Chookey's truck repair shop

[railBuilderDhd]

Here is a kitbash I'm building for a module I'm doing now. This building will be a truck repair garage and is kinda special to me because when I was first starting on the building I was going to name it after my father and show him when the module was done. Unfortunately he passed when I was starting on this building and I only got to talk to him about what I was doing in one of the last conversations we had. So, even if it's just a silly little garage, you know it will always be special to me no matter how it turns out.

Anyway, on to the kitbash. I started with some Pikestuff models and had turned one side into a taller section so tractors with the taller smoke stacks can fit. The doors are made from aluminum foil and I burnished them on some styrene for the pattern. The roofs are made from aluminum serving trays that I cut and added the patter/ texture to look like 2 different roofs. I wanted to have the building look like it was added on by making the roof out of 2 different materials. Here are some shots of the building where I am not without any paint and a lot of details needed.

Front

Back

Dave

 

[Trussrod]

Hi Dave,
I'm very sorry to hear of your Dad's passing, that's a rough time to go through, I'm sure he appreciated knowing what you were doing.

That's pretty interesting use of the Aluminum trays, did you use a fform or pattern to get the ripple effect for the large garage doors?

You did get two differend effects on the shop roof area. Looks pretty nice, what do you think about putting some thin facias along the plastic the roofing is on?

Your doing a good job.

 

[quadk]

Dave....that is fantastic looking shop!! I really like how the roofs turned out.

Your dad would be proud!!!

 

[railBuilderDhd]

Guys - Thanks for the kind words on my father. I know it's a hard time for anyone to go through. A comment I didn't mention was my father was a truck driver so the garage is kind of a play off that. He was one of those guys who loved to talk about vehicles (only really like Chrysler's - Dodge Brothers [old school ]) and would always be found "tinkering", he would said, in the garage on a Cat or an old 1930's Dodge Bro sedan.

Now back to modeling

David -
The garage doors were made from heavy duty aluminum foil that I molded over styrene to make it look like a roll-up garage door. I'll get a better photo later. The aluminum trays are too heavy for the garage doors. I like the idea of a facias on the roof edges. I was thinking about what I would do and was going to just have some tar paper exposed but I like your idea better.

I had a real problem getting the aluminum glued down on the styrene. I tried all kinds of glues and ended up using an epoxy. It seems to be holding but it's only been since Sunday that I glued it down.

Kenny - Thanks for the nice comments.

Dave

 

[Rybcon]

My Dad passed last November. That's mostly why I'm getting back into railroading. It was his passion and some of my fondest memories growing up.

 

[railBuilderDhd]

My father passed Oct. last year. It was really nice over the past 2 years when I went home to visit my father and I would go out to areas around Youngstown and PA to railfan. He would tell me stories that I would have never known about the family and I'm so glad we got those times together. It also brings back the days before he and my mother got deviorsed.
Dave

 

[Rybcon]

Deja vu as my Dad and Mom divorced many years ago as well. We weren't very close, but there were no problems between us. Last April they said he had about 6 months so in July I flew to Missouri and spent a couple of days with him and his wife. It really worked out well as he was still feeling good enough that he drove me around and showed me "his" town. He lived in Marceline, MO the boyhood home of Walt Disney. Main Street Disneyland is modeled after Main Street Marceline. There's an old train station and a train museum. Anyway, even though we knew it would be the last time we would see each other we really had a good time.

 

[NH Mike]

Good kitbash job Dave. Neat idea about using aluminum foil for the roll ups.

I had an idea that might help in glueing them; make them wider than needed and poke some holes out near the edges to let the epoxy ooze through. Then add a narrow stripe of epoxy on the back sides thereby making a sort of sandwich with the aluminum edges in between the epoxy. I hope this makes sense.

 

[railBuilderDhd]

Mike,
That's kinda what I did. I first layered down a layer like peanut butter then I layered the first row (bottom row) in that directly and each strip that I placed over the last I first added a bead of epoxy to the edge that was going to overlay on the prior strip of aluminum. On the second row I would scrap a little epoxy on the edge that was an overlay on the lat row.
Dave

 

[railBuilderDhd]

Here is close-up of the doors. I'm going to try and get better shot later but here is one you can see what the doors look like.

Dave

 

[UP2CSX]

Dave, sorry about your dad, and I can see why this building will be special to you.

Very good representation of the rollup doors. Have you thought about modeling the building with one of the doors partially rolled up?

Some fascia around the roof would look good. You might also think about taking a thin strip of aluminum and curving it up to the building walls to represent flashing, since a metal roof would need that to be watertight. Some gutters and downspouts would also add some character. I'm sure you're planning on doing some weathering to the roofs. Doing the older section a little more rusty than the newer section would help reinforce the idea that the two sections were built at different times.

 

[railBuilderDhd]

Thanks Jim for the kind words about my father and this building. It will be special and I hope it looks good when it's done.

I was thinking about the open door and have a truck pulling in/out but than you need to model the inside (kinda). Since this is for a module to run at train shows I'm not going to do much interior details for start.

I did thin of many of the same details that you mentioned. I did get the building painted today and started to weather the roof. I'll post more photos when I get more taken.

Dave