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anyone ever made a showroom/garage/warehouse for cars?

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  • Member since
    November 2005
anyone ever made a showroom/garage/warehouse for cars?
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 29, 2005 12:21 PM
I have I guess what youd call a dream to have a parking garage or futuristic showroom with replica marble tile floor, columns, shop area ect. with all of my car models "parked".

just curious to pick some people brains if anyones ever tried such a thing. not sure if thatd be considered a diorama or not, its not outside or armor which seems to be the most popular for these sorts of things. I just think itd be cool to have a parking garage, maybe even with a removable roof with lighting and all... keep works in progress in the shop area. a showroom like you might have for a real collection of cars, but scaled down.
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Burlington, Ontario Canada
Posted by gburdon on Sunday, May 29, 2005 12:55 PM
ares;

Check out the book Creative Dioramas for Autos from Kalmbach books on this website. There is a small workshop diorama in Verlinden's book The Verlinden Way Vol. 4 it shows an Mini Minor set up on blocks smashed windscreen, spare parts, oil stains etc. etc. The other reference would be the original Sheperd Paine How to Buld Dioramas has a B-26 Factory scene which is really well done. A lot of the principles that are outlined in this book are for armour dioramas but a fair number can be applied to any diorama setting.

For supplies for the showroom and "clean" areas check out Model Builders Supply website. They stock all kinds of goodies for this type of project. http://www.modelbuilderssupply.com
If you need any more information. Feel free to email.

Cheers;

Gregory
VETERAN - (Noun) - Definition - One who signed a blank cheque as: “Payable to The People of Canada, Up To and Including My Life."
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Burlington, Ontario Canada
Posted by gburdon on Sunday, May 29, 2005 12:57 PM
Further to your question. A diorama is really any setting of any "prototype" in a natural setting. So a showroom would be considered a diorama.

Cheers;

Gregory
VETERAN - (Noun) - Definition - One who signed a blank cheque as: “Payable to The People of Canada, Up To and Including My Life."
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Burlington, Ontario Canada
Posted by gburdon on Sunday, May 29, 2005 1:06 PM
Further yet. Here's the link to the book on Auto Dioramas

http://store.yahoo.net/kalmbachcatalog/12201.html

Cheers;

Gregory
VETERAN - (Noun) - Definition - One who signed a blank cheque as: “Payable to The People of Canada, Up To and Including My Life."
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 29, 2005 3:15 PM
well hey your full of useful info. thanks Im gonna go check out all of those links.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 30, 2005 2:23 PM
before I buy the books(Im gonna check the library first) anyone ever tried to replicate marble with sucess? or any form of tile for that matter. the model builders supply has tile 3d sheets. Id love to have a dark black/blue granite tile appearance... in a 18" tile , at 1/24 scale; which would be .75" tiles, which they have. but I want it to look like this



heh I start of easy eh? any way to do such a design?
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 30, 2005 2:25 PM
I guess exact would never happen; but maybe a real fine mist of blue; then a slightly darker blue. followed by some tans and yellows; and backed by black? on the clear tile where I assume you spray the backside and it shows through right? so blue would show on top; then some tans and yellows and then black....
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Burlington, Ontario Canada
Posted by gburdon on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 1:12 AM
ares;

You have the pattern for what you want right there. Take the photo you have and adjust the scale of it in a photo edit software to the tile size you want. Print on glossy photo paper. Then cut the "tiles" and glue them to the "floor" of the showroom. Seal the edges down with either a clear coat of Future floor wax or lay in a thin coat of clear epoxy resin as used for making ponds, streams etc. Why pay for someone else to manufacture when you can produce it at home.

You can also add realistic "carpet" to your show room offices. I copied a full length photo of a persian rug from the net and printed it out on matt photo paper. A quick shot with Testors dull coat to add "texture" and to fringe the edges I used a piece of yellow nylon. I glued it to the underside of the "carpet" and then pulled the loose fibers until I was left with only half the original piece with the remaining pieces forming the fringed edges.

