That's a lovely model. It reminds me of a story my great aunt May told me. She was born in the 1890s, her father was a sergeant at the police station in Brotton (North Yorkshire) and when she was a girl she had a lift up Saltburn Bank in the first car in the district, owned by the local doctor.

8 minutes ago, Jim Martin said:

I'm sure she'll have a back-up plan for when she gets to Paris

Of course! She'll buy the yellow dress on credit, and take a wealthy lover...

More wonderful theatre for us, Mikkel - and the modelling's not too shabby, either 🙂.

Nick.

Superb, Mikkel, the de Dion is such a great addition to the scene!

A Darracq next, perhaps (Genevieve)?

Wonderful modelling Mikkel, story telling and not forgetting an education on early motoring. The less clunky looking vehicle with the thinner fenders and gear stick assembly really adds to the realism. What makes it for me though is your exquisite attention to detail with the painting. I don’t think its easy to make metal resemble rubber but you have managed to achieve it with those magnificent looking tyres. Great to see those trees again too.  

Fine modelling as ever Mikkel. 

The street scenes are wonderful theatre, people would stop and stare at a passing car but probably ignore a passing steam engine. Other way round these days. 

Wonderful! As others have said, great modelling, informative history and a story to go with it…

…just as long as no-one reports seeing Humphrey returning from the station avec suitcase but sans Lady (the drayman certainly seems to be paying attention as Humphrey motors past!), Keith.

5 hours ago, Jim Martin said:

What a lovely little project! You're right about thinning the wings: it makes a noticeable difference.

 

Weep not for Lady Deadlock: she has something of the femme fatale about her, and I'm sure she'll have a back-up plan for when she gets to Paris

Thanks Jim. Yes, I think Lady Deadlock will be fine. Like many people at Farthing her name is lifted from Dickens, specifically Lady Dedlock: "She has beauty still, and if it be not in its heyday, it is not yet in its autumn." In Dickens her fate is rather sad, let's hope it will be better this time. 

5 hours ago, Neil said:

That's a lovely model. It reminds me of a story my great aunt May told me. She was born in the 1890s, her father was a sergeant at the police station in Brotton (North Yorkshire) and when she was a girl she had a lift up Saltburn Bank in the first car in the district, owned by the local doctor.

Thanks Neil, a nice story. It reminded me of the photo below - though not Saltburn Bank of course. Note all the effort to avoid hats flying off. I suppose I should have modified Lady Dedlock's hat accordingly.

Caption: Photograph taken from an album of images collected by English motorist, motor car manufacturer and aviator, Charles Stewart Rolls (1877-1910), showing well-dressed ladies and men with a Rolls-Royce motor car near the summit of Hay Tor on Dartmoor, Devon. Source: Getty Images, embedding allowed.

Some of the Edwardian ladies look like they are into bee keeping 😄

17 hours ago, magmouse said:

 

Of course! She'll buy the yellow dress on credit, and take a wealthy lover...

 

More wonderful theatre for us, Mikkel - and the modelling's not too shabby, either 🙂.

 

Nick.

Thank you Nick. Perhaps we'll see Lady Deadlock at Netherport next? How about a 1:43 scale 1904 Rolls Royce for your 7mm layouts, it's only €241:

17 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Superb, Mikkel, the de Dion is such a great addition to the scene!

A Darracq next, perhaps (Genevieve)?

Thanks Victor. It does help set the period nicely, I think. I had to look up Darracq, some of them look very similar to the De Dion Boutons. But then I suppose GWR and LMS locos look the same to car enthusiasts 🙂

16 hours ago, mullie said:

Superb as always. 

 

Martyn

Thank you Martyn. It serves as a distraction from constructing the station building, which is at a boring stage at the moment!

5 hours ago, MAP66 said:

Wonderful modelling Mikkel, story telling and not forgetting an education on early motoring. The less clunky looking vehicle with the thinner fenders and gear stick assembly really adds to the realism. What makes it for me though is your exquisite attention to detail with the painting. I don’t think its easy to make metal resemble rubber but you have managed to achieve it with those magnificent looking tyres. Great to see those trees again too.  

