bill lanfear Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 (edited) So I finally started on my massive "A day in 1979" diorama. It will have a Sinclair gas station along with many other structures. Basically it will be a small Montana town in 1979. I started with the gas station because it will require some of the most work structurally. There will be a total of 7 pumps and they will be illuminated for night scenes. This pump is not finished quite yet and it has a few flaws but it is the first and there was some serious experimenting going on. Many thanks to George and the others that responded to my "need help" for the sizing questions. Most of this build is from a "House for sale" sign. Hope you like it....let me know what you think! Thanks for looking! Here it is lit up. The sign used. The bases for all pumps were cut out. I used a thinner typical for sale sign for the top "Sinclair" signage as I needed light to able to illuminate them. Tin foil was used to give the stainless steel look on the sides. Textured the top sides again with tin foil. A quick set up to check for scale. The finished display will have a base on the pump, an island, other pumps etc. I will post more as I finish this one and start on the others. Thanks. Edited July 31, 2018 by bill lanfear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglia105E Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Absolutely brilliant Bill ! You have produced a very realistic looking gas pump there, with some clever techniques. The scenario that you have described is going to be so interesting as a project and I shall be following your work in progress. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 This has been one of my very long term someday projects-------to build some kind of gas station (Gulf)/apartment house. I'll definitely be watching this one and that gas pump is looking great! Looks just as I remember it from back then as I was putting gas in my first car from that time ('69 Dodge Dart). Sinclair is one of those long lost gas stations as we had a couple in our area. And yes, I can remember 1979 very well as that's when we were hit with a SECOND nasty fuel crisis. I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in PA they implemented the God awful odd/even BS for license plates to dictate which days you were to get gas. Just the same, keep up the good work and it'll be interesting to see down the road which cars you'll put in your diorama! Not too many cars left on the road these days that would have been running the streets in '79. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Most impressive! I'll definitely be following this project David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I ran across this pic in my hard disc and it immediately took me back to 1979, and the second fuel crisis that hit. Looking at some of the cars lined up, I have to assume this was '79...........I see a couple cars there that would have been new then. Man I sure wish a couple of those were model kits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Your pump looks very good. Nice work ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badluck 13 Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 You mentioned a "few flaws".........ummmmmmmmmmm where?!?!??!?!?!? , that pump is fantastic!!!,ain't no flaws I see.... I am really watching this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill lanfear Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 Thanks everyone! I agree on wishing there were more plane jane kits available. That is one of my biggest challenges; to depict an average day without the entire scene filled up with Camaro's, Chevelles, Chargers, and Mustangs...They will be present but a little more subtle. I will do my best to balance this problem. I have been collecting kits for many years, but the 70's vehicles have only recently hit the shelves again and the old ones are priced a little heavy for my wallet. Fortunately, there were an abundance of 50's and 60's cars still used in 79...especially in small rural towns and there are plenty of those in kit form. I remember back in 79, there were a lot of what we consider collectible cars used as high school rides and daily drivers. Thanks again for your kind words! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 3 hours ago, bill lanfear said: I remember back in 79, there were a lot of what we consider collectible cars used as high school rides and daily drivers. Thanks again for your kind words! In the late '70's in high school, the parking lot was LITTERED with the likes of Dodge Chargers, Chevelles, Olds Cutlasses, late '60's Fairlanes, and the oddball Corvairs, and (cough, cough) Pintos. Not long ago I went past my old school and since the parking lot kinda sits along the main road, I was able to see what cars are parked there now. Nissans, Hyundai, Honda, Kia........names mostly unheard of 40 years ago. It was a bit sad, but then the kids that are driving those cars now might say the same thing 40 years hence as something totally different will be on the roads then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincen47 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Fantastic work! Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 6:14 PM, MrObsessive said: Nissans, Hyundai, Honda, Kia........names mostly unheard of 40 years ago. Back in the 1990s I went on a few business trips to South Korea. One day we had to drive from Seoul down to Taejon, about 100 miles IIRC. Our Korean hosts drove us in a car I'd never heard of: a Kia. I remember it was a fairly big 4-dr. sedan and very comfortable on that long trip. I'm not sure if it was a model ever sold in the USA, or Korean Domestic Market only. The first American Kia dealerships opened in 1994, according to Mr. Google. On one trip, we visited a company that resulted from a recent merger of two big corporations: Lucky, which operated a chain of gas stations/convenience stores, and GoldStar, an electronics company. After the merger they became Lucky-GoldStar. Better known today as LG. And those gas pumps look incredible. