"Daisy Cola?" I Don't Think So.

Wow. Has it been almost a year since I posted anything?

Well, that's the good thing about a hobby. You can leave it for a while and come back anytime.

I've been quite busy modeling. Remodeling, actually, in real life 1:1 scale. I redid a kitchen, plus finished several other smaller projects.

As rewarding as that is, it's fun to get back to miniatures.

I bought a set of Woodland Scenics O scale bicycles, which came with a few youth figures and a soda machine. The machine appears to be based on a Vendo, with a color scheme strongly inspired by the famous name-brand cola with the red label.

However, it's labeled "Daisy Cola." I guess Woodland Scenics didn't want to go through the hassle of licensing rights and all that. (Although I don't understand why companies don't grant permission regularly for reproduction items -- it is free advertising, after all.)

I wasn't going to be happy with Daisy Cola. I decided to make a change. Using a color laser printer, I printed a few copies of the classic Coca-Cola logo in various sizes.

I painted over the Daisy Cola logo with some white acrylic. Then I applied the new logos using a method I learned about years ago in an article about Fine Scale Miniatures' founder George Sellios. I sanded the back of the print paper until I got it as thin as I dared, then applied it using thinned white glue. It's not quite as effective as a decal, but it's pretty close.

I also applied smaller logos to the sides. While I was at it, I touched up the paint elsewhere on the machine. I darkened the door panel to look more like glass, added some spots to the dispenser rack, and straightened out the lines a bit.

That's more like it. Although I'm still partial to my scratch built O scale soda machine.

O Scale Soda Vending Machine Build

Here's the vid of my scratch build of an O scale classic soft drink vending machine from the 1950s and '60s. It was a blast to make.

I made the wrapper graphic using GIMP open-source image editing program, and printed several copies to use for the build.

And here is the wrapper, in png and jpg formats. Click on a picture to enlarge, then right-click (or long-click) and "save as" to save it to your computer or device.

Original Vendolator (later, Vendo) VMC-81 soft drink vending machines stand about 54 inches tall, 25 inches wide, and 18 inches deep.

Set your printing size and resolution to match your scale. Best results will be obtained using a laser color printer (although some inkjet printers are capable of fine detail), and building in O scale size (1:48, 1/4" = 1') or larger.

Have fun!