Circus Freakshow

[Dr. Cranky]

Folks, I am wondering how many of you like (or dislike) the Circus. I've always been afraid of clowns and balloons, but the reason why I am starting this thread is because I am interested to find out if you have any particular vehicles (in scale or real) you've run across that pay homage to anything circus related.

I know one of my favorite builders, Mr. Bill Borgen, has built a few circus vehicles, but I wonder who else has dabbled in the style.

If you have, please share . . . also if you have any real reference pictures of circus vehicles. Including the big rigs.

Hope you have fun with this one!

[Evil Appetite]

Man I havent been to one of those in 30-35 years

[Junkman]

Clowns always gave me the creeps and I never found them even remotely funny. Just scary.

But I love the Circus.

This is an authentic H0 scale model of Circus Krone, Europe's largest travelling circus:

The model can be dismantled like the real thing and packed into the trucks and vans!

It toured with the circus for a year (this is when the photo was taken), then it was rebuilt and donated to the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. It makes sense in a way, since Circus Krone even own their own train!

The road fleet comprises of over 100 trucks. Not all of them are European:

However, the majority are fairly new M.A.N. trucks:

As you can see, M.A.N. uses Circus Krone even for advertising their trucks. Both enterprises have their headquarters in Munich.

Note Munich license plate followed by the combination 'CK' for Circus Krone - this is as far as it goes in regard of vanity plates in Germany.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Junkman

[Edward Gore]

Interesting topic for sure. Great contributions so far. I don't have anything circus related to add right now.

Funny that you made this thread, I was just thinking about the various Ice-cream trucks around

[Draggon]

Clowns are really scary but heres a freakshow via Japan: Totally got the "what the???" value, I wonder how many people have wrecked just by seeing this thing?

[Junkman]

Here is another shot of Circus Roncalli's Mercedes L3500 Cranky posted previously:

Roncalli's 1930s Saurer (they were built in Switzerland):

One of Krone's Scanias (they are all going to be replaced with new M.A.N.s now):

[Rick Schmidt]

Last circus i went to I came out mad. Tiger trainers my butt i hope they get eat by those tigers. Could see the way those cats were acting they were mad as hell

[novadose71]

My first year with my club we built this circus based diorama. Animal kingdom was the show theme at the Milwaukee NNL that year, about an hour from the Circus world museum in Baraboo, WI, so we ran with it. Train cars and wagons were scratchbuilt with handlaid tracks. More pics at the link, I'd post more but my copy and paste from Photobucket seems to be real hit or miss lately.

BTW I built the green herpatorium (snake) wagon

http://s202.photobuc...rain/?start=all

[deja-view]

That is seriously cool, Rob. Seriously cool!

[Junkman]

That is seriously cool, Rob. Seriously cool!

X2

[Dr. Cranky]

Wow, you guys hit the ground running wit this one. I'm glad the term "freakshow" opened it up to include some weird stuff that's out there.

Thank you for the input. Rob, that' diorama is AMAZING. Can you post more pictures of it? Do you have more pictures of it.

I've never seen anything like it. Goes to show you that the great ideas are out there.

[Junkman]

Since nobody seems to be even remotely impressed by the Circus Krone diorama, here is a bit more about it.

The thing must be seen to be believed.

This should give you a better impression of the size:

The guy on the far left holding the beer glass is Nico Brandt who made the mini circus.

The tent cover is hand-sewn from balloon silk:

The siding and a portion of the 'roof' can be removed separately to allow looking inside. It contains grandstands with thousands of spectators, the menagerie and the band. Unfortunately I cannot find any photos of it.

This is how it starts after it travelled:

The tent and the entire rest of the circus are erected exactly like the real thing.

And everything is actually stored in the support vehicles when not in use.

The 'fairground' boards it stands on are not part of the model. The circus can be erected on any level surface.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Junkman

[Tony T]

Interesting topic and input so far...that Circus Krone is over the top cool!! I can't imagine the hours that were put into it...or the time and effort to pack it up into the vehicles and move it to another "town"! If it's just you and I that are impressed suitably by this Christian than so be it! Thanks for posting about it!

Rob-That WAM diorama is very well done!

[Dr. Cranky]

Christian, these pictures you just posted made my jaw drop to the floor. Wow, talk about being crazy over dioramas. This is just pure eye candy. I love it. You've made my day, thank you for sharing them.

[Junkman]

Interesting topic and input so far...that Circus Krone is over the top cool!! I can't imagine the hours that were put into it...or the time and effort to pack it up into the vehicles and move it to another "town"! If it's just you and I that are impressed suitably by this Christian than so be it! Thanks for posting about it!

I just couldn't believe what I saw when I first saw it. It was like going to a circus...

Anyway, anyone fancy finding this in a loft?

Yeah, I know, the d-word. But it's worth a fortune!

Edited February 20, 2012 by Junkman

[Tony T]

Wow! The VW single cab alone got my interest...there are several others that look interesting!

[Dr. Cranky]

This stuff really keeps bringing me back. A diorama of that magnitude requires lots of work and LOVE!

[deja-view]

I hate teeny text talk....but OMG!

[Junkman]

I'm starting to enjoy this more and more. Those Circuses really provide some superb modelling inspiration.

This is what an English circus looks like:

Oh no, wrong, I mean this:

Ah, where is my mind? I mean this:

And when it comes to modelling, the Brits are always a force to be reckoned with:

Like Mr. Brandt's model of the Circus Krone, this is a working model of Chipperfield's, i.e. it can be erected, dismantled, and stored in the support vehicles. It's in 0-scale and it was made by Carl Moore.

So Mr. Brandt built a working model of Europe's largest travelling circus, and Mr. Moore built Europe's largest model of a travelling circus. I really wonder whether the two gents have met? Arranging their models side by side would be just mindboggling.

Edited February 21, 2012 by Junkman

[MikeMc]

I think you will like this one Doc...

Not sure about this one.....

[Dr. Cranky]

Oh this is headed in a very fun direction. I like it. How about those carnies out there? They make for very interesting folk.

Keep the eye candy coming, folks.

[Junkman]

Here is a Crosley Clown car used by the Barnum and Bailey circus:

Phhhhhh...phhhhhh...allez hopp...phhhhhh...phhhhh...

Edited February 21, 2012 by Junkman

[deja-view]

_{These are fun. In over 50 years of modeling I have never seen this subject....let alone done this well.}

_{Now....why is my print so CLOWN small???}

[Dr. Cranky]

When I did a Google Search for "Carnie Vehicle" this is what came up:

[Junkman]

When I was a kid in Germany/Austria, the backbone of any circus or showman's business was a 1940s/50s Hanomag road tractor. They remained popular well into the 70s, but then disappeared quickly once the first proper trucks built after the war hit the second hand market (yes, back then stuff like trucks were investment goods and companies used them for 20-25 years before selling them on).

Here is a little collection:

Edited February 21, 2012 by Junkman