service / gas station diorama

[crazyrichard]

decided to board up the bottom left windows due to the previous mentioned gap , in fact i think it fits the theme whell !!

also made a doorhandle from brass tube and from very thin brass sheet a lockplate

[Tom Geiger]

It keeps getting better! I love the Lego sign. It works perfectly in the space. What are you going to do for the signs on both the new Lego sign and the one mounted on the roof? It's time!

I have an old Disney Village toy that my kids had when they were young. It's pretty much a diorama of the Disney Main Street but was disappointing because it was all printed cardboard that folded and assembled poorly with visible pins on the fronts. The kids never liked it. But I kept it all these years because all the doors, windows and architectural features are plastic and pretty close to our favorite scale. I'll have to dig it out and see what we've got! Hmmm... I feel a diorama coming on.

[crazyrichard]

whell i was thinking on some old texaco signs ... need to borrough the printer of my neighbour though , still need to buy a decent printer

and yes do that i'm curious on that disney dio and what parts you can use

dig it out and open a thread

like on mine in the end i only used the roof and thats it , the dimensions and looks are pretty much like it was ..

[Dinky]

Very nice Richard, beautiful. The pictures in daylight are awesome!!

The movies are cool, with nice music that fit the scene.

[crazyrichard]

thnx and yes in daylight the colors come aross more like its in real life , most pictures i take when building are in the dark with artificial light .. so that always comes out real flat

[crazyrichard]

whell still thinking on how and what on a service garage next to the pump building .. so i thought today i'd make a bell system with a hose they drive over , so when the guy sits inside , legs up watching tv with the heater on 6 .. he knows there are customers

also gave the doorhandle and lock plate some chrome

[rous74]

Wow great build with nice weathering !

[crazyrichard]

thnx rousounelis

started some signs / logos today ..

did both sides of the round sign , designed my own no smoking sign , made a standing sign from a cool picture i found ....

the sign on the roof is gone i ripped that back off , i didnt like it , designed that myself because in that shape there was nothing that matched from texaco .. but i have a way cooler idea there a square sign that has a round top , hard to explain but i will make it tomorrow

[Tom Geiger]

Richard, I think all the signs look just fine! I especially like the standing man sign. That is pretty cool and is a keeper for sure. For the rectangular sign in the roof, this would be the spot where you put the garage name, something like "Abner's Garage" or other.. and the Disney Land diorama piece we spoke about...

Here's a random piece. The front door to the post office. I like the half circle windows. This is plastic. As you can see the cardboard walls are poor and everything was assembled by those beige circle clips, visible everywhere.

Here's the piece apart from the wall. It snaps out and has a front and back side.

It kind of scales out... the door is 3 feet wide, which is right, but it's a bit shy of 6 feet tall. A door should be at least 7 feet tall. I can fix that by adding bottom corner blocks.

And here it is as a back drop. I haven't dug too far into the box just yet, but I've seen some nice colonial windows in the box.

[GTMust]

I love your techniques Richard..... But one small comment for reality. The hose for the bell should not be straight. It would be laid loose and as each car drives over it, it gets kinked out of line (Kind of like a large curve.).

I know as I used to own a small rural gas station and I was constantly having to re-aligned that darn hose!

Just a thought.

Tony

[crazyrichard]

thnx guys and tony hmm whell i saw some of those hoses that where straight .. i didnt know they also are kinked .. hmm whell to be hounest .. the way it sits now works best because gluing it would be fragile ... i used pins and because its tight / straight it seems to hold great ..

but you think i should kink that hose then ?

whell made a new design today using photoshop for the roof sign , i desided to use a round logo in a square ... and that came out way better , added the word gasoline and didnt choose to put a name there ..

i printed it out and glued it on a piece of styrene plate , then cut that to the same shape and made the edges (side) black ..

now on this pic it needs to be varnished still , the round logo and standing sign alreay have varnish , that seals the paper (standard a4 printer paper) and makes it look less paper or better said it does not look like paper anymore ...

the no smoking sign .. i will make a new one for that and design it better / make it sharper and more readable

sadly for me on these pics the whole pacakge does not come a cross nice or like how it looks in reaL life , i think its due to the lighting

[crazyrichard]

whell after posting the previous post , glue dryed a bit so i put some varnish on the roof logo and did some mild rust , dont want the signs too weathered

[crazyrichard]

made a coke sign on a piece of copperplate

[GTMust]

thnx guys and tony hmm whell i saw some of those hoses that where straight .. i didnt know they also are kinked .. hmm whell to be hounest .. the way it sits now works best because gluing it would be fragile ... i used pins and because its tight / straight it seems to hold great ..

but you think i should kink that hose then ?

Leave it as is Richard.... and pretend the frustrated gas station attendant just re -straightened it! I'm only speaking from the experience with my own small rural gas station anyway. I'm sure there would be hoses at some stations that were fixed down straight somehow.

Keep up the good work.. great to see such inspired scratch building.

Tony

[crazyrichard]

okay thnx tony

[crazyrichard]

decided to make a print out in photoshop to put behind the window , with old oil cans ..

now later i could either make a new one or even decide to make real shelfs woth real tiny oil cans ..

but tbh for now this is perfect because you have to really look close to see its a print .. sure 3d made cans will look better .. maybe later on

this weekend the goal is to make a vintage coca cola cooler

[bpletcher55]

KEEP IT GOING RICHARD! LOOKS GREAT ,I,M PICTURING THIS WOULD BE FROM THE NORTH WESTERN PART OF THE U.S.A ,

[Dinky]

Wow the signs are so cool, good job Richard!

[crazyrichard]

thnx guys and yes blair i should ad a rocking chair in front right

[gasser59]

I have been following this from the beginning and have really enjoyed seeing this come together. One addition that I think would really set this off is a set of deer antlers either over the entry door or under the front Texaco sign where the square roof supports meet. I don't know of a kit that has these but with your fabrication talent, Richard, I know you could do a set justice.

I envision this rural gas station in the north country on the outskirts of a small town.

[bpletcher55]

love the deer antlers ,they would realy make the seen ,great idea,

[crazyrichard]

hmm now that a interesting idea !! already i'm getting the idea that maybe some tiny plant or tree bransches could make for some awsome antlers

hmm going to keep this in mind

thnx a lot

[crazyrichard]

started on a vintage coce cooler box , already designed and printed some logos .. waighting till the paint dryes so i can use some chrome on the hinges and ...

[Ira]

Beautiful Work Richard!

Wonderful Weathering & Detailing!

Thanks for sharing...

[crazyrichard]

thnx ira !!

finished the cooler itself , i will make a small frame it sits on , slightly elevated with wheels under that

not 100% happy on the coke logos i need to buy some decal paper now i have a printer , regulair paper is fine for signs and logos but on the cooler it shows the edges to much

today i bought some rust pigment powder from valeo and tested it on the cooler , whow that stuff really becomes like realistic rust

some pics of the whole .....

also used the valeo pigment powder on the ruststripes and corners of the big roof sign , over the rust i painted on and whow even that became better .. love that stuff