Hooper & Co Diorama

[Anglia105E]

3 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Thanks very much Steve . . . Those plates for the numbers on the Pannier cab look really good, and they are priced very reasonably too.

The numbers that I have put on the cab sides are some old decals that a friend gave me, but those plates would be so much better.

Thanks,

David

I have ordered a pair of those number plates for £6.75 including free shipping . . . I just hope they don't take 8 weeks for delivery !

( not sure if that was minimum 8 weeks for the Dapol version of the plates )

David

[Anglia105E]

There is quite a lot of work going on around the Hooper & Co factory diorama over the past few days, some of which has included the steam locomotive. The two loco crew, namely the driver and the fireman, have been glued into place inside the cab. Shortly there will be some further weathering of the loco, using Humbrol Dark Rust Weathering Powder . . .

Meanwhile, there is some preparation under way for the YouTube video filming to be carried out inside the factory building itself. Having purchased a cheap miniature camera and run some tests, I am setting up a rolling ' probe ' that can access the factory through the side entrance on Duke's Road . . .

The probe is basically a length of wood that has the axle and wheels from a 1:43 model car mounted on one end. Over the next few days the video camera will be positioned at the rolling end of the stick, with the cable running back to  a hub, which leads to the power source . . .

Although the miniature camera does have infra red night vision, it does not have an internal battery unfortunately.

David

[Anglia105E]

Today was all about the final phase of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud build, which is part of the 1:24 scale Hooper & Co. diorama. Both scale model dioramas are undergoing continuous work alongside each other.

Having Bare Metal Foiled the radiator grille for the Silver Cloud, and also BMF'd the boot lid number plate plinth, the radiator grille was glued in place today. Then the roof aerial was carefully super glued in place at the front edge of the roof, just above the centre of the windscreen. The aerial was supported by a small wad of Blu-Tack while the glue dried. Then it was the fitting of the Spirit of Ecstasy, and this was mounted on top of the radiator grille, using Crystal Clear white glue.

Moving to the rear of the car, the bootlid number plate plinth was mounted onto the boot lid, again using Crystal Clear glue, and supported on Blu-Tack. These three parts, which are so important for this Rolls-Royce model, are now being left to dry overnight. Next up will be the wiper arms and blades, which have been taken from a Tamiya Jaguar MK 2 kit. This particular model has been 6 months in the building so far, and I really need to get it completed.

David

[Anglia105E]

The Blu-Tack has been removed from underneath the boot lid number plate plinth, now that the glue has dried overnight.

After drilling two holes at the lower edge of the windscreen for the wiper arm spindles, both wiper arms and blades have been fitted.

This model car is now coming together quite nicely and I need to go round tidying up any details that I am not happy with.

David

[Anglia105E]

For the first time with these Silver Cloud builds, I have scratch built a pair of side lamps. After grinding out the apertures in the front wings, I cut off the ends of some wooden spindles to make the side lamps. Liquid Chrome Pen was used for the side lamp bezels, and some Humbrol gloss enamel cream to paint the lenses.The headlamp lenses are now coated with the same paint. I just need to tidy up the slight gap between the headlamp lenses and the bezels.

As well as this 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce build nearing completion, there is further work going on with the 1:43 scale diorama, specifically the video filming, which will be covered in a separate posting of this topic.

David

[Anglia105E]

I have taken a couple of photos of the 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I, one outdoors and one indoors, as the model is almost ready to be photographed within a diorama setting . . . Also, I have dusted off the 1:24 EMHAR Bedford O series dropside truck and taken a couple of photos, without any load.

David

[PHPaul]

LOVE the truck!  Very realistic patina.

[Anglia105E]

12 minutes ago, PHPaul said:

LOVE the truck!  Very realistic patina.

Thanks Paul . . . The series of 1:24 scale EMHAR truck kits are nicely detailed, and a joy to build. There is a tanker version, also a tipper, a recovery truck, and this dropside. My Bedford lorry has been gathering dust over time, so I thought I would brush off the dust and see how it looks. I dedicated this build to my Dad, who was Maurice Watson and I made up the registration plate as MW 1929, as my Dad was born in 1929 . . . He never owned a haulage company, or indeed a Bedford lorry, but I liked the idea of building a vehicle that he might have driven. He did have an uncle who runs a haulage company, and those lorries still pass through my village in Derbyshire on a daily basis.

I have two Bedford tanker trucks, one I built as a Watson Fuels vehicle, which is a real company, and the other was purchased as a built model.

David