Raffles Hotel, Singapore; 1/200 scale

[chris190]

Thanks for the good wishes - not looking brilliant so far but that's perhaps no surprise!

[chris190]

Something of a red letter day in the progress of "the model from hell", now that the main roof is on after a great deal of adjustment, remaking of parts and discarding parts that I just couldn't work out what they were for or where they went.

Plus, in researching same, I discovered an error on the elevations towards the rear which I am quite unable to correct at this stage.

All still going terribly well here, best wishes to all.

Chris

[Vermin_King]

It is quite gorgeous, sir

[Philip]

Beautiful piece of work, despite the problems you faced. Well done.

[chris190]

Thanks both for your enthusiasm, maybe it'll be lovely when it's finished as a professional modelmaker friend of mine used to say!

Whether he meant that it will be good to get it out of the way or that it will truly be a super bit of work is something I've come to reflect on a good deal!

Best wishes

Chris

[Erik Zwaan]

Chris, I think you are doing a terrific job!!! The "model from hell" sounds very funny though. Sir Stamford Raffles himself would have been very pleased to see your effort, I'm pretty sure of that.

Cheers,
Erik

[C9B]

This is a terrific model, regardless of where it is from. Let me know when you open and I’ll takes a room for a week. I always wanted to stay at the Raffles Hotel.

[chris190]

Many thanks for the encouragement gentlemen, think room rates at this particular hotel might be a great deal more realistic than those at the real thing! Who is it that can afford such insane prices, glad we did so much of our travelling when we were younger before staying at nice places became pretty much unaffordable

[chris190]

Now complete! The last hurdle was the elaborate entrance porch - the original is in cast iron with a glass canopy and there are stained glass inserts in the decorative iron perimeter brackets. After my last post seeking advice as to how I could achieve these intricate items in etched brass, I finally found a company able to take my drawings and produce the necessary; they are 4d Modelshop in London and I can highly recommend them. Styrene Rod for the columns and 0.18 mm acetate for the glass canopy; surprising how the disparate materials hold together with pva, although I'm not intending to subject the assembly to any stress.

Best wishes to all

Chris

[chris190]

A few more photos, showing the etched fret sheet - expensive at £135 but just couldn't see any alternative - the porch roof and its rather peculiar geometry in card (how it keeps the water out I have no idea, far too shallow a pitch), the remodelling of the access road as the kit has the porch far too small, therefore redraw and overlay new pavement