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'Angloshire...' OO in the USA


Thom
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I have been doing the tedious work, this past week, of cutting and glueing figures to make the Beetles crossing Abbey Road. (I had the white metal figures but they didn't look right at all so that's why I did the chopping that I did.) It was tedious, but I think they look pretty good, although clearly not perfect, especially their heights. I worked off the album cover to get the figures as close as was possible with what I had to work with. My biggest problem was that the only place I could place them where they could be clearly viewed was a narrow back street that wasn't the right direction to view properly. So, that is why they are where they are and why I placed them on a slight angle going across the zebra crossing. And, before anyone asked what figures I started with, I just used figures I already had and do not know where they all came from, but they were all walking figures.

 

I do have a white VW placed there but had to use Herbie until I can source a plain white one in HO since Oxford doesn't do the right one. I will be adding the black van on the opposite side of the street soon.

 

Of course if I tried to replicate it with them walking back across the street after the album cover photo was taken, I could skip the black van but would then need the bus. By the way, here is some trivia for you. The man standing on the right on the album cover just happened to be there and had no clue what the photo shoot was all about. He found out later after the album came out, and for the record, he was an American. I will repaint and reposition the figure I have there once I get the van.

love it, i adore cameos

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Brilliant! Taking cameo modelling up yet another notch; very nice indeed...

 

So I guess after this weekend a new Doctor Who and Clara will be forthcoming...?!

 

 

David

The Tardis that I already have is the most I'm gonna do with Doctor Who. I now am planning to add Inspector Jacques Clouseau and his Mini from The Pink Panther, 'A Shot in the Dark.' 

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I never knew there was a "Return Working" photo of The Beatles crossing Abbey Road the other way..!!!! :scratchhead: :O

 

Wow!! What you can learn on RMweb!!  :sungum:

 

And since you mentioned it, here are some more from that day. I read there were a total of five taken of them walking across the road and they chose to use the one we all know.

 

I'm trying to figure out if I can take the stripes and numbers off the Herbie VW Beatle I have. Any suggestions? And, too bad Oxford doesn't make the police van. :(

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Spent some more time last night doing more research and then did this today. Obviously it's not meant to look at so up close, but one can see  the American guy looking back while chatting with a police officer in the van. OK, since there isn't a Morris J4 police van available yet a Pickfords van is standing in. As for the parked cars, other then being Herbie, the white VW is correct, along with the light blue Triumph on the same side, believe it or not. The other side is just similar color cars. I'm not gonna bother with the center line because of how narrow the street is. Not sure why I even bothered with any of the cars since the street and buildings are all wrong. lol

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Just installed today. Inspector Jacques Clouseau and his Mini from The Pink Panther movie, ‘A Shot in the Dark’. I took some liberties, though. Peter Sellers had a Mini customised for him to look like this. When he did the movie he had a duplicate made to use as Inspector Clouseau in the movie. The movie took place in France so the duplicate Mini was left hand drive unlike his own which was right hand drive. It also had a different license plate number. So, in this case it is actually the right hand drive Mini in Britain. Artistic license. ;) I used a stock figure of a man in a trenchcoat and exchanged heads with one with the right kind of hat on it and then painted it to look the part. I might add a few rocks in front of him yet to look like one scene in the movie.


 


The 'Tidmouth Belle' Pullman hauled by Battle of Britain class 'Winston Churchill' is passing on the tracks below.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I was lucky enough Monday to get to see Angloshire in the flesh. It is as well done as the photos suggest on here. However the best bit has almost been overlooked, how it is stored. The system is ingenious, the wheels and stacking system make for a practical and simple way to move it.

Thanks for a great evening

Richard

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I was lucky enough Monday to get to see Angloshire in the flesh. It is as well done as the photos suggest on here. However the best bit has almost been overlooked, how it is stored. The system is ingenious, the wheels and stacking system make for a practical and simple way to move it.

Thanks for a great evening

Richard

It was great meeting you, Richard, and thanx for the compliment. It will be great to have a fellow modeler so close.

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Finances have pretty much kept me from doing much recently, but Mary Poppins finally flew in yesterday. I started with a figure from the Preiser 12194 set, added a coat made of masking tape, added shoes to make her taller and because she needed the iconic feet below her. I added the carpet bag from 28015 and an umbrella from 12139, and obviously painted her as accurately as possible. Not perfect but I think she looks the part. :)

 

As for Bert the Chimney Sweep, I still have not found a suitable figure to work with. Not convinced the Preiser chimney sweep can work, even after removing the ladder.

