Brian Austin

Thanks!

Some good info regarding the kit's origin here. Note the scale of the crane is stated at 1:60. https://www.tandem-associates.com/lionel/lionel_trains_6828_flat_car.htm Also included two pictures from a past auction showing a typical example to compare against my modifications.

Note the boom is designed to fold, but my model is permanently set up in the raised position.

How it looks today. Interestingly, the seamless backdrop is the same sheet of grey mat board seen in the previous set, though perhaps the color has shifted some. Light stand is the same, a hot old incandescent photo lamp. The older pictures were shot on film, so that much is different. :-) The letters that make the P&H logo on the counterweight, standing in relief, were cut from styrene sheet. Thankfully the logos on the boom were already molded in relief and so I only had to pick them out with paint. They do make a nice contrast to the sea of black. Hook and all sheaves (pulleys) were cut and shaped from styrene.

This truck crane was completed around 2005. The kit was a simplified snap kit intended as a model railroad accessory. Lionel also offered a P&H excavator. Both were initially offered in 1960 and reissued from time to time over the years. Mine dated from 1995. I found reference material online and modified the kit to suit. Were I to find another kit I'd build it as a three-axle early version. I made the mistake of posing the front wheels turned, compounding that with not making metal stub axles. I ended up breaking one wheel off. It will be a tricky repair if I attempt it. It just added to the general frustration of this project. Some time after completion at a model show while removing it from its box the hook caught on something and yanked the cable (black heavy thread) off the pulleys, causing a major tangle. Threading the cable in the first place had been a headache itself, and so I was rather disgusted by the turn of events. I also should have glued the sliding door in, as it was always loose and I often forgot to pop it in place at shows. So you may happen to have pictures of it from, say, NNL East with the door missing. On the other hand, I am pleased with the weathering, particularly the counterweight. This first series of pictures is from 2005 or so...

Very nicely done. The brick pattern is unusual, not one I'm familiar with. Definitely a break from the "common bond" pattern usually seen in dioramas.

I've liked some past commercials with Flo and Jamie, but lately the characters seem just annoying. "In universe" they seem obnoxious with other characters, particularly Jamie's ride with a woman in her car in a current commercial. Quirky characters are fine, but this is beyond that. I don't understand the reason behind the Emu. Farmers Insurance commercials have used quite a few miniature props and sets. I've seen behind the scenes pictures, including a 1:25 pickup. https://foncostudios.com/fabrication

The March 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics ran an article on another camping car.

Part 2

I have located the source for some of the drawings. In the July and August, 1924 issues of Popular Mechanics magazine are more illustrations not shown. Here's Part 1.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89090514811&view=thumb&seq=9 Note there appears to be a little distortion in the last diagram. I'm presuming the bottom edge is supposed to be straight. (Google's book scans are often off-kilter in some manner).

Scroll down a few posts... https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=39022.0

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021029510&view=thumb&seq=1

FWIW, here is a 1940s restoration of a 1909 Model 20. Note the painted dash. https://trombinoscar.com/hupmobile/hupmobile0903.html Bottom line is you can finish it any way you want. Just say the scale owner of the model restored it his way. We all may not know the details of the car anyway to judge the relative correctness. Hemmings had a nice writeup on driving a Hupmobile of the era (the wood the dash is said to be made of is walnut) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/huppwardly-mobile

From the Feb 1955 issue of Mechanix Illustrated. (Image from eBay). Note that the bright molding on the dash framing the hood is brass. Check out this set of pictures from a car show in 1963. Note the finished wood dashes. https://archive.org/details/1963CarShowParadeStadiumMinneapolisMN/1909 Hupmobile%2C July 1963 (2).JPG 1909 project car for sale http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/other-makes/191572-1909-hupmobile-model-20.html

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015064578787&view=1up&seq=1 Early school buses had longitudinal seating...

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112113438235&view=thumb&seq=4

There were numerous coachbuilders converting Cadillacs and Lincolns to pickups and wagons. There is the possibility that a conversion company did use GM ElCamino/wagon parts in their work, but there are also many backyard conversions as well. The rather shallow deck might suggest a flower car, but most I've seen had a stainless steel liner. Generally, flower cars are more than just a Cadillac El Camino. :-)

Large archive of IHC-related items, farm machinery as well as trucks: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS15303 Ex: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM2320 Ex: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM88103 Search term "trucks": https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records?&facets=CATEGORIES%3a"Wisconsin Historical Images"%2cFacetSubject%3a"Trucks" Drawings: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records?&facets=CATEGORIES%3a"Wisconsin+Historical+Images"%2cFacetSubject%3a"Trucks"%2cCONTENT_TYPE%3a"Drawing"

This piece appeals to me, but then again I went to art school and also enjoy art cars. The artist's name appears to be Esterio Segura. He's also added wings to a '50s Chrysler. https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/esterio-segura.html Here's a small amount of background info regarding the "Sub". It was shown in 2012 as part of an outdoor art show in Cuba. The one photo of the car is rather dark and just about unusable. http://artpulsemagazine.com/behind-the-wall Here's an all too brief video. As it turns out the car part of this art work is not fully functional...it is seen flat-towed to the installation in the pictures linked here. https://dedelmu.com/obra/home-made-submarines/

One known trick is to touch a soldering iron to the axle near the wheel just enough to loosen it.

IHC truck models come in a variety of scales. Back when the trucks were new PMC produced KB1 promos in glorious warpy acetate plastic. Scaling might be larger than 1:24. There were diecasts in 1:43 (Ertl) and 1:34 (First Gear). In 1:16 you have a diecast range of K-5s under the name of Toy Trucker & Contractor from the early 2000's. There also seems to be limited production diecast toys under the name Brunswick Toys that seem similar to the classic Smith Miller range in simplified style. These appear to have been made in the mid '90s according to some auctions I've come across, and along with the discontinued Toy Trucker & Contractor models I mentioned, won't come cheap. For fun, here's a "Chinese knock-off", so to speak, of a Russian copy of an IHC, the FAW JieFang army truck. This is a 1:24 scale diecast of the Chinese equivalent to Russia's ZIS/ZIL truck series. There still is a bit of IHC flavor to the hood and cab. https://www.vehiclediecast.com/diecast-faw-jiefang-ca10-truck-model-124-scale-army-green-p-151.html

Prior to auto-rack rail cars, automobiles were shipped in special box cars, often four at a time. There were special racks inside. I'd love to build one in 1:24-1:25. :-)

According to Wikipedia, Canadian-built Pontiacs shared components with their Chevrolet counterparts "... as a measure to reduce the cost of production for the relatively small Canadian market."* IIRC FoMoCo and Chrysler did similar things with their Canadian/export lines. Export models were built in Canada, with dash equipped for RHD if needed. I'm most fascinated with the '55-'62 Export Chevy and Pontiac models. * (scroll down a bit) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_(automobile)

One thing that caught my eye was the caption stating the driver has to unload the upper rack to clear low bridges.