Drive in Theater Question?

Ron: this is a relatively often asked topic so I would suggest that if you want a lot of good input do a SEARCH and you'll find many great threads, with pictures, on this.   Most do exactly what you are thinking about.

 

I myself got sorta tired of posting my examples on the many threads and I'm thinking that possibly others are also thinking they posted often enough.

 

Not trying to be nasty, but rather trying to help you find what you want.

 

good luck searching

 

- walt

I have thought of this idea, too.

Thank you for all the info, sorry if I asked a question that may of offended some folks about re-posting, I will research before posting.

I usually just deal with the tin-plate forum with positive results, I just wanted to try the scenery forum.

I will stick with Tin-Plate.

 

Thank You All:

RonH

I wouldnt worry if you offended some of these grumpy guys, part of the fun of this hobby and forum is to ask the questions on your mind, not to search 15 years of post. I think you have a swell idea, put the idea in motion and post many pictures, happy modeling!!!!



       

I would say the people suggesting searches have seen something here like you are looking for, but can't remember the thread they saw it in. Maybe they didn't have time to look for it? I really don't think anyone is being grumpy. OTOH, I also realize some things are difficult to search for here.

I totally agree that nobody was being intentionally grumpy.  This does raise an interesting question, though. Although I really don't mind reposting useful examples that I have shown before, I have to admit that I sometimes feel a little guilty about cluttering up people's screens with old chestnuts that I know most members have seen before. I wonder if people are thinking "Oh, no, not that one again!".  I am curious how people feel about this.

I think a lot of folks just post a link to their information in other related posts if they remember where they are, that is. I have a lot of stuff (not my posts, but others) that I try to keep for reference. Seems like no matter what I try for keeping track of them, there are problems when I try to find the information again. I am just not very good at keeping track of these things for ready reference. Seems like some folks here are wizards at it.

Good reply. This site does not have the best search engine. I know.

Ron: I was definitely NOT offended in any way.  I just thought you could get more info on you topic by using old posts - again thinking that some of us have already posted 5 or 6 or more times and might not be up to another.

 

But, definitely not offended that's for sure.  Just trying to  be helpful.

 

- walt

Wow! I just read the remaining posts and, GRUMPY!!!!???????????   Thanks a lot!

 

One of the disadvantages of the forum becoming so popular is that members are not as aware of other member's intentions and attitudes.  Those of us that have been on here since the start kinda know each other a bit and know how to interpret what their attitude is in a post.  We know who generally complains and who is GRUMPY and those that aren't.

 

Don't jump to conclusions about us without knowing.

 

- walt

This is one I worked on for a friend. It was made using a small portable DVD player.

The Plasticville Turnpike Booth makes a very good Ticket Booth for the Drive-in with a little rework. Pictures are better than words sometimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don't learn if you don't ask....

I'm with Walt on this one. All he said was to search it, which will bring up threads from 9/12, 7/13,and 8/14. I have given long/detailed input to every drive-in thread, and, sorry to say, I'm "inputed out".

Here are the links for the above information:

 

9/12 link    HERE

7/13 link    HERE

8/14 link    HERE

Why not both? Who cares what order.

  Or, even a reply in one that isn't time locked for commenting?

I think the reasoning for the time lock was "freshness" by encouragement of interaction.

Linking is nice when you can (Thanks) 

Some threads never die, and some topics have a permanent home one page.

It works well enough, Somehow??. 

 

There are at least three other good versions of this topic too.

  Since the time of reading those.....

 

  I had an under the counter mounted dvd/tv. So I pulled from the plastic case. I had to invert the screen position, but added an extension splice an put it on the shelf.

 Then the l.c.d backlight went out about 10min after I made a mount.

Then the 130lb Mastiff stepped on it.

 

But it worked. It had a remote, radio, tv, dvd, audio out, and video aux in, all right there. Right next to the Klipsch PC system, oh boy!.

 

 Being a fan of too many movies to pick one; I think non stop movie premier trailers and break time shorts would be fun.

 

 All this reminds me of one trailer, with funkiller sound, and my first time to a drive-in since I was too young to remember. A good radio "made it"....  Ha Ha HA "trolling", "Bigger boat" good stuff.

 

 

.

 

I once had a set of those turnpike booths when I was a kid.

Thanks Nelson, I forgot all about them.    

 

One thing that I've noticed as a new member when I do a search for a topic of interest is that several times I've found a relevant topic or two but they are closed to future posting. Perhaps for reasons of "freshness" previously mentioned. So in order to add my 2-cents worth or what ever related question I might have had has forced me to post a new thread or come up with a different way of presenting it. Or simply think twice about whether a post is even necessary. It's not a complaint, this is a fantastic forum, but there are pros and cons to closing old threads. So, sometimes when a post is closed you have to start a new one if you have follow on questions/points/ideas.

 

TRRR

In the time it took to say (type) "I'm inputed out", you could have made some useful input

RonH,

Technology and the price points of , say a portable dvd player,  have made the heart of a drive-in theater easier than it used to be.

 

Viewing the old threads (found by a search) will let you view the various ways that it's been built. A general internet search will show even more, but perhaps with less detail on the back story.

 

Then, like TonlinsonRun RR has stated, start something new.

 

A drive-in is a lot like a sports stadium. It will take up a lot space if you build it to scale.

 

So, to answer your question, yes everything from old small crt tube tvs to current devices have been used for the movie screen.

 

Here's some drive-in ads for the breaks

You don't have to start a new one unless you want to. The older posts got locked by a new setting from the forum service provider or webmaster that locked everything that hadn't been accessed in 6 months or a year or something like that.

 

If you see a thread you want to post to, go to the support forum, provide a link to the thread and ask the webmaster, they will unlock it for you. They request a link so they don't have to spend time looking for the specific thread you are referring to and also to make sure they get the correct thread.

 

I believe they have now disabled that setting so the threads don't automatically get locked anymore. 

 

One more thing, there may be something the webmaster has locked intentionally because of the terms of service (the thread got going in the wrong direction, but still had good information in it). In this case they won't unlock the threads for you.

 

Ron,

 

I don't know how small a TV you can get that would be somewhat near scale but admittedly I don't keep up with electronics these days to know what you have available that would fit. I am getting ready to begin construction of a drive-in movie for my layout.

 

I am using a Sony portable DVD which my wife doesn't need any more (or so I convinced her she didn't need). You can download tons of old drive-in movie clips for intermissions, countdown till movie start and concession ads that it is fairly easy to put a decent video together which adds to the realism.

 

In addition to the Plasticville turnpike plaza one member has suggested,   I am using a plasticville switch tower for the projection building. I am also going to try my hand at kitbashing 2 plasticville ice cream stands into a food concession stand.  All 3 structures will be illuminated.  The projection building will have a flickering led.  

 

The holdup in construction is trying to figure out the best way to combine the 2 stands into 1 larger concession stand.  I have never kit bashed anything before so I am a bit leary of attempting it for fear of ending up ruining 2 perfectly good buildings with nothing to show for it.  I might just decide to go with the 1 building.

 

As Walt recommended you can find some great tips and examples via the search option.  There are lots of good ideas out there.

 

Good luck,

Ed

A 7 or 9 inch DVD player provides the right size screen. I made a wooden "art deco" frame for mine. I converted a MTH Fireworks Stand into a refreshment stand. I made a separate small raised projection building. Having the projection on top of the refreshment stand roof may be prototypical, but it will force you into seeing just the rear of the refreshment building (to be able to see the screen head-on).