30 replies to this topic

[Model Junkyard]

Hello guys, I want to share with you our latest project.

This summer, my brother and I build this Texaco Gas Station diorama. I know that the pumps are not correctly located and many details are still missing such as oil cans, counter inside the shop, the garage equipment, etc. I'll be building that stuff soon, I just had no time to finish it as good as I wanted and I had to leave to Switzerland for the photo shooting with my brother Iggy (he lives there).

We put a lot of work into it, I hope you like it!
Enjoy!
Seb


This is the original picture that used as example:



Here one pic of the building process:


Here you see a night scene picture. The gas station has a complete electrical installation with light bulbs in every room and outside.



Here a few pictures of the outdoor photo shooting session in Switzerland:

[charlie8575]

That outdoor shot is stellar. It reminds me of what could be a little gas station sitting at the bottom of a hill along Rt. 7 in Vermont or off Rt. 3 in New Hampshire.

Keep us posted on your progress. This will be a beauty when it's done.

Charlie Larkin

[Dr. Cranky]

FABULOUS work, Seb. Love the fact that you are just as crazy about taking wonderful pictures as you are about your rusty projects. Keep up the great eye candy.

[disabled modeler]

Very Very Nice!... I like it!

[Jim B]

That looks really nice. The outside pics are almost realistic.

[Eshaver]

Looks like Walter Teauge , Texaco architect was sitting alongside of you when you were constructing the building . That will definitely be a proud piece on completion . Ed Shaver

[MikeMc]

Looks like Walter Teauge , Texaco architect was sitting alongside of you when you were constructing the building . That will definitely be a proud piece on completion . Ed Shaver

That's one of the best complements here....and Ed is spot on!!

Beautiful work!!

[Repstock]

Absolutely GREAT looking station!

[butchey]

Man I think this is AWSUME! so far !Grat Job!

[Eshaver]

Seb, I've just gone and re read all of the posts you made as well as the complementary posts . First , Texaco was NOT Gulf in the sense that pumps weren't made to ANY Standard , nor were they made by one company to fit a station . Texaco, like a lot of the stations such as Richfield tended to stay with a couple of manufacturers to lower costs . The Wayne #60's pictured in the photo you have were typical . Then too, you seem to have replicated a close proximity , a pair of Tokiem #39-L's . There is NOTHING wrong with anything so far . I like it and as the photographer of the book, Check the Oil by Scott Anderson - 1983 , I think I should ought to know something about the station appearance . I really should have gone and published the book , I was working on and maybe I shall ,now that Computers make such an endeavor possible . Jus build it, the crowds will applaud ! Ed Shaver

[george 53]

Seb, Ed BREATHES gas stations, and if he says it's cool, then believe me, it's cool! You have done a GREAT job on this rascal, and I'd fill my 69 Charger up at one like this back in the day,with FireCheif Supreme,i believe, at 24cents a gallon!!! GREAT job!!!

[Eshaver]

George , with the name changed to Caltex and using maybe some replicated Satam Pumps , it would be a Spanish, perhaps an Italian or maybe a French Texaco filling station .......... Ed Shaver

Italian Manufactured Satam pump used at a B. P Station about 1959:



Caltex station - Germany :



Texaco station - W/ canopy , ( western region ) built about 1939-41

Edited by Eshaver, 17 October 2011 - 06:43 AM.

[High octane]

EXCELLENT job on that Texaco station so far as it really looks good!

[Kris Morgan]

Stunning work indeed.

[Dr. Cranky]

Great photos!

[ARTEMIS1759]

Awesome build. I plan to do a diorama of my Hotrod shop I plan to build and expand til it looks like it. So it will serve two purposes. One to see it in 3d and two for my cars and the 3 tow rigs I oplan to build for my shop. It resembles the service station of the future from the popular mechanics mag in the early 50s but has serious Texaco influence in the design. The front show room will be big enough for about a medium size performance restoration parts store with 4 bays and 2 bathrooms around the side and two canopy's similar to the one you built.

[Eshaver]

T J, I doubt you have access to the magazine , Architectural Digest or further some of the late 1930's issues I have had access to over the years . Walter Doran Teauge was the Industrial designer for the Texas Company and of course designed the now famous Porcelain Box which was the basis for all Texaco stations

http://en.wikipedia....r_Dorwin_Teague

http://www.jitterbuz...ndpla.html#gass

http://www.luckymojo...texacostar.html

I hope these three links help in the search for the perfect Texaco station ...........

Ed Shaver

[Model Junkyard]

Thank you guys so much for your great feedback!

@ Ed, it seems like you're a Gas Station expert! Thanks for the info and the pics. I know I reoplcated a pair of Toks 39 as I like 'em better than the original Waynes on the original picture. It was not about making a 100% perfect replica, but much more something than I liked.
About Walter Teague -the architect- sitting beside me, well, he was not sitting beside me but... I have a secret to confess... I'm an architect myself and building scale models is my passion since I'm a child.

Ed, about your book, yes, you should do it! It's quite easy now with self publishing services and print on demand orders. You don't need to convince any publisher anymore :-)


Here you have a few more pics, taken in switzerland last summer.










There is a new gas station project on the workbench now. My brother Iggy, is working on a gas station based on a barn. Some kind of a rural gas station. Here an example of a painting by Dale Klee that served as inspiration for the project.




Here the work in progress. It's not supposed to be exactly the same as Dale Klee's gas station. It's gonna be Iggy own design based on inspiration from many pictures.

[Jim B]

Very impressice job. That shot of the Chevrolet pick-up driving down the road looks so real! Excellent work.

[High octane]

Those outdoor photos make it look REAL!