Jump to content
 

Job's Modelling

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,578

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    3

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Job's Modelling

  1. Job's Modelling
    The story
     
    My regular readers know that I like to create a background story for my diorama’s. I mostly do this before I start building and sometimes when I suggestion comes along in the comments of my blog entries, for instance adding a poster on the brick wall.
     
    G.W. Barlow & Son Ltd / Pawnbrokers & Jewellers
    No. 14 Queens Street - Closed shop
     
    The shop first opened in Northall as a jewellers and pawnbrokers in 1900. The shop was from the beginning situated on Queen Street and owned by Mr A Gardner. The shop, including the original shop front, is moved to No 136 High Street in 1959, due the development plans of the Northall Council.
    George William Barlow purchased the business in 1945 and was joined by his son Harold in 1946 on his return from service in the army during the Second World War.
    The shop front is largely original and as it would have looked in 1900. G.W. Barlow & Son Ltd is a truly individual family run business offering a wide range of more individual pieces with a highly professional and very personal service.
     
    X-ray screening health poster
     

     
    Early discovery means quicker recovery’ states this poster. It was drawn by artist T. R. Williams. Advertising posters such as this promoted mobile X-ray screening programmes to detect pulmonary tuberculosis in large groups of people.. Mobile X-ray services played a large role in public health campaigns against tuberculosis in the 1940s and 1950s. Mobile X-ray services were very successful. They were phased out in the UK in the 1960s. But I read that modern mobile X-ray units are introduced again in London.
     
    Laundry Service
    No.15 Queens Street
     

     
    The first business that was situated here was the King’s Arms
    The King’s Arms was possibly the Great Kings Arms mentioned in 1792 and recorded as The Kings Head in 1845. The pub closed in 1893/4.
    By 1913 the property was used as a clothiers and in 1928 as a greengrocers. In 1947 it became a laundry.
     
    Herbert Sing Lee started a laundry shop here in 1947. He lives above the laundry shop. Sing Lee employs two people: Lee Doon, a nephew from Liverpool, who works for Sing Lee for just five weeks, and a local woman called Lily Scott.
    Herbert Sing Lee is still looking for a new property to continue his business.
     
    No. 16 Queens Street
    Closed shop: A. Leach & Co – Ironmongers Limited
    By 1899 Albert Leach & Co ran their ironmongers business from number 16, to be succeeded by Harry Leach in 1901 ‘Leach & Co, ironmongers’ in a 1907 trade directory.
    Thomas Leach, becomes the director of the company according to the trade directory in 1954: A. Leach & Co Ironmongers Ltd. ‘No 16 Queen Street Northall (phone no.) NORthall 3262’.
    1959 the same company was trading as A. Leach & Co (Northall) Ltd., Engineers Stores & Ironmongers; No.10 London Road using the same phone no.
     
    Black and white
    Most of the pictures I find from the late 1950’s or early 1960’s are in black and white. So I thought it would be a good idea to create also a black and white photograph for my story telling.
     

    Picture by John Lovell
     
    Redevelopment
    After redevelopment of the area a new office building, will house the offices of the Northall Housing Association.
     
    As usual comments, information or suggestions are welcome.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  2. Job's Modelling
    The last building
    The last shop is also closed. It’s an ironmongers shop, called A. Leach & Co. Ironmongers limited
     

     
    Different appearance
    The shop sign is created by myself using Publisher. One of the advantages for me is that I can save my Publisher creation as a jpeg file.
    The shop is made with different textures from different kits and texture sheets from Scalescenes.
    The give the diorama a lot look at I gave it a totally different appearance with a lot of details.
     
    Modelling the shop
    The colour scheme I use was the reference for the choice of my textures.
    Windows are made in the same way as for the second building. I used the glazing with grime texture sheet from Scalescenes to put behind the windows.
     
    Finishing
    I still have to do some finishing work. I want to place some sky at the side and in the back of the building. There are also some small parts that need attention.
     
    Scene
    The diorama is made to show a delivery scene. The delivery scene will be part of my story, by using the photographs I make from the scene. I have some thoughts how to do this but I must work this out first.
    I also want to use it as presentation diorama for one of my 1950’s cars. The British Railways mechanical horse will also be used in my other story-telling diorama’s
     

    The whole building &
     

     
    the shop fronts
    Any suggestion or comments are welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
  3. Job's Modelling
    The middle building
    The shop in the middle of the building is still in use. I know how to create windows for a derelict building. So for my first building I had no problem. But how to crate believable windows above the shop for my second building?
     
    A late 1950’s Laundry shop
    I always try to create a believable late 1950’s scene. First I make a choice for my shop. For that I use pictures out that period. I found useful pictures to help me to create my scene. I have also some good usable textures for this part of my diorama.
    The shop sign and shop window signs are created by myself using Publisher.
     
    Monday – washing day
    The diorama is set on a Monday, and Monday was in the late 1950’s still washing day. And not everyone was doing (all) the wash at home. In my case the middle shop offers Laundry Service. They offer also bag wash service.
     
    “In the UK the system was known as the bag wash, or bagwash, and was sometimes offered by independent washerwomen working from home.”
     
    The Laundry Service is run by Mr. Lee. His ancestors came from Hong Kong.
     
