to France, for example, you can place sticky film over your headlamps to correct the left hand dip beam to right hand dip beam, but you don't have to fit yellow bulbs in the headlamps. They have mostly white headlamps as well as the less common yellow ones. David