# Building a shop interior



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

I started the Corner Texaco thread with the intention of building a shop interior for diorama shots. It's taken months, but I'm finally getting that interior together...

This is where I started. The walls are cut from foamcore board. The floor is a sheet of gray foam from a craft store. The workbench is from an old Matchbox Super Station set, and you may recognize the gray blocks to the left 










The red compressor and yellow engine analyzer are from the same set. The engine analyzer comes back later in a different form. Still working on the compressor--I think the top part looks too big and cartoony. I want to cut it off and put something smaller/more realistic looking on it.










I had an inspiration for that engine analyzer:





































Not bad, huh? More to follow shortly...

--rick


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

So after a little paint and detail work, here's where I'm at:





































The floor was misted with black and brown spray paint. The walls got just black, VERY VERY lightly. The handles on the tool chests are pieces of paperclips. None of the walls are permanent, I just glued the tool chests, workbench, and wheel balancer to them to make them stand. The compressor will get glued to the wall on the right once I like the way it looks, along with maybe some tire racks.

I had to cheat with the perspective/scale to have room to take pictures. The "set" on the left is supposed to be the inside of the building on the right:










My wife thinks I'm kinda nuts, but after a minute, she looked and said, "You have to put some stuff on the walls like they hang up in real shops." So apparently she likes it too.

Comments and suggestions are welcome. I'm trying to come up with other ideas for household junk to use as little tiny shop equipment. I already have a creeper in the works, and if I could find the right scale motorcycle engine to cut up, it would make the top of the compressor look better. Need ideas for tire racks, floor jack, jack stands, and I have some ideas for a lift for the right-side bay.

--rick


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Looks great :thumbsup:

Hot Wheels has some motorcycles out once in a while - you could probably pilfer a motor off of one of those for your cmpressor.

Can't wait to see what's next!


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

ParkRNDL said:


> My wife thinks I'm kinda nuts, but after a minute, she looked and said, "You have to put some stuff on the walls like they hang up in real shops." So apparently she likes it too.
> 
> --rick


Welcome to my world. My tm thinks I'm still nuts!

Man, it's lookin really good! Not too clean, but very business like.
I like that Matchbox bench! The tire balancer was a good idea.

Rich :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Excellent shop!!!! I might have something for the walls for you. Do you have a functioning printer?


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Yeah, kinda... it's been cranky about printing in color lately, but we/ve been talking about getting a new one anyway, so maybe you can give me a reason to get it sooner rather than later... :thumbsup:

--rick


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

PM sent!


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Dirt, storage, sheves, machines and toolboxes...yeah!*

rick,

Man that is looking Sweet! I like that look alot & am realy digging what you have done. This thing has a nice used but not abused functional look to it. :thumbsup:

hope to get a groove on this shop thing and make one look as good as your shop & everyone elses here on HT.

Ginger knew I was crazy when she married me 15 years ago. Bless her soul she never tried to un-crazy me...thanks Honey! :freak: 

Bob...Your paint & detailing is Awesum...zilla


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

*couple of updates*

Made a lift out of a piece of aluminum tubing, a washer, and a tongue depressor. Hacked and glued an oil can rack/display from the Matchbox set into a tire rack. Made a creeper and a door out of a scrap of plastic cut off the bottom of the workbench. Scavenged a rack with brooms and a mop from a destroyed HO firehouse I got at a yard sale. Found my old balsa wood cherry picker from a diorama I made years ago, and added a couple of oil barrel/trash cans. I have some cool stuff to get on the walls now (thanks SCM!  ) and still trying to figure out something good for that compressor...




























--rick


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

Looks GREAT!!! I am planning to redo my shop.. 

Wes


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## scratch (May 16, 2005)

Very nice start. With continuing nicely added adds. Very nice

Cheers,
Jas


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Unbelievable. What set is that bench exactly from Rick?

You can get great wall art from most any car or nascar related catalogs or magazines.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Byw, the owner of that roofless bird is looking for you!! Better look over your shoulders!!

We got a call from him to put a hit out.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I have another idea Rick, and for anyone else too. At the dollar store, I found bags of black small rubber bands. Some of them are really small. They would make great fan belts, and with a little tape will look like new ones with the sleeve on them. Also, if you can find some black wire in the 22-24 gauge size, they can be twisted up into upper and lower radiator hoses. If you take a project board from radio shack, and strip one end of the wires, and solder them on the back side of the board. If bent right, will look like they're hooked on pegs.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Joe, this is the set. I lifted these pics from a couple of auctions:










and, hey, that 'bird was obtained legally... 

i've been thinking i need some people to populate my pictures. when Goose Chicken did that proxy race, this was the driver he put with my car, and i got to keep him, so i guess now this is me. after all, who am i to argue with Goose Chicken?










you can call these guys behind me Coy and Vance. or you can call them whatever you want... i'm strongly considering going with Starkweather and Manson, but that may change. anyways, we all say good night...










