QUICK AND DIRTY GAS PUMP (UP DATED)

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi all,
I have been kicking around a scene on the railroad (large scale outdoor) of a fishing camp on the river in the mountains.  They called them "Resorts" when I was a kid but that was really a stretch for the camps I remember.  Anyway I have been thinking about a store, bar/hotel with rental cabins, tent camp ground and boat rentals like the ones I remember.  I have done some cardboard mock-ups to get a feel for the size and location of the buildings and realized I needed a gas pump out front. 

Digging around in my junk boxes I found some 1:18 scale die cast and steel replicas that possibly would work.  Checking it out it scaled 13.5 feet tall in 1:20 scale.  I know these old buggers were tall but that is way too much.  So after some thought and a review of Chuck's masterpiece gas pump I thought I would give it a try.  Knowing I couldn't approch Chuck's level of finish was not really a problem because that would not be my intent.  Nice dodge huh? 

Anyway to shorten the height was the first hurdle.  Chucked the barrel up in the lathe and put a tool to it and it was promptly thrown across the shop creating some nice dents by the way.  The tapered barrel wouldn't let me use a lathe tool to cut it off but it would mark it around so that I had a cut line for a hand held hack saw to do the work with. 

With the barrel cut down from the top and up from the bottom it shortened it about 3/4 inch.  By turning the base down in the lathe I was able to gain another 1/4 inch and get the finished scale height down to about 9 and 1/2 feet in 1:20 scale seemed like that would work. 

Altered a few other parts and built some new ones like the gas nozzle and the drain back pipe.  and got a reasonable looking gas pump out of the deal. 

I sprayed the bright red original pieces with ruddy brown primer then used hair spray then some cheapy acrylic white paint that was on hand and tried the "tooth pick" chipping method.  Didn't work for me, but an old dull #11 Exacto blade did a pretty good job.  All the bright gold pieces were etched then primed and painted gloss red close to the Texaco color.  A couple of Texaco logos printed onto some self sticking vinyl for decals and some dirt and rust washes finished it up.

The finished model is a little squatty and the top globe a little to large for a correct scale model but I think it will portray it's part in the scene.

Anyway a couple of pictures of the finished pump. As per usual I forgot to take any before shots.
Rick

[Chuck Doan]

Came out fine; I hope the plastic bits from the original stand up to outdoor use.

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi Chuck,
Thanks for the comment.  Those small pictures just don't show things up very well, if I wasn't so lazy I would go to the effort and post the larger versions.

The only plastic on the pump model is the tank "glass" and things like this are not left out on a permanent basis (over winter)anyway.
Rick

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks real good to me. The "cap" over the glass part is a bit too wide, but if it's diecast there's probably not much you can do about that.

[NORCALLOGGER]

Ray,
Yes, that's it!  Something had been bothering me about the pump and I just couldn't put my finger on it.  The "bonnet" is steel not cast so I should be able to turn it down in the lathe.  I will give that a shot in the next day or so.
Thanks for the input.
Rick

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi all,
I had a chance today to upgrade the gas pump a little.  I took Ray's advice and turned down the "bonnet" and I think that helped the model quite a bit.
What do you all think???

Rick

[Ray Dunakin]

The new top looks better.

[marc_reusser]

I think it's alovely little project. The two things that bother me on it though, are the rust chips...too regular in size and shape, and it looks like I can see the brush direction they were dabbed on/made with. the other thing is the kinked hose...I don't yhink this would be there on a real one.

Marc