All Maine Mini Web Logs

Here's another special order building. This one is going to be 97' long and 40' wide in HO scale. It will hold the longest semi with single box, or a typical tandem rig like a big rig drive through!

As always, we start with the basic building blocks.

Some side walls, two ends, and a lot of roof panels get us going. The overall length of this building will be 100 feet in HO scale.

I use this special clamp to keep the corners square. Amazing little time saver. And how do you like my jig for holding painted parts while they dry?

The roof is really large and would be flimsy as one piece, but I want at least part of it to be removable for access to the interior. I decided to put a two section piece on permanently and make the three section piece removable.

With the four walls together it is still rather wobbly.

Compared with the little truck that I used with the last garage, this thing is cavernous. Notice that this version has no office portion.

The 10 inch long base had to be extended a couple of inches. This unit really has to be glued to a base for rigidity, especially with the removable roof section. I painted the base in a concrete color that I found. It is not flat, so it will need dullcoat.

This is a working garage and needs some tire marks and a few stains from oil and other fluids.

Gutters and down spouts give the exterior some character and the roof definitely needs a heavy duty exhaust unit to clear the diesel and other fumes.

I found my longest box and a conventional tractor with sleeper to help judge the length. Even the tandem is no match for this super garage.

Again, I've added marks on the roof for realism. Some rusty spots on the roof and the bolts on the vent, plus some sooty spots on the door trim and the exhaust vent.

From this angle the floor markings look a little hokey, but...

Looking in from the typical angle with the roof on and a truck in one bay, the marks and stains do their magic.

One more shot of the exterior with a long trailer for comparison. I hope this matches with the expectations of the customer. I'm wanting one for myself :)

This building is full of special details to help make it look like a working business.

There are gutters and downspouts, glazed windows, a plumbing vent, a cement floor, and four 15 foot high doors.

I had to customer make the flashing around the big doors and as I was painting them white to match the other trim it occurred to me that, with diesel trucks driving under them constantly they would very soon become sooty.

I added soot streaks to the trim over the doors and more to the exhaust fan. I also added a few rust stains to the roof and rusted some of the bolts on the fan base.

This building has been packaged up and shipped to a customer and I hope that it will be a good addition to their diorama or layout. There is plenty of room for more detailing and I'm sure the new owner will add some maintenance garage props and a truck or two. I set the office roof in place without glue so that even that area can be customized if the owner would like.

Yes, I make buildings to order, but it doesn't stop there. This customer asked for four open doors big enough to drive semi trucks through. As you can see, that's what I'm building.

All of the doors are in and trimmed and trim painting has begun (above), then it is time to test out the cement slab (below) with the trucks.

Another coat of paint on the trim and one coat on the roof (below) and it is time to test the roof exhaust fan. Since this building will have trucks driving through and mechanical maintenance going on, I figured that clearing the air would be important.

In the last shot (below) you see that the seams disappear behind down spouts for the gutters. I use a lot of magnets and weights to get every wall straight and sealed flush to the base for gluing. Tomorrow we finish up!