Thanks, Mark. The tyres were surprisingly straightforward, it's just Vallejo Medium Flesh paint (AV-70860) + matt varnish and then dusted with Vallejo Light Yellow Ochre pigment (73.120) when dry. The rest of the car is in Satin varnish, which also helps makes the tyres look more organic. I expect car modellers will tell me that the tyres are too clean and maybe should be lighter (?), but the colour does look nice.

4 hours ago, dseagull said:

Fabulous modelling @Mikkel , and a great story as usual.

 

I'm not sure if you will have found them, but 10 years ago (wow, where's that gone!), the Daily Telegraph launched a brilliant series of reprinting (scans of) every issue from 01 January 1914 - 31 December 1918, in recognition of the centenary of World War One.

 

The first few months of 1914 in particular are a brilliant window into the world at the time, with some fascinating adverts, as well as the news stories. Officially, You need to be a subscriber to have full access to the website, but if you are quick with your mouse, you can access the download link before the page fully loads.

 

An example; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02870/Telegraph1914_0404_2870372a.pdf

 

4th April 1914 - a Saturday issue, with the 'Motoring and Aviation' column on page 6, some photos of the Royal family (including a great detail shot of the front of their car!) on page 12, the Women's page on page 16 with fashion by Mrs Eric Pritchard and even a side-view of the new Embankment tube station on page 17. I could, and indeed do, get lost for hours in these.

 

The Google Robot seems to have got nearly all of them; Just put in a date, for example "4th April 1914 Daily Telegraph" and they come up. I am a subscriber, and I do have a free digital subscription to give away, so if you would like it, let me know - you will still need to search for the date you want on Google, as it has long since been removed from the website though!

 

What a fascinating resource, thank you! I like the "Motoring and Aviation" section - including the Ads. The ad for Avon Tyres in your example borders on the bizarre!

The "Welsh Farm Mystery" on page 7 is also interesting...

Thanks very much for the offer of the free subscription, I'll try the workaround first and see how it goes.

4 hours ago, Schooner said:

Some Quintessential Mikkel - just the thing for a Sunday afternoon!

 

Lovely modelling - you're right, thinning down the wings made all the difference - excellent little story, and some gorgeous set decorations :) What really stood out to me is the barrow-man with his empty baskets. Utterly convincing pose, parts and positioning, my fave bit of the whole series (sorry!).

 

More generally, good to see you back. Looking forward to the next one as and when :)

Thank you Louis. I'm glad you like the barrow chap, I built him some time ago by mixing Dart Castings and Andrew Stadden parts. He's the second one down here:

Quote

In 1895 there were 14-15 motor cars in Britain. In 1900 there were 7-800. Then it boomed. By 1909 there were 48.000 cars and in 1914 there were 132.000. (Sources: National Motor Museum and “The Motoring Age: The Automobile and Britain 1896-1939”). 

Those numbers were a surprise as like you I'd assumed that the Edwardian era was all horse and carts with very few motors.

Thinning down the wings was definitely well worth doing and has contributed a good deal to the appearance of the model.

Your photos are a great piece of theatre Mikkel and are wonderfully well done with the way you've posed the figures to tell the story. 

4 hours ago, Dave John said:

Fine modelling as ever Mikkel. 

 

The street scenes are wonderful theatre, people would stop and stare at a passing car but probably ignore a passing steam engine. Other way round these days. 

Thank you Dave. Yes, how things have changed. Although judging by photos, early motorists basked in the attention and did some odd things. 🙂

Caption: 1902 Argyll car [...] Note the unusual goggles worn by the driver and front seat passenger. Scotland's best-known car manufacturer produced a wide range of models. They were early pioneers of front wheel braking and were at one time the biggest manufacturer in Europe. The company had gone out of business by 1930. Source: Getty Images, embedding permitted.

4 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

Chrome green seems to have been a standard livery

Yes, but I'm saving that for a Rover!

That is, if I can get my hands on a s/h kit from Scale-Link. I asked the proprietor if they would make more, and his response was along the lines of maybe, maybe not. There's a lovely example of a built-up one in Jol's thread: 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/14518-lnwr-london-road-locomotives-and-rolling-stock/?do=findComment&comment=5448209 

2 hours ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

First class modelling and story telling again Mikkel. Some real nice historical background too. You really have increased the appearance of the finished model with the reduction on the wheel arches and the etched replacement details, fab. 

