Scratch-built card and styrene structures (based on real buildings around London Bridge)

[grahame]

I've done another one and tried a bit of tidying up of the yellow one this morning, although neither are fully satisfactory, but now off to the shops for the Sunday papers:

 

 

 

[grahame]

I thought for a bit more fun I'll make a scratch-built N/2mm scale low-relief cinema. I'm basing it on the cinema in Chatham High Street where I had a Saturday job in the early 70s. The cinema has recently been demolished and a block of flats built in it's place. In the 1930s it was a 'Regent' but by the 1960s it was a three screen 'ABC'. In the 80s it became a 'Cannon' and closed in 1994 with the building torn down in 2004. I don't actually need a cinema and may sell it once completed. 

 

I've looked at a number of photos and made a start with drawing a rough sketch, working out some dimensions and cutting the front wall from mount-board:

 

 

 

[grahame]

7 minutes ago, JimRead said:

 

I had no idea that you are making this in 2mm, may I ask if you use a magnifying glass or even surgeon's binocular type thingy.

 

Fair play to you :-)

 

 

Nothing artificial is used. In fact I take my glasses off and use a Mk1 eyeball. But I do have myopia so can close focus. Some people do use optivisor magnifiers but I don't.

 

However, I think it's often overstated or somewhat exaggerated that N/2mm is tiny or too small to see, although some bits can get rather small and difficult to handle. Then it's a matter of tailoring the level of detail included, making it part of a larger assembly or suggesting/alluding to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

A little progress this evening including cutting and adding the embossed brick in place and adding the (shortened low-relief) flank walls:

 

 

Then cutting two card formers for the canopy:

 

 

Then using the formers as templates to construct the canopy from plasticard:

 

 

Unfortunately I'm now out of superglue so I'm unable to progress the building and any further work will have to wait until I've been out to get some on Monday.

 

 

[03060]

You prefer using Superglue over Liquid Poly, Grahame ?

Edited August 30, 2020 by 03060

[grahame]

Lack of CA superglue means I can't glue card to card and plastic to card, but for plastic to plastic I do use liquid poly. And as I have some it means I can add details that are plastic to plastic as I've made a start here:

 

 

 

[grahame]

A few more details added:

 

 

Some details are being made as separate assemblies off the structure and not glued in place. This is so that, as they are contrast colours, they can be painted separately before adding to make things easier. Unfortunately some can't be and will  no doubt prove tricky to paint neatly:

 

 

 Some (much probably?) of the detail is rather chunky but that is a consequence of the styrene strip sizes I have to hand. And, hey, it's only a fun build, not a fully accurate scale model and I doubt I'll be keeping it. Besides it's a low-relief back of the layout model.

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

If anyone is interested in the cinema, I've found the following 'history' of it while undertaking research for pics:

 

     Originally on this site was the Imperial Picture Palace which opened in 1914. It had 1,674 seats and was re-named New Regent Cinema in 1927. Taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) in 1929, it was closed and demolished in January 1937. (The new Ritz Cinema was located diagonally opposite, and although it was built for Union Cinemas, it too was taken over by ABC).

     ABC built a new larger Regent Cinema on the site, designed by their in-house architect W.R. Glen, the auditorium had a particularly finely detailed ceiling. The Regent Cinema opened on 11th July 1938. Seating was provided for 1,115 in the stalls and 755 in the circle. Provision was made in the plans for a Compton organ, but one was never installed.

     It was re-named ABC on 30th October 1961 and was closed on 22nd January 1972 for conversion into a triple screen cinema. ABC 1,2 & 3 opened on 15th June 1972 with seating for 528, 366 and 172.

     It was taken over by the Cannon Group in 1986 and re-named Cannon. It later reverted back to the ABC name in a management buyout. The ABC was closed on 3rd January 2002, two of the final films shown "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" had been playing to sell-out performances.

     On 9th April 2002, the building was damaged by three fires, which were considered arson. A further fire set by vandals caused further damage in September 2003. The former Regent/ABC was demolished in December 2003. Retail units were built on the ground floor, with flats above, catering for key workers and the homeless.

 

 

[grahame]

A few more bits cut and added:

 

 

But that's it for today - the cricket starts soon and I've got some cooking to do.

 

 

[grahame]

A little more fiddling now the cricket has finished and I've done the cooking. It's probably as much as I can do without CA superglue. The  entrance is now quite a large separate sub-assembly completely made from styrene but isn't glued in place. It'll be painted separately first.:

 

 

 

Apologies for the poor last pic (above) - it's hand held in the fading evening light through the window.

 

 

[grahame]

Damn, damn, damn. I forgot that today is a bank holiday. The model shop is going to be closed. I'm not going to be able to get super glue. The cinema will have to wait. 

