Tichy 120 Ton Wrecking Crane and Boom Tender

[Coal Pusher]

twoforeman,

Thanks for cable-stringing tip....Tichy pays a lot of attention to accuracy of detail....and your assembly, painting and weathering work on the model are outstanding!

 

[hefyjefy]

Just started out with these kits, they are amazingly detailed and well made. For a novice (like me) the instructions and drawings are not so great in places, your images have been very helpful.

 

[Smudge617]

Lots of pieces go into the power section of this crane. This is the last major sub-assembly.


Next was adding all the grabs to the base and then washing all the pieces. Here they are ready for washing.


Now I wait a couple of days to make sure they are all dry and then I get to figure out how to hold all the parts for painting.

I started the boom tender, but that will be the next post.

Nice, going to look great when completed and painted, I don't have the patience to build one of them tho'.

 

[beiland]

I'll be following your construction process as I have one of these kits as well.

FOR SALE

I just yesterday found my two kits for this model. Mine are the original Gould kits still in their plastic wrappings.

I have so much work to do on getting my new layout up and running that I don't think I will ever have time to complete these kits. So I will be putting them up for sale,....any reasonable offers considered. railandsail@gmail.com

 

[logandsawman]

The boom car is GREAT, but even better is how you finished the tender car. The decals are fine,


and Jerry - with the Milwaukee Road boom car - clever way to store the extra cables with hooks.

 

[hefyjefy]

Just completed the assembly of the basic components - there are some very small parts! I am about to start painting, my airbrush skills are ok but I am a little nervous, any advice is most welcome.
I wonder who or how the original molds were made? I have no idea how that would have been done, the work involved would have taken a long time by hand.

 

[Snowman]

On an operational note: D&RGW standard guage derricks were restricted by timetable to 25 mph (boom leading) and 35 mph (boom trailing).
Just FYI.

Good series. Love the play-by-play.

 

[twforeman]

I'm glad people found this helpful. It was a fun but fiddly kit to build.

 

[logandsawman]

I built the kit a couple years ago. The parts and sprues looked daunting, but the instructions were good and it went together pretty easily.

Not happy with my tender, however. After seeing other's (above) I think I may repaint mine.

Dave LASM

 

[hefyjefy]

So the painting was good - phew! Have not used my airbrush for anything a small as this, but it was OK and I am quite pleased with the results. Threading the boom cables ...

After 3 days I have a good result. I have some advice:
1. When you build the pulleys pay close attention to the clearance between the pulley cheeks and the stirrup, the thread drops into that gap with alacrity.
2. Hold the whole crane in a vice of some sort with soft jaws.
3. Start in the middle of the thread at the place indicated in the instructions, attach a tiny piece of tape to the middle of the thread to stop it pulling through the pulleys. Coat the first inch or so of the either end of the thread with CA to stiffen it.
4. Keeping tension on the thread is tricky, but essential to prevent the thread jamming when it pops out of the pulley groove. After threading one side completely I attached the loose end to some soft elastic (in the UK we call it knicker elastic I have no idea what its called here in the US) also hang a small weight on the boom. Complete the second side and attach the end to another piece of elastic, don't worry about getting the thread correctly over the boom idler at this point.
5. Carefully remove the tiny piece of tape, all the pulleys should be correctly threaded at this point except the boom idler. Make a small hook at the end of a piece of 0.012 brass rod and use it to work the thread around the boom idler pulleys. (as the instructions say this is the trickiest bit)

I ended up not using the supplied thread but instead used some very slightly thicker. (nylon upholstery thread?)

 

[logandsawman]

So the painting was good - phew! Have not used my airbrush for anything a small as this, but it was OK and I am quite pleased with the results. Threading the boom cables ...

After 3 days I have a good result. I have some advice:
1. When you build the pulleys pay close attention to the clearance between the pulley cheeks and the stirrup, the thread drops into that gap with alacrity.
2. Hold the whole crane in a vice of some sort with soft jaws.
3. Start in the middle of the thread at the place indicated in the instructions, attach a tiny piece of tape to the middle of the thread to stop it pulling through the pulleys. Coat the first inch or so of the either end of the thread with CA to stiffen it.
4. Keeping tension on the thread is tricky, but essential to prevent the thread jamming when it pops out of the pulley groove. After threading one side completely I attached the loose end to some soft elastic (in the UK we call it knicker elastic I have no idea what its called here in the US) also hang a small weight on the boom. Complete the second side and attach the end to another piece of elastic, don't worry about getting the thread correctly over the boom idler at this point.
5. Carefully remove the tiny piece of tape, all the pulleys should be correctly threaded at this point except the boom idler. Make a small hook at the end of a piece of 0.012 brass rod and use it to work the thread around the boom idler pulleys. (as the instructions say this is the trickiest bit)

I ended up not using the supplied thread but instead used some very slightly thicker. (nylon upholstery thread?)

Good tips and results on the build!!

I put this one together a couple years ago and decided to use a tiny drop of glue here and there to make the boom stationary, not glueing the boom but the thread in a couple places. It cannot be raised or lowered, however the string stays in place perfectly and looks good.

I am a Northern Pacific modeler and found this shot on their website, wish I found it before my build as I would have gone for this paint scheme, as it is I hybridized the paint (no pic of my build, crane is still in the box waiting for the layout to get done)

Dave LASM