Anglia105E

Good to hear that Italeri are bringing out a new 1:12 Alfa Romeo kit this year........ My suggestion for what I would like to see as a kit is never gonna happen..... 1953 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn in 1:24 scale ( or indeed, any 1950's Rolls-Royce motor car )... dream on Mr Watson David Watson

Opening hood, boot lid, doors and fuel filler flap...... brilliant work there Clifford..... I just wish I could do that. I did an opening door on a Bedford truck cab, but it wasn't very strong. Very nice Pontiac. David

Well Pat.... that's what struck me when I thought about the 6 feet height of the handlebar. If you imagine your 3" tall mechanic /engineer raising his arms to take hold of that handlebar.... just a bit too high me thinks. David

Machined aluminium...... sweet. David

I see.... you've got it covered. David

Liking the cart Pat........ is 3 inches okay for this? Only asking because a 1:24 scale man is 3 inches tall. David

Phew.... that's a relief Pat..... I was worried about that small fire extinguisher on the wall, and what would happen if there was a diesel engine runaway ( or petrol / gas ). No, seriously that is a wise precaution for your diorama facilities. David

Just when I thought you could not go any smaller Mark...... acid cut lock levers from brass...... and here's me hesitating and pondering over how to make two small round hinges for the windshield of my 1933 MG K3 Magnette in white metal. Surely, if you can do it then so can I ( not necessarily ). Seriously though Mark, your work on the roof and the license plate is inspirational to watch in progress. David

Oh I see what you mean Pat..... yes, that makes perfect sense. David

You have done some nice work on this Johan promo Rich, and the colour really suits this car. The design appeals to my eye also, and speaking as an Englishman who is not that familiar with all '50's American cars, your '57 Oldsmobile reminds me of a DeSoto Firefly ( not sure if I got that right, please excuse me ). My favourite cars from both United States and Europe are those from the '30's, '40's and '50's..... you can keep your modern car designs. David

Pat..... Haulage contractors in this country use low loaders to transport very heavy plant machinery, agricultural machinery and industrial loads. I have a DVD film called ' The Yellow Rolls-Royce ' which shows a Rolls-Royce Phantom I being delivered to Hooper & Co by low-loader lorry in London during the 1950's, and the car is hidden inside a large wooden crate. I understand that in Canada and the United States you would expect to see low loaders being used for railroad equipment. Interesting, thanks. David

Now that's a serious loading ramp, Pat....... not sure the MD of Hooper's would find the money for that piece of kit. Laser cut? Perhaps not in 1958, but I appreciate your good humour! - When they transported the Rolls-Royce motor cars they used low-loaders, and the car was inside a wooden crate and not visible. Indeed, the car was not open to the elements. The little Bedford drop-side lorry is doing well to carry these cars, albeit smaller and lighter than the mighty Silver Cloud. David

Thank you Gary..... You can see from the photos above that the wire-spoked wheels are chrome plated, but I am in the process of putting grey primer on those wheels, so that they can be hand painted in the grey body colour. The rims and hubs that came with the Wills Finecast Auto Kit were dunked in the white pond ( paint stripper ) to remove some dark green paint from the previous builder, but unfortunately two of the hubs dissolved in the solution and are never to be seen again. Plan B was to make use of some excellent wheels and tyres from an old Heller Alfa Romeo Zagato kit that are the same size and design as those of the MG. This did save me from having to manually do the winding of the wire across the white metal rims and hubs, but I would have liked to use those original wheels, rather than these plastic Heller wheels. I think they should look okay once painted and the twin eared knock-off hub caps are in place. David

Pat...... I am thinking there are two long ramps that are placed against the rear edge of the lorry's flat bed, and the car is driven, hauled, man-handled up the ramps for loading. Well before the days of powered winches and tilting flat beds of course., this being 1958. As you say, these ramps would be behind the building or maybe they should be laid along one side of the flat bed, next to the car? David

This is a 1933 MG K3 Magnette sports racing motor car being brought to Hooper & Co on the back of a Bedford lorry, to be displayed in their ground floor showroom, in recognition of past success in numerous motor sport events during the early 1930's. The 1:24 scale white metal model car has been assembled and painted from the kit by Wills Finecast Auto Kits and this particular kit is at least 46 years old, possibly older. There is some further work to be carried out on the MG so the car will be taken to Hooper's nearby Acton factory where skilled motor engineers will complete the work to a high standard. David

This is weird, Mr McGowan.... but interesting also! David

Ah yes, the light meter, David Mitchell....... Just to explain how good the Zenit ' E ' SLR camera can be, when I was in Hong Kong as a visitor I took a photograph from a high point on Hong Kong Island, across the stretch of water all the way over in the direction of Kai Tak airport which was the old and very dangerous airport on the China mainland ( Hong Kong was British then ). I was using quite a bulky zoom lens and lots of lucky good fortune. What I got as a printed photograph, was the clear image of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet taking off or landing ( can't remember which ) at the Kai Tak main runway, and you could see the lettering markings on the fuselage of the aircraft . I thought I could make out a passenger at one of the cabin windows..... but that is just me showing off. That is quite some distance in miles and the light must have been BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH near perfect. David

