Last weekend, I was reunited with an old project.Always interested in unusual rail items, when Chris showed me a picture of a US GMC truck converted to a rail shunter, I couldn't resist having a go at making one.
My effort isn't perfect, but it sort of looks OK. We didn't have the right kit for the cab in the photo so a bit of modellers licence was employed to make a close copy. Power comes from a cheap motor driving the rear wheels using a much modified tramcar chassis.
It's many years since I built the model and it now needs some TLC to make it work properly. Not sure what I can do but hopefully it will run again.
6 comments:
I really like that, too bad the unwashed masses at a typical show would scoff at it and refuse to believe that there's a prototype for it, unless shown the picture. Even then I suspect some of them would lay into the inaccuracies rather than accept it for what it is, a well made model BASED on a real vehicle.
I dread to think what some people would make of a "Galloping Goose", a Hannover type Wismar railbus, a "Crewe Tractor", or even one of those Caterpillar D4 bulldozers which one US salt facility had modified to run on NG rails.
All of these were very real (even if they might seem rather strange to some people).
Now where did I put that SPUD and that 1:48 Tamiya bulldozer? OK - I know the Tamiya kit is of a Komatsu - but I'm not complaining (even if I suspect it might not be too long before somebody else does …).
So looking at the original, how did they open the doors?
Nick, gosh people are fussy expecting models to bear some relation to reality, aren't they?
The model is very popular at shows, hence my desire to get it working again. As you say, there are marked deviations from the prototype but if anyone can do better, I look forward to seeing it and will applaud appropriately. To be honest though, all the non-railway items on the layout (Boats! Tanks! Barrage balloon!) tends to scare the rivet counters away, and those that don't, discover just how nerdy military modellers can be.
James, it's more a case of people being upset if models don't meet their standards or expectations I mind. There is nothing wrong with wanting models that bear some relation to reality, but disliking a model or worse, being offended by one, just because it doesn't fit in with their perceptions of what is right or wrong, is nonsense.
Looks pretty good. The latest MR features a layout with something similar on it that caught my eye.
The unusual and unique items on a layout often attract me to it more than most other things.
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