Railway Enthusiast Wearing Suit

Back in August a package with two railway enthusiasts arrived and I have already finished one figure that has seen action in the Nystrup yard. The remaining figure that I have now started working on is Modelu item 1607 'Photographer with Box Brownie'.

Leaning over his camera, the second railway enthusiast is being prepared for Nystrup Gravel.

The figure is wearing a classic two-piece suit, tie and hat. I decided to paint the suit in 'Black Grey' from Vallejo to make the figure a contrast to the far more colourful mate. The description of the figure mentioning a 'box brownie' almost certainly refers to the well known Kodak Brownie sold in huge numbers for low prices. Even in the large scale of 1/19 the box camera is looking pretty much like a lot of other contemporary and later box cameras like the Agfa Syncho Box that Nystrup Gravel chief mechanic Thorleif Petersen used for his railway photography.

 

German advertisment for the Agfa Box. So easy to use, a child can do it.

Upper right corner shows a 'noble gentleman's suit' of same cut as the railway enthusiast's. Page 28 from the winter catalogue, 1951 from 'Daells Varehus' in Nørregade, Copenhagen. The catalogue provided the backbone of the company's huge mail (old fashioned letters) order business.

A modern day reader may question if the early railway enthusiasts really were that well dressed when visiting motive power depots and other dirty railway locations. A lot of images from several countries confirms that and none better than photos of enthusiasts from the UK. They were some of the earliest to perform the hobby and seem to have had more film to spare than continental enthusiasts, even allowing them to photograph each other. Many images from the 1950's show men of all ages to be usually dressed in suit and tie when visiting and photographing railways.

Very well dressed members of the Railway Photographic Society, captured by founder Maurice Earley in 1937. Photo: National Railway Museum, York.

In a previous blog post I complained about the front of the camera being devoid of any detail. I added the lens and the two small windows for the viewfinders from small dics of plasticcard punched with my little punch and die set. When I inspected the figure before painting, I discovered that the jacket had some front damage that I repaired with putty and repeated sanding. That out of the way, I then worked on the line between shoes and trousers that have been a weak point on almost all my 1/19 scale Modelu figures. Besides minor sanding of chin, upper back and shoulders, the figure was then ready for a wash with how water. When dry it was primed and the first layer of dark grey brushed on.

The classic enthusiast in action with camera fitted with basic front detail. 

For the faithful reader that have kept up the hard work reading this post to the (almost) end, I have included what is often mentioned as the majority of 1950's Danish boys' first glimpse of a female in underwear: a lingerie page from that same 1951 catalogue. Definately suggestive!