Diagon Alley 00/ho scale revised plans

[McColm]

As you know I'm a Harry Potter fan and in an ideal world I would have the Hogwarts Express running around the Hogwarts Castle and grounds but my council flat isn't big enough to accommodate such a layout so a compromise in 00/ho scale. I have looked into using TT and N scale but the prices are a bit high even in the secondhand market.
My version of Diagon Alley isn't going to be an accurate replica in scale as the one found at the Warner Brothers London Studio Tour nor is it possible for me to build a scale model of the theme parks.
I am planning to buy a printer for my tablet so that I can print labels and signage to change the appearance of Superquick and Metcalfe cardboard kits. I know that Jools Holland also uses a printer for his model railway layout.
The Alley will look like a parade of shops along an embankment, I have seen a few European station kits that resemble Fenchurch Street and Marylebone Station on eBay.
The layout will have a castle in the background but not Hogwarts and there will be a Hogwarts Express but not the one in the books or the films an ex-Virgin HST.
 My battery powered train can run on Hornby track although it's a bit noisy and the clockwork trains will be getting different bodyshells.

[Steel Penguin]

sounds like a plan      and a good one,  I know from my late father in laws layouts, that the compromise between scale, and scenery is a delicate thing to balance..
heres hoping for a few good pics when your getting there. 

[McColm]

sounds like a plan      and a good one,  I know from my late father in laws layouts, that the compromise between scale, and scenery is a delicate thing to balance..
heres hoping for a few good pics when your getting there. 

Thanks, I will be posting pictures of the progress. Having found a bargain on eBay for two Superquick building packs C1 and C2. The chemist, cinema, office, post office,  hotel, tea room and pub. A few building improvements using different textured papers will help them blend in a bit.

[buzzbomb]

Great plan, hope you have fun doing it.
There are some terrific Book Nook style kit options out there as well on the normal Selling platforms.

I had a crack at a home made Bladerunner inspired version and it came out ok as well. They are a bit of fun and you get to play with perspective a bit

[McColm]

Great plan, hope you have fun doing it.
There are some terrific Book Nook style kit options out there as well on the normal Selling platforms.

I had a crack at a home made Bladerunner inspired version and it came out ok as well. They are a bit of fun and you get to play with perspective a bit

Thanks 

[McColm]

I do have four of the Wizarding World 3D card shops which I thought was a good idea at the time however two are falling apart so I can utilise the shops signage although they are not the same scale as the 00/ho kits.

[Rick Lowe]

But does that matter?
Shop signage and lettering sizes are all over the place, everyone trying to outdo each other to be visible.

[McColm]

Superquick Station Road has the cafe, post office, cinema, solicitors and the pub with rooms. Boots the chemist didn't turn out too well but I've kept the parts so I can use them on other buildings. The Superquick C1 and C2 cardboard kits don't provide any glazing just printed windows with curtains.
The post office is undergoing new management and is being turned in a Quidditch Supplier, the street is a bit squiffy meaning that no two building foundations are parallel to each other. They don't have any roofs or backs to them yet.
I think that I will try 00 gauge Metcalfe cardboard kits next and get some brickwork & stonework papers plus glazing.

[Rick Lowe]

The way the street is growing like that puts me very much in mind of Ankh-Morepork... 

[McColm]

If you have ever walked the entire length of Falmouth high street down in Cornwall you'll notice its not straight either although it's pedestrian only in certain areas . A lot of changes have taken place with a lot of shops closing down. Some have been relocated in Truro.

[PR19_Kit]

That's because it follows the coast line of the northern edge of the town for much of the way.

Been there numerous times, both for work and leisure too, a lovely place.

[NARSES2]

The way the street is growing like that puts me very much in mind of Ankh-Morepork... 

  

[McColm]

Olivanders has taken over the lease of The Regent Restaurant, the Quidditch Supplies has taken over the Post Office, Weasley Wizard Wheezes have moved into the ABC cinema and Gringots Bank has a new branch at the former Norwich Union and S.Quinn & Co. Estate Agents +
Surveyors. The Red Lion could be the Leaky Cauldron.