Brian Austin

I just came across this thread with two images from a couple of years ago that show the layout from a distance, showing its enormous size. Its builder is still hard at work. He's working on a cement plant that will be some 20 feet long, with radio control cement mixer trucks running about. https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/heaton-lodge-junction-a-mega-o-scale-exhibition-layout-in-the-uk-12323452

This obit appeared in my feed today. I wasn't familiar with the name, but perhaps I've seen her work in photos over the years. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/12/13/cherry-hill-scale-models-steam-powered-locomotives/ It seems she tended to favor steam powered traction engines and rollers rather than railway locos. She inherited her love of machinery and craft from her machinist father. https://craftsmanshipmuseum.com/artisan/cherry-hill/ https://craftsmanshipmuseum.com/artisan/cherry-hill/cherry-hill-photos/

Same location in 2021.

Oxford, MA (2017).

It's a pity AMT didn't do a car carrier trailer as part of the series, to haul their 1:43 cars. 🙂

Some time ago I came across references to analog truck driving simulators for training. These apparently used a miniature tractor-trailer in a model environment with a small video camera. A much different system involved a snorkel lens and a small-scale obstacle field for a tank driving simulator. I get the appeal of computer-based truck driving (and train operating) sim games, but I'm really fascinated by the analog systems of decades past.

'37 from a Brazilian sales site.

Here's a '38. Is this enough patina? https://www.hotrodgarage.net/38linc423.html

Converting the present '60 kit cab into a work truck still needs a bit of work in itself, as the photo of the real think suggests. A new back wall and window would have to be created. I'm sure that there will be a resin cab or two at some point, but that gets pricey. I could have sworn that there were a flurry of '63 kit builds shortly after release.

The '65-'66 Ford pickups are available by Moebius. As far as I know, the "Kats" at AMT only offered the unibody style pickup. Years ago I bought some old built-up unibody kits for kitbashing into separate-cab trucks. Now with those Moebius kits I don't need to.

Tomy owns the ERTL brand.

Another one from Chile. I think the go-faster decals on the rocker panel are fighting with the character line crease.

Chevrolet Opala in Chile.

Here we have an alternate-reality '60 Chevy wagon, from Uruguay. Quite often this part of the world didn't get the US wagons, so they were supplied by local builders. This one is supposedly by National, a US builder of funeral cars and such, but I know nothing of that connection.

All this advancement in hobby technology reminded me of the toy cars and whatnot that came out in the '80s or '90s that made noise with the press of a button. Clever, but I'd bet the parents tired of them. 🙂 They seemed loud enough in the Toys R Us aisles. The line is blurry with me, as I've converted 3-rail toys such as Lionel's classic prewar UP RR M-10000 streamliner train to 2-rail. I've got tight curves so that adds to the charm. If I want scenery and broad curves I can join the local club. Toy trains and scale model railroads pretty much accomplish the same thing. They make people smile.

I came across am old book from the same archive I posted from earlier that was about activities for handicapped people to share with able-bodied folk, and that included building model kits.

Funnily enough, model trains these days are packed with electronics. There are smoke and steam effects, along with sounds. I suppose for most modelers these features are most realistic, but for me they cross the line back into toy territory. (I'm fine with bare bones trains that don't make noise.) 😄

Here are some examples of the work of a talented Brazilian modeler by the name of Ricardo Tropia. http://antigosverdeamarelo.blogspot.com/2010/01/plastimodelismo-com-chevrolet-brasil.html http://mauriciomorais.blogspot.com/2008/11/ricardo-tropia-o-mago.html

How about a Uruguayan funeral car based on a 1952 Checker?

Bear in mind that the "South American" market is made up of separate independent markets. I think those pictured are from Brazil. Argentina had its own range of models, more closely mirroring US ones than the Brazilian ones. Uruguay also used to have assembly plants as well, along with Chile. What's fascinating for me is while some initially might have started out based on US models, over the years as they got updated, various parts from European divisions started to be incorporated. An example of this is the Argentinian Ford Falcons. By the 1980s and 1990s they got blacked out chrome trim, and head and taillights from European models. My purist friends never liked them, but I found them cool in an alternative-reality sort of way. I periodically dig through Latin American sales sites for vehicles. There's a ton of stock and custom cars and trucks down there. On the other hand, I'm finding Google to be increasingly useless in searching for these vehicles, as the results heavily favor US sources, despite my using the Brazilian and Argentinian versions the search engine, even while using search terms in their language. [Second paragraph edited for clarity.]

For fun here's a publication from 1959 relating to the toy/hobby/craft industry. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435016560005&seq=1

Interesting circular from 1974. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t6252mk6h&seq=5&q1=model+kits

I don't know...many metal-axle kits roll very nicely. Some years ago some clubs built gravity racing tracks to race plastic models. I tried to get my club into it for our annual show, but they confused it with Pinewood Derby racing, which was not what I was describing to them, and there just wasn't any interest. Does anyone still do it? It seems to me early on that models kits, along with promo models were intended for a younger audience. I think there was an attempt to align them with educational toys. The funny thing about us adults is we'll buy toys that are fully intended to be played with but will keep them on a shelf for display, or worse, locked up in their packaging in a closet or attic.

The basic body shells were B-Body for the 88's while the larger 98's were C, IIRC. They didn't share chassis with other divisions.