1/ 25th Scale Crane Amundo

Here is another “toy to model” conversion. How about TTM? Cool – new acronym!!!!

Anyway – needing to satisfy my Tonka Toy craving from an earlier childhood of NEVER having my own vehicles- I’m now on a kick to right that wrong….LOL!

I have several toy construction vehicles yet in my inventory to build- but this is the next one in line. I can’t recall where online I ordered it from- but was around $10.00. The fun-and dangerous thing is taking it apart to start from ground zero. Dangerous?—would you like me to include the number of cuts just taking it apart. I notify the Red Cross when I am doing these projects……just in case.

Also – remember the ‘Art of the Illusion” in model making. There will always be a lot there in your mind about the model subject that I never even included. .

Anyway – I will let the pictures speak for themselves (mostly). The steps are about the same for each of the TTM projects I do.

Take them apart.
Add plastic details if needed. Upscale / downscale as required. Most of this is as simple as making the right sized seats / controls / steering wheels.
Prime (I typically use cheap white spray can primer)
Paint (typically spray cans- many have great fine mist nozzles these days)
Do detail painting (filling in black for grills etc…)
Make decals and apply
Weather as needed or wanted.
Sit back and enjoy and share.

Enjoy!! John D,

Click on the pics to make them larger if you like.

To be continued…..

For those who think I am smart- fooled you.

Trying to complete the crane for this week’s model meeting (Dec 9^th) –I am very close. to keep the boom lines tight and the hook, I wanted tension. So I am making a little ‘weighted’ load for the hook.

I used about 300 BB’s buried inside the load. Cool. Actually- the load is the remains of the toy black plastic window that was part of the crane. Kind of rectangular.

Anyway – after using a whole thingy of super-glue to keep the BB’s in place, I gave it the engineering test.

Ka-Boom (sorry to use crane talk on you). The crane fell right over on its boom. No problem Batman. I turned the crane over – drilled some holes in the ‘weight’ on back and filled them with BB’s. And white Elmer’s glue to keep BB’s in place. I could not use superglue at this point or the cabin windows would be permanently fogged over on the inside. Let that dry overnight upside down.

Sunday morning- re-did the crane / balance test. WT??#!…..still wants to tip over – not as much though. The boom in front of course adds a lot to the mass at the center of gravity.

Okay- time for more BB’s. since the weight in back was full – drilled holes close to the back under the body.

Fill fill fill….glue glue glue ……probably added another 1000.

I did add sheet plastic under the body since it did not come with any on the toy. However – it was not air tight. I mean – who is going to look under it?….you????-that figurers…LOL!

I left that upside down about 10 minutes. I then turned it over to sit on its tracks. Ate some diner and then when I looked again – white glue was coming out of every little microscopic crack I did not fill. I will spare you the nightmare of the glue EVERYWHERE. Table, tracks, gears, wheels…..get the picture?

Let’s just say – about an hour later I was still saying ‘DISNEY’!!!! (instead of cussing- I use other expensive words). Just me.

Between the hair dryer on the nuclear hot setting and wiping away excess- I finally stopped the bleeding of the white blood.

Of course- I’ll update BLOG this week with pics.

See- my model adventure just keep continuing……fooled you though….you though all my projects never have any issues….LOL!!!!!

Finally- here are pictures and a very short movie made by the Ultra Cheap Production Studios that show the progress through to completion: