Repstock

You know, I WAS trying to figure that out, but I couldn't produce a mechanism small enough and reliable enough to seal inside. I have two colors of small round pin heads that are going to stand in for the bulbs. They actually look real good when set in place.

Thank you. I try to make sure my corners are right, and windows and doors end up with whole bricks on either side, not 1/8 of a brick on one side and 7/32 on the other. If you do this, I think the plastruct brick looks great. I like the hand carved bricks seen on other posts, but they look like much older style brick than I'm trying to portray. I am going to try their method when I do a building old enough. I fill the gaps on the corners with a super glue/baby powder mixture, sand to the level of the outer brick surface, then add the mortar lines with a file.

That's a fair question. I tend to build things to withstand a nuclear blast, so I tend to me more concerned with the glue bond and part alignment than painting. This has gotten me into trouble more than once, but it's just my way. I'm confident I can paint this thing if I'm patient and careful enough.

That eye is kind of creepy. Thanks for the kind words, though!

Basic sign is together. This should be a joy to mask and paint! I had the station sitting on the floor of my micro sized model room. When I swivelled in my chair, the station was caught between the chair and the wall, and the gatorboard was crushed. Repairs are underway. All damage was on areas covered by brick, so I should be able to make the repairs undetectable. It's just aggravating to fix something that was fine to begin with. I'll have to carry stuff I'm not working on into the next room, to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. This picture was taken before the damage. I am glad it occured early in the build when it will be easier to fix.

That's one great pic, Mike! I see that station does indeed have the brick on the inside rear showroom wall. Looks like I have a choice of how to handle that wall. Even if I don't get every detail right, this pic will sure help me get the "feel" of the showroom. Thanks, Mike!

Here's one of the reference pics I have. There has been some obvious updating, but the basic station and '70s appearance is intact. This is what I'm going to build, minus the updates.

It is useless to try and find the exact font in the exact size I need, so I had to carve out my own. I have since noticed the "100" is slightly larger than the "super", so I'll have to redo the "100".

I usually use .040 for most of my work, of course the thickness will be determined by the need.

Is this the style of Shell station?

I will indeed add a door casing and the door for the back room door. The showroom wall on all three of my reference units ia made up of a light gray surface with horizontal slots every 3 or 4 inches. It looks as if it was designed to hold shelving units. Such a system would allow endless flexibility in setting up and changing shelf locations. Two of my references are pics of period stations, the third is a station near me. This is the one I measured for the basic dimensions. They wouldn't allow any access to the bathrooms or back room, however. I beleive this station recently closed, and is being prepared for sale. the last time I visited it was all locked up and I couldn't get near it, so it won't help much as reference from here on out. If anyone out there has pics of the showroom, or even portions of it, I would welcome the help. I'm going to make up (guess the layout of) the bathrooms and storeroom first, in the hopes that some showroom reference may surface. Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.

I used super glue to attach the styrene to the gatorboard. Super glue tends to dissolve the inner foam portion, but works great on the outer cladding. I used epoxy on my last project in places, and it works well, too.

I've started this 1/25 Clark station. I chose Clark because of the small footprint. I have pretty good references for the exterior (circa 1977), but darn few of the interior. Rather than wait and possibly never build it, I'm going to guesstimate the interior details. The inside probably won't be accurate, but hopefully it will at least be logical. Here's the basic shell, made of gator board. I've sheathed the sides in Plastruct brick. Because of the unique way the brick interlaces with the blocks, (and also because the brick is actually 1/24 scale, not 1/25) there were no commercially available block patterns that would fit. I therefore carved the block pattern on styrene, and glued it to the gator board. I did the same for the inside of the storage room on the back wall. This will take some time to finish. I hope you'll enjoy the process.

I'm calling this project done (for now). I'm going to spend more time on the Clark station. Here's a couple of Laundromat shots And a few of the TV repair shop I'll start a new thread for the Clark Station. Thanks for all the feedback! http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Repstock/Street%20Diorama/ A link to all photos

I will say this...after looking at all these other posts, in the future I may have to consider trying wood. All I've used so far is Gator board sheathed with styrene, two mediums I am VERY comfortable with. I have never worked with wood before, so I will be studying other posts to see how it's done. I've seen some really cool effects that would be difficult, if not impossible to achieve with styrene. There's some real craftsmen here.

I've been building models since 1973, and scratchbuilding/modifying kits for most of that time, but this IS my first structure. As this one winds down, I've begun a model of a Clark gas station, set in 1977, the same time period as this one. I hope some day to make a big diorama using all of these creations. I really enjoy making every element of the model. The buiding, and all of it's contents. I appreciate all the support. With some really GREAT modelers using this forum, it means a lot!

Monogram/Revell '70 Torino in it's various forms are one of the rare cases where the new model looks better than the annual (to me, anyway).

Here's a few detail shots. It's very hard to get great focus when shooting close. Here's a street shot with a Dodge window van. Roof details. The little structure on top hides the toggle switches controlling the lights for each room. I decided to add a Coke machine and light it. The effect is cool in person.

One of these should lead you to my Photobucket site. Everything there is unlocked, so you can look at it all.i will try to be a little better about keeping this thread updated. Thanks for the positive feedback, I appreciate it! More Pics http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Repstock/Street%20Diorama/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16 You might also try this: Even more http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Repstock/Clark%20Gas%20Station/

Would anyone have any info on the small Clark gas station buildings? I have one near me that I've already measured and drawn in AutoCad. Problem is, the building is boarded up and I can't get inside. Any info on the interior or exterior, circa 1970s, would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the washers for the Laundromat. They were made from .040 sheet styrene. Sadly, the decal setting solution marred some of the decals, but I'm using this anyway. Dryers. Also made from .040 sheet styrene. Dryer baskets are plumbing fittings, and the door frames are model truck wheel rings.

That's a really cool idea! How often do garage scenes have a ceiling that's actually a part of the display?

The bricks are embossed Plastruct sheet brick, #PS-90L. The brick was painted Tamiya Dull Red, individual bricks were painted slightly lighter or darker, and the mortar is a light gray acrylic paint mix. Once the mortar was added, the multicolored brick effect disappeared, and now they all look the same! The bricks above the windows are evergreen .015 x .100, I think.

The GE sign was scratchbuilt. I made computer printed decals for the GE emblem and the other lettering.

A fair question. The smaller letters are available from Plastruct. The larger ones are menu letters, like you would find at an outdoor food stand. Years ago I bought a large box of them on the famous auction site in the hopes I would use them someday. I have about 7 different "fonts". You can also find 3-D letters in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby. I haven't tried these yet, but eventually I will. Thanks for the kind words, all of you.