Brian Austin

I modified a LIONEL "Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends" Clarabel coach to be a little more realistic. The chassis Lionel chose for this model actually came from their old "Bobber" caboose. The wheelbase is a bit short for this car, so I cut it in half and moved the ends out. The body was too wide, so I cut the body in half at the ends and removed some material. New end panel overlays were made from styrene, along with a new underframe. I reshaped the lower sides of the body to better reflect the graceful curve of the prototype. The toy was just too square. Buffers were made from ordinary plastic pushpins, slightly modified. British O Scale is 7mm to the foot, or 1:43. Wheels therefore were relatively large, and so I had to pull them off a "parts-car" F unit diesel loco made by Roco in Austria for Atlas in the 1970s. (These were known for their axle drive gears cracking and splitting.) The interior will need partition walls for the four compartments, along with longitudinal bench seats. So far I don't have much reference for detailing the interior. I was working on an automotive model project when this project just called to me and fell together. I'm just glad to be building something. It comes and goes for me.

Super obscure is the Mad Magazine TV Special of 1974. The first segment spearing the US auto industry of the era is fun.

The Look Mum No Computer channel on YouTube has a bit of everything for everyone. There are videos on vintage computers, old electronic musical instruments (and one authentic ex-church pipe organ rescued from a house) and a smattering of old cars. Many of these things are being prepared for the museum he has been building in the UK. Here he recently purchased a 1929 Austin 7 and takes us for a spin. Seeing the townscape surrounding his museum is fun. Cute li'l thing, isn't it?

Lots of promotional pictures and info here: http://nbc_supertrain.tripod.com/

One show that has stuck in my mind forever was Supertrain. IIRC It ran for a whole nine episodes or so in 1979. I still have the article I ripped out of TV Guide showing the promotional behind the scenes pictures. Fun stuff. You can find episodes on YouTube, but the best bits can be found on the clipreel video showing all the scenes involving the train itself. Two miniatures were used for the making of the series, one in 1:16 scale, riding on 12" gauge track, and the other at 1:8 scale on 24" track. The smaller one was recently unearthed and found to be in fair condition. If my math is correct, the track gauge scales out to 16 feet, which would seem to be rather impractical. The show was NBC's most expensive, and nearly took the network down after the 1980 Olympic Games they were contracted to cover were boycotted.

I recently saw that image on FB, and that's what I was envisioning that link to have been. I'm sure accommodations would have been cozy in that camper. At least you wouldn't be sleeping a family of four in it. 🙂

I'm not seeing the image.

I have to wonder how big the box for Renwal's Visible car chassis was.

I'm not sure what to make of it myself. It doesn't look roadworthy to me. 🙂

One topic worth researching is the Great Dale House Cars. http://housecar.com/ https://www.cpr.org/2024/08/16/colorado-great-dale-house-car-camper/ https://www.theautopian.com/how-a-man-who-couldnt-drive-a-truck-turned-a-bunch-of-crashed-cars-into-an-rv-business/

This 1952 Nash has been kicking around the internet for at least a decade, without any info that I could find.

I have no info on this one. Images likely came from eBay listings. I recently rediscovered these files.

The problem with 3D printed kits is that they can be rather expensive, as was discussed in the Tucker and Cadillac 3D printed kit threads elsewhere.

Sorry, I have no info on this creation. I might have saved the images from ebay some time ago. I just recently dug through those old files.

I have to wonder what the price point the chassis kit would be if it were reissued. Large kit, small market. 🙂

I've seen plenty of classic American cars broken down on the side of the road. 🙂

I saw a Yugo at a car show last year.

Could Round2 clone these? Hmmm... They'd have to create a new detailed chassis for each, but still...

A year or two ago I dug out my metal-filled epoxy tubes dating from the early 1990s or so, IIRC. The epoxy seemed to work OK despite its age. I made some simple castings.

The IMEX/IMAI 1958 Cadillac kits seem to me to be simultaneously 1:24 and 1:25 scales. The chassis and mechanical bits appear very close in size to Revell's nice 1:25 1959 Cadillac kits, while the body is waaaaay too wide, closer to 1:24 (or perhaps even worse). I think the Palmer crew must have worked off photographs when carving their masters, rather than using actual dimensional drawings. I'm picturing their masters being carved from balsa. Even after all those articles and videos over the years of the old-school kit mastering process, I still look at old parts and marvel how the heck they can make them from hand-carved masters.

Glencoe Models is still made in the US, in the vicinity of Worcester, MA.

Dave Van Ronk sang a wonderful mostly English version on his album "To All My Friends In Far Flung Places." Dave Van Ronk - The Simple Things We Said

A few weeks one of my musical heroes passed. Gabriel Yacoub (from France), whose early career got a boost backing Alain Stivel (who became a big Breton/Celtic folk-rock artist in his own right), and then went on to boost the folk revival in France by forming the band Malicorne. His solo career was also remarkable. I am glad I got to see one of his solo performances in the Boston area 20-25 years ago or so. One of his songs was covered several times in various styles. His original mostly French version has some wonderful instrumentation. Gabriel Yacoub - Les Choses Plus Simples