Yes, I am full of information as you can see. Most of my friends have stated they will have me listed as their "Phone-A-Friend" for Who wants to be a Millionaire. Seriously though, I just like to learn new skills and have been gathering an extensive reference collection for modelling. The great thing about this hobby is that no matter how much comes out in the aftermarket "off the shelf - stick it in and you're done no skill required" sections it really is satisfying when I can look at the completed work and know that I created the piece and there isn't another like it.

Anything further you require, I'll be happy to assist.

Cheers;

Gregory
VETERAN - (Noun) - Definition - One who signed a blank cheque as: “Payable to The People of Canada, Up To and Including My Life."
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Burlington, Ontario Canada
Posted by gburdon on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 1:24 AM
ares;

I hate when I hit submit and I forget to write something in. For your pillars in the showroom. Check the availability in your area for cake decorators. The Roman Pillars that support wedding cake tiers are made out of styrene plastic and are usually sold in quantities of four or more. For some added "architecture" features. Try finding a chess set in a flea market or garage sale for use as corner supports or palnt holders etc. Also you can use costume jewellery to make mirrors or frames for showroom pictures. You can make banners for advertising the various manufacturers on the printer using the same principles as for the tile work. Just copy the logo from the website of the manufacturer. Visit a local dealer and ask for a blank feature listing sheet. Scan it into your computer and fill in the vehicles particulars then reduce it down to the scale of the vehicle and glue it inside the window of the vehicle.

There that should keep you busy for a bit until I flip through some more of the reference library here at home.

Cheers;

Gregory
VETERAN - (Noun) - Definition - One who signed a blank cheque as: “Payable to The People of Canada, Up To and Including My Life."
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 4:16 AM
ares,
The tiles you are thinking about can be relicated with mica sheets sold by electronics places. These are thin about the thckness of aluminium foil and thicker and look like marble to the extent where lighting will pick out and reflect the individual flakes. Two warnings: They are hard to find and not cheap , and , they are very fragile...make that VERY fragile.

The car garage is a great idea by the way and the possibilities are virtually limitless.
New cars out in the showroom and some older trades in the lot outside.? Maybe a service / repair / restoration section with a wreck and assessors looking it over? A transporter delivering the new models fresh fom the factory?
Just a few thoughts.

Good luck , Pete.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 11:14 AM
Wow, some great ideas here....as for the marble question, personally, I would paint it with an airbrush. I have never done it, but trying to replicate your design would be so much fun!!!!
Hope it turns out well. I have included a picture of a diorama which I built for a Ferrari TR 512. Of course you can build a diorama for a car. At the model club at the school I teach at which I run, one of the kids is making a diorama with an old drive in A&W. It should turn out pretty cool. Keep us posted with pics!!!
Sammy


  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 2, 2005 4:46 PM
lots of good ideas here guys. thanks for all the ideas. my dream might deviate from the traditional diarama in the sense that I dont ever want it to be finished... itd be both a diarama but also a show room for my models. question is how big does it need to be; I suppose I could do a showroom with marble floors; than a storage warehouse out back for the bulk; otherwise this could be one huge showroom.

in my head its grand though; 2 stories with cars up on platforms on balconies, and all glass walls, very modern, filled with new and old cars, motorcycles, race cars and so on.

unfortunatly Im not that good at getting my creative ideas out of my head; but maybe this will help.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 6, 2005 8:20 PM
Saw some thing similar to your idea on the net few months back. Unfortunately, I can't find the link. Anyway, what this guy did was to build a 2 stories garade complete with lighting and furnitures. He display the bigger kit as the "real" cars. While the smaller scales ones were placed on shelves in the garage to look like models display.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 12:50 AM
Ares, take a look at thins link

http://public.fotki.com/ScaleModelingByChris/customer_gallery/
  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: coastal Maine
Posted by clfesmire on Friday, June 10, 2005 7:18 PM
I made a garage/workshop to display and photograph my 1/87 models. The structure and much of the details are scratchbuilt
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stryper50/detail?.dir=4cc7&.dnm=f522.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stryper50/detail?.dir=4cc7&.dnm=7451.jpg&.src=ph
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