About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Y is for YM which has become YC, could be used as YG and might pass for YFNX, YFU or YRST?

So, following-on from the two Gilmark AFV's the other day, the 'meat and two veg' of the parcel from Ed Berg the other day (which - incidentally - took about two days and five minutes to get here from Nevada and cost about half the postage sending similar mail the other way - and we're not even in full Brwreaksit mode yet!) was this . . .

. . . it's the Pyro Dredger! It's missing a crane (apparently), so becomes more of a miscellaneous lighter or harbour utility vessel, but having blogged the Kleeware version of the Ferry Boat a while ago, when Ed indicated that he was not that enamoured with it when he Blogged it last year, and given we were looking for a swap; I said "I'll have it!" . . . and here it is, it's brilliant!

The two compared, the hull is identical - with separate superstructure mouldings, glued-on to make the different vessels. Unlike the water-fast hull of the ferry-boat, with the dredger the doors above the rear wheel-well and crane hole 'forward' of the dredger both allow some water in, so it sits lower in the water than the ferry, but the cargo compartment still displaces enough water for it to float happily.

I have no idea which end is aft, or forwards, but I'm guessing the location of the floor/carpet towing-eye is my permission to assume! Crane forward, bridge aft. The ferry boat has one (towing-eye) at each end, presumably because it's a roll-on-roll-off configuration and the idea is for you and your sibling/friend to tow it between each other!

Comparing the marks; it's a straight mould-swap between the US and UK . . . there will be a separate metal drum or rod that slides into the female half of the tool, which can then be replaced with the borrowing-maker's own mark-stamp.

With the crane absent I experimented with a bit of weaponising, the 'Brown-Water Navy' needs some more firepower! Twin Bofors 40mm from the Tudor Rose truck and a turret from the same maker's Churchill Tank both fit nicely.

I wonder if you can get 3D-printable D-Day type rocket units, put one of them in the hold, and 'Old School' beach-landings would be sorted! Go earlier and I reckon this could pull 60/100-odd troops off the beach at Dunkirk each visit!

Quality 'Dime-Store' boat - thank you so much Ed!

"Your mission Captain Willard; is to draw-out two Tudor Rose artillery pieces,
and proceed up the Nung River in a Navy Lighter.
Pick up Colonel Kurtz's path at Nu Mung Ba, follow it, and shell the
living-bejesus out of his compound of neh'kid, druggie-hippy wackos."

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YC - [Open Lighter],(non self-propelled)
YFNX - [Lighter], (special purpose, non self-propelled)
YFU - [Harbor Utility Craft], (self propelled, lighter)
YG - [Garbage Lighter], (self-propelled)
YM - [Dredger], (self-propelled, miscellaneous)
YRST - [Salvage Craft Tender], (non self-propelled, miscellaneous)

2 comments:

Ed and Bettina Berg said...

Awesome. I'd be innerested to see what the dredger finally turns in to after final modification Hugh. I like the twin AA guns but think they may look cooler in the hole meant for the crane. Then the boat would take on the appearance of a PT Boat - albeit a m-u-ch s-l-o-w-e-r PT Boat (or rig it with some Evinrude outboards for some speed) :-)

Hugh Walter said...

The hole's too big at the front! Something will fit, but I live in hope of finding the crane or dredge-bucket? It'll turn-up one day on a damaged boat!

H