Recipe for LR1280 Mammoet Part 1

To start with you will need a clean, well light and ventilated work area, a little time, some stripping compound (I use lacquer thinner), sand/glass bead blaster, paper towel, mineral spirits, some Testors Model Master Guards Red and Gloss Black paint, air brush, paint brushes and assorted painting materials.

Now, you will also need a base Conrad Liehberr LR1280 crane. I do believe that DHS Diecast is an excellent source for this model and usually has very fresh ones in stock, and if not, I am sure Chuck or Korey would be more than happy to obtain a fresh one for you. Although freshness is not of major importance, it is nice!

Here are the two base LR1280’s that I started with.

Carefully remove the otter shell and split the inside core along the lines-don’t worry about trying to figure out where the spilt is, it will just appear naturally

Now here is where taking a few minutes and a few pictures now will save a lot of time later in the recipe. Take some pictures of complicated parts as they come out of the box. Get a couple of views and always make sure you have a reference point in the pictures, like your hand. This will come in very handy later, after many days, during the assembly process-it helps you remember which doohickey goes to which thingamabob.

Now take the model apart. Simply get your drill and your awl out and start removing those pesky little brass rivet and tubes that seem to hold everything together. Also remove any screws and see what they hold in place. I always find it helpful to place associated parts in those disposable Tupperware containers. Ie, car body parts in one, lattice boom parts in another, etc… And here you have his taken apart and then mine:

Once apart remove all paint from the model. I always try the sand blaster at first, and this usually works real well on real fresh units. Older units will require a soaking in lacquer thinner or stripper. Do not rush the chemicals, if you can let them work overnight, the old paint falls right off. Make sure you where gloves and old clothes in case you get some on you. Always turn the exhaust fan on-it can get stinky!! When you are done, you are ready to hang the parts for priming-and remember to support the parts well!

And remember never, ever attempt to strip plastic parts or put them in chemicals-all it will do is turn into goo!! I always primer on the plastic parts as well, that way all the top coat paint has the same base under color.

And lets take a brief moment to talk safety-always work in a well ventilated area, where a respirator-not just a cloth mask-spend the few dollars extra and get the respirator. I have also found that to save my hands from exposure to paint and then the chemicals to clean up, I buy a box of 100 disposable latex gloves and where them during painting.

Take your time and apply a thin coat of primer. When your all done, here is what two LR1280’s look like wearing their primer. For Mammoet models I use the brown/red primer as this tones down the guards red just a bit and makes it a spot on match for Mammoet red. When using different colors make sure you experiment with the primer as it can have a dramatic affect on the top coat (Jeepin feel free to jump in here-remember what different color primer does to our favorite color-anthracite grey?!?)

Now tomorrow the Chicago Bears have their first of what should be three playoff games and I plan on watching it. However I cannot just sit and watch TV-I find commercials insulting to my intelligence-so today I did a little preplanning. I painted all of the lattice sections with two coats of red so they can dry overnight and tomorrow during the game I will hand paint the end boom sections black. Now I know the factory Mammoet lattice crane sections do not do this, however the real ones do, and I have found I like this added touch of color-adds just the right amount of balance.

We have run out of time for today’s show, so we will pick this up next time with the exciting car body striping-don’t miss part two. Coming soon……..

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