17 Bottle Street and 221B Baker Street done (pics)

i did not know there were other fans of Mr Brentt on here.  btw love how you did 221B i am tempted to do it my self now.  

This just keeps getting better and better! Thanks Lee! Terry

A fantastic idea and nicely done, but I must mention that any Baker Street Irregular will tell you that Holmes would not have worn a deerstalker in front of 221B unless he was hailing a cab to take him to the railway station to head out to the countryside. The deerstalker cap was just that, a hat to be worn  out on the moors or in the forest. It is a constant sore point with Holmes devotees that so many movies and TV programs show Holmes wearing a deerstalker in town, when no Victorian gentleman would have gone about so attired. I hate to quibble about a detail on such a noble and well-executed project, and I hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is meant - to provide a relevant piece of information, not to pick a nit. 

You are right about the deerstalker, and Brett wore it only once or twice in the entire series he did - when he went out into the country, and that is probably pretty much what Holmes, had he existed, would have done, too.  On the other hand the deerstalker, like the Inverness cape,  is forever associated with Holmes because of Basil Rathbone's portrayal of Holmes as well as going back farther William Gillette, etc.  I decided to do Holmes with both (hard to see the cape, but it's there) just because . . .

And more to the point, I love deerstalkers - I started wearing them in college and have never stopped.  Right now I have well over a dozen (the nine in the picture below are just those I found in the downstairs closet, where I am now), most I bought in London, a couple in Scotland.  Two are over forty years old and still going strong.  I wear them all seasons of the year except summer.  It is an incredibly practical hat: keeps rain off both your brow and the back of your next, clings well in high winds, and keeps my (mostly hairless) head quite warm.  All these features are important enough to me to make up for the inevitable Sherlock Holmes jokes I get all the time.

It is interesting that the most difficult aspect of making all these detectives is the headwear.  Sherlock's deerstalker, Campion's top-hat (he's holding it in his hand since he's about to get in his car), Adela Bradley's flapper turban with feathers, Mike Hammer's and Frank Smiths Hombergs, etc.  - its the hats that often make the figure distinctive and the recognizable hats that in 1/48, prove a challenge to make. 

Holmes was an unconventional person in just about every way, so it's not the least bit unreasonable to assume he also would have preferred unconventional attire.  In part, the head attire is part of what makes him immediately recognizable as Holmes.  Why try to make more of it, especially since he is an entirely fictional character?

That sums it up nicely: the deerstalker makes my Holmes figure instantly recognizable to just about anyone 

I've stumbled, quite by accident, on a truly great idea and I've decided to simply let the detectives take over . . . .

I seem to have visitors to my train layout just about ever weekend anymore.  A few are "model train people" but the vast majority are my wife's friends  or from church, work, book club, friends I make at car shows, or from the neighborhood, etc.  A few find the model trains interesting, but everyone seems to love the model downtown with its buildings, streets, cars, -- and the little figures all over it.

Since  I started putting the detectives on the layout I am surprised how many respond happily and spend time trying to find all they can name.  Admittedly, some, like Priny Fisher, are obscure (a series made in Australia with only one season under its belt), but people love to discover Bullitt, Joe Friday, Inspector Morse (I was sort of surprised how popular he is), and no doubt, when I get their cars in the mail, Rockford and Magnum PI will be recognized by everyone.  It makes the layout a lot of fun for everyone - - - including me!

How about Richard Jurys house with Mrs. Wasserman and Carole-Ann Palutski in front on their way to the local pub?

  However I like the clever idea of the Detectives houses.

Pure genius.You are quite amazing.

I also love the Inspector Lewis (and Sgt. Hathaway) series on PBS...so much so that I plan to order the DVDs of that series.

Yes!!!  Lewis is our favorite - period.  Particularly when they really got their formula perfected - about half way through season two and after, Lewis became much better than Morse or even a Touch of Frost, etc.  The show where Hathaway figures out who ran over Lewis's wife years earlier is, I think, perhaps the best series mystery show the UK ever turned out (There - how is that for hyperbole?). I was particularly pleased to set up the scene below, where Sgt. Lewis (with Morse) is meeting Inspector Lewis (with Hathaway) and felt so fortunate that I found a figure that, with a little paint, looked so much like Hathaway (those ears!). 

I was so disappointed to hear the series, if not at an end, is on hiatus for at least a season, but as Kevin Whatley said, he's been doing Lewis for 26 years, and allowing him a summer off does seem reasonable to me.   BTW - the season 1 DVD of Endeavor - the "prequel" series to Morse, is released in the US on July 16 (today!) - our copy will arrive this afternoon.  I can't wait: in the pilot (the only show in the last "season") they establish that Morse has a thing for Jags, and then near the end young Detective Constable Morse goes by a used car lot and a red 1960 Jaguar S 2.4 liter sedan is sitting there - only $1,227 pounds asking price!.  I can't wait to watch him buy it this season!  Tonight - my wife and I will watch it tonight!