French garage, 1940

I recently finished a Garage/Gas station for my Wargames in France 1940. I decided to test a couple of new things in this building.

This is not my first Garage, the first model was inspired by a little Gas establishment I saw in the first video of the "Taking the Gemblou Gap" campaign video series by TwoFatLardies.

It was a small wooden shed with a single 3D printed pump on the outside. Originally there where supposed to be two pumps, but I dropped it and one snapped right off.

In LardMag2019, Nick Skinner showcased a Garage that inspired the idea of doing a second version. Looking around in Google I discovered that more than one person had been inspired by this article. Something curious, German tanks ran on Gas, so during the Blitzkrieg they where able to refill in regular Gas Stations along the road, so it make sense to have a Garage on your table as a little nudge to this fact. Also, France was a hugely motorized country compared to it's neighbors.

A drawing from Len Deighton "Blitzkrieg"

This one below was the inspiration for my own Garage. I specially liked the shape, it's not symmetrical like most buildings. I also liked the color scheme, I'm always doubting on what colors to use for doors and windows, but this blue looked like a nice option, and I have been wanting to use the sandy color scheme for a building for some time.

The process and materials where pretty much the same I have used for every building. Walls where made out of 3mm cardboard, windows and doors where 3D printed and the Garage door is made out of wood.

I wanted the roof to be corrugated metal sheet, to give it a more rustic feel. To make it I used this 3D printed tool. The metal is actual metal from a beer can, and it was quite a lot of work. You are supposed to use some kind of aluminum paper thicker than the one used to wrap food but I couldn't find any.

I also added a base, something I don't usually do, but I needed the extra space to fit the peripherals, in this case from Peter Pig's Gas Station pack. I put the gas pump and other assorted tools on the front, and some wheels on the side. These wheels would not be there if it was not 1940 because of the high demand of rubber by the war industry. I then primed all in black.

Next thing was to paint it. I used a triad of sand color for the walls and blue for the doors and windows. Peripherals where painted in suitable colors. I also used some signs and posters from the time that could be associated with such an establishment.

The secret to the posters is to print them in laser instead of ink, resolution is way better and it won't "bleed" like ink does when in contact with glue.

For this one I used a dry brush to try to blend it better to the wall and give it a painted look instead of just glued there.