While considering what I might build next, I pulled an old, cheap plastic kit out of a drawer. It is a dock crane. I have no idea of the manufacturer as I had long ago emptied the parts out of the original packaging ( and apparently lost a few). I debated either tossing it or building it, and decided to build it as it was quick and I had no other project yet in mind. I had no instructions but this was a really simple and kind of crude kit. I made a few modifications.
I added a stack on the roof, replaced the crude right side window, added a wood boxcar door turned on it's side on the back to cover some very ugly and crude windows, and added some weight to the crane hook. Above the hook was a plastic cylinder. I wrapped a few turns of thin metal lead sheet around the cylinder and just left the lead unpainted. I acquired the lead sheet many years ago - there was a time when toothpaste came in a flexible lead tube with the outside painted with the manufacturers logo, advertising and other information and the inside was bare lead. At some point in time the manufacturers became aware that having something you put in your mouth contained in lead might not be a great idea (or maybe plastic just became cheaper??). In any event I was into modeling then so I kept the empty lead tubes, cut them open and flattened them. It is useful material for modeling. It made the hook mechanism heavy enough to hang reasonably well.
The crane cab turns 360 degrees for positioning, and if I had not glued the crane boom cables (thread) in place, the boom would go up and down. The roof is glued on with white glue so if I should ever want the boom to operate I could remove the roof and make some kind of operating mechanism - probably not worth the effort.
I now have no idea what to do with this crane as there is no place for it on my layout.
I have, however, decided what model I will build next. It will be an old, ramshackle grocery store inspired by a Shorpy photo.
3 comments:
Very nice Stan. I think that crane was made by AHM. I had two on my first layout and think I might still have a piece or two of the boom somewhere still. I also had/still have a Faller crane with slightly better detail, although a touch European looking. You could get a motorizing kit for it that worked pretty good - just rotated the top part of crane. Your post brought back some memories.
It's a British kit originally by Airfix from the 60s and still available from Dapol who bought the old moulds although by now they're pretty rough.
Stan Knotts,
I've been enjoying reading your blog especially when you show the older posts about your Father's Troll & Elfin that I remember from the NMRA Bulletin.
Use your browser image search to look at old "Airfix 205 Travelling Crane" or now "Dapol C30 Travelling Dockside Crane".
The cable tower is to be mounted on the back of the cabin, not on the front. There must be some easy to misinterpret miscommunication because I have seen others build this crane the same way that you did.
Instructions at:
https://ipmsdeutschland.de/archiv/FirstLook/Dapol/Dapol_Dockside_Crane/Dapol_Dock_Kran.html
Walthers has a very similar slightly larger crane, now too, 933-4096.
Several articles are on the internet about motorizing the crane.
Reynold
-Puyallup
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