misterNNL

To see the next phase of this build check the forum listings for:creating a grease pit for my 1925 Indian gas station.I am creating the base piece that will hold the station and outdoor grease pit features all in one place.

I absolutely love all of the out of the box creativity you are showing on the sttreet rod build.The wheels you built are great.All us could benefit from a little more. of your..think it,built it,set practacility aside for a bit and just built it attitude.Keep doing what you like the way you like to do it!!

That 8 wheel car is the real deal.There actually was a company that produced and sold 8 wheel vehicles.They were called the Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle CO.It was started by a man named Rollie Fagoel who recieved a patent for 8 wheel vehicles in 1930.They also built buses and heavy duty trucks.Google 8 wheel cars or go to theoldmotor.com and search for them.As for that "woodruff special"VW......That just might be a family thing for me.

Thanks for all the expert suggestion and color tips.I have aaded some additional grunge and clutter today.Following a suggestion from a fellow modeler Fred Farrand last summer who suggested I might consider some fallen leaves to the roof of Indian station,I some maple leaves blown onto a corner of our garage and pulverized them in a poly bag.I brushed some thinned white glue into the cracks around the steps and into the corners of the pits then spread the crushed leaf parts over it.I added some black color Mig Pigment onto those leaves and around the corners in the pit plus some mud colored wash.It's starting to look a lot more realistic.I have also built a wooden cross-pit platform 24"scale inches wide that carries a tool tray for all the stuff the mechanic needs to keep close at hand.I'll be adding pictures of that to the album soon. I'd work on it tomorrow but really should spend all day with my wife since it's our 50th wedding anniversary!She's my biggest fan,my best friend and still the love of my wife!

I have gotten so much inspiration and such great reference material from all of the photos posted on your forums that I have decided to finally post some of mine.I tend to take my camera with me most everywhere and have even been known to climb a few fences to get a photo of some really cool stuff. I hope you enjoy these.I have more to post later. http://public.fotki.com/misterNNL/11-car-photos-i-hav/

Thanks Chuck.I have one of your projects open in another screen:the rusted Dr.Pepper screen door sign from the Groveland garage.You say you added the chips and scratches with gaouche.How did you do that?By making marks in the surface of a coat of gauche before ot dries?Do you add rust by dusting on a dried granular rust colored substance before the paint is dry?That sign is simply amazing and is a skill I would love to master.

Thanks for posting that great link Richard.Some great modeling inspiration in that bunch!!

I am getting better at this photo posting thing thanks to a personal visit from one of my best friends.He knows me well enough to write the instructions down one step at a time.I use those a lot and it does help. I have posted a new tutorial in the dioramas section following the steps I am taking to create a grease pit for my 1925 Indian gas station diorama.

Thanks for the kind words guys.I appreciate them a lot!

These photos are some the many steps involved in the creation of a grease pit feature for the 1925 Indian gas station diorama.Grease pits were surely not a glamorous part of the early history of the maintainance of early automoblies.As a result of that the available photos seem to be few and far between.Most will show a distant photo showing where it was in relation the the main station structure but that was about all I could find. Whoever the thoughtful person as you posted an excellent link to some vintage architectural files from the University on North Carolina on line here did me and all modelers a great service. There are actual plans available of several stations and luckily one I saw had dimensions for a grease pit.Those were my real staring point. Any viewers who have looke at my Indian gas station on this site have or can see the scale plans I drew to begin.This project is not complete by any means so I will continue to post more photos as things progress. As was the case in many rural areas the pits were oudoor afairs with simply a wooden ladder leading the mechanic onto the pit area.What I have am building would surely have been a dexule pit.Remember this pre-hydraulics so a wooden ramp was used to elevate the vehicle over the pit for access. I certeinly am no expert on things of this sort,relying on photographic sources for information and as such welcome any comments viewes may have. Link ihttp://public.fotki.com/misterNNL/creating-a-grease-p/?cmd=uploadax2

Just send me a PM and i'll set you up with the coolest window sticker in all of modeldom.

