1/2" Scale project still in progress (somehow)

[Malachi Constant]

You're going to have a hard time summoning the bats to the belfry if your clapper ball has fallen off. 

Meanwhile, all these "normal little things" from real life that usually DON'T get modeled really bring the place to life ... oh wait, it's abandoned ... um, they bring it to ... let's see here ... well, it looks really real. 

-- Dallas

[TRAINS1941]

WELL RING MY BELL!!!!!!!

Another reason they call you the "Wizard"!!

Jerry

[finescalerr]

At this point you're just showing off! -- ssuR

[Frederic Testard]

What else could he do, ssuR : shoot the magic wand?

[Ray Dunakin]

I'm amazed that you still keep finding more of these great little details to add to the model! And without it looking "overdone" at all!

[W.P. Rayner]

There was a little clapper ball, but I noticed in the final photos it has fallen off. 

Now that's a phrase you don't see very often...

Paul

[PuckHog]

 Hi Chuck,  First thing I did after not looking in on this site for a long while was check and see what you are building.  You did not disappoint!!!

            I just didn't expect it to be the same building as 2 years ago


   Randy

[Mr Potato Head]

You and I live life in normal time, (well since I live in Potato Land maybe my time is less than normal) more about that later,... But Chuck my friend; well his clocks were Salvador Dali's inspiration!
There's Pacific, mountain, central, eastern, and standard time and then there's "Chuck time"
It's finished when it's finished! It's really very  simple easy to understand.
MPH
Did you know that 60% of U.S. Potato products come from Idaho?

[Chuck Doan]

Thanks! Randy I am practising Bonsai weathering.

Paul, I just hope I never hear a doctor tell me those words.

Time for some more of Gil's french frys!

[Mr Potato Head]

Hey that ORE-IDA potato processing plant for McDonalds is right around the corner from me! I always wonder? there's a McDonalds just across the street from Oreida and do they walk the French fry's across the street, or do they ship them all the way to the distribution center and then ship them back?
Inquiring minds need to know???
MPH
Most Potato chip potato's come from Pennsylvania, because they grow round potato's
The world's largest Potato Chip is in the Potato Museum, in Black Hawk Idaho!

[Chuck Doan]

I finished the hanging Mobil sign this weekend.

Research:  Mostly from Flickr. Searching the tag "Mobilgas" scored many nice pictures of the old shield design, with some nice weathering references too.

Artwork: In one Flickr album there was a large size picture of an old print ad. I imported it into Photoshop and cropped it and cleaned it up so the colors would print well. I then drew some chips onto the "porcelain" based on some of the pictures I had found. They should have some depth, but I had no interest trying to cut tiny holes in the rubbery decal film so I compromised. I did different artwork for each side of the sign.


The magazine ad and cleaned logo

Decal making: I imported the JPEG artwork into a Word document and sized it to a scale 30" wide to fit under my sign bracket. I made two rows so I would have extras for screw-ups (and they were needed!) I printed them on Testor's white decal sheet using the Best Photo option on premium glossy paper. I also disabled the High Speed function on the printer so it would print the most solid colors (albeit slowly). I let the finished print dry a couple of hours and then coated the sheet with several light coats of Dullcote spray from the can.

The sign: I made the sign from .010 styrene sheet. I cut a square a bit larger than the artwork and sanded the pebbly side smooth. I cut out one of the decals from the sheet and used a sharp X-Acto to carefully cut around the print, right on the edge of the blue border. I cut through the film only and not through the sheet. I dipped the piece in water and slid it off onto the styrene, and carefully rolled the water out with a piece of plastic tube. When dry, I carefully cut the excess styrene and sanded up to the edges of the decal with sanding sticks. I used a round file on the radiused corners. I stopped with about .005-.010 to spare all around the sign. Then I applied the other side decal and carefully stretched and smoothed it to fit up to the edges of the shield shape. It took a few tries to get it done without trapping some goober under the decal, which usually ruined the thick "vinyl" film trying to lift it up. The final result was Dullcoted on both sides.




Finishing: I painted the white edges of the sign with thinned Polly Scale ATSF blue. I used gouache to add the rust and rust streaks to the various chips. The hanging bracket was made from styrene with hangers bent from brass shim stock and then I primered the assembly with flat black spray. I used hairspray and the blue paint to finish it off.

I don't know if any of this will be useful, but at least I can refer to it in the future to remember what I did!









Other than some final touchups, that is it for this diorama. Finally.

[jacq01]

  Chuck,
  fantastic work. Pity this is finished 

  Thanks for the ride with all it's extremely useful building sbs. 

  Jacq

[lab-dad]

Very nice, not bad for your first attempt!
Was nice to see you use several different techniques and try out some very new ones too!
Wondering what is next, I am having a hard time lately getting inspired to do anything.
Do you have any plans for the next project?

-Marty

[BKLN]

I can't believe its over!

I really, really love that you didn't add a car, bike or figure into the diorama. Them pump is the focal point, just the way it should be! But it doesn't dominate the scene, so the eye can wander around to discover all the other beautiful details.

Thank you for sharing your work and the process!

[mad gerald]

... still haven't finshed this whole thread and read all of the contributions ... and already yearning for more ...  

Massive cheers