This is a thread on how I will build a Dinky 1.50th superscale 4 wheel road crane into a nearer 7mm scale model out of a toy. I bought this from ebay quite cheaply, it's been a bit knocked about as will be expected from a childs toy but it's in really good nick as it's a sturdy model. Any way this is what it looked like on delivery (not the actual one as I forgot to take some photos) I then stripped it down to remove the internal mechanisms, this involved much drilling out and grinding rivets and shafts. I ordered some new tyres as the ones on the crane had gone rock hard and brittle. After finishing dismantling the interior of the cabin/body I ground off the outer casting where there was raised lettering and will fill the holes where the handles passed through. The jib was really toy like made from pressed steel so I've started making one from plastic angle, I really wanted to use brass but I couldn't find any the right size. I have got a bit further with the jib but I need to let the solvent set before going any further. I will post up next time how the jib is getting on and hopefully have stripped the paint on the body and filled the holes ready for painting. Cheers for now, Pete.
Late but hopefully of interest. I have built the jib, stripped the paint off the body, resprayed them both and have built a hook from brass, a little over scale perhaps but I'm happy with it. The block it is fixed to is one of the plastic legs that are for protecting the pins on a electric plug just shorted. Anyway some photos of same! At the moment I'm just waiting for the hook's glue to dry then I will slap some paint on it and start the reassembly. The actual hook I carved from some brass strip, it might be slightly overscale but to my eyes it's ok. More later, hopefully not so long this time! Cheers, Pete.
Well, as usual it has taken an age to get this crane somewhere near finished. The usual suspects, life, steam rallies, garden and sorting a new shed. Anyway, a few photos. Sorry it's a bit blurry but it has got the cab windows glazed, glued in with canopy glue, a type of pva. If you look closely you can see where the glue has got onto the glazing but from normal viewing distance it is almost invisible. This is Ted the crane driver, I've given him a lick of paint to bring out the detail though once on board most won't be visible, but I will know. And here it is with Ted on board, the cables (black thread) and hook. The body has been fitted to the chassis and screwed in place, the screw heads are visible but I will stick a little paint on them to make them less visible. Just a few bits of touching up where I've been clumsy then a bit of weathering and it's good to go, then it's on to the next job, my J69. Cheers, Pete.
