Below you can view more photos of Michael Paul Smith’s imaginary Elgin Park. Click on images to enlarge.
1/24 Scale Elgin Park
The Bungalow
Michael’s bungalow house for Elgin Park in an earlier stage of construction.
The Bungalow
The interior of the bungalow is fully detailed.
The Bungalow
A test shot of the back porch of the bungalow. Michael was trying to see if the details would look realistic.
The Bungalow
With a hand placing a model Studebaker at the curb, viewers can get a better sense of the scale of these tiny scenes.
The Bungalow
The following two photos show the bungalow model used in some different scenes around Elgin Park.
The Bungalow
Coldspot Freight Depot
A close-up detail of the loading dock for Michael’s model Coldspot freight depot. Though Michael calls this a “bare bones” model, the finished photos make it look quite realistic.
Coldspot Freight Depot
A peek inside of the freight office.
Model Wringer Washer
A tiny scale model wringer washer for one of Michael’s model homes. Key details like this give each photo more authenticity. Each appliance was made by hand.
Model Laundromat Appliances
Scale model laundry machines for a tiny laundromat.
Model TV Repair Equipment
A small counter in a TV repair shop with a disassembled television. Even miniature hand tools can be seen lying around.
Model Bread Slicer
Michael’s handmade miniature bread slicer for a bakery. Enough detail is included to catch the viewers eye, and imagination takes care of the rest.
Car Showroom
An economical 1960 Corsair in the showroom points to a new trend in cars. Meanwhile, the huge fins of a gas-guzzling late 1950’s model are seen outside as a reminder of the past.
Elgin Park
A sunset shot of two diecast cars outside of an Elgin Park home.
The Superette
The 1/24 scale Borden’s Dairy truck makes an early delivery to the Superette. This image was given a black and white filter.
The Superette
The same image of the Superette, but this time as a color photo with a vintage Kodachrome feel.
The Research Building
A shot of the research building in Elgin Park. Michael said about the background, “I found this abandoned building a few towns over from where I live. The whole place felt like the late 1950’s, and the building looked like a research lab from that era. I had to sneak in the parking lot with my diecast models and quickly set up the scene, trying to get as many shots as possible. Because I was so rushed, this is the only good picture I was able to take, but I think it captured the feel of times past. I reduced the blue content to give the impression of a faded Kodachrome.”
Michael With an Elgin Park Setup
Michael is shown here with his setup for the J&L Steel building. He wanted to make a night shot, done indoors, that evoked a Pennsylvania steel town with the glowing night sky in the background. Of this shot, Michael said, “Here you can see the size of the set and how it’s really quite cobbled together. This shot was taken right before I poured water all over the road. With the overhead room light turned off, the only light source is the 60-watt bulb aimed low at the buildings. The buildings themselves each have one 10-watt, white Christmas tree light in them. Nothing fancy here.”
J&L Steel
The finished shot of J&L Steel, with water spread out on the model road for effect.
Winter Street Scene
Another angle of one of Michael’s winter street scenes.
Dink’s Speed Shop
A custom Ford is on the rack at Dink’s Speed Shop, ready for a new muffler system. Michael first shot the picture using a car with custom fender skirts in the rear, but it just didn’t look right to him. He removed the fender skirt and fabricated a chrome “spear” for trim to add to the shot. The unusual fender skirt had been too much of a distraction in the original. It’s the little things that count.
The Spartanette House Trailer
Michael’s 1/24 scale Spartanette house trailer is flipped over with the floor removed. Michael noted, “I’ve been receiving a ton of requests about the Spartanette trailer model, so here is a peek inside. When building the interior, I had to construct it upside down, because for structural reasons the exterior had to be completed first. Everything, down to the linoleum and birch plywood cabinets is period correct. Doing research on these details is always a very rewarding part of the project.”
The Spartanette House Trailer
Looking down into the Spartanette trailer.
The Spartanette House Trailer
The Spartanette house trailer set up for a night scene.
The Spartanette House Trailer
The scale model trailer is parked outside in front of a real tree line.
The Spartanette House Trailer
A high angle was used for this ’62 T-bird to show off it’s great styling next to the trailer.