    Modelling the shop
    Because I use a colour scheme I use that as a reference to choose my textures.
    Textures used are from Scalescenes, for the brick, windows and shop and Smart Models for the curtains.
    The window textures from Scalescenes I found to light and to grey. I used pastels to give them a more poorly maintained appearance. Colouring them with middle brown and sepia, faded with a cotton bud, gave the right result.
     
    Finishing
    I still have to do some finishing work. I so that when I have finished the third part of the building with the final shop front. For the result until now see the pictures below.
     

    ​the two finished buildings &
     

    the two finished shop fronts
     
    Any suggestion or comments are welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
  4. Job's Modelling
    For this project I used a reference picture with a row of derelict shops. I never follow the picture to build a copy. The picture is the base to create the scene. Every part of the building will get another appearance. In this way even a small scene can look interesting.
     
    For this building I searched carefully the colours to follow my colour scheme. To refresh your mind, I have put the colour scheme below.
     

     
    For the choice of the textures I used the scheme as a reference. Most textures are from the High Street shopfronts from Scalescenes. The brick covering of the shopfront is aged brown brick from Scalescenes and for the garden wall I also used the brown garden wall textures from Scalescenes. The grey plywood textures are from CG textures, made to size and the shop sign is made using the RGB colours that fit the colour scheme.
     

     
    The picture gives the first impression of the building. I still have to add the roof and do some weathering. The weathering and finishing of the scene will be done when I have finished the complete building.
     
    Any suggestion or comments are welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
  5. Job's Modelling
    I have started my new vignette. A vignette is smaller than a diorama, with the focus on the main subject. I my case this will be a mechanical horse for my story telling and a Morris Oxford III for the finished vignette.
     

     
    I’m going to try out some a new weathering approach for my diecast models. But more about that in a later blog entry.
     
    For my vignette a used one of the buildings from the High Street shop fronts from Scalescenes. As usual I started with the road and the footway. This vignette is a try out to get the proper size using the golden rule. One thing I didn’t realize is that for situating the road vehicle the size of the road and the footway is defining the size. The building can be placed outside the vignette as the edge of the micro layout.
     

     
    In the picture an overview of the vignette. The vignette measures 21,5 x 10 cm for the road and the footway.
    The road surface is from Scalescenes, the footway from Model Railway Scenery. The colour of the footway of Scalescenes didn’t fit in my colour scheme.
    The colours of the inside of the building won’t be visible when the building is finished.
     
    The frame of the building is not yet finished completely. On the left side of the building I have to create a part of a yard or garden wall, maybe with a gate.
     
    Any suggestion or comments are welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
  6. Job's Modelling
    Writing about a colour palette is one. Designing one is a totally different story.
    Because I didn’t want to do the try and error method for a diorama I had to do some research first.
    I used the following approach.
     
    I copied a “picture” from the website of Scalescenes or from another supplier to Publisher. In this case the aged brown brick from Scalescenes.
     

     
    This is the easy part.
     


    1. For the creation of my colour palette I like to use a 1950’s colour scheme. I have used the B5252 colour chart before, for the making of shop signs. So for my colour palette I wanted to use this colour chart for finding some fitting colours. This did take some time.
    I also looked at the website of Citadel paints which colours I could use in combination of this brick sheet.
    When you use Publisher for this it is possible to layer the different elements. In this way I could see which colour fitted best.
    In this way I created a “reference sheet”. I have made already several as pdf.  
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

    2. The next step was selecting all the colours from the sheets I wanted to use for my diorama. After my first selection a decided to look for some other textures that would make my colour palette more balanced.
    Here is the colour scheme that I will use creating my next diorama.  
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

    The main problem is that the colours on my computer are totally different from a printed version of the aged brown brick on canvas photo paper. As I said in the reply of my last entry one of the things I have noticed is that every type of professional photo paper gives his own colour. So I think I will be surprised in some cases. But the colour scheme is a good reference and with the use of pastels and pigments I can bring the colours more together.  
     
     
     
     

    Next step is to create a black and white version of my new diorama. It will be called Back of Nice Street. Nice Street was one of my former diorama’s with a row of shops.  
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

    At the other side of the street is a row of cottages. I will build some back yards of this cottages as part of my new diorama.  

    Any suggestion or comments are welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
  7. Job's Modelling
    Let’s start with a quote from another RM blogger: “When I see some of the so called Art I become more and more convinced that railway modelling is very much an art form, yet one that we don't explore as much as we should.” Thanks for this one Dad-1. See his article here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/608/entry-17901-is-railway-modelling-art/
     
    So now my contribution on this subject.
    On Facebook sometimes you get surprised with an inspiring post. This time my eye was cached by the following picture.
     

     
    When surfing around and reading several articles about this subject I found this text very interesting: “Every film has its own way of telling its story. The colour palette helps the director to enhance the emotional aspect of the film and helps viewers to respond to it.”
     
    This could be translated to my own diorama building.
     
    After my latest building and the enthusiastic respond I asked myself the question: what is the reason for this respond.
     

     
    The main success of this model is the careful choice of colours. All colours are fitting in the small palette of colours that I used. Carefully selected with every step. Not at the start.
     
    Another building with the same result I have built in the past for Northall Dock.
     

     
    The building on the right with the stuccoed wall is also built in the same way. Carefully looking at each texture before it was used.
     
    You also can see that for the total diorama much more colours are used. This is the case in most of my diorama’s I have built until now. I noticed this when people liked some pictures instead of my total diorama. I will give you an example: the picture of William Fish in front of his workshop.
     