--rick


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

slotcarman12078 said:


> I have another idea Rick, and for anyone else too. At the dollar store, I found bags of black small rubber bands. Some of them are really small. They would make great fan belts, and with a little tape will look like new ones with the sleeve on them. Also, if you can find some black wire in the 22-24 gauge size, they can be twisted up into upper and lower radiator hoses. If you take a project board from radio shack, and strip one end of the wires, and solder them on the back side of the board. If bent right, will look like they're hooked on pegs.


ooh, i like that... these are the kinds of ideas that make great details...

--rick


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

If the belts are hung kinda high, you'll need a pick stick too. A wooden tooth pick with a section of either resistor wire, guitar string, or an LED anode thinga ma jig stuck in the end with a hook will do,to snag and hang belts on the hooks... You can tell I worked at a garage and an auto parts store in a previous life, right? :lol: 

P.S. We used to hang the stick on one of the belts....


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## XracerHO (Feb 6, 2008)

The garage interior is looking Great, like the detail painting & innovative ideas for stocking the shop!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: The Super Gremlin looks very nice too. ..RL


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*hoses, belts, peg board.....yeah!*



ParkRNDL said:


> ooh, i like that... these are the kinds of ideas that make great details...
> 
> --rick


Yeah slotcarman these are some INCREDIBLE ideas man. I just told Ginger about the black rubber bands and she may have some. The pegboard idea with hooks...OFF THE HOOK.

oOOOOOH the pics you made up...Easy Rider for sure and more ....holy fragoleees I am having fun.

This will only work for me probably. Ask your local Hooters waitress for a couple of Menus...she said yes!

Hey U-Joe I need to cut up a HotWheels for some Headers. Everyone needs a pair of headers laying around. So many possibilities!

Bob...I am going back to work on my shop now (wait Fletcher just asked me to play battle ship)...zilla

P.S. The kids go to bed soon...very soon.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Gee wizz!!! With all this detail I guess youre gonna need a certificate of occupancy and a time clock.

Cool stuff here. :thumbsup:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

And a building permit!! LOL


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Super cool shop rick!!!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Much depends on the type of shop*

Having been a shop dog and lot lizard for the bulk of my working life...are you running a real shop...or combination automobile and dog spa complete with reisling, pear slices and bree?

every shop has a crummy of some sort...

racking or vertical storage of some type...

debris fields and core piles of oozing gooey cores like fricaseed clutches, and toasted brakes...because customers know the law...they have the right to make you leave their crap laying around...LOL!

the scrap bin... the recycle bin...the used nut an bolt reserve/archive (often five gallon buckets that weigh eight tons) They contain SAE, a Euro/Asian metric blend and some Wentworth just to add to the confusion, this of course must be accompanied with a old mud flap to dump it out on and a digging stick or busted shovel/scooper...

trash cans must be dented and oozing a delicious blend of high fructose corn syrup and petroleum distilates.

wall splotches are mandatory...where the shop goon misfired the schootz gun....ya know? graffiti?...spew around the paint area is kinda normal 

areas under the rack...no matter how good ya scrub...are ALWAYS heavily stained...gouged floors from bound up casters, and sliding heavy crap around...

vendor calendars...goes without saying...signage too...clocks with 12:00 noon, 4:20 and 5:00 highlighted...first aid kits with gory pictures and safety warnings...the mannequin arm complete with with fake blood by the chop saw....tunes of every imaginable combooberation with tinfoiled coathanger antennas and speakers coathangered to the ceiling...

the bone yard...aka yer mint NOS inventory...shaggy grass, ruts and mudholes, trees growing through rusted trunks and open engine compartments ...crashed, bashed, canabalized, tangled exhausts laying around, rusty assemblies, tire and rim piles...hub cap art! ...some shops have old cars that double as dog houses

the machine shop, or fab area...often an out building or pushed back into a corner...

personal projets and trade deals...usually an old motorcycle and some bicycles, a boat is never out of the question...one time we painted a plane for this guy and we had old plane parts laying around...anything mechanical is fair game 

greazy nasty air hoses and mangled drop cords with bludgeoned lamps...the combination soaker/garden hose complete with duct tape patches on the dog bites and pinched spots.

Granted the deeply rooted privateer shops lack polish but they have plenty of spit. I always like the human factor and the three C's...

