Tractor & Trailer

[AES]

No excuses here, but a combination of factors kept me out of the shop until I ended up doing a rushed Xmas job for a 2 year old lad.

Things learnt:

1. Do NOT do the pix at 3 o'clock in the morning without a tripod and while the varnish is a still a bit tacky, especially not on the morning when it's GOT to get to the post by midday to assure it arrives on time!

2. "Shop bought" wheels are NOT necessarily round, NOR are their axle holes necessarily exactly in the centre!

3. When using "normal building pine-ish off cuts timber" it MUST be fully sanded down until all end grain marks have completely disappeared - artists acrylics do NOT cover well enough to hide any even very slight defects, especially not when thinned enough for air brushing!

4. Having some sort of plan before you start off is a MUST - even the back of an envelope sketch is better than nothing, but of course, ideally a plan from a recognised source. I had nothing except "something in mind" plus a set of - wobbly - wheels, so made a false start which ended up being scrapped half way through. I'm still not entirely happy with the proportions now, but I guess it's somewhere near the mark (no feed back from the customer yet).

Here it is (I hope you - and he - likes it). It's my first go at a "proper" (i.e. model-like) toy, rather than simple pull-alongs for toddlers:

That's it.

Happy Christmas and a "Good Slide" into 2017 everyone. Sorry to have been more absent than present on this section for the past few months.

AES

 

[nev]

Whilst it may not be technically accurate , I think it has a great amount of character, which is sometimes harder to find. I'm sure the littl'un and the grown ups will be well chuffed.

 

[bodgerbaz]

It looks smashing Andy. I have, unfortunately, also been found guilty of some of those points.

A very happy New Year to you.

 

[marcros]

unmistakably John Deere. Good job, well done!!

 

[ColeyS1]

That looks superb !!!! I like the look of them, they look almost vintage looking. Top job

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Cordy]

AES

Wunderbare
Sehr gut
=D> =D> =D>

 

[AES]

Well thanks very much all. Appreciation from one's peers is always the best. "My cup runneth over" (it's a glass actually)!

AES

 

[Claymore]

Love it and when i was a very young lad I had a very similar one made for me by my grandad along with a Bren Gun Carrier (my dad drove them in the war, Coldstream Guard) and how proud i was of it on my window sill (too nice to play with outside)
I bet he will love it

Cheers
Brian

 

[AES]

Thanks Brian, appreciated. I'll be in touch soon (-ish) re your new Ex 30 and intarsia.

Happy New Year mate.

AES

 

[DTR]

Brilliant!! =D>

Thanks for the warning on the shop-bought wheels; that's a route I've nearly taken in the past.

 

[Aggrajag]

I'm sure any young child would love to play with that. Well done.

 

[AES]

Thanks again for all the nice comments everyone, I much appreciate them.

@DTR: Re shop-bought wheels. It's not such a big problem PROVIDED you're not in a rush and PROVIDED you look for the problem at the start (no prizes for guessing who these caveats applied to!). The fix is easy - just drill out the hole to the next larger conveniently to hand dowel size, tap a short off cut into place using white wood glue thinned about 50/50 with water (so that capillary attraction draws the glue into all the spaces), leave to dry overnight (thinned PVA takes much longer to dry), then re-drill the correct size with the centre in the correct place. Easy, but not particularly quick!!

(BTW DTR, thanks for the comments in the other section about compressors, etc. I'm away for New Year until 8th Jan, and I'm NOT an expert, but do have some "trial and error" experience, so if you need any more tips just PM me after then).

Happy New Year to all.

AES