     
    Actually that is my approach. Designing a diorama and then creating each building as a separate item. Only with Caroline Street I tried to use a colour palette.
     

     
    I believe I can create a more balanced and atmospheric diorama’s when I spent more attention to the colour palette I want to use. This will be a new challenge for my next diorama.
     

    And to answer the question "is Railway Modelling Art" is answered with the most common reaction I get when people see my diorama's. You are creating art. So for me Railway Modelling can be a form of art.
     
    Any suggestion or comments are welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
  8. Job's Modelling
    I have finished the yard of J. Peterson Ltd on Grove Road.
    For the yard I used the following details:

    - Portland cement sacks
    - A spade
    - Pigments for sand
    - Fine basalt for aggregate
    - Some corrugated plates (photo paper)  
    For the storage of the aggregate and sand I created staithes from brick.
     
    The cement sacks, spade and fine basalt are from Kotol, a German supplier of excellent detail materials in hO. Because I didn’t use any OO gauge detail materials in the yard I found them very useful to create the right atmosphere for a builder’s yard.
     
    The piles for the aggregate and sand I made from some scrap card and toilet paper. The piles were than painted using pigments and water. The aggregate pile is finished with fine basalt. The pile of sand with Venetian earth pigment.
     
    The corrugated iron plates are from a kit of Clever Models.
     

     
    Then I made some pictures to create the on the road scene for my story.
     
    I haven’t made a choice yet, so if you have a favourite please let me know.
     

    No. 1
     

    No. 2
     

    No. 3
     

    No. 4
     
    If anyone has any experience with putting a driver in an Austin KX from Oxford Die-cast, please let me know.
     
    And as always suggestions and comments are appreciated.
     
    Kind regards
    Job
  9. Job's Modelling
    I have done some further work on J. Peterson Ltd on Grove Road.
     
    But let me repeat my starting points:
    - Using my favorite method for design
    - Balanced colors
    - Just low relief
     
    For the building I took the garage from Scalescenes using a texture from Clever Models and a self-made sign. I did choice the brick wall from Model Railway Scenery
     

    Brick wall ((Railway Model Scenery)
     
    But making photographs I noticed another problem. The solution was to create the complete workshop. In this way it is possible to create a picture using the birds-eye position for my camera. I think I have to do a lot of try outs to get the right picture, but making digital pictures this is no problem.
     
    For the roof I also wanted balanced colors. The simplest one would be using slate. The zinc roofing from Scalescenes has the wrong colour in my case. The other possibility was to create a corrugated roof. The color from the Scalescenes range gave a balanced color look.
     
    So I created a corrugated roof for Peterson & Son Ltd. I think a simple photo guide will explain enough.
     

    Corrugated plates about 16 x 22 mm in 4 mm scale. I used 20 mm high as on the texture from Scalescenes.
     

    I created guide lines for gluing the plates in place. Just overlapping each other. From every plate a made the edges black with a pastel pencil to create some shadow lines.
     

    I used pastel pencils for weathering: sienna and umber are very useful. For more fresh rust you can use orange to brown colors.
     

    The finished corrugated roof. With on one side the wall coping.
     
    On the other side I made also a roof window from a left over from Scalescene
     
    Yard side with roof.
     
    I have to finish the roof with further wall copings. The next job will be to create a small builders yard.
     
    Any suggestions for creating a believable yard are very welcome.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  10. Job's Modelling
    I wanted to keep it simple …
    My starting points were:
    - Using my favourite method for design
    - Balanced colours
    - Just low relief
    For this purpose, I asked Scalescenes to provide my a picture of the back of a row of terraced cottages, he uses on his website. He kindly provided me the picture. Many thanks for that.
    Then I realised I had “a lot” of not used prints. This could be the opportunity to use them.
    Using my map, I searched for a scene to build.
    My choice was to build J. Peterson Ltd on Grove Road.
     

     
    For the building I took the garage from Scalescenes.
     

     
    The used brick texture is from Clever Models. Sign self made. The door is a part from the Scalescenes garage.
     
    I needed to present a yard “wall” or “fence”.
    The see what would work best I made three possible sollutions (all scrapp parts)
     

    A concrete fence (Railway Model Scenery)
     

    A corrugated fence (Clever Models
     

    Brick wall ((Railway Model Scenery)
     
    On all three pictures you see just flat models.
     
    The discussion with my partner gave the following result:
    A corrugated fence (Clever Models), useful for a scrap yard or a bombed area
    A concrete fence (Railway Model Scenery), is this right in the late 1950’s? I couldn’t find reference pictures.
    Brick wall ((Railway Model Scenery) – gives a very balanced colour look.
     
    So I will use the brick wall. But making photographs from the diorama I noticed another problem. It was very hard to make the pictures I had in mind this way.
     
    I have found a solution, but more about that in my next entrée.
     
    Can anyone give an answer or information of the use of concrete fences in the late 1950’s?
     
    As always suggestions, etc., etc. … are welcome
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  11. Job's Modelling
    Last Sunday I was with my daughter in Amsterdam. She needed some help from me. We also wanted, after finishing our duties, to visit the Stedelijk Museum. For me it was a long time ago. But I have enjoyed it very much, especially the paintings of my favorite Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan. The way creates his balanced basic colored paintings is just great. I saw that a lot of years ago on a drawing exposition in another museum. But this is one of my favorites: Tableau No.1 It gave my also the inspiration for the title of this entry.
     