...crud ....corruption....and chaos

there's no place like home


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Bill, that's poetry. I'm saving that as a Word document, and any time I feel like I don't know what all else to do in the hobby dungeon, I'm gonna add something from that list to the shop. I'm already working on a radio... was thinking I had to stain the area under the lift and the other bay... and I've started with the signage/artwork, as you can see:










--rick


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

Looking good so far! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Now where can we find some beer and cans, and coffee cups??? Most scope out the bay... Someone makes them!!


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

heya rick!nice shop coming along there!thanks for the advice on my track aswell.the power tracks worked out great!
there is a shop down the road from me that helped me retrieve my dog one day.how about some lost dog signs??we of course took them fresh baked muffins for helping us find our beloved mutt!
just for fun.how bout some kids stealing hubcaps?


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

.
Rick sez:


> My wife thinks I'm kinda nuts, but after a minute, she looked and said, "You have to put some stuff on the walls like they hang up in real shops."


Sounds like a go-ahead to order a few vintage "gentlemen's magazines" from an online dealer for source material to scan down to size.



> I'm trying to come up with other ideas for household junk to use as little tiny shop equipment ... and if I could find the right scale motorcycle engine to cut up, it would make the top of the compressor look better.


Stack of shim-washers in two different diameters/thicknesses?

-- D


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Dslot said:


> .
> 
> Stack of shim-washers in two different diameters/thicknesses?
> 
> -- D


ok, that's a REALLY good idea, like why didn't i think of that. i was gonna hit a dollar store today for cheezy little motorcycles, but if i don't find anything, i think i'm gonna use your idea.

--rick

edit: by the way, I'm having WAY too much fun with this...


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

ParkRNDL said:


>


This is a cool pic!!! I'm enjoying seeing the shop come to life, looking good Rick. :thumbsup::thumbsup: You might try an aluminum double flange T-jet rim for that compressor air cleaner, just paint the middle of the rim flat black, stick a straight pin head through the hole on top for a wing nut...RM


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

ParkRNDL said:


> --rick
> 
> edit: by the way, I'm having WAY too much fun with this...


Dude,
I _know_ what you mean! :hat:


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

This is a very cool shop!


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

*Shop's been busy...*

Lots of repair work this week.










Bud is wrapping up a rear brake job on Mrs. Nussbaum's de Ville...










while Lou assesses the exhaust system on Sally's Mustang.










This is addictive... :freak:

--rick


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## scratch (May 16, 2005)

Nice theater, from start to almost done. Wanna do one in 1/32? Let me know . . .

Jas


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Outstanding pics!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*'Lil Bit's At A time*



ParkRNDL said:


> Lots of repair work this week.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Fantastic Rick! Your really getting the hang of the "spooge and groteskwee" of Shopdom.

The crud and corruption factor is coming along nicely. You'll go along and do a bunch; then you'll run out of stuff or time. Then you'll find some more goodies and go off on a tear again. Check out Walthers. They have a lot of interesting details and doohickeys. 

Thanks for sharing, it's great fun to watch.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Addicted here. :thumbsup:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

scratch said:


> Nice theater, from start to almost done. Wanna do one in 1/32? Let me know . . .
> 
> Jas


hey jas, my wife is already gonna kill me for the amount of time i've devoted to this. i'd love to try, if i had time... but i'm a teacher, and school starts back up in a couple weeks for us, so my vacation is about over.

do you have some of the shop stuff in 1/32? it's not hard to paint and dirty up...

--rick


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

Rick - awesome shop! I torn down my old shop and hoping to find time to do a new shop!

Wes


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Looks great Rick!!!! Where'd ya find the coffee cup?? It's my size!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## XracerHO (Feb 6, 2008)

Shop really looks Fantastic!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Like the RF poster, the axle & gear by the deville plus the radio.. Thanks for sharing your ideas! ..RL


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

XracerHO said:


> Shop really looks Fantastic!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Like the RF poster, the axle & gear by the deville plus the radio.. Thanks for sharing your ideas! ..RL


I gotta thank slotcarman for the RF poster and the Jasper Engines sign too. Speaking of slotcarman...



slotcarman12078 said:


> Looks great Rick!!!! Where'd ya find the coffee cup?? It's my size!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


Funny you should ask, I wondered if anyone would notice. That's actually a gizmo used in jewelry making/beading (see picture below). The chain or necklace goes thru the little hole in the top of the cup (it goes all the way through to the bottom) and you hang a charm or whatever on that little loop that looks like the handle. I got 12 of them in a bag at the local craft store. Everything in that department was on sale for 40% off, so it was something like $2 for the bag. I realize it's a little big, but the shape was too perfect; I had to use it. Anybody need one or two? I have 11 left... 

I also did a little more signage and a wall clock; all I really need now is a desk and some jack stands. And I have an idea for the jack stands, just gotta go to the dungeon and try it...

