Looks good!!
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Keith,
your pictures take me right back into the 1960´s!
Just some follow up pics.
I had to make a template to actually place the positions of the Speaker poles. One reason was to follow the curvature of the wooden ribs in the initial construction. Another reason was to be exact as possible in their placement. Special consideration at the end of the isles were important, thus another reason for the template.
The two white lines represent the 'walk thru' to various rows. Sewing thread strung with to hat pins were used for a temp marking of the lane.
The Speaker poles are made from 'straight pins' cut in half and painted white with a green top.
I am far from being finished, but if I didn't stop and take a pic or two, there wouldn't be much to talk about.
Keith
I found one of those kits at the Great American Train Show in Timmonium. It was a cheap kit with a few plastic parts. Since I used to work in one of those buildings back when hamburgers were 15 cents, I would like to have had it even though it was Plasticville quality. Unfortunately, the guy who had it thought it was extremely valuable so I had to pass on it.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I found one of those for sale on Ebay. It is indeed a Christmas Ornament . Since I Model in HO I decided that the $50 minimum bid was too much Still I like the idea I think Vollmer sells an HO kit but I probably wont have room for it on my main layout but perhaps in my secondary display yard.
Joe Staten Island West
joe323 Going a bit Off topic Is that Old Fashioned Mcdonalds in the background a kit.
Going a bit Off topic Is that Old Fashioned Mcdonalds in the background a kit.
Nah, hardly going off topic and a good question. I believe its a Christmas Ornament, by Hallmark. Found it on Ebay. Seems to be perfect for N scale, but hardly a kit. Looks like a fun one for someone to put lights in. The whole insides should light up real nice with the glass and colors.
I do plan popping off those plastic bushes and adding my own.
As for topic, Mc Donalds was a thing for SoCal. The very first started in a small town called San Bernandino, CA in the early 40's. The second one, built in 1953 was about 5 miles from my home in Downey, CA.
Going a bit Off topic Is that Old Fashione dMcDonalds in the background a kit.
Fogged up windows? Yeah~ Things did get a little steamy back then. If only I was that far along to do windows.
Today I just finished up on the pavement. What a mess. lol .. Me AND my BiG Mouth~ Whew, glad that was over with, but wait there's more.
Not only did I finish up on the pavement, which has a gnarly look. But I also did Speaker Poles. Straight pins cut in half. One half to represents an empty space and one to look like both speakers are in the cars. I'm pretty happy with the results. Although, cutting, mounting them onto the foam board, spray painting them white and topped them off with a touch of green, well, made me wish I was back doing pavement.
Not only that, my wife and I laid out the buildings to see how everything looks in relation to the Drive-In.
Take a look. I can't tell you how many times these buildings were moved. Women really love that sort of thing. This is one of the first times we've seen something like this We're both pretty Jazzed right now.
Tomorrow I shall be mounting Speaker Poles. Wanna help? lol Makes me wish I was fogging up windows.
Actually in a couple of days from now I'll be doing sidewalks, roads, and foundations Should be fun right up until Christmas.
TC all Keith
Take one of your cars and mask of everything except the windows with blue painters' tape. Spray the car with Dull Coat, and when you pull the tape off you'll have a car with the windows all fogged up.
Yeah, I grew up with Drive-Ins.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
joe323 It is Ironic the way we use high tech to reoresent technology in the past. I mean how many of us really get to go to a drive in or ride steam trains on a regular basis. Yet we reproduce the effect on our layouts with DCC sound and baby monitors etc. You have inspired me to look into building a drive in when I redo my layout next year.
It is Ironic the way we use high tech to reoresent technology in the past. I mean how many of us really get to go to a drive in or ride steam trains on a regular basis. Yet we reproduce the effect on our layouts with DCC sound and baby monitors etc. You have inspired me to look into building a drive in when I redo my layout next year.
Joe, quote; "You have inspired me to look into building a Drive-In when i redo my layout next year"
Well I am pleased to read that. No greater compliment than that. But right now I feel more like a Crash Test Dummy. You can learn from my mistakes and my triumphs. Here is where I am at and wait till ya get a look at these pics. I'm fairly pleased with the results so far.
I used the Party foam to cover the wood risers glued onto the foam board. In which you can also see the undulated rows for cars. Well I hope you can see them.
I also painted a base coat to the foam. In which you can also see the 'seams' of the party foam as well, also see the imperfections.
I applied some putty to cover the seams, and here is where I am at this moment, in between drying times. (pics later on)
The putty is drying as I type. It was first applied with a Putty knife. Oh that Putty knife filled in the cracks real nice, but left a rised seam. So I went back and started using a cut down piece of Party foam to act as putty knife. That seemed to be a better way of applying the putty to conform to all the imperfections.
After that I came back afterwards .. no not with sand paper .. that might lead to scratching the Party foam. But with a wet paper towel to wipe the edges of the putty and used my finger to blend the edges of applied putty into the Party foam.