     
    I love the ‘urban’ colours of the painting. The kind of atmosphere I try to achieve in my diorama’s.
    In the tram to the museum my daughter and I were discussing my diorama’s en story telling. When I told her that I would like to create some diorama’s she loved the idea. She says in this way you don’t have only the delivering scenes. It will give your story a livelier image.
    So from now on there will be an On the Road No. …. Of course with a number next time.
     
    So I decided to create a new map as a reference, incorporating my already built diorama’s. I will use the map as a reference. So it is not to scale and I can make some chances if necessary. I also divided Northall in several districts, because the program I use is limited for making my maps.
     

     
    The colours in the map I use as an analyse key. For instance, the light blue colour stands for cottages build in the Victorian area.
     
    And if you are missing some of my diorama’s …
    they are on another district map.
     
    To show you what I mean I have used Station Road to make an on the road picture.
     

     
    As always suggestions, etc., etc. … are welcome
     

    Kind regards,
    Job
  12. Job's Modelling
    The last building is William Fish & Son.
    The building is based on the T024a Industrial A – Warehouse from Scalescenes.
    For the roof I used the zinc roof texture from the Scalescenes Garage and for the slated part TX184 = Mixed grey roof slates from Modelrailwayscenery.
     
    When I designed this diorama I wanted to use a large advertising board on this building.
    To create tis one I used a layered approach. And as I promised I would show you how I did it.
    You need two advertising boards to realise it.
    Cut out the poster inside the frame.
     

     
    Next step:
    Put the frame on top of the second poster.
     

     
    And the end result: a layered advertising board. Although almost invisible on the pictures.
     

     
    Then you can glue the advertising board on the building.
     

    The picture shows the final result after weathering.
     
    The building is built in the same way as the goods receiving office and also weathered, using the same materials.
    The doors are from the internet. The sign is made myself using Publisher.
     
    Although the roof texture is designed to glue it in one part on the roof, I decided to using the method I also used for the roof for the Goods Receiving Office. A layered approach gives you the opportunity to create an individual roof.
     

     
    As you can see I used the roof Scalescenes created for the ware house as a guidance. For me the mixed slates are going very well with the colours of the bricks.
     
    I also wanted to give the side wall of the building some more character. So I gave it a window and u bricked up door.
     

     
    And because a picture says more than a thousand words some pictures op the final building.
     

    The alley between the two buildings.
     

    A birds-eye view of the building
     
    Now I can give the diorama a final finishing touch. Looking critical to the pictures I have made an adding a final detail or some final details.
     
    As always comments and suggestions are welcome.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  13. Job's Modelling
    Making a railway layout or a diorama is actually telling a story. I found an interesting article about this subject, although aimed for writing a short story or a novel. But I have already seen some different approaches passing by on the RM web.
     
     
    1. VIGNETTE
    Typically, a vignette is defined as something that is incomplete, an impressionistic scene that centre’s around one moment, and gives the viewer an image of a person or place.
    For my layouts and diorama’s are vignettes. The viewer of a layout will see a train pass by and fills in his own story. The same occurs when someone is looking to a diorama.
     

    The interior of the Great Eastern pub in Bridge Street.
     
    2. SLICE OF LIFE
    Similar to the vignette, a slice of life story is incomplete in that it focuses on the common, a random series of moments or scenes. Often times these feel almost like journalism, documenting events without offering up any explanation, any thoughts or understanding of what has happened—and the story typically has an open ending.
    This could for instance be the case if you look at these two pictures of Daisy Page on Station Road.
     

     
    3. LIST
    There are any numbers of ways to write a list story, but typically, it is broken up into either numbered scenes, or a collection of objects or ideas under one concept.
    My story about Northall is actually a list story. I have broken the story up in the days of the week. In this way I will try to give a time based picture of the life of the family Page in Northall.
    For this see the attached PDF.
     
    Sunday 23 august 1959.pdf
     
    4. LENGTH
    You’ve certainly written short stories in a variety of lengths, but typically the length of a short story is supposed to be between about 1,000-7,500 words. But it is possible to use less words to tell a story.
    The honourable slipper boy told by Mikkel (picture used with permission) (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/75/entry-16866-the-honourable-slipper-boy-part-1/ ) is such a short story, told in pictures and words.
     

     
    For my Northall Story, that I will tell this way as a multimedia project, I have calculated that it will be possible to do it in about 3000 words.
    You can find my own multimedia presentation here: https://www.facebook.com/job.weessies/videos/947390605350238/
     
    IN CONCLUSION
    The bottom line is that what form you use it has to serve the story.
    I hope that I’ve inspired you to stretch yourself and experiment a bit. I’m sure I’ve missed some great ideas.
    But take some chances, experiment a little bit, and see what happens. It could be fun. And don’t forget to publish it on the RM-web.
     
    And as usual suggestion and comments are most welcome.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  14. Job's Modelling
    Mikkel suggested to see if it was possible to publish the story of a diorama in the gallery on the RM web.
    After his excellent entry about "The honourable slipper boy" http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/75/entry-17254-the-honourable-slipper-boy-part-3/ it was time to see if his suggestion was workable.
    I have my story in Word, but I know that with the help of Publisher I can putting a picture ans a text together. You can then save the individual pages as JPEG-file. Now the picture and text cn be cut to a "fitting" JPEG file.
     
