Sunoco Gas Station

Miniature #11 – Constructed 12/2023

Fun Facts

After World War II, with more households able to afford cars, and the creation of Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961, the rush was on to get down the Cape in the 1950s and 1960s. And with vacationers and weekenders came gas stations.

The invention of the gas pump around the turn of the 20^th century allowed small businesses to sell gas. Car dealers, hardware stores, and grocery stores made contracts with refiners. They then installed the pumps and sold gas on the curbside. Stand-alone gas stations started out as wood or metal shacks. 

Today, many historic gas stations on Cape Cod are deteriorating because commercial development relocated, or interstate highways routed traffic away from them. In some cases, the crumbling structures of old are being preserved by the Massachusetts Historical Society while others are being sold to start-up businesses in order to repurpose them.

Description

Sunoco gas stations are common on Cape Cod and my fictitious town of Capetown needed one as well.

The Sunoco station sits on a 12″x12″ plywood base. The overall piece stands at 10″ high and the time invested to design and build was approximately 50 hrs.

Materials Used

The structure of the gas station was built using 3mm thick craft plywood. The interior was painted with acrylic paint, and the floor was made with popsicle sticks stained a Golden Oak color.

The exterior front was constructed with popsicle sticks attached horizontally, with square balsa wood dowels as trim. The gas station was painted in the traditional Sunoco colors of blue and yellow, with acrylic paint.

The sides and back were made with foamboard, cut and painted to resemble real bricks. This was my first attempt at making bricks and I think I greatly improved my technique and brick size on the future Fire & Police station. The roof shingles were made from black cardstock paper, sprayed with textured spray paint, and cut by hand to resemble realistic roof shingles.

Decals, both stock & custom designs, were provided by www.threeinchesunder.com.