Hooper & Co Diorama

[Gramps46]

4 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Thanks, Gary....... I thought about a wooden shelf that goes around three sides of the greenhouse inside, and as you suggested, a few plants would be in order...... possibly tomatoes? The roof does not come off, so I would have to push the shelves and tomato plants up from the base, which is still open.

David

Kind of like building a ship in a bottle? ?

[Anglia105E]

2 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Kind of like building a ship in a bottle? ?

Exactly

[Anglia105E]

Today was all about filling in the empty space that remains behind the terraced houses, extending into the far corner of the diorama baseboard. First of all, the short stretch of road surface was laid down, immediately followed by a length of curbing along the red brick wall, and also a length of paving on the other side of the road. Then I laid some cobblestones around two sides of the greenhouse, before applying static grass next to the greenhouse area. Two holes were drilled for the gate posts and the white five bar gate was put in place. All looked fine, until I noticed that the end of the long wall has somehow become twisted, and is leaning over alarmingly, The base of this wall is firmly attached to the baseboard, so not sure what's going on here? Something must be done to support the wall vertically at the end.

All that is needed to complete this car park area are two short sections of red brick wall, one at the side of the five bar gate, and one at the side of the bus shelter.

As always, thanks for looking guys.......

David

[Gramps46]

At the rate you are going you may have to buy your neighbor's house to store your layouts. ?

[Anglia105E]

3 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

At the rate you are going you may have to buy your neighbor's house to store your layouts. ?

You are absolutely right there, Gary......... working space is now becoming a real problem, although I do have a second workbench in the loft of my property, which is under-utilised due to lack of heating at the moment.

David

[landman]

Did you lay the grass down with one of those fancy applicators?

 

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, landman said:

Did you lay the grass down with one of those fancy applicators?

 

Sure did, Pat...... the static grass applicator was a cheap one, bought on Ebay and it works very well. Once a thin layer of PVA glue and a small amount of water is spread over the area of baseboard that I want to grass, I just load up the hopper with static grass flock and away you go. The crocodile clip on the end of the wire from the applicator needs to be in contact with the baseboard and close to the working area, and the wire mesh of the applicator is almost touching the PVA glued area. Pressing the red button while shaking the hopper against your hand dispenses the grass and the magic of static electricity does the rest. It is wise to wear disposable latex gloves, in case of electric shock.

David

[Anglia105E]

Too many cars !

I would not usually display all of the 45 vehicles in the 1:43 scale diorama setting, so this was just a simple process of getting all the models out of the boxes and taking stock of what we have on the table, as it were. The following photos show the Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars on the Hooper & Co factory forecourt, while in the foreground we have the Jaguars and Daimlers....... over to one side there are the Austin, Morris, MG and Triumph cars, while the Ford cars are arranged in the recently added car parking area. Other vehicles include the bus, several vans, an ambulance, a couple of taxi cabs, one lorry, the horse and cart, and last but not least the motor scooter and sidecar combination.

David

[Eric Macleod]

You are building the diorama of the century my friend. 

[Anglia105E]

4 minutes ago, Eric Macleod said:

You are building the diorama of the century my friend. 

High appraisal indeed, Eric...... and I do hope that this project turns out to be successful....... thanks very much !

David

[landman]

On 2/20/2020 at 1:58 PM, Eric Macleod said:

You are building the diorama of the century my friend. 

Yes David. It is certainly impressive. I would give some thoughts to adding reinforcement to the table legs. All those diecast have to weigh several hundred pounds... ?

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, landman said:

Yes David. It is certainly impressive. I would give some thoughts to adding reinforcement to the table legs. All those diecast have to weigh several hundred pounds... ?

When I bring the 1:24 scale Danbury Mint diecast Rolls-Royce models to the table, that is when the weight really starts to stack up !

David

[Anglia105E]

Following the arrival in the post of some more red brick wall materials, I have built the short section of wall that you see to the right of the white five bar gate.