    You can see the result below.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Please give my some feedback about this approach.
     
    I have also published these pictures in My Gallery under Station Road. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/album/3457-station-road/
     
    Thanks fro reading,
     
    Kind Regards,
    Job
     
    PS. I have created an other picture.
    After this try out I know I have to build my diorama's in the right order.
    And every time I have to update my basic story.
    Using the same figures in different diorama's will also give great opportunities.
     

  15. Job's Modelling

    Cars in Northall

    By Job's Modelling,

    Because of my eye troubles modelling was not good possible, so I did some research on internet about the amount of cars in the 1950’s. As far as I could find out about 1 on the three families had a car at the end of the 1950’s. I decided that for Northall that means that every diorama with three or more buildings/houses should have a car.
     
    Until now I had concentrated me on the British Railways road cars. Only in Bridge Street and Nice street, which are larger diorama’s, I placed a car. I wanted to try out the use of a car also in my smaller diorama’s Station Road and Caroline Street.
     
    I also spent of lot of time in the research of what models could be used. There is a lot information available on this subject. The period of building, the changes made and the colours the cars were made in for instance. For OO gauge not all information is usable.
     
    Because Northall is places somewhere in Greater London I decided to give the cars also registration numbers that were used in Greater London. For Northall the area code for London North East
    (Middlesex to 1963) will be used.
     
    To create the car numbers, I made use of the ‘Vintage Car registration’ texture of ModelrailwayScenery.
     
    In station road I place an Austin A30 A2S4 2 door Deluxe, built in 1959 in Chelsea grey with mid blue roof. The registration number: KMD 302.
    The car belongs to Harry Wild a reporter of the Northall Gazette.
     
    I painted the roof of the car myself.
     

     
    For Caroline Street I used an Austin A35 4 door Deluxe, built in 1959 in County Cream. The registration number: KMM 302.
    The car belongs to Charles Bishop, a commercial traveller who lives on number 3.
     

     
    When I put the cars in the diorama’s I noticed that they were very shiny. So I gave both cars a coat of mat varnish.
     
    So, maybe, you will see more cars in my diorama’s in the future.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  16. Job's Modelling
    Mikkel said something about presentation of our modelling effort as an answer in my latest blog. I quote the line that made me write this entry: “ The blogs are fine but after a while the stories "disappear" into the depths of the blogosphere, and it would be nice to have them more easily accessible.”
    Then I realized that this was also the case with my entries in the card modelling and diorama forum.
    After looking at the entries in the card modelling section I saw I lost some information that could be useful for my ‘story’ about Northall.
    In an earlier entry I wrote something about this subject. Now I will show you how I save my information.
    I have made map called Northall information index:
     

     
    In the B section I saved information about Bridge Street, my first project.
     

     
    To save your information you have three possible solutions:
     
     
     

    - Your own computer (with a backup I suppose)
    - In the cloud (for me that’s the RM-web for my modelling publications)
    - Printing – print what you absolute don’t want to lose.  
    With the information I found in the entries in the card modelling forum, especially about the Great Eastern pub, I made a new file named Bridge Street description. I will share the part about the Great Eastern pub with you in this entry.
     
    No 2 Bridge Street - The Great Eastern
     

     
    History:
    In 1901 Francis Gibson (1876) from Oxford had taken over the Great Eastern. Succeeded in 1921 by Francis Gibson (1897), in 1938 by William Baker (1912) from Forby and in 1944 by Robert Bond (1929)
    Albert Miller took over the pub in 1955.
     
    Albert Miller, head, (1925) aged 34, pub keeper,
    Agnes Martin, wife (1927) aged 32,
    Madeline Miller, daughter, (1948) aged 11, scholar
    William Miller, son, (1950) aged 9, scholar
    They live above the pub.
     
    The pub is locally well known for its own ‘house’ darts competition. The pub champion then moved on to the Area final of the “The News of the World Individual darts tournament”.
    It is not money they are playing for but a huge trophy. This trophy may be held by the champion’s pub for a year, plus a replica for the winner and fame. The NoW was the chance for any man, who could throw a great dart to become not only a local but also a national hero.
    Arthur’s colleague Maurice Collum takes every year of this great event. He is also a member of the pubs dart team.
     
    Albert Miller is a collector of shipping posters of the Great Railway Company’s before 1948. In the pub he has exposed his collection.
    Mr Miller is also great expert of Scottish whiskey’s.
     

    Thomas Molloy is talking with Albert Miller about a news article
     

    While Thomas Malloy is sitting at the bar, talking with the pub owner, is Joan Bertram daydreaming in her room.
     
    Ethel Pope (1931) aged 28 – barmaid
     

    Ethel Pope is has parked her bicycle in back yard of the pub. The family’s cat Blacky is sitting on a cask to welcome her. Her duties have still to start.
     
    Guests:
    Joan Bertram (1933) aged 26 from London
    Thomas Molloy (1902) aged 57 sales agent from Oxford
     
    Thanks for reading and I hope my next entry is again about some modelling.
    And of course any comments, suggestion or additional information is welcome.
     
