RMweb Gold PhilH Posted August 19, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2017 Oh. And me building it ! Note the wild hair where it was a toss up between becoming a rock guitarist or a model maker. Neither won. Cheers. Allan MY PICTURES 3910.jpg How long did it take you to build it? (Not the hairdo...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted August 19, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2017 Absolutely stunning Allan, thanks for sharing the pictures Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Al.....if I didn't know better,........I'd swear you were the geezer in the Joy of Sex manual! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Al.....if I didn't know better,........I'd swear you were the geezer in the Joy of Sex manual! Actually..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted August 19, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2017 Al.....if I didn't know better,........I'd swear you were the geezer in the Joy of Sex manual! That's why his eyesight is going! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 How long did it take you to build it? (Not the hairdo...) Six months and six hair cuts. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Rock god hair, miniature religious monument, why does that picture remind me of the Stonehenge scene in Spinal Tap? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 I remember those days well. Always in the wrong key, could never remember the chords, the words were never the same twice ( and neither were the girls ) busted strings, power chords that brought the roof down and never getting paid. Then along came a son and my first model railway, Pipers Mead Anyway, more pics later. Cheers. Allan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 So today, castles. The first up is a fire cement monstrosity built for the BBC way back in the 70's. Christ knows what they did with it ! Then there's one built for a Pink Panther film which they blew up and, again, built out of fire cement. The thing was when doing any kind of work for these industries was that they only ever gave you 10 days to complete it then go ballistic if you didn't ! Cheers, and a few more castle pics later when I find them. Allan 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 Pubs, and since we spend more time in them than out of them, then why not ! Anyway, here's twenty shots (hic) spread over two posts and, no doubt, I'll find even more later as I continue my journey through my files. Cheers. Allan. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 Talk about a pub crawl... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Roger Sunderland Posted August 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 21, 2017 I've followed your work since the 70s Allan, always an inspiration. They say every picture tells a story. In this case a story of a master craftsman, in a league of his own. As others have said, impossible to distinguish real from model, truly amazing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 I used to do a lot of thatched cottages back in the 70's and something strongly influenced by the late Roy England the founder of Pendon where his efforts put my dismal efforts to shame where he used human hair whilst I used the wife's knitting wool ! Anyway, returning only recently to thatched cottages - or the idea of modelling a whole village suffocated under miles of knitting wool - I realized whilst I made a most unconvincing mess of it way back then, I even excelled my self a life time on by making a bigger mess still ! So here's the last ever attempt where my ego hasn't spoke to me since I decided to post it on here. Cheers. Allan 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 Somehow when I build Tudor I really get carried away with it where, for example, our living room at one time was full of it ! So, what you see here is just the tip of the ice burg with plenty more to come later - when I can find it ! Here then, 20 random shots. Cheers. Allan 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 And another ten showing various stages of build. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 G'day Allan, Different time zones means that I'm still back at your pub pictures. Just looking at 'The Fox And Goose" had me thinking that you have much better pub names than we do down here. Firstly, all our pubs are officially called hotels. So you have to tack on the word Hotel to every name. Every town here has to have a :"Royal" , and a "Crown" and one named after the town it is in. If those names are taken and you still want to open a pub then the 'Imperial' or 'Criterion" is usually chosen. Unless its near the railway station, in which case it would be called 'The Railway'. It is a bit of a shame in a country known for its colourful and unique language that we have no imaginative pub names. I'd love to drink at 'The Drongo" or "The Blue-ars*d Fly" 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted August 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 21, 2017 How many of these creations did you keep? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) How many of these creations did you keep? None if I could help it ! Cheers. Allan Edited August 21, 2017 by allan downes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DavidLong Posted August 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 21, 2017 Another veteran of those early Railway Modeller years, Allan. I have loved all your work but one element that always stands out for me is the windows. Oh, those windows, whether it is a cottage or a cathedral they are simply the finest modelled windows I have ever seen. Pendon don't come close due to the sheer breadth of the ability you have demonstrated. Please continue this delightful ramble for as long as it takes. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 Another veteran of those early Railway Modeller years, Allan. I have loved all your work but one element that always stands out for me is the windows. Oh, those windows, whether it is a cottage or a cathedral they are simply the finest modelled windows I have ever seen. Pendon don't come close due to the sheer breadth of the ability you have demonstrated. Please continue this delightful ramble for as long as it takes. David Well thank you, David, for those extremely kind words. Where windows are concerned, I regard these as the eyes of a building and, unlike most other elements, they are engineered and not slapped together and stuck down with cement ! Regarding Pendon, when the great Roy England built his utterly amazing cottages there was no such thing as chemical etching - which today produces the kind of accuracy that the human hand just hasn't a hope in hell to compete with - and therefore he used cotton stretched across the back of the window apertures as a way to represent glazing bars which, over time, sagged dismally and this is exactly what I used which eventually led me to develope "Downesglaze " a window system printed on clear acetate. Cheers. Allan. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damo666 Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) Where windows are concerned, I regard these as the eyes of a building and, unlike most other elements, they are engineered and not slapped together and stuck down with cement ! Allan. I would swear that I'm looking at the internal window ironmongery. Absolutely incredible work. Coming from an architectural background, I truly wonder at your sense of detail. May I ask, do you consider this a hobby or as a business? Edited August 21, 2017 by Damo666 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 I would swear that I'm looking at the internal window ironmongery. Allan Downes Windows.JPG Absolutely incredible work. Coming from an architectural background, I truly wonder at your sense of detail. May I ask, do you consider this a hobby or as a business? I'm affraid I shall have to disappoint you, Damo. Those 'nibs' you encircled are where other components were attached to the fret and really I should have taken more care when cutting them away. It started off as a hobby for me but within a week of having my first article published in the Railway Modeller back in the early 70's, I got swamped with commission work and, between being a thin, hairy rock guitarist, a few property ventures and long term trips abroad in a beat up old camper, I've spent almost every day of my life hacking up large sheets of cardboard for people ! ( whilst still playing the guitar now and then but with less hair and more tonnage. ) Cheers. Allan 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Checking out your tiled roofs in just these few posts - you would definitely have to have an entry in the Guinness book of records for the most tiles laid by one person. I'm only going on 40 year old feeble memories here but did you have an article in the Railway Modeller about your version of a model of Constables "Haywain"? I'm sure it was you, and I do just remember rereading it many times over. I think I was in year 10 at school at the time, and I can say that I remember not very much that I was taught in that year, apart from being told to not be mean to Julie Macquen because her parents had split up.., but I DO remember that article... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 Checking out your tiled roofs in just these few posts - you would definitely have to have an entry in the Guinness book of records for the most tiles laid by one person. I'm only going on 40 year old feeble memories here but did you have an article in the Railway Modeller about your version of a model of Constables "Haywain"? I'm sure it was you, and I do just remember rereading it many times over. I think I was in year 10 at school at the time, and I can say that I remember not very much that I was taught in that year, apart from being told to not be mean to Julie Macquen because her parents had split up.., but I DO remember that article... Yes, you're right, it was a model of Constable's Haywain but was only recognisable as such when viewed from the front. Viewed from anywhere else and it was anywhere else ! Cheers. Allan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 This lot is so wonderful it would be quite enough to make me pack up - except for the fact that it's absolutely the last thing that Allan would intend!!! I must up my game! Keep it coming (I'm going to have a beer...) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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