There’s a little bit of the Old West in Pasco County.

  • Suncoast Center for Fine Scale Modeling showcases detailed miniature scenes
  • Main model took 12 years to build
  • Center open to the public every 3rd Saturday of the month from September to May

The Suncoast Center for Fine Scale Modeling in Odessa is a mecca of miniature scenes. An old man, just a few inches tall, rocks in his rocking chair. Another gets a shave, and another welds.

“The whole purpose behind this is to share fine scale modeling with the public and a place for us to display our work and work from around the world,” David Revelia said.

Revelia and his friends joined forces to open the center about four years ago. They’ve been making fine scale models at home for years and showing them at different trade shows.

The main model, a rendition of Old West Americana from the mid-1800s, sits in the center of the room. A battery-powered train chugs through railroad towns and wooden landscapes.

Frank Palmer started that model 12 years ago. Since then, Palmer has been able to expand it and fine tune the details in its permanent home.

“Now this looks real but small,” Palmer said. “We cannot stress enough to be as accurate and as detailed as possible.”

The men say it’s impossible to count how many hours it took to create the models on display.

“If we actually counted the hours, we probably wouldn’t do this,” Revelia said.

The small scenes are a labor of love. There’s about four football fields worth of wire, crumped and spray painted to look like weeds. The trees take six to eight hours to make, and there are dozens.

“You start off with a blank piece of wood,” Palmer said. “Then you start weathering  the wood and painting it and then you have to drill the holes, and add the branches and add the twigs for the dead branches.”

“Everything here is scratch,” Revelia said. “The trees, the groundwork, everything here is scratch built. Even the railroad is all hand spiked.”

The attention to detail is almost relaxing.

“All of those details took a lot of time to do and it’s all a collection of guys who don’t play golf.”

The center is open to the public every third Saturday of the month from September to May. There are workshops, too, so people can learn how to make their own fine scale models.

“It’s not a moneymaker, it’s an enjoyment thing,” Revelia said. “We’re sharing art with other people and we look at it as art. Some people look at it like we’re playing with trains, it’s kind of a combination of both.”