The gate itself is loosely mounted, so that I can have this gate in the closed position or alternatively in the open position for the photography. In this way, I can have a car entering the car park, or just about to leave the car park. There is one more short section of wall to build, which will be adjoining the bus shelter.

David

[Anglia105E]

Here are just a few black & white photographs of the car park area of the 1:43 scale terraced houses diorama....... experimenting with various angles. The car is a diecast 1963 Ford Cortina Mk II by Minichamps.

David

[Anglia105E]

Today, a 1:43 scale figure arrived in the post from Detailed Miniatures....... this one is a bearded workman, with his hands on hips and holding a rag cloth, dressed in a waistcoat and flat cap. Another nicely detailed figure from this supplier, and he fits very well into the photographic scenes involving the lady pushing the pram, and also the horse and cart. This man could be inside or outside the greenhouse, possibly working his shift at the gasoline pump or carrying out his deliveries with the horse and cart. Alternatively, he might be standing next to a Rolls-Royce or Bentley motor car, ready to carry out some routine maintenance or maybe he is in the process of wiping the windscreen, or polishing the chrome embellishments of the car.

Hope you like these photos.....

David

[Shambles]

Outstanding! I'm impressed with your scratch-building skills. Nice phots throughout your project too. 

[Gramps46]

Really nice male figure.  Was he prepainted?

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, Gramps46 said:

Really nice male figure.  Was he prepainted?

Yes. Gary...... he arrived prepainted, and professionally painted too ( according to the packaging ). Myself, I am okay painting 1:24 scale figures, but not great when it comes to painting 1:43 scale figures.

Forgot to mention, that the Ford Cortina in these recent photos is not a MK II, but is actually a MK I....... which I should not forget, as I passed my driving test in a Cortina MK I back in 1970.

David

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, Shambles said:

Outstanding! I'm impressed with your scratch-building skills. Nice phots throughout your project too. 

Many thanks, John...... I enjoyed building the greenhouse, and also the factory building. The photography is just as important for me as the building of the dioramas, as I am sure you have found yourself.

David

[DonW]

It looks from the later distance view that you got your leaning wall sorted out. It's all pretty impressive.

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, DonW said:

It looks from the later distance view that you got your leaning wall sorted out. It's all pretty impressive.

Well, the funny thing is, Don..... some weird magic has been going on, and the leaning wall has somehow straightened itself. Without any intervention from me, the wall is almost back to where it was originally.

David

[Anglia105E]

The workman, who is the most recent addition to the diorama, is clearly going to be a busy chap....... here he is looking after the horse and cart, and who knows what he will be doing next?

David

[tbill]

Been a bit since I’ve looked in on this, everything is looking fantastic! 
 

as I’ve said before, the photography just adds such another beautiful layer to this project.

[Anglia105E]

9 hours ago, tbill said:

Been a bit since I’ve looked in on this, everything is looking fantastic! 
 

as I’ve said before, the photography just adds such another beautiful layer to this project.

Many thanks for looking in, Tom...... and there is more I would like to do with the photography. I am continuously experimenting with lighting, camera angles and composition, in the belief that I might find that elusive ' golden formula '........

David

[Anglia105E]

Harold Brown has worked hard all his life, as the owner of a successful engineering business which he had taken over from his father before him. Now Harold has decided to retire and let his only son step up to the mantle. Harold allowed himself one luxury in retirement, having lived in the same red brick terraced house for most of his adult life and during this time he had saved his money wisely. He bought himself a Rolls-Royce motor car and he counted himself very fortunate to be able to own such a fine example of automotive engineering. Throughout his entire working life Harold had gone without fancy cars, expensive holidays and clothes, and he had always eaten simple food.... nothing to excess.

Sometimes, Harold would just walk outside, open the gate of his small yard and turn the corner of the street...... so that he could spend a few quiet moments, standing in silent solitude to admire his Rolls-Royce....... he was very proud of this car, and how it represented the pinnacle of his achievements.

David