 

Should have another TV figure shortly.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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More pics to follow, but here are some answers in the meantime. Sorry it's so long.

 

'are Americans as familiar with British TV programs & characters?'

 

The answer is a simple 'no.' There are some that are more familier. Of course Thomas and Harry Potter, but a lot will also know Austin Powers, My Fair Lady, Mr Bean, and Doctor Who. Some will know Are you Being Served?, *Keeping Up appearances, *Inspector Morse, Poirot, Miss Marple and *Fawlty Towers. A few will know Little Britain, *Waiting for God and *As Time Goes By, and NONE will know Ivo Peters, Dad's Army or On The Buses! (*planned but not yet on the layout.)

 

'You need a TARDIS, by the way....  :sarcastic:'

 

I already have on that will be seen in future pics.

 

'You get Kudos for driving your trains on the left,'

 

Thank you, but isn't driving on the left a given? lol I am bi-cultural with as many times as I've been to the UK, (I'd love to live between the two countries,) and this really is my little bit of Britain. :)

 

'...little cameos, a great way to attract interest at shows.'

 

Thank you and so very true. I found, especially at the local show, that I was able to draw people into my layout  that were ready to walk on by when I suggested they look for things. They usually ended up viewing the whole layout as opposed to walking  by and not seeing any of it. I believe interaction with show goers  is essential and really does help promote our hobby.

 

'The cameos are so typically English they make me homesick.'

 

Thank you. That was exactly my goal. Maybe you should build your own, now and create your own little bit of Britain in Africa? ;)

 

'exhibitions where apart from the trains the interest is held by so many cameos and great buildings'

 

Thank you, and yes, that's what draws so many people into the hobby more then just the trains.

 

'love all the little cameos, and the freelance element...A great layout for kids to look at...The trees are especially good as well.

... where is Allentown PA in the states?'

 

I often see people post regarding which is better, modeling an actual place or freelancing. Obviously I'm in  the freelance camp. I have so much fun when kids see things they can relate to. Very important for drawing people into the hobby. All the trees are off the shelf from numerous manufacturers. I wanted to have so many different kinds, as well as tons of them, so it would look realistic. I think many layouts are way under treeed. (Is that a word? lol) If you look on line you will find that Allentown is the main city in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. As Adrian posted, it's an hour NW of Philly and 1.5 hours W of NYC and, as I posted before, 8 hours SE from Toronto. (That's drive time, by the way.) This area was home to the Lehigh Valley Railroad and W of here was the Reading Railroad. PA, was of course, home of the world class Pennsylvania Railroad. Oh, and the famous preserved Strasburg Railroad is about 1.5 hours SW from here. And, as Adrian said, the Billy Joel song is about my town.

 

And, speaking of Adrian, his club's layout is fantastic and was one of two that were a major inspiration for how I wanted mine to look. I took many pics of it at the last three shows and studied them when making mine.

 

'It's where they locked up Jo Stafford's lover for nicking her a diamond !'

 

I  never heard that so I'm gonna have  to look into it.

 

'you certainly have captured  a British feel'

 

Thank you :)

 

'Those viaducts don't half look like those at Chirk in the Welsh borders between Shrewsbury and Wrexham. Did you base it on that at all, or is that just a 'fluke'?'

 

The Tovis Valley Aqueduct (1861) and Viaduct (1903) were, indeed, inspired by the Chirk aqueduct and viaduct near Llangollen. I saw pictures of them a few years ago and on my 2011 Royal Wedding Trip to the UK drove up to see them, as well as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Llangollen Railway. (I did take a boat trip across and back that aqueduct which was awesome!) I absolutely fell in love with that area of North Wales and went back to see them again in 2013 and drove over to the coast and saw even more railways. Anyway, after starting Tovis Valley I heard about the (Miss) Marple Aqueduct and Viaduct near Stockport and drove there in 2013 as well. Also fascinating and the locks going down to the aqueduct are different and really great. As far as I know  those are the only two places in the UK where there is an aqueduct and viaduct next to each other. I simply had to model a set  after seeing the set at Chirk, but mine are not intended to actually replicate them.

 

'Where did you get the figures from? Or, how did you make them?'

