FROM A TOY
TO A MODEL
While
I was building my diorama of
"BARLOW
MOTORS",
I decided I required a truck or car inside the
structure that was being worked on by the mechanics. But being inside
the structure there was no point using an expensive foreground model for
this task. The answer came in the form of a cheap toy truck from the
local supermarket. Costing $3.95 it didn't matter if I took to it with a
hack saw or even a hammer!
I
wanted the bonnet to be up, so as to expose the motor, so I started to
cut the bonnet and radiator sections off. Because this truck was cast in
white metal, I used a jewellers saw (much like a fret saw, but with a
very fine toothed blade) to do the surgery. The results can be seen
opposite.
I now needed a motor to insert into the engine bay. This is where I got lucky. At a model railway exhibition I had bought a pair of 'Ho' scale flat car loads made by "SCENE MASTER" called POWER GENERATORS for about $9.00. After removing the steel transporting frame from the engine, these proved to be the perfect size to insert into the truck. The radiator was also the perfect size. The spare engine was used a detail part in the diorama.
By
building a wood deck on the back of the truck and giving the model truck
a realistic paint job and a bit of weathering, I now had a reasonable
looking model to insert into my diorama, and the whole project cost well
under $10.00.
The finished conversion can be seen here.