1/24th scale Car Garage

Mainly scratch built, but with a lot of accessories sourced from eBay

Constructed in 2023

The idea behind this was to build a display area for the 1/24th scale cars that I was building on and off through 2022 to 2023.

My thinking being that whilst it’s nice to see loads of cars lined up on a display stand at a show, maybe I could just have something that would take two or three cars, and build a little scene around them.

The cars wouldn’t be glued in place, so that I could change out older ones for newly built additions to my collection.

To say that this project “grew arms and legs” is an understatement, and what started off simply as a flat base with a front and side wall, developed quite quickly into something much more complex.

To begin with I marked out on a scrap piece of card what sort of space I thought I’d need for three cars. This came out at an necessary area of about 300mm x 450mm (12 inches x 18 inches in old money ).

Then I began to think of what space that would take up height –wise, and what sort of transportation box I’d need to carry it around in.

In the meantime I began looking – just out of interest mind – at what sort of accessories one might get on t’internet for a garage setting.

There’s a fair variety, from Fujimi come three ( I think ) different garage tools / accessory sets, giving lots of tools, desks, servicing equipment and floor / wall sections. Although each set retails for around £20 or more on Ebay. I did find the no.2 set going cheap, so thought I might as well get that.

Then there’s loads of 3d printed stuff, again, depending on what you want and how deep your pockets are, plus a good friend of mine – John Vickers – designs and prints items, and said how about a small lathe ?

Other suggestions like having an inspection pit ( Granted I’d considered the idea already ) were made by another good friend – Paul Dobson - and now you see why it’s getting beyond a simple display base.

But I liked these ideas, they were cool, plus would stretch both my imagination and my capability to construct......... Stuff.

So this isn’t really going to be an article as such, rather more an ongoing guide to things I’ve done, things I’ve yet to do, and things I’ve learnt along the way.

Beginning construction.

So the first shot shows the construction of the base. I used MDF for this, getting a sheet from Wickes DIY suppliers, and choosing a 1200mm x 600mm x 12mm piece and then marking it out and cutting it to size.

Fastening the bits together and instead of adding a section for the garage floor, I put in a block of Kingspan insulation foam that I could dig sections of for the Inspection pit once I’d decided on its position within the garage.

As mentioned, this was just developing from a very basic idea, and once I’d got the base constructed, it hit me that whilst there was space for three cars, there wasn’t really space for other things you’d normally see in a garage – an office, storage space with shelves, lockers for the mechanics etc.

So my answer was to install a mezzanine floor. Simple enough, get some Plastruct girders, cut and glue them together, build some stairs so people could get up there - pictures #2 and #3 for the stairs

Also at this point I was thinking about the floor of the garage itself, and as I’d made a cracked concrete road section for the Bash Models range, I thought I could use several pieces of this to make up the floor of the garage ( visible in shots #4 onwards ).

I was regularly checking spacing for the cars on the floor of the garage using a Ford Thunderbird WCW Nascar ( Photo’s #4 and #6 )as these are pretty long and a smaller Chrysler Crossfire ( because it was handy ).

Photo #5 shows the stairs being tested for size. Yes, I know I measured these and cut them to those measurements, but it’s sometimes a case of “seeing” that they look right.

The girders used are a bit big, but it was all I had in stock, smaller gauge Plastruct was on order.

Photo #6 shows the addition of a fire door that I scratch built….. Well, a few years in the Oil and Gas Business makes you aware of a lot of necessary safety features, so fire escapes, fire doors and dousing systems kind of become second nature. But more of that later.

Photos #7 and #8 show the skeleton of the mezzanine floor. The construction was simple enough and was based on a mezzanine floor that was at a previous workplace. These free-standing structures usually need diagonal ties to keep them rigid, and I added these from electrical flex that had been stripped of its insulation and twisted, making anchor points for it to fasten to the outer vertical girders....... Easy, but to be honest I doubt that the ties will ever be seen outside of these photos.

Obviously Health and Safety reared its head, so banister rails were added to the stairs and mezzanine ( Photos #9 and #10 ), these being made from square section Plastruct for the uprights and lengths of plastic sprue for the rails. But what about fire doors ?

Yup, back to the store of plasticard to scratch build one of those.

Again a mould was made – not least because I needed more than one of these, but also because no one else seems to supply castings of such things and Bash Models might as well have them in their range ( Photo #11 ).

You may be aware that Bash Models produce a range of groundwork sections – cobbles and flagstones, plus walls and archways. So it’s handy to have a mould for some 1/24th scale diamond treadplate ( also have it in 1/35th scale if you need it ), and it comes scaled to a 2400mm x 600mm sheet, just like in real life. So this was used for part of the floor on the mezzanine, whilst the actual office section was to be a wood floor – easier on the feet and also safer to scoot about on a wheeled office chair ( Photo’s #12 and #13 )

Up to this point I still hadn’t dug out that inspection pit, mainly because I’d got sidetracked with building the other bits. As with using the cars to check for size, I also tried a figure – Bario Guy from Industria Mechanica was the right scale ( Photo #14 ) - although later on when compared to other figures I got hold of, he seems a little short. Anyhow, he seemed to be OK size-wise, so work could carry on.

Oh, forgot to mention, in those first few shots, the walls have got a covering of bricks, then they disappear. As mentioned, there is simply loads of cool stuff on the internet for this kind of project, and self adhesive brickwork is one such thing. Plain brickwork, old brickwork with Oil Company signs painted on and even some with graffiti.

It’s actually a shame to cover it over, but it is visible in parts even when the Mezzanine and steps are added. The sheets come in A4 size, and are easy to apply, best of all, pretty cheap at £8 for three sheets. A lot easier than painting it up yourself.

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