I started this boom car about a month and a half ago, and had to stop because I didn’t have a pair of wirecutters I was willing to sacrifice to test on the PB wire… then I kinda forgot about it as summer began to get into full swing (even though I’ve had the wire cutters for about 3 weeks now, lol).
So anyway, here’s a few pics of my progress:
Heres a shot of the underside, complete with brake lines and everything:
And this is a shot of the B-end & brake staff:
I took a few more, but the camera batt died as I was transferring them to the computer[#oops]. Maybe I’ll post those in this weeks WPF.
All I need to do now is find my glue so I can finish it up… then comes the crane [D)]
I used an Athearn 40’ flat as a boom tender for my Tichy crane. I lowered the flat, then replaced the deck with individual boards. The removeable toolboxes and the equipment shed are scratchbuilt from styrene. I decided to forego brake detail (with the fishbelly sidesills, it’s barely noticeable), opting instead for some extra weights. I added some details for fueling to the crane, along with sliding doors to offer a bit more protection from winter weather.
My guess would be phosphor/bronze. I use an old blade in an X-Acto knife, working on a sheet of glass, to cut this type of wire, or brass and small diameter stainless steel wire. Simply roll the wire back and forth a couple of times with the blade. This technique does not work for steel music wire, nor larger diameter stainless: for these, a cut-off disc in a Dremel is my preference for a clean cut with undistorted ends.
I’m looking into the Tichy crane to model a C&NW hook. Does the kit come with doors/covers for the side panels, or is it simply open? Wayne, did you scratch build the slider doors on your crane? The C&NW hooks all had removable (not sliding) steel plate panels where the Tichy kit looks open.
I assume there is a lot of work to these kits? Any pitfalls to avoid?
The crane comes without any side doors, is wide open.
These kits are very fine, with a lot of small parts. The were originally made by Gould, who said in their instructions something like “if a part doesn’t fit, you are doing something wrong”. They were so sure of the parts being well designed and produced. Just follow the instructions and take your time.
Be sure to use an older blade and the “heel” of the blade works best, as it’s less likely to break off.
As noted, the Tichy crane is open, to better show off the inner workings. I scatchbuilt the sliding doors from sheet and strip styrene. The kit is very well engineered and the fit of the parts is excellent. If you follow the instructions and take your time, you’ll not only enjoy the assembly but also end up with an interesting model. Some of the parts are quite fragile: I had no problems when building the crane, but snapped off the front hook when I got the crane out last night to refresh my memory. I managed to glue it back together, but the next time, I’ll replace that thin plastic “cable” with a piece of music wire.
