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"Anything You Can do, I Can Do Better ! Robinson and Downes.


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I was at my dads last week and pulled this out of the ceiling, I must have been 15 when I built it and being Australian and 15 I didn;t even know what thatch was but spent my May holidays glueing strands of wool to the roof and covering it with flock because Allan Downes told me to!

 

 

attachicon.gifIMAG0729 (1024x579).jpg

 

 Lovely cottage Monkeysarefun you've really caught that "Downes" cottage character.Brilliant stuff.

 

 However I must ask how the cottage became embedded in your fathers ceiling? I hope you didn't throw your model at it in disgust. If you ask me it's every bit as good as the stuff Allan was turning out in the early seventies.He inspired me too, I even built one of his windmills, although in my case I rather regret now throwing it at the ceiling.

Edited by iainp
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 Lovely cottage Monkeysarefun you've really caught that "Downes" cottage character.Brilliant stuff.

 

 However I must ask how the cottage became embedded in your fathers ceiling? I hope you didn't throw your model at it in disgust. If you ask me it's every bit as good as the stuff Allan was turning out in the early seventies.He inspired me too, I even built one of his windmills although in my case I rather regret now throwing it at the ceiling.

 Gravity caused it to embed itself in the ceiling because he's Australian

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Fair dinkum, I got that book 2 months ago and still haven't finished looking at all  the pictures yet  and there you are already building stuff from it!

 

I'm only fairly new here  but here's a couple of other books that I thought you might  get some inspiration from:

 

attachicon.gifcathedral.jpg

 

And have you ever thought about building one of these?

 

 

attachicon.gifwindmill.jpg

 

I was at my dads last week and pulled this out of the ceiling, I must have been 15 when I built it and being Australian and 15 I didn;t even know what thatch was but spent my May holidays glueing strands of wool to the roof and covering it with flock because Allan Downes told me to!

 

 

attachicon.gifIMAG0729 (1024x579).jpg

I've already built a cathedral and so as not to upset Robinson, now might be a good time to show it again whilst he's out on the North Sea building model oil rigs at a massively great expense to the refineries. Expect 10 quid a gal' very shortly.

 

Anyway, I'll put it up again if you haven't already seen it.

 

Cheers.

Allan

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Hi Alan,

that is looking very inviting, is it American, they do have some stunning Architectural gems that are crying out to be modelled, its something different and with you at the helm, it all comes together as it should, experience rules the day, great modelling Alan.

cheers

Peter

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Hi Stu.

 

With a pair of dividers.

 

Strike the circle then by applying pressure, keep turning the dividers until the point cuts right through the styrene.

 

Cheers.

Allan

 

 

D'oh!

 

Simple, when you know how !!

 

Thanks

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Hi Alan,

that is looking very inviting, is it American, they do have some stunning Architectural gems that are crying out to be modelled, its something different and with you at the helm, it all comes together as it should, experience rules the day, great modelling Alan.

cheers

Peter

 

Hi Peter.

 

Yes, they are American, Southern States mostly, but similar architecture was also adopted elsewhere in sunny climates and California inparticular.

 

The problem is that many of the details are well beyond just a Stanley knife and a sheet of plastic and really what I need is a mini-spindle router/ lathe/horizontal and vertical mill but there are limits to how far I'm prepared to go when all I'm building them for is just simply for something to do in old age and at times I must admit that I get sloppy.

 

Cheers.

Allan.

Edited by allan downes
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I was kind of loosing my way with this build as the geometry has turned into a nightmare so I had to box up the main body of the building, drop the roof over, then work each bay windowed gable seperately where somehow, and much to my suprise, everything matched up at the eaves - but there's a third one yet to come and that might not match up to anything !

 

Cheers.

Allan

 

post-18579-0-33026900-1413137732_thumb.jpgpost-18579-0-46430300-1413137765_thumb.jpgpost-18579-0-60853500-1413137786_thumb.jpg

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 Bay header valance, sounds good.All I need to do is somehow drop that phrase into a conversation and just for once I might sound like I know what I'm on about.

Cheers thanks for that Allan.

 

Edit: To change valence to valance.That's two things Allan's taught me already today.

Edited by iainp
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Hi Iain.

 

If you're referring to the bay header valance, yes it is - quarter round picture frame moulding from Wicks - mitering it was a swine !

 

Cheers.

Allan

 

I wasn't quite sure what a header valance was, Allan, but, Googling it, it seems to be a term in drapery. I would have thought that the architectural moulding we're talking about here is a convex cornice.

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Lovely images as ever Allan, I particularly like the way you've modelled the bay header valance.Very nice.

 

 

Edit: Oh no! there was me thinking I was sounding really knowledgeable and I find that Bluebottle's revealed I'm talking a load of Boxxocks yet again.

         He's always doing that.

 

2nd Edit: To change spelling of valance from valence to valance like I dId yesterday.I tell you it's not easy being me..

Edited by iainp
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Looking at your "albums and images" on RMweb, Iain, you're getting on with building things, which I'm not doing at the moment. If I differ with respected craftsmen such as Allen, it's generally on some minor point of terminology or historical fact. If I refer to things such as cornices and hanging buttresses, that's because I have books such as Banister Fletcher's "A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method" on the shelf. I try to quote from these when I think there may be some general interest in the matter, and Allan always acknowledges pedantry with genial good humour. I think it's fair to say that RMweb has a laudable ethos of tolerance and mutual respect, despite occasional spats between individuals.

I'd be interested to know which upcoming shows you might be attending. I think I'll be going to Leeds on the 25th, and Wakefield next month.   

 

 

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Looking at your "albums and images" on RMweb, Iain, you're getting on with building things, which I'm not doing at the moment. If I differ with respected craftsmen such as Allen, it's generally on some minor point of terminology or historical fact. If I refer to things such as cornices and hanging buttresses, that's because I have books such as Banister Fletcher's "A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method" on the shelf. I try to quote from these when I think there may be some general interest in the matter, and Allan always acknowledges pedantry with genial good humour. I think it's fair to say that RMweb has a laudable ethos of tolerance and mutual respect, despite occasional spats between individuals.

I'd be interested to know which upcoming shows you might be attending. I think I'll be going to Leeds on the 25th, and Wakefield next month.   

 

 I've advanced since then, I used to call the bay header  " the top bit "!

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Hi Bluebottle I'll be attending the Wakey show on the Saturday am. I usually go to the pub sometime in the afternoon.The Redoubt just down the road, although last year the landlady said the pub group might be selling the pub on, so it's probably gone down the tube by now.Send me a PM. and we can arrange to meet up if you like.

 

Is Banisters Fletcher's "A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method" a real book or did you just make it up.It's no good me asking Allan as I suspect he wouldn't have a clue.Bay Header Valance indeed, everybody knows it's a convex cornice, although Allan will probably say it's a flying buttress now.He's built cathedrals you know, but he doesn't like to go on about it,well not much anyway.

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