    Regards,
     
    Job
     
    PS. And for those who like the complete description of Bridge Street my PDF version:
    Bridge Street description.pdf
  17. Job's Modelling
    Unfortunately, I have an unfocused vision at this moment. This makes it difficult to model on the level I want. So I decided to work on my story. The story is about a regular week of the live of the family Page, living in Caroline Street in Northall. I will use pictures of my diorama’s to illustrate the story.
     

    Sunday 23 August 1959


     
    It’s a cloudy morning when Arthur Page is sitting in front of his late Victorian cottage in Caroline Street. Margaret Gates is telling him she is going for a walk with her parents in the park near Victoria Road. Their dog Ponto may come with them
     




     
    Next to his chair lays the latest edition from the Northall Gazette, which he was reading before he was interrupted. Arthur is concerned about the main article about the new housing plans of the Northall Council.
     
    His wife Lucy is busy in their small kitchen making the Sunday lunch – usually roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, because Arthur does not like most other meats. This Sunday she makes his favourite desert: apple pie.
    Arthur, Lucy and their daughter Daisy and are enjoying the lunch together.
    Lucy makes for Arthur and her some coffee brewed in the percolator.
     
    After lunch Daisy is picked up by John Lovell, her boyfriend.
     
    Arthur and Lucy are talking about the housing article in the Northall Gazette. They both don’t want to remove to the new estate. Lucy says she is a little worried about the friendship of Daisy with John. But Arthur says she must have an open mind, because he sees that John is working hard, despite of his colourful appearance. He also says that he can see that his daughter loves John.
    William is now going listening to the radio to the Billy Cotton Band Show, one of his favourite radio programs.
    Lucy is going to her son Frank, who lives in a flat on the Muriel Campden Estate, North Court. His wife Christine is at the end of her pregnancy and can give birth to her first child very soon.
     
    At the end of the street is the premises of Robert Oxford and Sons, Steam Engine Printers. Here the Northall Gazette is printed. They also are publishers of fictive books.
    Arthur’s daughter Daisy likes the work she is doing at Oxford Ltd and she hopes to be a book editor in the future.
     




     
    John has picked up Daisy. They have met each other a couple of months ago at a party in The Phoenix Tavern when two colleagues of them got married.
    They are walking to Station Road talking about the things they like to do in the future.
     
    When John was 16 he took up amateur photography. He likes to photograph old derelict buildings. Daisy likes the picture he made of the old empty office at Northall Dock.
     




     
    Last week he had a look in the window of Harry Parsons photo shop and saw a beautiful Rolleiflex. It’s is still above his budget, so he will have to save more money for he can buy one. He wants to show it to Florence. John likes to become a freelance photographer making social engaged daily life pictures.
    John wears Teddy Boy clothing because he wants to stand out. He is in many ways a shy and humble young man. He actually loves a quit live, spending a lot of his spare time in his dark room.
     
    Arthur works at the factory of Ince & Mayhew, where he got the opportunity to work as an industrial advertising photographer for the company. This factory produces well designed first class office furniture and publishes every year a high quality catalog.
     




     
    Arthur finds Daisy a very attractive girl, but it is her warmth and kindness which likes he most.
    Daisy is a fan of Elvis Presley. She looks with a lot of interest at the shop window of Arch Records, on Station Road, which has an Elvis Presley theme. They like to visit the record shop, as other Northall teenagers, because James Johnson can tell nice anecdotes of today’s music scene.
     




     
    Last week they visited Walden books. Daisy loves to read and is always looking for some nice Victorian poetry and novels. John is not interested in literature, but he found a second hand example of Photography Theory and Practice from L. P Clerc and George E Brown from 1937 in the book shop. The owner of the bookshop Mr. Newton was very helpful and Arthur will now regularly go to his shop searching for books about photography.
     
    After seeing the ODEON board Daisy suggest to go to Serious Charge featuring Cliff Richard next Saturday evening. She likes his new hit Living Doll.
     




     
    John takes Daisy to the milk bar on the corner of High Street and Queen Street to treat her on her favourite sorbet, a Knickerbocker Glories. Arthur likes the Italian coffee they serve.
    Then he will walk her home.
     
    End.
     
    When the total story is finished I will publish it aa a PDF.
     
    And comments on the story are welcome. My only reference to that period are my memories as a boy living in a small apartment in Utrecht in 1959.
     
    Thanks for reading.
     
    Job
  18. Job's Modelling
    Planning an urban diorama
     
    When I decided to build diorama’s I tried to find as much information as possible.
    With this information I made my one reference card. My reference card (without the pictures) contains the following elements:
     
    Think of the acronym PICS:
    • Plausible scenes
    • Independent / isolated vignette(s)
    • Contours in the scenery
    • Staging
     
    Planning ahead
    To avoid frustration on your project, plan ahead. Look if you can create your scene with available scenery products.
     

     
    Make your own unique sign
    Don’t place any structure on your diorama without at least making up and printing your own unique sign for the building. That means don’t use the names / decals supplied with the kits you buy.
     

     
    Scalescenes provided the name Ducketts , I changed it in JOHN GRAMTHAM F.C.A, HIGH CLASS GROCERIES & PROVISIONS
     
    Modify your kit
    If you use a kit, at least modify it a bit on your layout.
    I like to do some kit bashing with the Scalescenes templates. In this way I create my own buildings. For instance J.H.Pepperell's greengrocers shop.
     

    This was a try out, to see what I could do with the Scalescenes templates and kits.
     
