dptydawg

your making good progress , JT . Half the fun in model building is the imagineering that's required to get the job done right. That's a good solution to the short pins. You could also salami slice some plastic rod to get small disks. Carl

An amazing piece of art! Your skills are those of a watch maker. I like the way you have broken this project down into a series of little projects that all tie together to create a masterpiece. Carl

Great conversion work on the 918, Alain.. This just proves that a diecast can become a great model in the hands of a skilled craftsman. Your weathering is spot on. There are a few 1/25th scale construction models now available in diecast. A 941 crawler loader and a Fiat-Allis FL10B crawler loader. Both would make good loads for flatbed trailers. Great work Carl

JT I'm looking forward to seeing your Orange Crush Simba. I did mine up in the more traditional Bug Juice Green. I had problems with warppage of the body panels. Once I got them pulled , clamped, and glued into place the body remained square. The tires on this models were OK but I had troubles with a Unimog kit's tires Carl

Hi Steve its nice to see this model again. I remember watching you build it way back when. Always liked the Beaumonts but never attempted a conversion after following your build. Back in the day I drove a Canadian Valiant that had a Valiant front clip and a Dart rear clip. Darts were not available in Canada then. I think it looked better that either of the American cars. Carl

Pat it looks like you are making good progress on the intake manifolds. its amazing the amount of time that scratch building can soak up. Great job on the 702 so far. Carl

The only aircraft that I've built were both 1/24th scale helicopters. The Rambo Huey as an air ambulance and a Hobbycraft Hughes D500 chopper as a news/traffic copter. I read somewhere that the huey was going to be repopped again. As I said before I'm a scale bigot. Carl

I only build 1/24 or 1/25 and all my scratch building is done at 1 mm to the inch (1/25.4) Since I do a lot of dioramas its much easier to swap out items when everything is the same scale. Lack of subject mater does induce some extra creativity especially for figures and construction subjects. carl

When I did a conversion of a 55 Chrysler diecast to a 55 Desoto I ended up scratch building my own grill. I used an oval shaped swizzel stick and carved the teeth out of it. After it was finished I realized that I was a tooth short The finished grill was chromed with Alcad Carl

great looking pair of boats. I always figured that the trailer should have had tandem wheels. The axle on the kit trailer looks to me to be too far forward producing negative tongue weight. Great paint jobs Carl

looking at pictures of the Canadair CL-91 I would suggest using tracks from a small 1/35th scale or maybe a large 1/48th scale tank. they should be close to what you need in 1/25th scale. carl

this is a shot of my first diorama taken in 1962 Carl

Great looking model. Your Fed-ex decals are really sharp. I'm currently building a Canada Post version of this kit but I'm going to beef up the tires somewhat. Carl

Thanks guys for all the kind words. I realize that This is not the usual sort of diorama that people expect to see and I really appreciate the interest. The attached photo is of an actual show taking place in the pit. This is my inspiration for the diorama Thanks Carl

Its really a very versatile kit that has lots of build possibilities. You are off to a good start. carl

Sorry for this long preamble but there is a bit of a back story to tell first. I belong to the Historical Construction Equipment Association Canada (HCEA) because of my interest in construction equipment models. Every two years there is a Heavy Equipment Show at the International Centre is Toronto. HCEA always has a display there promoting the preservation and operation of old machines. They invited me to participate by displaying some of my models. The HCEA holds two events annually at their home base, the Simcoe County Museum near Barrie Ontario. The Fall event is known as"Last Blast" . The Spring event is called "Wheels and Tracks in Motion" or just "First Blast". There are two gravel pits on site and old machines operate in these pits. The show is open to the public and is well attended. I decided to build a diorama depicting operations in the smaller pit during this show. I build in 1/25th scale and the size was restricted by the dimensions of my display case. Therefore things are much more crowded than would be permitted in real life. Consider this to be modeler’s licence. The base is made from 1”extruded foam board covered with ballast and sand and other small aggregates in a white glue mix. It is in two section to allow installation in the case and ease of handling. Well the Heavy Equipment Show has come and gone. It was a great success for us. The following pictures are of the diorama as it appeared at the show: The width of the case makes things are a bit crowded. The spectators are closer than scale to the action, however I hope it portrays the fact that there is a construction equipment show in progress. The upper row is a few of my other models. Since the diorama is too large to show detail in one picture, here is a series of close ups. A Fiat -Allis FL10B crawler loader ( a weathered diecast) and a Hough 60 wheeled loader ( an extensively rebuilt diecast) are working the gravel pile produced by the Sandy crusher. The crusher operator is preparing to start up the crusher to demonstrate its functions to the visitors. Material enters the crusher via the hopper (grizzly) in the left and is screened and crushed and deposited on the conveyor belt on the right side. This is a shot of the bantam swing shovel that moves material from the pit face to the grizzly. The bars on top prevent oversized rocks from entering the crusher. The Bantam is a weathered and relaced with fishing line diecast from SpeCast. The crusher is completely scratch built. All of the models are 1/25th scale. The old lad (there are lots of us) is an HCEA member who is explain things to the visiting public. And cleaning up the corner of the pit is a D8 cat. This model is a conversion of the AMT kit. The straight hydraulic blade has been converted to an angling cable blade. The engine has been back dated to a non-turbo pup motor start. Thanks for looking Carl

To get the doors to fit right on mine I had to file away at the hinge mounts on the body. I forget just how I did it but it took a lot of fiddling to get a good fit. Carl

Thanks Guys as far as the twisted suspension goes, it was probably a loose glue joint. We had the models sitting on a bed of vermiculite to simulate rocks. The kit was built box stockish so there was no working suspension. carl

I originally built this A-car dump when it was first issued back in the 70's. This is a newspaper clipping from a craft fair that we attended in 1977. That's the A-car down front. That's me with the nerdy glasses. Anyway over the years the glue dried, there were a few bumps and bruises and the poor thing fell into disrepair big time. A real basket case. A few weeks back I started to rebuild it. I Added a Cat 3406 from the Pete snapkit and added front axle brake drums. I was goiing to go with the original paint until a big chunk came off the door when I tried to lift the old decals so it got repainted with '93 Dodge truck green. The following are pix of the completed project It has been mildly weathered. Thanks for looking Carl

Hi Scott I would be interested in any info that the RCMP . So the 73 cars were in a colour transition? They may have been a mix of blacks and blues depending on where and wen they were acquired? Here is a pic of the RCMP box art. it may be of some use in your research. Carl

Hi Scott The car should have been painted dark blue. When I built this model back then the only cruisers around here where OPP black and whites, so that's what I used as a reference. Over the years I considered a rebuild but lack of decals was a main holdup. To be accurate a 4 door post would be a better choice. The mountie figure is a conversion of a Tamyia 1/25th scale German officer kit. I used epoxy putty to craft the hat. Carl

This is what came with the kit. The major difference is the molded in plates on both bumpers. They are Ontario plates with RCMP engraved on them. The wheel covers are full disks not dog dish on steell The decal is a simple shield with RCMP crest. I've built this kit back when it was first issued, so it is showing its age. Thanks Carl

I hope the TO20 Ferguson becomes available in Canada. About the only major difference from an 8N ford in the motor. Fergusons ran OHV continentals while Fords ran flatheads. I'm going to have to get a few of these. Carl

Hi Gator You do get around for an old guy carl

Hi Peter I'm a bit north west of you on the shores of Lake Huron. Do you have a hobby shop in Stratford? I mostly use McCormick's in London. Carl