Anglia105E

Some further progress made on the terraced houses over the weekend..... the side walls and chimney stacks are in place, and when I noticed a bend in the main wall of the building, in the centre, I was able to use the hot glue gun to strengthen the assembly. Working on the living rooms downstairs now, with the upstairs bedrooms following shortly afterwards. Surprisingly, there is still quite a lot of work to do on these terraced house backs, and then the terraced house fronts will be assembled as a second kit, before mating the two structures together. David

Hi Matt..... yes these building kits are in 1:43 scale and sold as O-gauge, so maybe they could be enlarged to 1:24 scale ? One of my model builder friends suggested it would be great if they printed these kits on styrene sheet, as well as on card. As well as the Victorian red brick terraced houses, Purple Bob's Hobbies do a factory facade, a public house, a shop, a bus shelter, railway station, tudor building, roads and pavements, a bridge and even a public toilet! Website is here https://purplebob.co.uk/ David

Yes, Pat.... the website is https://purplebob.co.uk/ and the Purple Bob's Hobbies company is based in Cornwall, England. David

Here are a few photos to show the current progress with the building of the Victorian red brick terraced houses. This is an advanced kit and not recommended for the novice to card model construction. Some parts of this assembly are quite difficult and great care is required to cut out, score and assemble each individual component part. The overall strength of the buildings is improving as I add each module, and there are still rooms to add as open fronted boxes, also roof sections, side walls, yard walls, kitchen extensions and outdoor lavatories. The quality of these kits is excellent, and the complex instruction sheets are well written, running to eight A4 pages. Once this terraced house backs kit is completed, I will have to construct the terraced house fronts kit in order to create the entire building, which represents two houses in 1:43 scale. David

This is the first model car that I built only two years ago, after returning to the hobby 50 years after building car models as a teenager. It is the 1:24 scale Minicraft Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud with many modifications, and finished in airbrushed Sage Green over Velvet Green with BMF chrome. David

1994 Mitsubishi Pajero grey import 2.8TD SWB Auto with Overdrive and Super Select 4WD...... workhorse with hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock !

This arrived from an Ebay seller yesterday.... a 1:43 scale Oxford Die-Cast model of the 1945 - 1952 Armstrong Siddeley Lancaster in black with red interior. Nicely detailed model, even in this small scale. This one is for my next diorama, currently under construction. David

Following this build, Mark.... as I did your Gulf 7..... I am learning, learning, learning, and taking it all in. Hopefully, when I build my next 1:24 scale model car these tutorials of yours will make me stop and think before each step of a build. Miniature engineering at the highest level. David

There are lots of very beautiful cars showing up on this topic, and it is probably not entirely fair to say ' this is THE most beautiful car.... everyone has their own view of this subject. What is quite sad about all the modern cars that we see today, there are no beautiful car body designs to come anywhere near close to all these older classics. David

Here is THE most beautiful car in the world..... and indeed the finest car in the car world, ever....and that is in not just my opinion, it is a recognised fact. David

Thanks Gary, and I am hoping to produce some very realistic photography from this next diorama. Certainly, the owner of the company that sells these kits has taken some close up shots that stand up well from where I'm looking. The Diorama Three photography will be mostly outdoors this time, so using natural daylight and a real background. David

Picked up this one on Ebay last night...... 1:43 scale Oxford Die-Cast Armstrong Siddeley Lancaster 1945 - 1952 in black. David

This will be diorama three, and construction work is under way. It is a pair of Victorian red brick terraced houses and includes both the front and back of the building. These are from highly detailed high quality card kits, produced by a company in Cornwall, England. In addition to the two house kits, I have purchased two further kits to provide streets, paving and junctions. The interiors of the terraced houses are also highly detailed and these can be viewed through clear acetate windows. Already I have a telephone kiosk, post office pillar box, street lamps, figures and cars in the 1:43 scale so this will be a full diorama on a wooden baseboard. First impression of the card kits indicates that this part of the project will take some time, as the assembly procedure is quite advanced. It may be necessary to strengthen some of the card walls for this structure by adding styrene or balsa sheet. David