    Look (for scenery items) in other modeling disciplines.
    I always keep an open eye for that one. Not only for scenery items. But also for the technique that are used in other disciplines. This area I still have to explore.
     
    Urban ground cover
    Building a great looking structure for your diorama is not the end of your work to replicate the real world. You must not leave a gap between the bottom of our structure and your bench work. Real buildings don’t sit on top of the earth but rather rise from it.
    That is the most important thing I learned from building Bridge Street. I now let the buildings rise up from the ground.
     

     
    Street base structure used on Nice Street.
     
    Now I'm still busy creating the Dock Basin for Northall Dock.
     
    Regards,
    Job
  19. Job's Modelling
    You have already met Arthur Page (47) who lives in Caroline Street, although not properly introduced by me. So here is some more information about him to make him more alive:
    Arthur is born in Farthing - Wiltshire. He comes from a railway family. His father was a loco driver who regularly drove a loco along the freight line to Northall Dock. He started as a young led at Northall Goods Depot when he was 16 years old. So he is working for British Railways for more than thirty years.
    Arthur travels many miles with the Austin 3way van in Northall and the surrounding villages. He is very fond of the vehicle in spite of being heater-less and the toxic fumes he inhales from the engine in the cab. Apart from those obvious defects, Arthur is pleased that it has wind-up windows and a stylish but cheerful looking 'face'.
     
    The 3way van was very practical in use
     
     




     
    Not only in the 1950’s daily working by British Railways and other users. But also for me taking pictures of diliveries in Northall, because I don’t have to model open back doors or side doors.
     
    The car received a coat of Vallejo 76515 Light grey wash to dim the shining appearance.
    The wheels and black parts received a coat with Vallejo black wash.
     
     




     
    The underside and the wheels received a coat of Vallejo 76521 Oiled Earth wash.
    The wheels and some parts of the car are additionally weathered with some Vallejo paints and pigments.
     
     




     
    Background information:
     
    Work on the K8 as it was called in its prototype form, started in early 1946. But it soon became known as the 'Three-Way' van owing to its arrangement of double doors on both the nearside and offside, as well as at the rear, providing excellent access to the loading bay. It was a very forward looking design with its curved front and high driving position, making the visibility excellent compared to the competition.
     
    Production commenced early in 1947. Various changes had been made from the prototypes, which included the radiator grille, front bumper, access steps along with the wheels.
    The forward control cab gave good visibility a partition with window separates the cab from the steel body, with composite doors and toughened glass.
    The body had a timber frame with steel sheets attached, even the doors had a wooden frame. The large front windows gave a good view of the road, the driver’s side could be opened. Both the front doors had wind-down widows.
    So from the first vehicles been produced in 1947 to the last one coming off the line on September 1954 a total of over 26,500 had been made.
    This entry was made with the help of http://www.austinmemories.com/page67/page75/page75.html
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  20. Job's Modelling
    The starting point.
     

     
    For the painting of the figures I started with some research on internet. For my the right colors for clothing are a part of a good time based layout or diorama.
    Even for the dog I searched for a picture.
    The figures are painted with Vallejo paint and for the cardigan of the girl I used a color from the Citadel range.
     
    The chair is card build and is from the Furniture kit of Fine Scale Buildings and colored with some paint. The newspaper is also part of this Furniture kit.
     

     
    My pictures on the RMweb are a little bit misleading. The show more than an actual viewer of the diorama can see in the APA-box. To give you an impression I made a fake picture of an APA-box view.
     

     
    And to give you an impression of the real A4 size look at the picture below.
     

     
    And I made some extra pictures for my own use. And this is one of my favourites:
     

     
    For now the journey is ended. I have cleaned up the leftovers from my used textures and the design box to start a new journey.
     

     
    I hoped you like the result and will follow me on my next building project.
     
    Any comments, suggestions are additional information is welcome.
    Kind regards,
    Job
  21. Job's Modelling
    The starting point.
     

     
    I built the factory yard wall in the front.
    Actually this is just straight forward modelling.
    I used the 6’ Industrial Wall and Gates from Railway Model Scenery a starting point. This is really a nice kit with a beautiful old wall texture. The colour of the wall didn’t fit to my industrial building. For the wall I used the same brick texture as for the Printing Works. The templates from this kit were used.
    I also decided to use the metal gate from the kit. I think this is just great. The wall copings are also from this kit. Next time I will use some thinner paper for this.
     
     
    Because I liked to try out some green for my urban diorama’s I searched on the internet for some usable products. Because of the postal cost I searched for a Dutch supplier. I found some nice products by a supplier for war-game materials.
    The product I have used are from miniNatur. I bought some long and shorts tufts for the seasons summer, early and late fall. The can be applied with some glue and a tweezer. After my first use I’m enthusiastic about the quality and the appearance. I have seen they have also other useful products, but that is for the future.
     
     
    The dustbin is from Dart Castings and the weathering is done in my usual way, with pastels and pigments.
     
    Below a picture of scene so far. I have given the figures a coat of primer and have still to paint them. I also have to build a chair for the sitting man.
     

     
    I hoped you like the result.
     
    Any comments, suggestions are additional information is welcome.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  22. Job's Modelling
    The starting point.
     

     
    In the picture above the row was almost finished.
     
    Now I have finished them. Below you can see the final result.
     

     
    Maybe it is nice to give an overview over the used materials.
     

