my latest and greatest so far

**robbygard** · 6th February 2016, 03:52 PM

finished this toys and joys plan a couple of weeks ago, but have been too busy with other things to post it

the ruler in the front of the model is an old one foot rule (so 300mm) to give some perspective on the size of this

kudos to toys and joys, it is a very clever model ... the tracks work, the body swivels on the base and you could both the raise and lower the boom arm and the hook although i glued the latter up so that it stays put

it took many hours, some of that on false starts (it needed 60 track pieces but i think i made over 300 and threw 200 that i didn't like away) ...

over hte last 13 months, i have made 17 toys (5 unique plans) and 7 models (also 5 unique plans) but this is the first that i genuinely feel completely happy with ... perhaps that can be best explained to say, that if i did this again, i would do it (pretty well) exactly the same ...

i have several other big model projects that i want to do as well but also have several other woodwork (not toys/models) projects that need to take precedence at present .. i may have some more to post later in the year though

thanks for looking

regards david

**Repliconics** · 6th February 2016, 04:05 PM

Absolutely Fantastic Work!.
I can fully understand why your so pleased with it.
Just wonderful!.

Cheers
Trev.

**Knappen** · 6th February 2016, 06:09 PM

That is a beautyful piece. Love the contrast between the wood.

Ole

**robbygard** · 6th February 2016, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by Knappen

That is a beautyful piece. Love the contrast between the wood.

Ole

thanks ... there are a few woods in it but primarily redgum ... the tracks are WA karri as the redgum was too brittle for what was required ... the cab is silky oak and the gussets, and covers etc are huon pine

regards david

**Keith_1** · 6th February 2016, 07:57 PM

Beautiful Work there David - congratulations

Regards

Keith

**Dalboy** · 7th February 2016, 08:15 AM

Fantastic looking model well done on a great build

**Bendigo Bob** · 7th February 2016, 08:23 AM

I am in awe!

**artme** · 7th February 2016, 09:47 AM

A stunni8ng piece.!!!

**plantagenon** · 7th February 2016, 11:36 AM

Beautiful job. I particularly like the way you made the tracks. I can see why so many were tossed away - a true labour of love.

**oneye** · 7th February 2016, 02:12 PM

great job

**crowie** · 8th February 2016, 09:36 AM

My goodness me David, Have you been playing and having a whole heap of fun...
Absolutely brilliant sir...
A very accomplished project, well done...
Would have loved to see you Work In Program details on this build....
Cheers, crowie

**Treecycle** · 8th February 2016, 12:56 PM

Fantastic work there David. Obviously you are very particular with what you accept by how long it has taken you and the number of parts thrown away.
Did T&J give you instructions on how to make your tracks or did they leave that up to you to devise?

**robbygard** · 8th February 2016, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Treecycle

Fantastic work there David. Obviously you are very particular with what you accept by how long it has taken you and the number of parts thrown away.
Did T&J give you instructions on how to make your tracks or did they leave that up to you to devise?

not really any advice although they do map it out a bit on the plan. ... i have seen a few ways people have done them, but i ended up modifying both the track design and the methods i had seen ....

i used the drop saw to dimension the parts with the setup as described by the gifkins guy ... great for cutting small bits

round over with a small round over and some extra fences and a good (scrap timber) push block
i ended up using the scrollsaw to cut the shapes, having tried the bandsaw first, and then setting up the router with some fences and deciding i valued my fingers too much to even turn it on ....

i changed the drilling regime because, with the small drills, i used 1/8 and 3/32, you have to back them out too often and it would end up taking 10 times as long ... the holes don't go all the way through, just enough to hold a dowel .. i used the two size drills so that i had a tight fit on the inside and outside bit and a loose fit on the tab in the middle .... the dowels are toothpicks bought from coles supermarket and cut to about 3/4 inch on the scrollsaw and the ends sanded off once assembled

i made the track a little thicker, which made it easier to drill and changed the shape a little from the plan

regards david

**robbygard** · 8th February 2016, 01:48 PM

the guides on the back, i just thicknessed timber down to about 1/8 inch square then cut straight bits on the scrollsaw (using a block clamped to teh table to get consistent length then made a jig which was just a couple of pieces of ply glued together such that there was a 1/8 inch gap and the end of the jig at the angle i wanted then used the disc sander to make those angles happen

regards david

**robbygard** · 8th February 2016, 01:56 PM

probably the most amusing part of all of the whole processes was making the boom arm girders and all the gussets ... i noticed i was getting blood on the huon pine and couldn't work out where i had cut or scraped myself ... it turned out that that with all the hand sanding (i only did 120, 240, 400 so skipped some grits

) i had worn holes in both my thumb and middle finger

regards david

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