Nestles' Quik Diner Project

This is a followup on a project that Howard Lamey and Paul Race came up with a few years ago when Howard came across an old glasses case and realized it would make a good roof for a diner about the size and shape of the Marx tinplate passenger cars.

Although several model roadside diners have been made to go with O gauge trains, most of them have been plastic. These projects were made to go with earlier trains, such as the early 20th century trains that were mostly made out of tinplated steel, and given "detail" by a lithography process that is all but lost to us today.

The original project's size was dictated by the size of the glasses case. By sheer coincidence, the 16 oz. Nestles Quik container shown to the right is almost exactly the same width and length. So Howard recycled an empty container into another diner. This example uses our Christmas-themed graphics, but the year-round or Halloween graphics will work just as well. The rest is pretty much in Howard's words.

What You Will Need

• For the diner's building form you will use the lower 2 1/4” portion of Nesquik 16oz plastic container. The bottom of container becomes the roof,
• For the roof vents, I used plastic screw caps from a hardware store held on with sheet metal screws. I also used thin plywood squares to drive screws into. I could have used nuts and bolts instead.
• Washers that are just slightly larger on the outside edge than the screw caps you will be using for roof vents. This will give a little extra texture to the things when you mount them (see below)
• Corrugated cardboard for the base and foundation
• A sharp mat knife or Xacto knife
• Elmer's white Glue-All. A glue stick would also come in handy.
• Several sheets of acid-free white bond paper
• Access to the Internet and a color printer.
• Paint for the roof
• Clear indoor-outdoor acrylic spray to add a metallic appearance to the final product.

A Note about Scale

Printing the Graphics - We've provided three versions to help you print the "lithograph" graphics you want.

Each sheet should be printed on acid-free high-grade paper or card stock.

Note: Consider printing this sheet in black and white first to double-check the size against your shell.

"Year-Round" - For the "Year-Round" version (above), colored to harmonize with popular Lionel, AF, and Marx color schemes, download the Shorty's Diner Ends and Sides graphic.

Halloween Graphics - To make a seasonally creepy version of this project for your Halloween-themed village or railroad, download the Halloween Diner graphics. If you like this project, check out our Spook Hill Halloween-themed building projects for your seasonal railroad or village. Our Halloween-themed storefront projects even use the same tinplate-inspired graphic style as this project.

Christmas Graphics - As an extra holiday gift to our readers, we're including a set of S Scale Christmas Diner graphics you may use to produce an especially "festive" version of this project for your holiday decorating. Our Christmas-themed storefront projects use the same tinplate-inspired graphic style as this project.

Also, if you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer or for some reason that doesn't work, contact Paul and ask him for help - that's his department. :-) A note about Copyright - However you use these plans and graphics for your personal use, please keep in mind that the lithograph graphic is copyright 2009 by Paul Race and is not to be copied, re-used, republished, or repurposed without prior permission and appropriate credit. Commercial use without prior permission is illegal and expressly forbidden.
Big Indoor Trains(tm) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Paul likes making resources like this available to hobbyists, but they are expensive and time-consuming to produce and publish, and it's frustrating to see other folks profiteering off his hard work. In other words, if you like having this kind of resource available and you'd like to see more, please respect the creator's rights.

Cut the Shell

Building the Base

1. Make the base from three or four layers of corrugated cardboard glued together in a sandwich. I made mine 6 1/2" x 4 5/8" x 1/2" thick.

2. Wrap and glue a strip of cereal-box cardboard all around it to camouflage the rough edges of the corrugated cardboard.

3. When the base is built, cover it with white bond paper just like you would wrap a gift, except that all surfaces of the paper cover must be glued down to the box. A glue stick works great for this.

4. For this project I added a little "lip" out of posterboard just about 3/16" larger than the base all the way around. That's optional, depending on the kind of tinplate structure you're trying to mimic.

   Note: For more information about building bases for vintage-style cardboard houses, please see our Glitterhouse Bases article.

The foundation will be covered once the building is fastened together, so it may be a single piece of thick corrugated cardboard or a piece of foam core board. To get the dimensions for this, trace around the Nesquik container (the end with the metal on it which will become the roof), then cut about 1/16" inside your trace line all the way around. The final fit should be snug, but not forced.

Painting the Base

For this project, I also "graphed out" squares to represent sidewalk lines and drew them in with a fine black ball-point pen.

Test Fitting and Prepping the Shell

I then wrapped masking tape all around the body and made certain each edge and seam was completely down. I did this to help the craft glue take hold.

When I built this, I fastened the screw covers that would represent the roof caps down before I primed and painted the shell. In retrospect, I should have left them off until after I painted, because the black would have made a nice contrast.

Prime and Paint the Shell

You don't have to have vice grips to paint the shell. In fact, if you wait to put the screw caps on until after you paint, you won't be able to. :-) In the meantime, I find having a few clamps on hand makes painting small parts much easier.

Attach Screw Caps

Maybe as you look at the following photos, you could squint and pretend that the "roof vents" are black instead of green. :-)

Try a "Mockup"

Note about Height: While you're doing your mockups, think about the height of the structure. On the graphics, Paul gave me extra "steps" and extra rows of bricks on the bottom so I could wrap the graphic around the bottom without any white showing. On my first attempt at this project, I forgot that was what the extra rows and steps were for and incorporated them into the structure. (So you can see five steps, not three on the photos of my "Shorty's Diner.")

