Hooper & Co Diorama

[Anglia105E]

Many thanks Gary, and you mentioned previously that were planning on building the two seater version of the Talbot Lago that raced at Le Mans in 1950.... here is a photo and a drawing of that car, and something occurred to me.... I don't know if the Heller kit is the same, but the SMER kit has the body in two halves that you have to glue together. Does this make your idea to widen the body easier?

David

[Gramps46]

Having the two halves already split would make it easer to make into a two seater.  I will have to consider that idea, thank you.

[Anglia105E]

The two Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville cars are very close to completion now, so here they are photographed as part of the diorama setting, and also together as three Danbury Mint Phantom III's. The black car is a 1937 model finished in gloss acrylic by Revell, and the light blue over dark grey car is a 1937 model finished in matt acrylic by Revell with yacht varnish applied on top. The 1938 burgundy model is original Danbury Mint, unpainted. The black model had no windscreen, no headlamps, no bumpers, no fog lamps, and only one air horn, so these parts have been fitted from a Phantom II donor kit by Italeri.

David

[Anglia105E]

We are inside the showrooms of Hooper & Co and Osmond Rivers is talking to a distinguished gentleman customer regarding the Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville that is being offered for sale. The Managing Director of Hoopers is confident that the gentleman will surely be impressed with the smooth and powerful V12 engine and also the generous size of the motor car. He mentions the service history of this particular Rolls-Royce, which dates back to 1938 and of course, twenty years of low mileage motoring will not have caused any undue wear and tear on this fine motor car. This gentleman finds the Phantom most desirable and presently he accompanies Mr Rivers upstairs to his office, where they can discuss purchase arrangements. Mr Rivers apologises for the untidy state of his office, explaining that a new carpet has recently been laid and there is a delay before the walls can be decorated. The single item of furniture in the large office is the polished desk upon which Mr Rivers has taken the liberty of preparing the necessary documents for the proposed sale.

David

[Gramps46]

Excellent David.

[Anglia105E]

Thank you Gary..... and during the process of taking these photographs I realised how little interior detail there is to the Hooper & Co building. I must give this some thought......

David

[Red318]

On 8/28/2018 at 4:16 PM, Anglia105E said:

Thank you Gary..... and during the process of taking these photographs I realised how little interior detail there is to the Hooper & Co building. I must give this some thought......

David

Not been here for a while and these interior photos are really atmospheric.  I know what you mean about interior detail but having been looking at showroom interiors for another project there isn't actually that much.  Maybe the addition of skirting boards (to soften the wall to floor join), plug sockets, brochure rack and some pictures on the wall would be enough.

[Anglia105E]

David Mitchell.... thanks for the comment, and actually I agree with you, in that there isn't a great deal of detail in most car showrooms. That is probably why I placed some framed fine art paintings on some of the walls, a large clock face and a couple of fire assembly points and left it at that. Your suggestion to add skirting boards is certainly worth considering, so I might do that. What I keep noticing in my interior photos is that the main entrance door, although painted gloss black on the outside, and it has a brass door knob and brass letter box there is nothing on the inside to define the door. This lack of detail extends to the windows, that have no window frames or window sills.

David W.

[Anglia105E]

Discreetly parked down the side street, there is a Bedford fuel tanker at the kerbside. The driver of the lorry has set up his board proclaiming " Petrol For Sale - 4s 6d per gallon - 5 gallon jerry can  £1 2s 6d " Just beyond the Watson Fuels sign board on the pavement there are two dark green ex Army jerry cans and a red fire bucket containing sand. The driver has been careful to comply with the regulations regarding fire safety when selling inflammable fuels. He has some of his load remaining in the bottom of his tanks after completing his daily deliveries, so he makes a bit on the side by selling off the surplus in jerry cans to anyone who has some ready cash. He is not highly paid as a tanker driver, so this seems like an opportunist risk worth taking. Just as a precaution, in case the constabluary might be watching, an accomplice of the driver's is across the street keeping an eye out. This man in the suit and hat is looking towards the corner of the Hooper & Co building from his position outside the showroom window on Bennet Street. Around the corner, and out of sight from the two men who are up to no good, there stands a Police Constable who is biding his time, having noticed what is going on behind the tanker lorry over the other side of the street. PC Dixon is in a good mode today so he's thinking perhaps he might give the two likely lads a caution and a ticking off, without actually charging them with an offence.... this time.

David

[Eric Macleod]

I too have taken much of the summer off. I've been focusing on the 1:1 cars instead.  You always provide a hearty helping of eye candy!

[Anglia105E]

Thank you Eric for your kind comments, and I hope you have had a good Summer.

I am heavily involved in transforming a Tamiya 1936 Toyoda AA into a 1948 Austin FX3 Taxi Cab, using resin cast parts that I am moulding and casting myself, also a lot of scratch built parts in polystyrene and carefully worked out drawings of the two motor cars. If I do manage to complete the FX3 body shell, then I am hoping to produce a two part silicone rubber mould from which to cast further taxis in resin, as there needs to be several taxis in the diorama scenes rather than just one. As far as I am aware, there is no evidence of a 1:24 scale Austin FX3 Taxi being produced anywhere in the world, only in 1:43 scale and 1:76 scale. Overlay plan drawings show how similar these two cars are below.