Thanks very much Matt, I knew very little about the early motor car history in Britain, so it's been interesting to read up on it a bit - although it's still all very new to me. What I have found out is that care must be taken with restored examples, as they often don't look like the originals - a familiar situation for us railway modellers.

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

What a fascinating resource, thank you! I like the "Motoring and Aviation" section - including the Ads. The ad for Avon Tyres in your example borders on the bizarre!

The General Manager of Avon Tyres was James Johnson, who for a few years in the 1890s had been locomotive superintendent of the Great North of Scotland Railway. His wife Christine, nee Drummond, also had railway heritage. Their third child, born in 1905, was named after both his grandparents: Dugald Samuel Waite Johnson.

Quote

The lady was less trouble, just needed her bottom filed. 

Say that again, out of context...

12 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Wonderful! As others have said, great modelling, informative history and a story to go with it…

 

…just as long as no-one reports seeing Humphrey returning from the station avec suitcase but sans Lady (the drayman certainly seems to be paying attention as Humphrey motors past!), Keith.

Thanks Keith. Hmm, yes, there is the issue of witnesses! Humphrey doesn't seem to have considered that. Nor did I 🙂

10 hours ago, drduncan said:

Excellent modelling and a delightful piece of theatre too.

Duncan

Thank you Duncan. This little layout has given me a good deal of fun in operational terms (there's a two-level traverser on the right hand side when it's operated), but I haven't photographed it much so it's nice to do a bit of that too.

It is a very short layout of course, so the world beyond is hard to avoid in end-on photos. But then theatre stages have obvious edges too. What annoys me more is that the  trees are taller than the embankment walls, I won't make that mistake again.

9 hours ago, Annie said:

Those numbers were a surprise as like you I'd assumed that the Edwardian era was all horse and carts with very few motors.

 

Thinning down the wings was definitely well worth doing and has contributed a good deal to the appearance of the model.

 

Your photos are a great piece of theatre Mikkel and are wonderfully well done with the way you've posed the figures to tell the story. 

Thank you Anne. I think the elegant wings (which I keep calling splashers in my head!)  are one of the attractions of early motor cars, so it was a must for me to make them a bit thinner. Although I do understand the challenges of making a whitemetal kit with wings like these:

Caption: A vintage illustration featuring Lady Helen Ilchester and Lady Muriel Fox-Strangeways, their chauffeur and a dog in their 12-horsepower Panhard motorcar at the entrance to Holland House, published in "The Car Illustrated, A Journal of Travel By Land, Sea and Air" in London on 18th June 1902.  Source: Getty Images, embedding permitted.

8 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

The General Manager of Avon Tyres was James Johnson, who for a few years in the 1890s had been locomotive superintendent of the Great North of Scotland Railway. His wife Christine, nee Drummond, also had railway heritage. Their third child, born in 1905, was named after both his grandparents: Dugald Samuel Waite Johnson.

Ah, there's a railway connection, as is so often the case in those years.

De Dion originally aspired to build steam-powered cars. Indeed if Wikipedia is to be believed, "the company was formed in 1883 after de Dion saw a toy locomotive in a store window in 1881 and asked the toymakers to build another". 

13 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Perhaps we'll see Lady Deadlock at Netherport next?

It would make sense if she passed through Netherport on her way to France - less visible than the more obvious routes via Dover or Southampton. Perhaps a few days in the Channel Islands while the hue and cry dies down….

13 hours ago, Mikkel said:

How about a 1:43 scale 1904 Rolls Royce for your 7mm layouts, it's only €241:

Very nice! Not sure it is my top priority for the available modelling pounds/Euros…. One the other hand, a carriage truck is on the planned build list, so that could have something motorised rather than horse drawn.

Nick.

Lovely little model, looks great. Somewhere along the way at the station a sack and some bricks were employed? The chauffeur would hardly come back with such a posh suitcase. How grim all these wealthy people look in the photos, would the car break down or a road stone flint puncture the tyres first? Finding a petrol station then must be like finding the next charging point now.