Game Plan?
I plan on coming back and hitting the applied putty. There are imperfections even in the putty. But at least that first application gave it a good start of covering the seams. Now to cover the imperfections of the first application shall be a 2nd round of putty.
When that dries, I plan on giving those white areas a coat of WS Slate gray / earth undercoat. I do this because for two reasons. One, to see areas needed to be patched a 3rd time. My eyes can't see white that easy. Second, it will match the base coat i've applied in the early stages.
Now here is where I start stepping into un-chated territory.
I do not know if the putty / painted patch will be sufficient, or will I apply a light coat of putty OR plaster to the entire area.
And if I do, will it be what I need to go on to a further totally different application of creating a gnarly asphalt / blacktop that I saw in our Drive-Ins. That asphalt was so old with gravel all over the play, well it looked like it should have been re-paved 15 years before that.
OK, second Game Plan concerning the above paragraph. I know, when using Party foam, if you apply a thin coat of plaster, let that dry and then apply pressure to various parts of the thin coat of plaster .. well you create cracks in the road / asphalt. That's where I am... whether putty or a thin coat of plaster, I plan on creating a gnarly asphalt that should have been repaved 15 years ago.
Medina1128 wrote; "Have you considered gluing some small dowels in place, then covering them with plaster cloth?"
Marlon, I thank you for your input. Great idea and I followed up on it using scrap pieces of wood mounting them on some Foam board. I felt like I was building some Basal wood Airplane kit.
I had to measure it all out, actually place cars and take measurements. Took into consideration, the 'entrance' and exists', 'walk throughs' for people to get to the Refreshment Stand, Ticket booth, Projection Shack and even did drainage. Swales, as they are called. A depressed area used for drainage / routing water. By using a table spoon I ironed in a depressed area into the Foam board, following the isles and exists. Worked great.
After that I did place 'party foam' (1/8th inch thickness) over the wooden risers, in which that shall be the pavement. I have since painted the party foam one coat of a mixture of WS Slate gray and WS Earth undercoat.
So far everything is working out and Thanks to your idea.
Thank you very much.
joe323Seems to me you could buid a rig for an iphone or a tablet too.
And right you are Joe. All these ideas I was contemplating as I looked at the listings on Ebay. Taking a mental note of measurements of all the options. I was leaning towards the 7 inch DVD player. But for N scale, it would seem almost a tad too large, and if not, it would be more of a modern screen. I did find the measurements of the Blair Line Drive In kit. When I had compared those measurements towards the Summer Baby monitor, it seemed like almost an Exact Match!
Then I found the used Monitor for $40 US dollars. I couldn't believe it. So what if it was burnt in the back, for the price it was a steal, so long as it worked. Now if you had a complete brand new setup, that is, monitor and 3 camera's ... I'm guessing around the $300 dollar range. I wouldn't know, because the camera's I picked up were used also on Ebay.
Let me just say, this is NOT a DVD player. The monitor is the Drive In Movie screen. It is battery charged. No wires, but remote control. The monitor can handle up to 4 camera's. I have 3 camera's right now. The camera's can be placed anywhere in the home. Those camera's do have to be plugged in. Have one focused on the kitchen and I can watch what is going on there, have one focused on the TV, and I've got that.. and one placed outside to watch the kids playing or cars going by. The monitor is a 'touch screen', that can control each camera, the focus / zoom in, turn left or right .. and even the up / down. Its pretty high tech. The most expensive item of all 4 is the monitor, in which I got for $40.
Considering the price, the required measurements, I went with the Summer Baby Monitor. I guess its a matter of preference. Mine happens to be money... or lack of it there.
Now is some of you need to talk about DVD players.. please talk to Geared Steam.
Thank you.
I used a 7" portable DVD player for my screen. I then built a small shelf below the layout for my larger DVD player where it's readily assessible. I drilled a hole directly below the 7" DVD, fished an RCA cable up to the DVD's input connection and hooked up the other end to the larger DVD's output connection. I also went online and downloaded an original ten minute ditty they always showed during intermission and burned it to a CD. Impresses everyone who sees it!
Thank you for that much, but where is the DVD player?
Dave and anyone else who wishes to know.. lol, gheesh all these new names are confusing. All we need now is Wayne to show up.
Here are some pics.
I painted Woodland Scenic Tacky Glue on the bottom. I also painted rubber latex onto the top. The latex rubber acts as a hinge. The Tacky glue, hold the plate firmly against the monitor.
The black plate is made from styrene which has a 'matte' finish sprayed with black Krylon Plastic paint. The black plate is held firmly onto the monitor's glass face using WS Tacky glue.
The black plate is held in place by the white trim. The white trim was left over scrap wood trim that came from the Blair Line Drive In kit. I thought what a better to do the screen.
Being that the screen was built with a small tilt, only aids for this all to push together and held nicely. The monitor slips right into place.