    Ø Wall textures are printed Hahnemühle William Turner 190 gsm textured Fine Art photo paper. This is 100% cotton. In real the brickwork actually has a nice texture and the color is just great. This is my favourite printing paper for brickwork.
    Ø Doors are printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag188 gsm. Also 100% cotton smooth Fine Art photo paper. This paper is more difficult to work with but is in my opinion great for photographic windows and doors. Weathering only can be done with sanded Schmincke soft pastels and a soft brush.
    Ø For the other textures I used Lana 150 gsm drawing paper.
    Ø Chimney pots are from Dart Casting and the latest for with Vallejo paint. They are all weathered with pigments and Schmincke soft pastels to get a more realistic terracotta stone effect.
    Ø For the drainpipes I used some Evergreen round plastic parts surrounded with a Scalescenes texture.  
    Personally I found the roof this time the most difficult part.
     
    Below a picture of the final scene. I have given the figures a coat of primer and have still to paint them. I also have to build a chair for the sitting man. I forgot to put the dog in the scene, next to the drainpipe and the end of the row. But he is also to be paint.
     

     
    I hoped you liked the entries about the building of my row of cottages and the final result. I now can go on with some card modelling for the factory yard wall in the front.
     
    As usual if anyone has useful information, comments or suggestions please let me know.
    Thanks for reading and till next time.
     
    Kind regards,
    Job
  23. Job's Modelling
    The starting point.
     

     
    Last time I showed you the above picture.
    For now a quick progress entry.
     
    First of all I will thank everyone for his comment and positive support.
     
    So I started again. Using the templates from the Scalescenes small cottages. In this way I have only vertical lines.
    I added already some drainpipes made from 1,6mm rods from Evergreen and a drainpipe texture from one of the Scalescenes kits. I coloured them brown with a pastel pencil.
    I also added an “Anno” stone from Vector Cut. I coloured it with pastels and pigments using a soft brush, until I was satisfied with the colour.
    The doors are weathered again using a soft brush and some scraped soft neutral grey pastel from Schmincke.
    On the left you can see how I want to create the final windows using curtain textures from Scalescenes. I tried painting the edges of the windows and the doors with Vallejo paint and this was successful. So I will use this method also for the other windows.
    I also gave the roofs some wood supports. I hope the look better now.
    And remember the cottages will only be visible to the most right large window. The doors at the right won't be visible.
     

     
    When I have finished the windows I can glue the front in place and start finishing the front.
    I hope you agree with me that this is a more convincing result.
     
    As usual if anyone has useful information, comments or suggestions please let me know.
     
    Thanks for reading and till next time and kind regards,
    Job
  24. Job's Modelling
    The starting point.
     

     
    Last time I had finished the frame for my row of cottages
    It all started reasonable well. I made a new template and printed the texture sheets on my textured photo paper of 190 gr/m. In the beginning everything went well.
     

     
    At the and I thought It would be handy to use small parts to fill in the openings that where left at the upper part of the windows. And here things went not the way I want it. I knew that with thinner paper it wasn’t a problem to work this way.
    But a picture says more than a thousand words. And I was also content with some parts. So let’s see:
     

     
    With the red rectangles I’m not content:

    A. The horizontal and vertical lines are too much visible by the smaller parts
    B. The smaller white edges can’t be coloured in with a pastel pencil  
    But:

    A. The longer vertical connection line (the small long blue rectangle) are almost invisible. I used two different textures here.
    B. The will try to paint the white window edges with some Vallejo paint.
    C. I like the way the printed doors look and the weathered appearance.  
    I won’t use to different brick textures in my next attempt, because in the APA-box it will not be visible. And I will use the Scalescenes templates to create the cottages. I have to use long small brick parts between the templates to create the front of my row, but the vertical connections will be less visible. I also will hide some connections with a drainpipe. Historically it is also correct if the brick connection is not totally even.
     
    I hope my next attempt will give the good result. But remember: we learn from our mistakes.
     
    Or if anyone has useful information, comments or suggestions please let me know.
    Thanks for reading and till next time and kind regards,
    Job
  25. Job's Modelling
    The starting point.
     

     
    Last time I had finished the frame for my row of cottages
    I intended to build the front of the cottages. But after some thoughts I decided to start with the roof, because there were some parts that needed some extra attention. I wanted separate roof sections but no separate fronts as in the Scalescene kit.
     
    The tiles are printed on a high quality drawing paper, of course on the best possible settings. I tried to create some old roofs, because these cottages will be part of the demolition plans in Northall.
    The roofs are build using my usual method:
    - First I made a template for every the roof section
    - I cut stripes of tiles
    - I colored every strip at the lower side with a dark grey pastel pencil
    - I cut with my scalpel almost every tile half apart
    - I glued a finished strip on his place on the template
     

     
    After I had finished the roof sections I gave then some weathering with Smincke soft pastels.
    Then I made the chimney’s and gave them also some weathering. I only have to paint some the chimney’s. The other three were already painted for a previous project.
    I saw I had to make a small adjustment at the top of the middle roof. The top line is bowed away a little.
     

     
    Now I will start with the front of the row of cottages.
    As you have noticed I need more time to finish every step due personal circumstances, but modelling is still my favorite way to deal with daily life struggles.
    More about that in a next entry.
     
    Or if anyone has useful information, comments or suggestions please let me know.
     
    Thanks for reading and till next time and kind regards,
     
    Job
×
×
  • Create New...