The three custom pieces were delivered to Tom and Teresa Johnson on Wednesday, Nov. 19, by Brad Baugh, featuring functioning replicas of oil field equipment and well pads. The replicas come complete with actual “natural gas flaring” and recorded noise of actual oil site machines at work.

“Tom works in oil and gas and he’s in west Texas two weeks out of the year and struck up a friendship. He’s so big in the Permian Basin, so sharing this with people in the Bakken is awesome. I mean, what else do you buy an oil man?” Teresa Johnson said. “It’s such an educational piece as well. If you go to our farm, we just sent a picture of what we had and he replicated it.”

Baugh said he started making his own oil field models in 2008 while he was home recovering from a brain tumor. He said he had received similar oil field models for Christmas as a child, and sought out their maker so he could learn how to as well. Baugh said his humble garage project went full time in 2017 due to increasing demand. In total, Baugh said he has delivered replicas to 46 states and eight countries.

“Everything is fabricated in my shop. I do all my own designing. There’s a lot of detail in it. I have 3-D printers, lathes and mills. I use laser machines to cut the derricks out with,” Baugh said. “That’s what sells. The people love detail.”

Charles Crane/MDN Custom scale models of oil field equipment made by Brad Baugh of Drumright, Okla., sit at the home of Tom and Teresa Johnson of Surrey.

These fine details can be found in the actual nuts and bolts on the fixtures to the fuel lines on the diesel engines, which Baugh said are made possible by modern technology. Baugh and his models are set to be featured in the second season of the popular “Landman” streaming series, though he isn’t quite sure which episode they will appear in.

Baugh said he’s active on social media. “They found me on there. We got the gig and we just went down there and did it,” Baugh said. “Me and the wife made $240 as extras and got to show it off.”

Charles Crane/MDN Custom scale models of oil field equipment made by Brad Baugh of Drumright, Okla., sit at the home of Tom and Teresa Johnson of Surrey.