Junkman

It means first and foremost that the tools will be invenoried. Right now nobody knows what is where. It's going to be reissue heaven.

When do we have to bail it out?

No matter what it is, I want it in pristine condition. For me, slightly sanding tyre treads is weathering enough.

You will never believe this, but I'm just in the process of building a cookie box.

At least one set of wheels/tyres from the train was used for the original Bigfoot btw.

The Le Tourneau LCC-1 land-train. I can't believe they just leave it there to rot. This piece of American history belongs into a museum! It was supposed to pull a train made up from wagons like this one: I have no idea why the concept was ultimately abandoned. Can you fill me in?

There you mentined the Snow-Trac. Can't believe it only made it to this thread as a side note so far, how could we forget it? The Aktiv Snow-Trac was built by the Swedish company Westeråsmaskiner AB and is by far the most popular tracked snow vehicle and with 2300 built between 1957 and 1981 the most numerous. Many of them are still in use today. It has been immortalized by Lesney Matchbox: The real world Snow-Trac is only about the size of a small car and powered by an air-cooled VW industrial boxer engine, not dissimilar to the one used in the Beetle. An Aktiv Snow-Trac can be seen being disabled by Jack Nicholson's character in teh movie 'The Shining'. Here are some pics: This one was on grooming duty at the Sapporo Winter Olympics: The engine: Despite its small size, a Snow-Trac can seat seven: Contrary to most tracked vehicles, it is steered with a steering wheel and the steering works via a hydraulic differential, not the brakes. It is hence easier to drive, faster, and more agile than most other snow vehicles. It is also easier on the brakes. Aurora made a small model kit in its Snap-A-Roos series:

The LIS Chariot was fully operational. It was built on the chassis of a Thiokol Snowcat Spryte (sic): It has a typical snow track chassis with pneumatic tyres on steel wheels and tracks made from rubber bands joined by extruded aluminium profiles.This is standard snow track technology and could be easily adapted to replicate a number or them. The Thiokol Snowcat also had an inline six cylinder Ford engine, apparently a popular choice for North American snow tracks back then.

Why can't governments get anything right?

So ijustpukedmyredwine-metallic topped with a slab of mustard is cool? Or a hungover bloodshot orange? Well, in a way you are right I guess.

Neither would this one: But one of the hallmarks of the seventies British scene was to spend a lot of money and effort on what essentially was a nice car, then ruin the whole thing with a hideous and tasteless paint job that must be seen to be believed.

Oh, sweet memories. UK Street machines of the seventies... Can't believe the cameras didn't explode... The Continentals coined the term 'fished and chipped' when referring to UK customs.

LOL, quite the opposite with groomers. You can't keep them away from grooming

Not all of them. This is the new Kässbohrer PistenBully (this is the exact spelling the company uses). It has every conceivable amenity, including an especially soundproofed cabin, which undercuts workplace noise level regulations by 100%, a premium sound system, integrated heater outlets in the steering column for hand and foot warming, velours seat covering and the seat is separately sprung and dampened. Oh, and it has a cigarette lighter and an ashtray. You know, the thing you light your fags with and where you put the butts in when you've finished smoking.

Those Citroen H vans are a total cult. Usually our roach coaches are a lot less romantic. More often than not trailers are used. Some of them are quite spiffy. However, ice cream vans have always been lovingly decorated.

They came with a multitude of engine and transmission options. This one has a 300CI straight six Ford and manual gearbox. They aren't Dodge-based at all. F-N apparently only bought the cabs from Dodge.

Nope. No relation. The Tucker Sno-Cat corporation was founded in the 1920s, still exists and still makes Sno-Cats: http://www.sno-cat.com/

The best-made kit I have is a 1/20 scale Nissan Leopard by Gunze Sangyo, of all things. Even the wrinkles of the seat fabric are lovingly replicated.

Academy does a 1/25th scale Panther. But tanks wouldn't be a good starting point, because the chassis and tracks are fundamentally different from snow vehicles. The latter have pneumatic tyres and the tracks are essentially a number of rubber bands joined by extruded aluminium profiles. Except the Tucker Sno-Cats of course, which marched completely to their own drummer.

My favourite engine isn't a car engine at all. It's not even automotive. It is the Napier Deltic. A Napier Deltic is an opposed piston valveless two stroke Diesel used in marine and locomotive applications. It is based on a German WWII Junkers JUMO design for an aircraft Diesel, which got paperclipped to England after the war and ended with Napier & Son, who developed and produced the engine. It has 18 cylinders and three crankshafts forming a triangle, which gives the engine its name. This is an animation how the engine works in principle: This is a diagram of the crankshaft arrangement: A cutaway: To give you an idea of the size of the engines: And this is the prototype of the class 55 'Deltic' locomotives: 22 of these locos were built by English Electric in 1961 and 1962. Each of them had two Napier Deltic engines with 1650hp each.

I like most anything from the fist 100 years of the automobile. Why nothing post-mid-eighties? Because I dislike the direction automotive styling took since.

I think the Thiokol chassis from the LIS Chariot would be a good starting point.

Believe it or not, they recovered it: It still exists and is currently in a museum storage hold in Wiltshire, hidden from public view. Here is a Flextrack-Nodwell for Dr. Cranky:

I always wanted to make a model of a Tucker Sno-Cat, and a Ratrac or Kässbohrer snow groomer, but the problem I have not mastered is how to make the tracks. Oh, almost forgot. Tucker Sno-Cat: Ratrac: Kässbohrer Pistenbully:

I don't do dolls houses.