N Scale Forklifts Nearing Completion

My forklift project is progressing nicely.  I painted the tires and wheels, and installed the roll cages on all of them.  I still need to add the operator at this point.  Since the kits come with extra parts, I decided to take an extra operator and see if I could cut the seat and steering wheel from the casting.  Using a sharp hobby knife I was able to make a separate seat and steering column without a lot of trouble.  You can see them in the nearest forklift in the photo below.  It looks more appropriate for a machine at rest, parked while not in use. The last steps will be adding the forks and then applying some weathering to make them look used.

GHQ Forklift Project is Progressing

I have made some progress on my half dozen GHQ forklift kits.  Although I painted them all yellow, I plan to make variations within the set so they aren't all the same.  I am seeing a lot of typical forklifts with a yellow body, black roll cage, black mast and forks, and different color rims.  I decided to do white rims on the first.

The kit comes with a seat, steering column, and operator all molded as one piece.  I don't mind having the static operator in a couple of the forklifts, but would also like at least a couple of them to have an empty seat so I can simply "park" them in an appropriate location next to a building for example.  I think I can make a seat easy enough, by using some styrene, painting it black, and fixing it to the body where the original seat would go.  However, I don't know what I could use for a steering column and steering wheel?

This one still needs an operator added.  I'll probably weather these a bit once they are done to give them a used appearance.  The yellow is UP Armor, the mast and roll cage are flat black, the tires are grimy black, and the rims are reefer white.

N Scale GHQ Forklift Project

It's November, and as I was driving today, my thermometer read 80 degrees at midday.  It was crazy windy however.  Tomorrow the high is only 35, and it is raining as I type this.  Wild weather!

Anyway, I have had several N scale GHQ forklift kits waiting to be assembled and painted, and last night I finally got them out.  I have a total of six kits, but a couple are for a friend.  They are fairly easy to assemble since there aren't many pieces to each forklift.  Each kit comes with two masts so that the final model can have the forks in a lowered position or a raised position.  I chose to model 3 of each.  

Last night I spent some time cleaning up the metal parts and attaching the masts to the main body, which is one piece.  Tonight I airbrushed each of them with UP Armour Yellow Polly S acrylic.  

So far they are turning out nicely.  The detail is crisp, and the level of effort so far has been minimal.  

GO BIG RED!! Case IH on the UP

Since I am a fan of the Big Red, a fan of Case IH, and obviously a train addict, I was quite pleased to find a train loaded with Case IH combines headed eastbound near Fremont, Nebraska.

Nice looking train!  If only we had a suitable model in N scale.....