--rick


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Hot Coco in the winter with Marshmellows & Coke Zero in the summer...thats how I roll*

Awesum shop pics......that coffe mug transformation is cool!

Bob...I don't drink Hot Black Flavored Water...zilla


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

*Pretty much done with the shop...*

I'm thinking this will be my last update to this thread, as the shop is pretty much done except for the little details that will grow and evolve as I use it as a backdrop for new acquisitions and projects. The idea was to create an interior scene to use in the Corner Texaco thread, and I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. These shots are of the boys working on a Tyco Miura and an Atlas Pontiac.



















The Tyco suffers from general TycoPro twitchiness and handling malaise, so Ben is making sure the front tires and wheels aren't making matters worse.










Jerry is trying to piece this old Pontiac back together with a pair of repro/used bumpers. (Thanks Neal [1scalevolvo]! How many years have I had these?)










These suckers are HEAVY. We're looking at a two-man operation to get them lined up and tightened down.



















There wasn't much to do with the tires on the Miura, so the last thing the boys are trying to smooth it out is to tweak those goofy pickup foils...










I tried to choose shots that showed all the details I just added like the clock and the desk/appointment book/wall calendar.

A couple guys said they like watching this evolve. I think that's pretty neat too, so I made it a flickr slideshow like the one with the 1/25 scale garage/shop that I linked to in another thread. There's a lot more pics in the slideshow than I put in this thread. Enjoy if you're into that sort of thing...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/parkrndl/sets/72157624634136030/show/

--rick


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Excellent shop. I really like it! Slideshow is cool!!


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Rick I am blown away. 

I guess we should all try to get a box and try it huh? Amazing that it is just that. Really cool.


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## gunn (Sep 30, 2002)

to make some water hose use phone wire. i had a bunch here and just bent them to the shapes i needed








and the belt is a small rubber band the twisted crome around the glass is crome duct tape found at walmart in the paint section. this is good for cromming anything right down to shop doors around the edges.
making cement blocks is easy also.
i use styrene square strips .188 x.188 just drill 4 holes and cut half of the hole off on each end. pic will show you what i mean.








the square strip comes in all sizes so find something that will fit ho size.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> Rick I am blown away.
> 
> I guess we should all try to get a box and try it huh? Amazing that it is just that. Really cool.


It ain't even a box. The walls are all separate pieces. It's easier to work on them that way.










They all stack into this little tub for easy storage when I'm done spreading them out all over the kitchen counter. Makes the TM happy.










Gunn, nice ideas. I never thought of phone wire, and the black wire I had around here didn't hold its shape well. Gotta try that. And the chrome tape is a GREAT idea... I have a roll of that in the garage and never even thought of it...

--rick


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## gunn (Sep 30, 2002)

you can even crome your draw pulls on your tool boxes. i have hundreds of tip that work for any scale


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I do believe you have the traveling shop down Pat Rick!! 5:00!!! Quitting time!!! ROTFLMAO :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## scratch (May 16, 2005)

That is amazing, cool idea . . .

Jas


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## XracerHO (Feb 6, 2008)

Excellent shop & slideshow, really like the portability!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ..RL


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

How much to ship it to Tx?


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*I went to Radio Shack...thanks slotcarman "AWESUM IDEA!!"*



slotcarman12078 said:


> * SNIP * If you take a project board from radio shack, and strip one end of the wires, and solder them on the back side of the board. If bent right, will look like they're hooked on pegs.


OH BOY! I am so excited...this stuff realy looks like peg board!!!!!!!!!!!!










Have to make a new table top for this one below as it has a bunch of notches towards the back edge. This is the bench that has that triangle part to the left...I cut it off Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz with the Dremel. 










below shows the back side where you can solder the hooks on. The other side looks like the pictures above with no metal at all...just pegboard looking ho style.










One package is only $1.99. Was enough to do these two pegboard backings in the pictures above. Slotcarman you Rock!

Took my metal saw blade and Dremeled away after going out to Godfathers Pizza (Mmmmmmmmmmmm, mmmmm). Then smoothed the edges in my 1/1 belt sander. :woohoo: Can't wait to make some mini fan belts up to hang on this peg board now! 

Bob...next I need to make little hooks (don't stop me) & print some of slotcarmans ho art for the walls soon...zilla


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

that's just NUTS. i love it. now i gotta find room for pegboard...

--rick


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

HOLY S***.. that looks so real!!! WHOAAHH.. 

Wes


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## gunn (Sep 30, 2002)

cool idea


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Hey Rick, I missed this thread back in the day, but just found it because of your link in the other thread..... but I love this garage interior building stuff :thumbsup:


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