Model Railroading > Cursed Model Completed

Have you ever had a model where things keep breaking and it just ends up on the back burner for a while? Waaay back. Or, have you ever had what I like to call the "Reverse Midas Touch"? Or some combination of both?

This Sylvan Scale Models resin model of a 1952 Ford Dump Truck fit the bill. Now I have built 5 Sylvan kits previously and they have their moments of being delicate, but this Ford was cursed. The frame broke (or had a flaw in the casting), so I used my (usually successful) addition of pins to hold the back half of the frame to the front. But ultimately, that didn't work either, so the original frame and axles were replaced with a cut down Athearn Freightliner frame, with the Sylvan gas tanks coming over to the Athearn frame. It's not perfect, but as George Barrett of Sheepscot Scale Models used to say, you shouldn't be looking underneath the truck in the first place!  The Sylan driver figure lost an arm and was replaced with a BLI engineer figure. (These fairly economical engineer/fireman figures from BLI make good drivers for trucks and cars, and you can paint their hats and shirts to obtain some variety). New front bumper supports were grafted onto the Athearn frame, but the bumper itself snapped and was replaced with styrene. I scratchbuilt mud flaps, added license plates, and added a dash of weathering along with a Classic Metal Works gravel/asphalt mound.

So finally it all came together and is part of my personal collection. I wish the wheelbase could be about 2 scale feet shorter, but didn't want to push my luck!

TJY

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Everyone who's been in this hobby for a while, no matter their skill level, has experienced one or more "models from hell". Their purpose is to keep you humble and to demonstrate that you're not as skilled as you think you are.

Looks like they have upgraded their tires.

pullmanboss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Everyone who's been in this hobby for a while, no
> matter their skill level, has experienced one or
> more "models from hell". Their purpose is to keep
> you humble and to demonstrate that you're not as
> skilled as you think you are.

Insert - See McKean Centerbeam Flatcars....

Good looking Ford.  Sounds like a plausible story line of a prototye truck: Overloaded, broke the frame, used a frame from the dealer/junkyard, ...

NSTopHat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pullmanboss Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Everyone who's been in this hobby for a while,
> no
> > matter their skill level, has experienced one
> or
> > more "models from hell". Their purpose is to
> keep
> > you humble and to demonstrate that you're not
> as
> > skilled as you think you are.
>
> Insert - See McKean Centerbeam Flatcars....

SC&F 60' Harriman Baggage.

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

Yes, I've been there. IMO, there's one thing almost as bad: doing a kitbash and realizing you might as well have scratchbuilt the darn thing with all the changes you've made. 

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/20 12:20 by wabash2800.