Diecast Crane Pictures

Mammoet LTM 1160

Hello Group!!! Prepare for a long winded presentation of the newest member of the Mammoet fleet, a LTM1160 mobile truck crane. This was an older model that was tricky to work with. Although it looks okay, it is not my best piece. As it turns out the main boom of this somewhat older crane model is made of plastic, which become problematic.

I started out with the disassembly of the model, removing every piece I can. I took the plastic boom sections to the sand blaster and tried to remove the paint. No go-it was on there good. So I tried whipping it with some lacquer thinner and managed to get the decals off, but not a single bit of paint!! Hmmmmmmm. So I tried wrapping it in a rag soaked with lacquer thinner for about thirty seconds and managed to remove a tiny bit of paint, oh yea and distorted the boom tips for the jib a bit-argh!!! Now for my next brilliant stroke of genius I got the Dermal tool out with a sanding disk on it and immediately removed paint, as well as over heated some of the underlying black plastic and gouged a nice chunk out of it. Not heading the warning, I figured if I did it faster I could avoid removing the plastic-WRONG!! Not only did I manage to remove paint but I turned the bottom of the boom section into a very rough and uneven surface, distorting the piece!! I finally saw the light and did no further damage.

I decided It would be straight to the paint booth for primer and paint, leaving the old yellow color on underneath. I normally do not do this as it makes the paint layers to thick to make the crane boom out easily. But I figured better a static model than a melted one!! I like my cranes to work, so you have to be careful of the paint thickness on moving parts. If you notice on the first picture of the chassis, you will see I stuff the outrigger channels with paper towels to prevent primer and paint from adding thickness. The out riggers in this case were black so no paint was necessary, however when they do need to be painted, they get one coat only-no primer. This keeps the paint thin and allows operation of the outriggers, without scratching and removing paint when pulled out.

Anyway, enough talk, how about some pictures????

Unassembled chassis

Unassembled crane parts getting first coat of red

After paint, each part is baked in a toaster oven a 150 degrees for 10 minutes

Parts in the booth ready for black paint

Here is the cab with the red base coat on, and the stripe I want masked off with model painters masking tape. I use a tooth pick to smooth it out to the edges and in cracks like doors.