On this version I recommend having the graphic go down to 3 steps. But before you put the "real" graphic on, try setting this around the structures you think it will be near and make certain it doesn't seem too tall. Remember, this is YOUR structure, and the person you have to satisfy with this project is you.

Apply the Graphic

Once you are satisfied with the appearance that the mockup suggests:

1. Apply the printed graphics. Only do a section at a time. I like to start with the ends. As you can see, there aren't exactly any corners, so you have to get the doors on the end as well as you can, and work your way around. Then when you place the walls, use the "fluting" pattern on the end to get the walls as centered as possible.

2. After the graphic sheets have dried in place, you will see white edges where the paper cut runs through the red strips. With a matching felt-tip pen or marker, or with acrylic paint and a very tiny brush, carefully coat just the edge of the paper or card stock to camouflage the edges.

Final Assembly

Finish

Wait until all of the glue is thoroughly dry (usually at least overnight), then spray the building with several light coats of a clear glossy indoor/outdoor acrylic finish. This protects it somewhat from moisture and dust. It also helps reduce fading and makes the lithography pattern "pop." Do not such a heavy coat in one pass that you cause any streaks, runs, or drips, though, or you'll have to start over.

This usually looks good near a depot, somewhere where people waiting for or coming off a train might nip in for a cup of hot coffee.

Conclusion

Similar Projects

• More "Tribute to Tinplate" Articles Here's a series of projects that pay "Tribute to Tinplate," based on the tinplated-steel trains and towns of a century ago. Free downloadable commercial-grade graphics and instructions will help you inexpensively add an authentic vintage look to any indoor railroad. Most projects have multiple pre-scaled plans and graphics, plus scalable graphics for the smaller scales, so you can easily add a vintage look to ANY railroad or holiday village, no matter what size your trains and towns are. We have more on the drawing board, so be sure and check back.

  • Building a Vintage Tin-Style CottageThis project is inspired by a popular pre-war tinplate house that was made to go with standard gauge trains, like the early 1900s-era Ives and Lionel. Our own commercial-quality graphics and instructions, as well as Howard Lamey's plans and assembly details are all free, to give your railroad a vintage tinplate look with a few cents' worth of materials. Many options are available, and most graphics and plans can be downloaded directly from the article. New, July, 2009!

  • Building TinPlate-Syle Store Fronts - Not one, but three buildings! The West Brothers tinpated candy boxes saved money by using one plan with multiple sets of graphics to get maximum use out of their pattern expense. We've followed their example with projects inspired by three of their most popular buildings. Use our free downloadable patterns and plans to add a vintage-style business district on your railroad or display village.

  • New Feature - Building a Tinplate-Inspired Lamp Post The ideal accessory for the Lewis Park Station, or any station or city hall on your railroad or holiday village. No, they don't actually light, but they are cheap and easy to build and add a great deal of vintage interest to any setting. Free downloadable plans are available in several scales.

  • New Feature - Building a Tinplate-Inspired Watchman's Shanty Back in the day before automated crossings, these were common sites alongside busy rail crossings. Howard's exclusive design pays tribute to a series of tinplate structures that go back a hundred years and include three different scales. His free plans and instructions will help you dress up any indoor railroad or holiday village.

  • New Feature - Building a Tinplate-Inspired Railroad Crossing Sign This is the ideal accessory for the Watchman's Shanty project. Based on a series of products that are now available only as expensive collector's items, this easy and almost-free project will add texture, interest, and period to any model railroad or holiday village.

• Easy Street Scene - This new building project uses downloadable building graphics and a little cardboard or foam board to build up a convincing downtown scene that is only a few inches deep - perfect for shelf layouts, tight spots, and dioramas. We also provide links to high-resolution graphics that will work for any scale.

• Build a Vintage-Style Cardboard Stone Cottage - This building project is made like the vintage cardboard houses folks used to set around their Christmas tree in the early 1900s (before glitterhouses became common), but its design was inspired by a building that shows up on the "Isle of Sodor." The building uses free downloadable graphic paper to put a realistic stone veneer on an old-world cottage and fence. It works with Christmas villages, or with a little customization, would dress up any indoor railroad. A "brick cottage" option is also shown.

• Log Cabin Building Flat - This "building flat" uses downloadable graphics and foam board or cardboard to dress up a narrow corner of your railroad or village. The techniques in this project can be used for almost any kind of building you want to represent in a tiny space. December, 2007

• Build a Vintage-Style Barn and Silo - This building project uses downloadable graphics to put realistic shingles and siding on an old barn and silo. Like the stone cottage above, it works with Christmas villages, or with a few changes, it would dress up an indoor railroad.

• Building the Union Station - This original project by designer Howard Lamey is inspired by two traditions - the cardboard Christmas houses that were popular in US homes between 1928 and 1965 and the Lionel station that was popular for most of the 20th century.

Other Articles about cardboard houses include:

• Building a Glitterhouse - A detailed primer on building your own vintage Christmas cardboard houses.
• LittleGlitterHouses.com, Howard Lamey's own site about glittered cardboard Christmas houses, featuring many he designed himself.
• Building a Vintage-Style Cardboard Halloween House

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