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbowser Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 10:06 AM, MrObsessive said: I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I ran across this pic in my hard disc and it immediately took me back to 1979, and the second fuel crisis that hit. Looking at some of the cars lined up, I have to assume this was '79...........I see a couple cars there that would have been new then. Man I sure wish a couple of those were model kits! OMG, gas was 72.9c a gallon! Your pump looks fantastic, I'll be following along with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 9 minutes ago, bbowser said: OMG, gas was 72.9c a gallon! A few years before that, I tried to get my first job at a gas station which was right around the corner from where I lived at the time (Ft. Washington, MD). It was in fact a Mom and Pop run Sinclair station and gas was 55¢ a gallon. This would have been in the 1976-'77 time frame so that 72¢ price was probably a real shocker to many. Of course, I would LOVE to see prices that cheap again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill lanfear Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 Thanks Bruce, Michael, and Cary. I too was in Korea in 91-92 (Army) and remember those unfamiliar Kia's running around. A little update on the progress. I have the second pump nearly finished or at least as far as the first one. I strayed a little and fabricated an ice machine using my trusty sign for the plastic materials. I make my own decals which makes it easier to do these projects. Hope you like it...will post more as progress is made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbowser Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Amazing, that ice cooler is perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markalister Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 12 hours ago, bill lanfear said: Thanks Bruce, Michael, and Cary. I too was in Korea in 91-92 (Army) and remember those unfamiliar Kia's running around. A little update on the progress. I have the second pump nearly finished or at least as far as the first one. I strayed a little and fabricated an ice machine using my trusty sign for the plastic materials. I make my own decals which makes it easier to do these projects. Hope you like it...will post more as progress is made. Bill, those gas pumps look awesome as does your ice machine. I have been noodling about doing a couple of gas station dioramas myself - a Texaco station (the bigger and more ambitious of the 2 dio's) and a Union 76 station (bought an Academy Joe's as a base kit to modify). Currently I'm just collecting bits and pieces to put in it, but soon. I have been thinking of scratching an ice machine myself (found a few "kits" online but they are pricey). Doing the plastic part of the buildup of it should be easy enough, my hang up comes at doing the decals. I have everything I need to print my own (decal paper etc.), I just haven't been able to find any good quality images online to print. Where did you find yours??? I too am following this. You're off to a fantastic start - I cant wait to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red318 Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Absolutely superb Bill, clever use of materials too. Would you mind sharing the pump dimensions? I'm looking at some simple resin casting of various styles of pumps. I'll be following this thread with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill lanfear Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 10 hours ago, Markalister said: I just haven't been able to find any good quality images online to print. Where did you find yours??? Hey Mark, it was a challenge to find a workable picture. I finally found a GIF image and used photoshop to create what I have. Another option I tried was fonts for photoshop or Microsoft word. I found a few that were close but not the exact logo. Google "Ice logo" and see what you get. If you cant find it, PM me and I will hook you up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill lanfear Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 8 hours ago, Red318 said: Would you mind sharing the pump dimensions? Hey David, I would be happy to measure my pumps for you if needed. I posted a "Need help" on this problem under the wanted section of this forum and George hooked me up with measurements of a "Doozy" pump which is 1/24 scale. I then converted the sizes down to 1/25. You can check out the 1/24 measurements or PM me and I will measure mine for you. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red318 Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) On 7/5/2018 at 5:59 PM, bill lanfear said: Hey David, I would be happy to measure my pumps for you if needed. I posted a "Need help" on this problem under the wanted section of this forum and George hooked me up with measurements of a "Doozy" pump which is 1/24 scale. I then converted the sizes down to 1/25. You can check out the 1/24 measurements or PM me and I will measure mine for you. Hope this helps! Hi Bill, thanks for this, I've got the dimensions from your Need Help post. One of the guys in our club does some pretty good resin casting, such things like WW2 aircraft bomb bay interiors and he's goint to try some pumps for me. I'll probably go for a kit of parts type approach with some flat panels first. Edited July 7, 2018 by Red318 Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill lanfear Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 Quick update! I finished the third pump of seven and decided to take a short break and fabricate a pop machine. The front is not attached yet so it might be a little crooked as I just propped it up for pics. The buttons are made of a pudding cup for transparency and the top "Pepsi" logo has the ribbon decal on the back side and the word on the front to give the allusion of the real sign. Hope you like it...tell me what you think, thanks for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 You do very good work ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Scratchbuilding at its best. Beautiful work. Definitely will be following. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglia105E Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Bill, those gas pumps are the best I've seen..... extremely accurate and realistic. You can be proud of what you have achieved here and I shall continue to watch your work in progress. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill lanfear Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 Thank you guys your comments are appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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