Very nicely put together, Rich...... not an easy build from what you say, and this is not a car you see in 1:24 usually. I also like the idea of placing a diecast version of the same car alongside the kit built version. For me it was 1:24 and 1:43. Well done with those decals.... what a challenge! Excellent paint colour scheme. David

Your build is coming along nicely there, Randy and I thought you might like to see this...... saw this 1:18 scale Sun Star '53 Chevrolet Bel Air diecast for sale at the exhibition venue that I attended last weekend, and it was priced low at only £40.00, which is US $: 50.78 - Myself, I did not buy this one, because 1:18 is not my scale and I had already bought something earlier. I thought it looked a nice model of the Chevy Bel Air at a very reasonable price. David

Yes, Pat.... every so often I get one particular part, or one area of a car build that falls on the floor, breaks off ( again ) or simply refuses to play the game. I just don't get it? Looks like a dab of paint and some foil should cover that breakage of yours. As long as we stay calm, and don't beat ourselves up too much about it, this hobby of ours must be RELAXING and ENJOYABLE....... I keep reminding myself that's what this is all about. David

Thank you, Gary..... I have started work on building diorama three, and this is three days after returning from the exhibition! Onwards and upwards..... David

Having returned from a very successful exhibition venue, here is a brief report and a few photos. My stand, displaying the two dioramas was immediately next to a full size 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I, which is an unfinished project and up for sale. The gentleman who was restoring the boat tail Phantom I had spent 30 years painstakingly rebuilding this motor car, but then sadly and rather suddenly passed away before he could finish the project. The car is being offered for sale to someone who can complete the project, and this will of course require a lot of money, as well as many years of careful engineering. There was a great deal of interest in my exhibition stand and I found myself talking to many different people over the three day period. The smaller of the two dioramas, in 1:43 scale was sold to a Frenchman from Paris, who wants to display his collection of 1:43 scale model cars in a diorama setting like mine. The sale included the Hooper & Co building itself, the baseboard and the street lighting. The heat and the humidity inside the Hunt House marquee caused my foamboard backing panels to warp seriously, and I was forced to take them down on the very first day. There was nothing I could do to rectify this problem so the display remained in place but without the boards showing information and photos. This must be done differently next year, if I get the opportunity to do a third exhibition at this venue. Enjoyed the whole experience and ended up totally exhausted, but in a good way! David

I haven't seen a ' turtle back ' carb before, but clearly you have put one together nicely. The lurking customer, potential customer, must surely be interested in this engine? He is certainly your best model figure I reckon, Pat and he adds a level of realism to your excellent work that is so important. David

Thanks Raymond and Keith..... the more I think about this one, the more i think the pewter sculpture diorama piece should stand alone. Myself, I don't know how they created this fine piece of art, so perhaps an expert on Franklin Mint and Danbury Mint could reveal the secret ? David

Thank you, Michael..... I tend to agree with you, in that this pewter sculpture is best left alone. Certainly, 1:30 is an odd scale and I will have a look at HISTOREX figures and accessories, as you advise. I am often browsing on Ebay, so this will be one further type of product to investigate. David

That is a mean looking Mercedes, Patrick..... nice Father's Day surprise too! David

Your garage / workshop project is coming together nicely, Dave and I didn't realise this model is so large....... Good luck with the hip replacement operation ! David

Picked up this fine pewter sculpture by Franklin Mint, from a seller in a marquee at an exhibition. It is made in 1976, and is a small diorama that includes a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III motor car, a chauffeur, a gentleman and a lady going to the opera and a lamp post, with a section of paving and road surface. This is a very heavy piece of pewter and is in very good condition. The label on the underside of the base says it is the work of Raymond Meyers. The price was very reasonable, and I liked the look of it...... the scale is 1:30 so it does not quite fit into my 1:24 scale dioramas. I thought about painting the piece carefully, but I might decide to keep it as natural pewter. David

I see a couple of publications on the the table top...... nicely done, Pat. David