Thanks a lot David and Jim...... based upon your excellent suggestions, I shall have a good look at not only static photo images from 1950's London street scenes but also film footage from that era. Pathé News footage in black and white is available, and very appropriate, so as Jim suggested I could do a screen grab from a moving image and use it as a static backdrop image. As I just mentioned, the images will more than likely be in black and white, which I do prefer anyway, but of course the diorama is in colour normally. The way I like to produce the best photography is to shoot in black and white and this allows me to make use of the black and white images of the '50's. My trusty Kodak M340 digital compact camera is quite happy to do black and white and I also have an old Russian Zenit SLR camera that can produce incredible photographs, in either colour or black and white, but of course you have to do it the ' old ' way and you only get 24 or 36 shots, after the prints have come back from Boots the chemist ! I have taken note of your comments regarding camera settings, lighting, distance and camera position David, and this is the interesting part of the diorama project once the building stage has been completed. David

Thanks for your suggestion Jim....... Two problems there. One is, I don't have Adobe Photoshop on my computer ( too expensive for me.... retired ), and the second problem is that the number of vehicles in a typical London city photo is so great that it would be too complicated to remove all traces from the image. Also, the vehicles overlap parts of the buildings that I do want. Even the people in the photograph have 21st century clothing that would not work with 1958 outside Hooper's. There must be a way....... ? David

Gary and Pat.... Your ideas and suggestions are sound enough, but the only images that I can get hold of, whether they are my own photography or others, always have modern vehicles filling the streets. I have not been able to find any images on the Internet that show St James's Street or Bennet Street as they were in the 1950's..... complete with 1950's cars, buses, taxis and people. Google Street View is marvellous, but the images always contain 21st century vehicles. I have already had photos blown up to A2 size, which do look really good when placed either side of the Hooper & Co building and it's a shame the subject matter does not fit. This is probably the one aspect of the diorama project that I do struggle with. It is something that troubles me when I think about it, almost on a daily basis. The plain white foam board backgrounds don't quite work for me and the perspective painting idea did kind of work, but only when you view the diorama from one unique position. Apart from bringing the centre of London to a complete standstill, I can't think of a way of providing an interesting and realistic background for the diorama setting. All clever suggestions welcome of course! David

Randy..... There are no superlative words in the English Dictionary to describe this level of scale model engineering....... this is off the scale as an incredible achievement. Following your intricate build I realised that you more or less had to start over again. This is such a joy to study in detail and I wish I could get even half way close to building a model car like this. Good luck Randy and enjoy every minute of what you are doing. David

Mark..... That has got to be the most detailed and also most impressive engine bay that I have ever seen in a scale model motor car. The radiator and associated parts looks to be exactly what it is...... a perfectly fabricated 1:24 scale replica of a full size radiator and associated parts. Faultless in every detail, and something for us all to aspire to. One day, I might get half way close to your level of building Mark..... and I would be happy with that achievement. David

Gary McNutt..... You have identified the crucial point there, as there is an obvious problem with the background. I can find open countryside, with narrow country lanes and generally rural settings, but what would be needed of course would be a busy London city street. This might need some thought....... !!! Pat St-Martin...... On the same point, and I appreciate your dry humour..... That would be the perfect solution but realistically, not possible. How to stop the traffic on St James's Street London SW1 in the middle of rush hour while a guy from a village in Derbyshire takes a few photos of model cars...... answers on a postcard please Head of the British Government. Certainly, I have Michael Paul Smith ( R.I.P. ) very much in mind for this method of forced perspective photography at that level. ( get it.... at that LEVEL ) David

While waiting for paint to dry on a bench full of parts for the 1933 MG K3 Magnette by Wills Finecast Auto Kits, there was an opportunity to experiment with some further photography. Using the familiar diorama setting, I tried out different positions for the light source, by varying the height and angle of the 100 watt daylight lamp. I only placed two models in the setting for this trial run, which was the AEC bus and the Citroen Traction Avant. There are some black and white shots as well as the colour shots. The camera is placed on three wooden blocks, while some shots are taken using two blocks, one block and no blocks at all. Those three wooden blocks correspond to the eye level view of a 1:24 scale person. I began to think about the possibility of taking the diorama to an outdoor location in my vehicle, along with a fold up table and a small selection of model cars and figures, but today we had some snow and it is only just above zero degrees. It would be interesting to try photographing the setting in natural daylight, providing the right background can be found locally to where I live. Thanks for looking..... David

Excellent build there Paul..... I really like the small rear window and the open top with the sliding cover. The colour is the same as a Beetle I used to own.... which had a 6 volt electrical system. Your chrome work and detailing on the wheels is very well done. A scale model car to be proud of! David