 

I'll have to consider what I can do. Perhaps I could make the ABC letters sign from styrene. Here's a pic of how it looked in 1963 and the sign:

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by grahame

[grahame]

I've had a bash at starting the letter signs . . .  and they're flipping tiny and fiddly. I've ditched the idea of having pointed/sharp top and bottom angles as the thin plasticard wrapper would break at those points and I've gone for a simple rounded lozenge shape that can be wrapped in one go - and they're probably not too far off.  I've got some plastic lettering although the two sizes I have are too small so I'll need to get a larger size unless anyone has a spare two sets of 5mm high 'A', 'B' and 'C' letters. I appreciate the font won't match but, well,  . . . . 

 

 

 

[grahame]

The blurry pic below gives an idea of their small size - I couldn't hold it still enough (while the glue set) for an exposure of over a second - and the fiddly nature of wrapping the lozenges:

 

 

And the pic below shows what they look like in place. They're a little oversize and chunky but'll have to do. They are only resting on the wall (not glued) with the building lying flat. Then I rotated the photo to show what they look like in position roughly upright. Stand-off mounting brackets need to be added so that they are not against the brickwork as in the prototype pic above ;

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by grahame

[grahame]

Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies, but I found a dribble of superglue which enabled me to get the top frieze detail and coping stones on, effectively completing the main building. However, there's none left to fit the various assemblies and parts together - I'll have to get some tomorrow. The frieze relief is probably a little too chunky but nonetheless I've given the parts some undercoat and hopefully the top coat will help knock it back:

 

[acg5324]

It certainly looks the part Grahame. Excellent stuff as always.

[grahame]

Finally for today I've started to get basic blocks of colour on:

 

 

 

[grahame]

I've been to the local model shop this morning and I'm now stocked up on CA superglue, solvent glue and aerosols of acrylic matt varnish.

 

I've also now got all the paint on (I think, no doubt I'll now spot some touching up required) , glued all the bits in place (apart from the ABC letter sign) and given it a blast of matt varnish to seal and harmonise the finish. Next is to muck it all up with some weathering, dirtying down and distressing, and then finally undertake the little glazing required. I'm not sure about signs as film name instantly and easily date models. I'll probably look to sell it and the new owner will probably want their own appropriate signage.

 

Here's how it looks before the messing-up attempt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

It's now looking rather grubby and dirty. Time to put the kettle on and make a nice pot of tea and reassess:

 

[grahame]

And now with the glazing fitted (apologies if this is getting a bit repetitive and boring):

 

[cornish trains jez]

Fabulous work mate!

 

 

[grahame]

The A B C sign is now on (just needs a little matt varnish). The letters were laser cut in 0.4 ply and engraved to form the edge lip by Maurice at Osborns Models. They arrived this morning. Considering how small they are he's done a great job. They are very impressive and it's my painting of them (the excuse being how tricky that was) that rather lets the side down.

 

 

 

[Ian Morgan]

I remember from the one in Brighton that the film would stop, and a man would come out on 'stage' and tell everyone to stop throwing things up in the air to make shadows on the screen.

 

Often there was so much noise you could hear the film.

 

Now, where is my glow-in-dark ABC badge?

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Ian Morgan

[grahame]

In my short time working at the Chatham ABC for a Saturday job were two memorable films. 'The Exorcist', for which at every showing the St Johns Ambulance were in attendance as many people fainted or were sick (they had bags of sawdust at every screening) and the heating was turned down and the air-conditioning up. My friend and myself knew all the internal passageways (some in the wall) and would run along them banging the walls to frighten the customers and burst out of 'secret' doors in to the auditorium.  The other film was 'Earthquake' which had massive machines installed with huge offset cams that would turn when the film was showing the earthquake scenes. They made a lot of noise and literally shook the building as if it was experiencing the quake. Quite effective, but I'm sure they wouldn't do that sort of thing today.  

 

 

 

 

[acg5324]

2 hours ago, Ian Morgan said:

I remember from the one in Brighton that the film would stop, and a man would come out on 'stage' and tell everyone to stop throwing things up in the air to make shadows on the screen.

 

Often there was so much noise you could hear the film.

 

Now, where is my glow-in-dark ABC badge?

 

Ah the ABC Minors at The Astoria. Used to go there with my sister.

[Jim Martin]

On 29/08/2020 at 16:24, grahame said:

In fact I take my glasses off and use a Mk1 eyeball. But I do have myopia so can close focus. Some people do use optivisor magnifiers but I don't.

 

It's not just me then! I think my wife gets alarmed at the sight of me wielding a scalpel a couple of inches from my eye, but I've worked this way for as long as I can remember.

 

Jim