I hope this clears all this up. Now where is Wayne? lol
Phoebe Vet Geared Steam How do you separate the display from the DVD player?
Geared Steam
Craving Popcorn?
MisterBeasley Great thread, but for some reason I'm craving popcorn right now.
Great thread, but for some reason I'm craving popcorn right now.
Mister Beasley, coming from you, I take it as a great compliment. Don't think I haven't seen or admire your work. Your creations are a thing of pure study for me. I Thank You.
" .... craving popcorn right now" Well lets not stop. Lets get really hungry. I can see Joe and his wife planning the next 'spring' outing to the Drive-In.
Popcorn anyone?
joe323 The Particular Drive In we go to does not have a playground. What going though my head is Lets all go to the lobby.... Seriously its a 3 hour drive to go to the drive in we do it about twice a year usually make a night of it since they show a double if not a triple feature.
The Particular Drive In we go to does not have a playground. What going though my head is Lets all go to the lobby....
Seriously its a 3 hour drive to go to the drive in we do it about twice a year usually make a night of it since they show a double if not a triple feature.
You made me think of a time, when my wife and I were first dating, and fell asleep at the Drive-In. Woke up somewhere past 4:30 AM, I looked around and was amazed to see how many people .. REally did make a night of it. Tons of cars all around, I can only imagine they would wake up at sunrise.
Geared Steam.. I thank you for the input / pics. Here's a pic of my lattice work. Oh not a clean job on the painting as far as some holes being filled up from paint in the lattice work, but keep in mind this is N scale with N scale fences.
In short my screen went from black boring to a semi clean beige. I am sorry for some of the poor pics but I think you can get the idea.
In this pic below, its somewhat blurred or out of focus, well actually it was the battery going dead. But all in all, it does show many colors. I first painted it a dark green... then some gray, then some white and then the beige. Sort of a mottled look, at times I think it looks kind of weathered. A clean crisp paint job on the backing might not look as real. But I like the multi-colors and to me it looks more 'real' in every sense.
In case anyone is wondering how to get the monitor out to turn it on.. ? Well this backing is hinged at the top with the aid of a thin painted strip of Latex Rubber. I use latex to make my own molds. I had some nearby, why not.. might make a great hinge. To keep the backing from inching up and or popping open, I used the Woodland Scenic Tacky Glue to help hold the plate against the wood screen. That stuff really holds.. but not as good as the latex. So.. one type for the hinge, another type to hold it securely but still be able to access the monitor.
From boring black to a pretty beige and a more detailed look. I still haven't added the Glitzy Blue for frills.. but that's coming up later on. Right now, I am in the process of mapping out various areas. Entrances, Ticket Booth, and even an exit. Not to mention, even a 'drive around' in the outer perimeter of the 'inner lot'. If that makes sense. So mapping and mounting of the parts is on my basic list. I'm planning on mounting all this on Foam Board to follow the basic theme idea; that every thing can be removed.
How do you separate the display from the DVD player?
joe323Yes the larger vehicles are required to park in back so as not to block the screen for the other cars
Joe, and right you are. That's what I remember too. I also remember the Playground, in Kevin's pic, it shows a Playground for the Kiddies~ And that shall be incorporated into this Drive In as well.
Now, I wish I had a better pic, one that shows some changes.. especially that one pic of the Lattice work, in which I also made. Not that you can even see it, but it is time for bed. I've had a busy day, but just wanted to share one pic. One pic only, but its kind of a Sneak Preview,
All of you, Thank you, this is really becoming a fun project.
chatanuga Saw this one on a modular club's HO layout at the Fostoria (Ohio) Rail Festival a couple times. Would be able to get an even larger lot for smaller scales. Kevin
Saw this one on a modular club's HO layout at the Fostoria (Ohio) Rail Festival a couple times. Would be able to get an even larger lot for smaller scales.
Kevin
Kevin, quote; "Would be able to get an even larger lot for smaller scales." Sure would, sure is! Even though this is N scale, and plenty of room to spare, I will have to chop this down to a respectable size. As you may or may not know, my wife is in on the total layout design. She wants it small, I want it much bigger. Then again, like so many other areas of proposed cities / towns diorama's I've built. I can't determine what will go where until I finish the area next to the Drive In. I'm trying not to paint myself into a corner.
Thank you for the pic. That pic too, also gives me ideas. I like the Red Diamond Trim around the top of the building. The added detail that makes or breaks a setting. Its always the little things.
I do have a Snack Bar and a few other items to give that added touch. What bothers me, Is where do I place the Projection Booth? In the very back? Up towards the middle. Or in front of the Snack Bar, which is also near the back. I really can't remember and believe I've seen some variants of the mix and match.
Now on a side note, I do remember Pick-up Trucks and Campers were at the back. The trucks would park backwards and people would lay in the bed of the truck. Pillows .. blankets.. the works~
Any ideas ?