Charging Crane - Part 1

Now that the holidays are done I’ve been able to get back to work. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures in the early stages of detailing the Walthers heavy duty crane kit. The bottom portion was detailed following the same patterns that I’ve seen in pictures of other modelers work. I added on to the existing catwalk around the operators cab, and added a ladder w/safety cage (Plastruct PN 570-90431). I still need to add electrical conduit in various places. I installed the drive lines using 1/8"inch tubing connected to the center transmission and the outer transfer cases. This was achieved using Evergreen Styrene square stock in various sizes. I also installed a catwalk along the drive line side of the craneway. The catwalk was made using .040" sheet stock cut to desired width and length, handrails are from Plastruct PN 90682. The catwalk is supported with 3/32” I-beams. The trolley portion of the crane was made from .060” styrene cut to desired dimensions. I used H-beam to frame out the deck. The trucks were made using C-channel separated by .040”x .40” square stock to simulate wheel spacing. The square stock is glued in at the depth to allow the trolley to glide across the rail. The mechanical details representing the hoist system and drives were also made from Evergreen Styrene square stock in various sizes, Plastruct handrails trim out the deck. The next steps are to build the “J” hook assembly and paint it.

Today I pickup my Hulett kit’s that were on lay away at the local hobby shop. When the charging crane project is done, I will start on one of them. I briefly looked in the box and said wow there are a lot of parts in here. A couple of years ago I found a site on the web for the Cleveland digital library. There I found numerous pictures of the Whiskey Island hulett’s that I downloaded. I plan on using them for reference when detailing the kits.