Hooper & Co Diorama

[Gramps46]

David,

You have done some outstanding and imaginative work here.  Like you I am a fan of Michael Paul Smith's work, Guilherme Holtz, and Peter Mc Kercher too.

Gary

[Anglia105E]

The pigeon has landed! Decided to scratch build a pigeon, which has now settled on the roof of the Bennet Street entrance. Working on two new builds to add to the diorama, one being a 1952 Bedford 5 ton tanker truck and the other is a 1957 Morgan 4/4. Considering the addition of a Police Constable because just like the bus, the taxi, the telephone box and the pigeon, a policeman on the beat would have been a common sight in London during the 1950's.

David

[Anglia105E]

I am posting a few more pics of the diorama, taken with the interior lights of the building turned off, plus one of a Bedford chassis cab which is a work in progress ( first time for the Bedford in the diorama setting ).

David

[Anglia105E]

I was experimenting with some cheap battery operated LED warm white lights last night, and I stumbled across an unusual effect. Placed all the lights inside the upper deck of the bus and reversed the bus right up to the back wall. The lights were not arranged in any particular order and the only other lighting in the room was a low energy bulb on the ceiling. What seems to have happened, is that the camera has picked up a green light which is hitting the white foamboard, while the low energy bulb is casting shadows of the tree onto the same foamboard wall. As you can see, this has resulted in an almost photographic image of the tree.... very strange effect.

Photos displayed.

David

[retriever]

Really great work.  I love that Routemaster bus.  The whole dio reminds me of growing up in and around London until I emigrated to Canada at age 22.  Now I'm 74, so it's great to see what you've done and bring back memories.

Tony

[Anglia105E]

Here are some more recent photos of the Hooper & Co diorama, now that I have added the Bedford O-type tanker and also the Morris Minor Royal Mail van.

Thanks for your comments Tony, and I have just turned 64 last Monday.  Good to hear that this diorama brings back back fond memories of London for you.

David

[Anglia105E]

The Hooper & Co diorama gets a new baseboard and a few improvements. Tidier electrical cabling and white foamboard walls to the rear of the showrooms on all three floors.

David

[Michael F]

Very cool and realistic. The lights are great. The Bedford tanker is a nice Addition to the dio and the Little Morris is sooo cute...

[Anglia105E]

Thank you Michael, and here is a photo of two new elements of the diorama that arrived today. Once fully painted they will add to the realism I think.

David

[Anglia105E]

The Shapeways park bench is now in place and nearly completed, while the vintage ladies bicycle is a work in progress. Also working on a staircase assembly kit in real wood for the diorama, which will go from the ground floor showroom up to the first floor showroom. Some moulding and casting going on, and also the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud 1955 build. This car will have real leather upholstery, walnut grain dashboard and door trims, with a real fabric headlining inside the body shell and rear quarter mirrors inside.

David

[Gramps46]

The new additions are really looking good.  Looking forward to your stairways.

[Eric Macleod]

I just stumbled upon your thread. This is amazing at many levels. I am thoroughly enjoying it. Well done s ir.

[Anglia105E]

Thanks a lot to Gary and Eric, and such comments are  most encouraging for me. I shall continue to post images of the 1958 Hooper & Co diorama in 1:24 scale as it progresses. The Rolls-Royce models are my favourites but there are 20 vehicles available for this project and the photography that goes with it. Still have to build two Silver Clouds, a Morris Minor Traveller and a Morgan 4/4, with many more figures needed for a busy city scene in London SW1.

David

[Anglia105E]

More work in progress with the floors and walls of the Hooper & Co building, which is now focused on the staircase that goes up to the first floor from the ground floor. Few photos showing the figures and the left hand drive Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud from Canada.

David

[Dave Van]

I really like your building. Reminds me of Bobby Rahal MB in Pittsburg Pa.....a multi story auto dealer that was a Packard dealer once. 

