Hooper & Co Diorama

[Anglia105E]

The central passenger compartment is fully assembled, and I am now working on the driver's control panel binnacles at both ends of the tram car. Once I have assembled a few more components of this model they will be given a coat of red primer before brush painting.

David

[Anglia105E]

Recent work on the tram car includes the assembly of the two cab sections.

The eight component parts have a coat of red primer, and these are ready for brush painting.

Ten window glass parts have been prepared, and the two control panel units are assembled.

I would like to install some simple battery lighting, both for the headlamp and the interior lights, so I am considering drilling out the centre of the headlamp socket for a small LED bulb. This needs some thought before I leap in too hastily !

Conditions in the loft were favourable during Wednesday, so I got the brush painting done for the eight cab parts. Used my Humbrol Ochre and Humbrol Olive Drab, and when I found that my local supplier did not have any Humbrol Matt Black, I got Black Green instead, which is like black with a dark mossy green coating !

 

David

[Anglia105E]

The lighting plan for this part of the Hooper diorama is under way.....

The plan is to have the PP3 battery inside the European House building, just behind the window. The two wires will run around the corner of the building, along the ground and through the leaf spring area of the tram car's bogie wheel unit. The heat shrink LED and fibre optics will be attached to the underside of the chassis floor, and then the fibre optic tube wires will be routed somehow to their respective lighting units.

In order to have the tram car on the right hand side of the road, with the single headlamp facing forwards toward the camera, it is necessary to turn the diorama base around, otherwise the tram would appear to be on the left side of the road, or even going away from the camera, with the rear light on.

Neither the battery pack nor the wiring will be visible in any of the photos, using this method.

I might run a fibre optic tube wire up the street lamp and have the street lamp lit also while I am in the process.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom I is a Hooper bodied motor car from 1928, and the European Tram Car is 1940's.

 

David

[Anglia105E]

Progress with the build of the tram car is pretty good, and some of the fibre optics are in place. I have assembled but not yet painted a tram driver figure, to determine how the cab and driving controls look. Four pairs of doors are fitted now, and the assembly of the roof sections is also under way.

My most recent purchase on Ebay is a Pyro kit of the 1:32 scale 1933 Rolls-Royce Towne Car, which appears to be a Phantom II ...... This kit was manufactured way back in 1967 in the USA, of course. The kit box is in very good condition, and all of the parts are in sealed bags. This car will compliment the 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I quite nicely, alongside the tram car and the Citroen 11CV Traction Avant.

David

[Anglia105E]

Just spent two days struggling with the upper roof sections, and also mating these up with the lower sections. This was extremely difficult, but somehow I have managed to get it done. The solution in the end was to use super glue to hold the centre of the two sections together, while I super glued the side window frames that were allowing the whole roof to flex upwards.

Marvellous though this kit is, I do think MiniArt have not quite got the design right for this roof assembly. The parts do not align well, and too many parts have to fit together at once for the whole thing to work properly.

I picked up a 20 metre roll of galvanised garden wire for £1.60 from a local supplier, and this is perfect for the overhead tram wire. I stretched a 3 foot length of the wire between two ends of a metal bracket to get it straight, and I shall be able to cut this to a length of 2 feet when the posts are ready. Not sure how well 2 feet of wire will hold between two plastic uprights, although the tram pantograph will be supporting the centre of the wire.

The ' Martini ' advertising boards actually hide the side windows, and also the view of the interior roof lamp clusters when they are in place, so I shall make them removable for the photography. On reflection, having the roof removable is not a good idea, because the fibre optics will be threaded through holes going up, along and down through the roof.

 

David

[landman]

Looking good.

[Anglia105E]

32 minutes ago, landman said:

Looking good.

Thank you, Pat...... Following on tomorrow with the assembly of the tram car's pantograph, then the bogie wheels undercarriage assemblies, and the upright posts for the overhead wire. There will be quite a few figures to assemble and paint for this European House diorama,in 1:35 scale and then I can set about the build of the 1:32 Pyro kit of the 1933 Rolls-Royce Towne Car ( Phantom I ).

David

[Pierre Rivard]

Beautiful work David. There are so many great projects going on here.

I love your b&w photos. A London foggy night feeling to them.

Fabulous!

[Anglia105E]

5 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Beautiful work David. There are so many great projects going on here.

I love your b&w photos. A London foggy night feeling to them.

Fabulous!

Many thanks, Pierre . . . . . B&W photos and London foggy nights will feature in the tram car photography sessions when the models are ready.

I stated previously that the 1:32 Pyro kit of the 1933 Rolls-Royce Towne Car was a Phantom I, but actually it should read Phantom II.

David

[Anglia105E]

The bogie unit is in place on the tram car, and the fitting was difficult, as expected.

I moved the LED / Fibre Optic unit to one side, as it was preventing the bogie unit from fitting correctly when in the centre. The attached photos show the tram car with the wheels on the rails, and the roof is not yet glued in place. There is further work to do with the figures inside the passenger area, and also the rooftop fittings need to be added.

Some additional painting has to be done, where red primer is showing, or grey styrene  is unpainted.

The 1:32 scale car and figure works well in the foreground, with 1:35 scale further back.

 

David

[landman]

Nothing like a bit of weight to get things into position.

[PHPaul]

Looks like Alfred Hitchcock is waiting to board...?

