HI guys, thanks for the nice words - they are appreciated! especially as I wonder, “why, exactly, am I building these tiny weird part likely not to be seen again??” 
@Johnnych01 well John, I got to thinking about your comment about making a big dio to go with this - nope, a guy is not going to do that! But, I wondered about making a load for this, as I am out of the materials I need to finish this monster. So, I went through my pictures to see what these trucks actually haul - and found some examples:
And it turns out, whether on the frigid plains of Alberta, or sunny sands of Saudi Arabia, they haul some pretty big stuff, and ubiquitous among these are big, square, horizontal tanks. As I know nothing at all about the oil extraction process, be it shale or “normal” oil, I have not idea what these are used for - yes, I realize they hold fluids, but the number of variations on these tanks is remarkable - some appear to just be big boxes, and others tanks subdivided to include other spaces - including decks and what I am assuming to be equipment rooms - maybe pumps?
As it turns out, I’ve built a few dios, and along the way have accumulated a variety of supplies for them, including stiff carboard and basswood strips. So, I decided to make a box for this model truck:
Et voila! a box! And because a box alone seemed a bit boring to make, I opted for one with a flight of stairs and a deck. I found several photos of these - what they do? who knows??
So, into my junk box I searched, and on went a variety of convincing, industrial-looking, left over parts and pieces of etch. In retrospect, I realize this is likely the most gracious flight of stairs ever used for an industrial application, but that’s the way it is!
I did what amounted to a fruitless search for what exactly goes on atop these boxes - and concluded that it doesn’t matter for this project - so cobbled together something that I could imagine seeing - right or wrong!
Aside from being big and unwieldy, this went together reasonably smoothly. I made sure to cut the cardboard panels square, and installed an internal frame of basswood keeping it from deforming. The base is basswood sheet, with big styrene I-beams running the full length. I paid attention to how these work in real life. As it turns out, there is a big tube used on the lift end, which wire rope is wrapped around and back into itself as the lift point. What’s hard to see in these pictures is that I have included a variety of slightly overlapping and formed parts (i beams, channels etc), which when I take final pictures, will cast some nice shadows - or, so I hope!
I’ll run by the art store and see if I can find a can or two of acrylic spray paint for this and paint it up.
Thanks for having a look,
Cheers
Nick
more fun, but no pay…perfect…
… “ALL HAIL STICK!”
