Old London Bridge Hotel and Casino

Hey everyone! Im super excited to share this miniature I just finished building for a local film project (which I cannot name yet...). This miniature is a "Conceptual model" for a fictional Las Vegas casino named "The Old London Bridge Hotel and Casino". I designed and built this model based on the directors idea for a 1700s boutique recreation of the historic london bridge. This hotel/casino would go right over the Las Vegas strip itself!! I think it would be a cool hotel in reality as well;) It is in HO scale (1:87 scale) and took me about 160 hours.

The "Making of " will be in the next post...lots of pics to share on the fun and...very small...process.

Please enjoy the pics and commentary:

THE BRIDGE

Here is the Full Front Elevation of the Model. Its about 6' long,17" high and 2' deep

Here is an early version of the front elevation

Plan View of the model. We decided not to use the surrounding areas for the model due to size

Here is a painting of the bridge as it was.

EXTERIOR VIEW

The buildings were carved from Styrofoam and details were painted on

The Palm trees are HO (model train) scale accessories repainted.

Traitors Gate Castle

Traitors Gate Drawbridge

Notice the large spears with the heads on it...

All the windows were painted on in a "Hotel Window"configuration

Center of the Model with the centerpiece "Nunsuch House", named so because there was none such else like it....

Las Vegas Strip runs right through it...Some of these cars are sculpted from styrofoam, others are altered plastic cars

Las Vegas Taxis!!

Traffic on the Strip

Wonder who is in the big tour bus!!

Taxi needs a newspaper.....

Nunsuch House has a rooftop Pool area

Best sun in the strip and lots of privacy

Love the look of the old chimneys

Thomas a Becket Chapel is prominent on this side

This is the opposite end with the escalator approach that mirrors the other side

The house/castle combo on the left of the Chapel is based on many like it in the day.

Here is the other bridge into the hotel/casino portion of the bridge

This is a view into the outdoor marketplace

Cool views from the outdoor portion

All rockwork and details are carved into the foam. The figures are HO scale train people

 

You can see the escalators from here

OUTDOOR MARKETPLACE 

AND COURTYARD SHOPPING

I love interesting roof-lines and chimneys

The modern escalators are lifting people into the world of 1700s england

The focus of this area is the castle/house combo in the background

Love the views from above

The interior layouts are not historically correct, but it has the right feeling for Vegas and England

Love this rooftop

Small courtyard and fountain from above

Signage was mostly symbols back then for may cultures who came to the bridge market

Sunny Day in the courtyard..

Market Booths

A woman buys fruit

Entry into the Hotel/Casino

Here is a view of the inside of the model. The glass roofs allow lots of light.

Out the other side through Traitors Gate we come into another courtyard/market

View of the Drawbridge

Courtyard

Here is the other set of escalator

THE BUILDINGS OF

THE OLD LONDON BRIDGE MODEL 

These buildings are removable so they could be filmed on their own

"NUNSUCH HOUSE"

 

 

"CUSTOM HOUSE/CASTLE"

"THOMAS A BECKET CHAPEL"

"TRAITORS GATE"

 

 

SEPARATED MODEL UNITS
This model was designed to be taken apart for shipping and also to film the model as a work in process (requirement of the script)

BASE UNIT A

BASE UNIT B. You can see where the traitors gate sits on the left

BASE UNIT C. This is where the houes/castle unit sits on right

BASE UNIT D. The Chapel sits on this unit behind the flagpole

HIGHWAY BASE
This is the Las Vegas Strip base. It acts like a lock, connecting the base units B & C together.

THE MODEL

FULL 360 VIEWS

Check out the "Making of" the Old London Bridge Hotel and casino Miniature in my next blog.
Thanks again, hope you are all making magic of your own :) Lance