[Anglia105E]

10 hours ago, landman said:

Nothing like a bit of weight to get things into position.

Two 300 ml bottles of water should do the trick !  ( and I enjoyed the apple juice also )

David

[Anglia105E]

10 hours ago, PHPaul said:

Looks like Alfred Hitchcock is waiting to board...?

Well spotted, Paul . . . . . the man himself is taking the tram car to the next film set.

David

[Anglia105E]

While allowing time for paint to dry on the tram line posts and the tram car itself, I have started painting the three figures. These include two seated lady passengers and the standing tram driver. 

I decided that the styrene parts of the upright posts and arms will not support the weight of the garden wire, and nor will the Evergreen styrene rod.

What I shall do, is to use two lengths of Evergreen .025" styrene rod as the overhead tram wire. The ones in the packet are 14 inches in length, and the overall length I require is 24 inches.

Now that I have assembled and painted three posts instead of only two, I can super glue two  lengths of 12 inches of the Evergreen rod between the posts. There will be one post at each end of the tram lines, and one in the centre.

 

David

[Pierre Rivard]

Your tramway cab is absolutely beautiful. The colors and finishes are so lifelike. I can see the famous spring!

The figures are great with very crisp detailing and paint.

I have been in the hobby only 5 year and I have used only acrylics for painting. I don't know anything about enamels but the results are superb. Can you explain to this beginner why you selected enamels for your paint of choice?

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Your tramway cab is absolutely beautiful. The colors and finishes are so lifelike. I can see the famous spring!

The figures are great with very crisp detailing and paint.

I have been in the hobby only 5 year and I have used only acrylics for painting. I don't know anything about enamels but the results are superb. Can you explain to this beginner why you selected enamels for your paint of choice?

Thank you Pierre . . . . I have used Humbrol enamel paints for the tram car, and other scale model cars, but I use Vallejo acrylic paints for the figures. Usually, I would use aerosol spray paint (rattle can) for my cars, and also airbrush with Zero Paints colours, but for some models I do brush paint them with enamels.

I choose very often to have a specific paint colour mixed for me by a company in Brighton, UK which would typically be a Rolls-Royce colour. For this service I have to provide the exact year of the car, and also the manufacturer's paint code. They send me a 400 ml aerosol can, which is not cheap and the delivery is also not cheap, but it is worth it to get the genuine original paint colour of an old 1950's Rolls-Royce motor car.

Some model builders are very good at producing a high quality paint surface with a brush, and they can achieve a finish that is as good as an airbrush or rattle can finish might be. There is a lot of work involved with the preparation, such as wet & dry sanding and polishing.

Acrylics seem to be quite good, but I do prefer enamels myself. Having tried many different paint brands, I find that Humbrol are better than Revell.

The overhead tram wire is Evergreen styrene rod in white, so I shall brush paint this with Humbrol Copper Metallic, as the real tram wires were made of copper.

David

[Pierre Rivard]

Thank you sir for the great information. Your work is brilliant!

I personally brush paint everything and I love Vallejo products but it's great to learn about alternatives.

Most of my stuff is posted on Randy Ayer's but I really like the variety on MCM

[Anglia105E]

I am in the process of test fitting the three support posts for the overhead tram wires. Also, the two lengths of white styrene rod have now been painted with Humbrol Copper metallic enamel. Having masked off the edges of the two tram lines on the cobblestone road base, the tram lines have been painted with Humbrol Steel metallic enamel.

The baseboard for this 1:35 scale tram car diorama is standing on top of the roof of the 1:43 scale Hooper & Co. factory building, which is why some of the model cars in the background will appear to be out of scale with the tram car, and that is because they are 1:43 scale.

Started testing the Vallejo Water Textures Still Water product this evening, and this will be drying overnight. The plan is to pour or brush the Still Water onto the cobblestone road and the pavements, so as to provide night time reflections of the tram car lights for the diorama photography that follows later.

David

[Pierre Rivard]

Feels like being there. I have to plan that trip to the UK

beautiful work. 

[Anglia105E]

11 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Feels like being there. I have to plan that trip to the UK

beautiful work. 

Many thanks, Pierre.......

David

[Anglia105E]

Apart from the Still Water application, the tram car diorama is getting close to completion.

I have tested the Vallejo Water Textures Still Water on a section of 1:24 scale paving, and I am pleased with the result. The still water product will be applied within the next day or two.

The three support posts for the overhead wire are super glued to the pavement, and the two lengths of copper wire have been super glued in place between the three posts.

The two tram rails are now painted with steel enamel and the conductress figure is one of five figures completed. I haven't glued the roof onto the tram car yet, and if possible I would rather have the roof removable. Some passengers and crew need to be placed inside the tram.

 

David

[Anglia105E]

The Vallejo Water Textures Still Water has been applied tonight, and the product was quite nice to use. I need to allow 24 hours drying time, so all night  Thursday and all day on Friday until 10:00 PM., for the self-leveling to work. Here are 7 photos taken at 10:00 PM Thursday.

Once this diorama has become a ' wet ' scene, there is no going back to a  ' dry ' scene !

David

[landman]

Nice looking wetness,very realistic.

[Anglia105E]

9 hours ago, landman said:

Nice looking wetness,very realistic.

Thanks Pat . . . . . When I looked at the diorama base this morning after 13 hours overnight, some areas of the cobblestones were showing through. As you say, the realism is good . . . . ' Wetness '

David