The decades-old Alta Dena Express, a drive-through convenience store on Irvine Boulevard, is somewhat of Tustin landmark.
The Tustin Inn, with its swinging saloon doors and boar’s head mounted on the wall, is also a landmark, at least where dive bars are concerned.
They are pieces of Tustin that hometown artist Daniel Thomas decided to capture with carefully crafted miniatures.
And the small-scale buildings Thomas, 23, a lifelong resident, recently crafted bear a striking resemblance to the real structures.
Thomas’ miniature version of the Alta Dena Express sports the same weathered look of the actual building at the southeast corner of Irvine Boulevard and Tustin Avenue.
The miniature reach-in refrigerators are filled with tiny cans of Mello Yello, Sprite, cartons of milk and cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
A metal sign slightly rusted around the edges and reading “ALTA DENA MILK 2 GAL SPECIAL,” is bolted on the side of the building … and on the side of Thomas’ miniature. Also included is a miniature version of the large dumpster behind the store.
“It’s interesting to get the urban decay and some of the stuff that people just walk past,” Thomas said. “I just like the building.”
Thomas first developed an interest graphic design after taking Photoshop classes in high school. He then honed his skills taking digital media arts and design classes at Orange Coast Community College.
He had been designing and creating stickers when a friend sent him a link to a website about a group of guys who created miniature urban environments.
Thomas said he was drawn to the miniatures as an art form and began soaking up everything he could on the craft.
Thomas is also an avid BMX rider.
Riding mostly in urban environments, Thomas said he would notice unique old buildings.
So, he decided to build a miniature version of the Alta Dena Express, a store his father went to as a kid, Thomas said.
Using X-ACTO knives, scissors, paint brushes and wood glue, Thomas started in early December and finished the miniature in late February.
Then he constructed the entrance to the Tustin Inn.
Thomas has submitted both pieces to the Orange County Fair for blue ribbon consideration.
He has been asked to create miniature structures for his friends, some real and some imagined.
“For the most part, what I’m doing, it’s fun for me to do,” he said. “I like creating things. People ask me what they want, and I can build it for them.”
Thomas stays on the lookout for structures he can transform into miniatures.
On a trip to Europe in January, Thomas photograph scores of buildings he said he plans to construct as miniatures.
He’s looking around his own neighborhood too.
“I’ve been looking around,” he said. “I have a bunch of projects lined up and it’s just getting one done at a time … anything that I can find that is super old.”
There is a market for miniatures, every piece Thomas creates is for sale.
There is also recognition.
Joshua Smith, a renowned sculptor of miniature urban environments from Australia, has showcased his pieces all over the world.
Smith said he garners more inspiration from older, decaying buildings and their sullied environments, than from modern, pristine structures.
“I’m capturing beauty in the detail that is often overlooked,” Smith said. “The gum on the sidewalk, the discarded cigarette butts, graffiti and tags, rust and accumulated dirt. These are all different things that make up the beauty of decay and a building. Recreating this as a miniature really makes the viewer focus on these small details.”
Thomas is currently working on a 7-inch-tall newspaper vending bin with a stack of LA Weeklies inside. The front window of the bin is shattered and the sides are rusted and marked with graffiti.
He’s also envisioning a telephone pole marked with signs and stickers.
“Whatever I can think of,” he said, “if I can make something with it, that’s what I want to try and do.”