[Anglia105E]

Thanks a lot Dave, and it's good to hear that this building does resemble a multi story auto dealer. The floors of the showrooms on three floors will be finished in crimson red over the plywood, with two coats of yacht varnish over the crimson red acrylic. Just ordered the Tamiya Toyoda AA kit in 1:24 scale which I shall convert to an Austin FX3 Taxi that was produced from 1948 to 1958. This older style taxi will look much better in the 1958 diorama than the newer style Austin FX4 taxi, produced from 1958 onwards. The Toyoda is the closest design of motor car that I could find for an FX3 conversion build.

David

[Anglia105E]

Work continues on the staircase, now that I have made a brass hand rail for the stairs. Picked up a pair of brass knitting needles from a local antique centre for only £1 and cut both ends to 45 degrees. The spindles are in place but not yet glued, and there are three more scratchbuilt  spindles to add. Positioning the brass rail between the finials was particularly difficult, but got there in the end.

David

[Dave Van]

Here is the building....it goes down a level or two from street level....inside ia a HUGE elevator that moved Packards floor to floor.......the SMART I bought there didn't  take up a quarter of it!!!! 

[Anglia105E]

From your photo of the building Dave I can see a remarkable similarity to the Hooper & Co building, and the interesting thing is, they had a vehicle lift to move Daimler carriages and Rolls-Royce motor cars up to the first floor showroom from the ground floor. At some time during the past years the vehicle lift was replaced with the Bennett House entrance, the one with the ancient Greek style pillars.

I shall have a look at the Bobby Rahal MB building in Pittsburg Pa using Google..... it does sound interesting, and I do like Packards. Had I not chosen 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Clouds my choice would have been American cars of the 1940's and 1950's, which would also have been much easier to source as kits.

David

[Anglia105E]

Here is a brief update on current work in progress with the Hooper & Co 1958 diorama. Both the ground floor and first floor showrooms now have highly polished crimson red floor surfaces and the staircase is a stand alone model in it's own right. The main entrance door has been given a coat of gloss black as well as a brass door knob. Interior improvements for the main building include framed paintings for the walls, a wall clock, and extensive foam board panelling to the opening wall. A flag pole and a chimney stack are being added to the roof area, while further street lamps are being molded and cast. Meanwhile up on the second floor, which is for office space not a showroom, I have laid a cranberry felt carpet. Few more photos to show progress.

David W.

[Phil Scar]

Exquisite work. 

[Anglia105E]

Many thanks Phil, and it's all coming together nicely now. One year hard work.... six months to exhibition stand day.

David

[Anglia105E]

First of all I must say thanks to Gary ( Gramps46 ) for mentioning Peter Mc Kercher and Guilherme Holtz, both of whom I had not heard of previously. Having looked at their photography of scale model car dioramas I can see they are on very much the same level of expertise as Michael Paul Smith.

The Hooper & Co building has undergone extensive improvements recently, and has now been reinstated in the far corner of the diorama. I have posted a few photos to show the changes, which include the polished crimson red floors of the two showrooms, where Rolls-Royce Phantoms from the 1920's and 1930's are on show. The front of the building on the upper levels has a Royal crest, a flag pole and a chimney stack. On the far side of the ground floor showroom there is the wooden staircase with a brass hand rail, and this structure has blended seamlessly into the corner aspect of the building. Work continues on the latest Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud build, and this one has real leather upholstery for the seating, as well as polished walnut burr dashboard and a real fabric headlining to the roof interior. Thanks for looking and I hope this project is of some interest.

David

[Anglia105E]

I managed to produce a successful cast from my mould of the Shapeways street lamp, this time using ivory white resin rather than the clear transparent resin which failed badly. There will be several street lamps around the area of the diorama and I found the 3D printed material, especially the ultra fine detail type was problematic. Paint doesn't want to dry on the surface and bare metal foil cannot be applied either, so I decided to use resin cast pieces instead. Extracting the street lamp during the demoulding was a very tense moment and I was fortunate not to break it, which was what happened to the 3D printed original piece. Thankfully, I was able to super glue the two pieces together but even super glue doesn't sit comfortably with the strange material. Most of my Shapeways pieces are white strong and flexible, so this street lamp was the first ultra fine detail item that I had encountered.

David

[Eric Macleod]

I continue to be amazed by the wide variety of skills and materials you are using to create this work of art.