 

Some are off the shelf, some are simply repainted, some have been beheaded, and some even worse. lol I'll try and explain them all here but don't remember them all. Also, some were OO and some were HO. Personally, that makes no difference to me. Unless stated otherwise they are as they came in the pack. I search through all the possible figure out there to find any that looked like the people I wanted to have on the layout. That's the best way to do it. Simply look to find people in the figures that are available. There are very few that are actually the people I modeled.

 

Dock workers at Hogsmeade Station... Preiser 590-28084

Hikers... Woodland Scenics, I think

HM the Queen and Prince Philip... Preiser 590-28132 I added a big hat made from an old buffer and

        repainted them both

School boys trainspotting... Bachmann 36-401

Landscape painter... Presier 590-28050

Vicar and his wife sun bathing naked behind the vicarage... 15843Noch

Riders on horseback... Presier riders w/horses 590-10501

Teacher and school boys... Peco?

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in their Ford Anglia... car driving figures

Sir Topham Hatt... a figure from 15577Noch that I removed a walking stick from,

        added a hat to and repainted.

Man selling balloons... Preiser 590-29000

Winston Churchill... figure repainted from 15577Noch. Looks just like him!

Ivo Peters... a used photographer figure I found somewhere that I changed heads on and repainted

Andy and Lou from ‘Little Britain’... Preiser figures repainted. 590-10479 I had to remove the breasts from the pusher before painting 'him' as Andy. The hair was perfect, though.

Rev Geraldine Granger and Virger Alice Tinker from ‘The Vicar of Dibley’... Geraldine was the

        priest from 15577Noch. I simply changed the head to a woman with the right hairstyle

        from another figure. Alice Tinker was a Preiser priest in a cassock with the head changed to a

        blond woman. 590-28076

Mr. Bean... some seated figure I had that I  thought looked like him. All I did was a repaint.

Flower seller Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgens... Preiser flower seller 590-38206 repainted and a groom from a wedding pack 590-10058

Austin Powers... I changed the head on a car driver and repainted it

Stan Butler and Jack Harper from ‘On The Buses’... Preiser Conductor 590-28034 and

        Engineer 590-28038

Miss Marple... Preiser church goers 590-10559

Hercule Poirot... Preiser Standing Travelers 590-14044

Captain Hastings and Miss Lemon... A seated figure with the head changed and another seated figure

        repainted

Mothers with their babies... Mostly Preiser, I  think

Cyclists... Preiser 590-10515

Woman scolding trainspotter  on the footbridge at Hogsmeade... 15577Noch

Woman hangout laundry... Preiser 590-28110

 

Planned but not yet on the layout are:

 

Abbey Road Zebra Crossing w/‘The Beatles’... white  metal figure that I forgot where I got them... or

        where I put them, at this moment. lol 

Chief Inspector Japp driving to meet Poirot... will find an appropriate seated figure to put in the existing car

Daffyd Thomas from ‘Little Britain’... Preiser bathers 590-12135

Emily Howard from ‘Little Britain’... Preiser Victorian cyclists 590-12129

Mary Poppins and Bert the Chimney Sweep from ‘Mary Poppins’... 590-12194

Basil thrashing his Austin car from ‘Fawlty Towers’  ... Preiser 590-29006

Inspector Morse and his Jaguar from ‘Inspector Morse’... I already have the Jaguar

Daisy and Onslo’s terrace house w/junk car out fron and with visiting… gotta build the council houses

        from scratch. Saw them in 2013 and took lots of pics.

Hyacinth and Richard  w/their Rover car from ‘Keeping Up Appearances’

Dads Army was made in to a US version in the mid 70's iirc it was called the rear guard, they only made a pilot. Over the years MR has published the odd British article/layout but Im kind of hoping that the rumor that David Popp is forsaking his Naugatuck for a while and having a bash at a GWR layou may open some peoples eyes.

 

Andy

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I will be at the Spring Thaw train meet in Allentown in February. I would do more shows but cannot financially since I have to rent a truck every time. If I had my own truck or trailer I would do as many as possible in the region. It would be great to meet you.

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  • 2 months later...

Haven't done anything for quite some time but finally did Daffyd Thomas from Little Britain. Here he is in front of the Laughing Queen pub chatting up the blacksmith.

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I'm sorry this is so out of focus but my camera doesn't take good close ups. This shows Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis[/size] getting out of Inspector Morse's Jaguar heading into the Prince Albert pub. I repainted two figures from Preiser Churchgoers set 10559.

How about a crime scene on that bit of scrubland behind the cars. Police and squad cars and some of that police tape!

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