Model Garage: Repurposing old stock Pt1

This 'in-progress' model is based on an acquisition years back. My Father was indulging a phase in his life where he hung out at auctioneers looking for rare books. He managed to scoop up a set one time as part of a deceased estate 'job lot' which came with several packing boxes full of HO scale model railway stuff. He took the books and handed the rest to me. Over the years I sold off several model locomotives and gave away most of the track and rolling stock to my uncle who is an enthusiast. I kept building supplies and some model buildings - or at least some half made models of which this is one.

The shell of this building complex was already built using cardboard and brick printed paper. It's my hope that who ever the chap was who commenced it would have been content that someone has made use of his efforts and continued something he had started. I like to think so.

It was designed to be a train station if I am any judge of model railway architecture. I intend for it's transformation to represent a Belgian garage with store room (closed up) with adjoining store. There was a fair degree of warping with the structure and it's had a make-do impact on the ... let's call it a renovation. The result is going to have an irregular looking finish as a result ... which I think I'm going to like.

The great thing about garages of the 1920s and 30s is that so many of them looked to have been upgraded coach-houses or general purpose buildings - none of your purpose built service-station concepts we are so used to today. I took my inspiration from old photos of European examples of the era which I have included throughout this post. I had wanted a less urbanised garage but the building is quite substantial.

Some of the doors and window frames were plastic manufactured pieces which were bought by the previous owner and fitted perfectly into the apertures he had already cut out. I widened what is the garage entrance, built and fitted the double doors and cut up simple balsa shutters and a rear door to finish the fittings off.

I went with a tiled roof for simplicity's sake using corrugated cardboard cut into strips. Some basic card stock guttering, down pipes (tooth picks) and a chimney or three essentially finished off the building structure. I have two brick chimneys and a boiler or stove pipe coming out of the garage workshop to the rear.

I realised I needed to fashion my own 1930's petrol pump and went with a compromised representational model rather than going overboard with a detailed scale model. After all, this is 20mm or 1/72 scale (thereabouts). It's made from bits of cut and sanded sprue with paper doors (not overly curved) mounted on a double plinth and toped with the Azure oil company logo.

Many of the crafter's sins will be covered in the paint job and I've already resigned to having to paint the brickwork onto the main chimneys becasue I don't have the brickwork paper to hand.  Anyway, this is a wargaming terrain model and compromise is the name of the game.

I had a pleasant time researching early 20th century European oil companies and most of the signs and artwork I intend using were sourced on the internet and printed on a colour photocopier, including the Azur petrol pump signs. It's curious where this hobby can take an enquiring mind and I now know more about companies like Spido and Azur and the history of lubricants than I ever thought to.

The ground details were carved into pre-mixed putty coating the MDF base and whilst the roof will be brown washed and weathered, the walls cannot be. I had hoped for this model to be a quick turnover but as usual, once I settled into it, I realised to get a half decent result warranted a little more TLC.

I've always wanted a garage for WWII Rapid Fire games ever since I first read my paperback copy of Len Deighton's Blitzkrieg. In it was an illustration of a Panzer II crew refueling at a French (I assume) country garage and I have always wanted to represent it. Now I am close to having done so. When I recover my copy of Blitzkrieg I may make another in the future from scratch.