David

[Gramps46]

It looks like an ambitious project but I am sure you can do it.

[Anglia105E]

Thanks Gary.... and of course it is early days yet, but this FX3 conversion is becoming very interesting. Oddly enough, I did read that Hooper & Co actually carried out some coach building work on London taxis, although this was later in the 60's and 70's. We shall see how this progresses..... Also this week the asphalt is arriving for the road surfaces in the diorama, so both St James's Street and Bennet Street will be given a nicely textured coating.

David

[Anglia105E]

Here are a few black and white photographs of a night scene outside Hoopers. It is late one night and the only vehicles that are passing along St James's Street at this hour are the No.76 bus and a single taxi cab. A Police constable is keeping watch on night duty.

David

[peekay]

Looking great and I like the atmospheric photography.

[Gramps46]

You really captured the feel of the moment David.

[jaxenro]

Really like what you did with this one. The look and atmosphere are perfect and the ability to mix and match different cars and people just makes it outstanding. 

[Anglia105E]

Special thanks to Peter, Gary and Joel........ such comments are always welcome of course! Having played around with the lighting angles and combined lighting sources, the end result was close to the night time effect that I was aiming for. The later shots are more like early morning because I was using two 100 watt daylight bulbs rather than the single lamp earlier in the photo shoot. This was a run of 84 photos, so only 7 of these made it to the ' acceptable ' stage. There is the additional interior lighting of the Hooper & Co building and also you may have noticed the street lamp appears to be lit. This is actually bare metal foil reflecting the low mounted light source, and although the BMF is happy to stick to my resin cast street lamp. it was impossible to get BMF onto the Shapeways 3D printed street lamp. The last photo in this series of seven, number 0431, is my favourite of the bunch. The driver figure inside the Austin FX4 taxi cab is the one from the Tamiya Toyoda AA kit, and this driver is destined to take the driver's seat of the Austin FX3 taxi conversion when it is eventually completed.

David

[Anglia105E]

Received a delivery of some 1:24 scale diorama building materials this week, which included curb stones, pavement slabs in three colours, bricks in two colours, drainage grates with frames and a manhole cover with frame. Here are a few photos of the grates and the manhole cover, which are cast in a material called Herculite 2 and this is a a type of plaster. My plan is to add a great deal more detail to the Hooper & Co diorama, using these building materials, the AK asphalt paste and also weathering techniques as I learn them. Aiming for even greater realism, partly for the next exhibition and partly for the photography.

David

[Anglia105E]

From the attached photos you can see that our London City Council workman has been tasked with the fitting of a manhole cover on St James's Street outside the Hooper & Co. building.

This job is part of the groundwork prior to the laying of the asphalt road surface material. However, all is not going according to plan unfortunately, as the workman has dropped the cast iron frame of the manhole cover, breaking the frame in two. His boss has arrived on the scene and he is asking the man what he intends to do about the breakage. Perhaps this means the cost of the damage may have to come out out of the workman's pay packet this week.

Anyway, the manhole cover is in place, the asphalt is laid and now there has to be a delay of 24 hours while the surface of the road is allowed to dry. The cobblestones have been masked off with protective tape, and the edges of the zebra crossing have the same tape applied. Later there will be some minor application of asphalt to the area between the white lines, and also around the grates. First impressions of the asphalt material are good.... it spreads easily and thinly, with only half the amount ordered being required for these two streets, and the colour will be the correct lighter shade once the drying phase is complete.

 

David

[Gramps46]

I laughed when I saw the picture before even reading text.  The characters are perfectly posed.  Glad to hear the pavement is working out for you.

[Anglia105E]

Thanks Gary, and pleased to hear that you found the scene amusing !

David

[Red318]

On 9/27/2018 at 11:57 AM, Anglia105E said:

Thanks Gary, and pleased to hear that you found the scene amusing !

David

David, catching up with this again.  We used some of the diorama debris molds for our Gulf station.  The drain pieces more often than not cracked coming out of the mold.  What material were you using for the castings?

[Anglia105E]

David Mitchell...... My first purchase from diorama debris was an Ebay item that comprised 9 individual packs, including paving slabs in three colours, also bricks in two colours, curb stones in grey, a manhole cover and frame in grey, and two grates with frames in grey, one large and one small. This means that so far I have not attempted any moulding or casting of these diorama materials, although I am hoping to do so. The parts supplied by diorama debris are actually very good I think, but they are cast in Herculite 2 which is a type of plaster. I did find this material quite brittle and I broke the manhole cover frame when inserting it into the well that I chiselled out of my diorama baseboard, so you must handle with care. When I do get round to producing silicone rubber moulds, I intend to cast my parts in Ivory White Fast Cast Polyurethane Resin by DWP Plastics, who also sell their products on Ebay and they are excellent products I must say. The photo below shows the 9 packs of materials that they sent me. These must be really suitable for your Gulf station diorama and I was really pleased to find them on Ebay for my Hooper & Co diorama.

David

[Red318]

Thanks for this David, I'll have a look at these.  I look forward to hearing how your casting goes.