Kitbashing a Mack truck with a Universal®
crane This HO scale model looks right at home working in a scrap yard/Kip Grant T
he seed was planted years ago. It was a photo in a John Armstrong track planning book. There, cen-
ter stage in an old New York City har- bor scene and secured aboard a flat car, was a Mack AC truck sporting a crane, and it looked like it meant business. Business indeed. The chain-drive
Mack’s “can do” ruggedness led to its nickname “Bulldog.” During World War I British soldiers are said to have re- marked that the trucks were as tena- cious as bulldogs. Two thousand AC’s were delivered to the British military and twice that number to American forces who agreed upon the truck’s su- periority. That reputation led return-
ing servicemen to favor AC’s for just about any demanding chore here at home, especially road building and general construction. More than 40,000 of the venerable AC’s were built between 1916 and 1939. Ironically, as the AC was being born,
a need for a truck-mounted crane was also germinating. A history supplied with the Rio Grande Models crane kit explains that in 1918 the Quartermas- ter General of the American Expedi- tionary Forces in Europe expressed the desire for 125 truck cranes to off-load supplies on French docks. Aware of the potential for such a combination, the Thew Shovel Company of Lorain, Ohio,
RMC/Dremel Kitbashing Award........
A minimum of $100 and a Dremel Rotary Tool Kit with a variable-speed Dremel 3000 rotary tool and acces- sories are awarded to the monthly winners of the RMC/DREMEL KITBASHING AWARD. Entries must consist of at least two photos (high-resolution digital pic- tures should be at least 3,000 pixels wide; color slides or 5″×7″ or 8″×10″ prints are also acceptable) and a short text. Models must use at least 50% commercial compo- nents; unused entries may be held future editorial use.
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
The Rio Grande Models Universal crane fits neatly on the chassis of the Jordan Mack truck. A Kadee wheel serves as the magnet.
Bill of materials
Jordan Products No. 212 1923 Mack tank truck (for chassis)
Rio Grande Models No. 3064 Universal crane
Sheepscot Scale Products No. 9.00-24 Tires for Mack AC
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN 75
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