The correct name is NAMELESS NATIONAL LUMINARIES.I know that for a fact as I was there when the name was created.It happened in my garage in 1980.We has just read Mark Gustavsen's Putty Thrower column and Chuck Hellpie coined the name when he said and I quote"I guess that makes us nameless national luminaries doesn't it "! I probably should have one of those brass placques made that says"on this spot in 1980 the nameless national luminaries was founded".Of course we have since we have remodeled our house and the placque would be in the midele of our living room floor.My wife tends to frown on that kind of foolishness. If anyone's intrested I do have oval rear window stickers available that have the correct spelling on them that be prodly displayed on your model boxes or vehicle of your choice.We will be having our 35th Toledo area NNL nationals this coming October so be sure to mark thast on your calanders now.

Thanks for posting all of the great photos Chuck.Some of those are pricless,showing the now extinct dealerships that had visible top pumps,model T's andand some even had race cars and speedsters in them.Great stuff ! What this should make all of us aware of is that all of these great visual treats are disappearing.never to be seen again,lost to memory.If we really care about this we should start taking more pictures of what we want to preserve.I personally take my camera with me everywhere we travel.Every time I see something really cool I take pictures.If I see what I am pretty sure was a gas station at some point in it's past I'll drive around the block,park and get out if practical to photograph it.I may never see it again.I have taken pictures along the roadside of vehicles that were missing the very next time we went by. After looking at these old photos ask yourself how much of it still exists and how much will be there in another 50 or 75 years? If you care about it....Take pictures of it!!

Walt,any pictures available on the progress of this project?If so please post them as I'm anxious to see how it's looking.Thanks!

I can highly recommend a brush-on product for the stucco finish.I bought Liquitex brand product they call Ceramic Stucco.I found in a Micheal's crafts store in the artist supply section.It adheres very well and you can sand it down after it dries overnight to get just the texture you want.You can see how it looks by checking out my 1925 Indian Gas station in the diorama section of this site.I did not paint mine after application.I thought it looked more natural that way. Your project is looking very good.Also glad to see that you still find time to build even with all the other things going on in your life.I look forward to watching your updates as you post them. Be sure to sign up for both Micheals crafts and Hobbt Lobby email lists.They will send you a discount coupon every week for a 40% discount on one regularly priced item.Great way to save some of those hard earned dollars!

I'm really lppking forward to seing it,especially if it ends up parked in our driveway this July on the way to Columbus to the Good Guys nationals!

Another tip for the plastimaniacs to help make our models look even better on display.Thanks Tom,every hint helps someone out.

On my workbench now: 1920 Olds speedster 1937 Studebaker chopped hot rod school bus On the drawing board: 1/25 th scale plans for replicating a local brick one room school house from circa 1880 In my head: It's a real traffic jam !!(the headbone nationals) P.S.How's the progress of your real(1:1 )scale Ford deuce roadster?

Thanks for the kind comments.This was a fun build but also full of problems.The body itself as small as it is consists of 12 separate panels.I was constantly breaking it and having to make repairs.The chassis was the same way.This was really a build of evolution as I kept thinking of new ideas to try or finding more cool parts to add to it.After building this I decided to build a trailer for behind it and then another steam powered hot rod as a companion piece.I may post those here at some point if there's interest in them.This steam punk thing can be addictive!

For those unfamiliar with the whole steam punk thing,it is kind of victorian science fiction state of mind where everything is still steam powered instead of gasoline or electrical.Just do an internet search of the word steampunk and a whole new world appears.A lot of creative and interesting ideas!

I believe that the steel company that did the stainless cars used them as a sales tool to advertise the duribility of the product.their top salesmen drove the cars on sales calls,some putting hundreds of thousands of miles on them.A couple of the 36 Fords were eventually canibilized for parts to repair others that had been damaged.

Welcome back to the land of styrene addicition.You picked a great time to start building again what with the temperature falling into the double digits below zero this next week.Too cold to do anything else anyway.Right?Be sure to post your buils here so we can all share in the excitement!

Outstanding work overall!Great reflections in the paint also.All are something to be quite proud of.Thanks for sharing.

Sorry about that the posting is harder than the building! http://public.fotki.com/misternnl/my-first-album

The attached file follows the building of a steam punk,mid engined hot rod made from all recycled parts.