Friday, September 15, 2017

Scalecraft Traction Engine

August bank holiday isn't a great time to finish your eBay auction. It IS a good time to be bidding though. This year I snagged a Monogram TR7 plastic kit in its cellophane for £20 (usually £35+) - it won't stay plastic wrapped for long.

I also grabbed a Scenecraft Traction Engine for a tenner. This is one of the rarer and more interesting kits in the long defunct range. The seller said "Has been assembled and then taken apart. Believe all parts to be in box but cannot guarantee" so this was a bit of a risk. The photos showed the main bits appeared to be present so I stuck the opening bid on it and won. 

Back home, the parts were assembled, these are glue-free kits, and working through the instructions it became apparent that there were bits missing. Most of the valve gear for a start. Then there is a motor and some of the operating gears, but not all of them. 

Am I disappointed? A little but I knew this was a pig in a poke so it's fine. Looking at the drawing in the instructions, I might be able to scratchbuild replacements one day. The wobbly plastic parts might respond to a little warmth and with a bit of luck, one day I'll have a working traction engine. At the moment, I have a pretty box and some colourful bits to add to the collection...

5 comments:

  1. Didn't these guys do a Spitfire motorised via the tail wheel. I think Woolworths sold them.
    Woolworths also sold a range of small model jets you could stick to your windows with a sucker. Sky birds?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tony, It was a fascinating range. Some very toy like, some quite sophisticated. The Cessna floatplane was my favourite as a kid https://www.flickr.com/groups/1780539@N23/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm welling up with a tear of nostalgia- I had one of these, long lost......

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mustn't forget my E-type Jag: http://philsworkbench.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/ive-got-e-type.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Simon5:28 PM

    Reminds me of my Gunze Sangyo Tr7s I have three of them some where 2 built as rally cars one White as per kit and the other in the Red of the TR8s the last one was going to be converted to a convertible to match my real one at the time. I have owned 4 over the years the last one a V8 had to own one for a while and still think they were a good car apart from the rust.

    ReplyDelete