Tip Top Toys
A photo of the Tip Top Toys store during the day. Note the penny operated electric ride-on car in front of the store. Everybody is out and about in the morning, including the garbage man. It looks busy, but the people can’t quite be seen.
Tip Top Toys
A night shot with snow gives the model toy store a completely different feel.
The Wash and Dry Laundromat
The Wash and Dry laundromat with barber shop next door.
The Wash and Dry Laundromat
Here the Wash and Dry was photographed at night. Michael removed the roof and suspended a 40-watt bulb over the building’s interior.
OK Used Cars
Another scene from Elgin Park, this time showing the OK used car lot.
OK Used Cars
The OK used car lot was updated with the passage of time, which is denoted in Elgin Park by the car models.
Michael Setting Up a Shot
This setup photo shows the tight space that Michael worked with for indoor shots in his apartment. Michael’s setup is much like a movie scene in that it was designed to look perfect from the camera’s perspective only. His clever use of angles implies the existence of much more detail than is actually modeled.
Night Scene
The final shot gives the eerie feel of a dark sky and impending tornado. The misty effect was achieved by burning damp newspaper in a bucket to get the smoke.
Your Next Car
“Your Next Car,” a 1963 Chrysler Turbine sits on a turntable in an ultra-modern showroom. The sleek new car offers the promise of future technology, like personal jetpacks, or vacations on the moon, which never quite materialized.
The Dream and the Reality
This and the previous photo were part of a fantasy series of images for the Chrysler Turbine. This final photo is modified to look like a painting revealing, “The Dream and the Reality.” In some ways, this sums up what Michael did with his photos of expertly built scale models—he created a reality that never quite was.
Fire Station Setup
While scouting for a location, Michael cut through a parking lot and came up with this angle of the fire station, but the lot was full of cars. He came back early the next Sunday morning and got what he called, “one of the most perfect setups,” he had ever found to shoot Elgin Park’s new 1958 Seagrave fire engine.
Fire Station Setup
The scale 1958 Seagrave fire engine is a highly detailed Signature series model. The chief’s red car and the Chevrolet are by Danbury Mint. The wet parking lot makes it look like a shower had just passed through during the night. All of the buildings in this scene are real, only the “street” stage had to be created.
Building a Model House
The following has been reproduced from Michael’s Flickr stream. In the series, Michael demonstrates building a scale model of his old family home.
Drawing Walls
One of Michael’s projects was to build a model of his old family home in Sewickley, PA. He worked from old photos and dimensions he had obtained before the old home was torn down. The process then started with several drawings of the walls.
Cutting Walls
Then, Michael cut out the walls from 3/16” Gatorboard and made the wooden windows.
Cutting Frames
Window and door frames were constructed. The windows don’t open, but still required quite a few pieces.
Setting Frames
Molding was applied inside and out after the interior and exterior finishes were complete.
Model Home Progress
Michael documented the construction of this scale model house for an article on building dioramas. Wallpaper samples from the web were scaled down and cloned into a repeating pattern. Then they were printed out and stuck to the interior.
Model Home Progress
The model home was coming together at this point.
Model Home Progress
Some of the reference photos of the original house can be seen in this picture.
Model Home Progress
A front view of Michael’s scale model home as more refinements were made.
Model Home Progress
Model Home Progress
Model Home Progress
A unique perspective from inside the model house.
Model Home Progress
The original house had an asphalt shingle roof. Michael chose to switch to a standing seam metal roof for its more graphic look.
Model Home Progress
Model Home Progress
Construction of the front porch.
Model Home Progress
The porch was attached and nearly completed.
Michael and His Model Home
The finished house is posed on a street for photography, with Michael peeking up from the back. He planned to take it to his hometown in Pennsylvania and photograph it against the backdrop of his actual neighborhood.
Illustrations
In addition to his models and photos, Michael was also a very talented illustrator, as these colored pencil drawings demonstrate. Each took several months to complete as he learned to capture reflections in metal with almost photographic realism.
1952 Hudson Illustration
1941 Oldsmobile Illustration
1950 Pontiac Illustration
