Description
This massive P&H 450t crane is based on a non-P&H prototype. This crane is designed to ride the crane-ways in the Walthers Rolling Mill building, as there are many people who use that kit to model many other structures within a mill.
This is a craftsman kit, and intended for the skilled modeler. Walkways, railings, stairs, winch cable, and the operators cab are up to the modeler to supply. You will need to raise the roof on the Rolling Mill to accommodate this crane (increase the distance between the crane ways and the rafters.) It’s not uncommon for a mill building to have a gap in the wall near the roof, or even have a crane-way blister built into the side of the building. After raising the rafters, I would suggest using either method as you see fit. A crane-way blister is easily constructed from JTT or Everygreen corrugated sheet, and will add character to the otherwise plain Walthers kit. Our heavy duty column footers are also a great idea to dress up the bottoms of the columns, and they are available in a set for each Walthers Rolling mill you use.
You will also need Evergreen Styrene #224 to make pins to pin the trolly trucks, trolly beams, and main crane beams together, an a #8 drill bit to align / drill ream these three parts together for the pins. DO NOT USE A DRILL TO DO THIS. Use a quality pin vise and some patience. There are only four pin bores to drill ream, take your time. Resin is somewhat brittle, and too much pressure and going too fast will ruin the parts.
We suggest using either Tichy Train Group #8001 Open Grate Platforms and #8002 Safety Cage Ladder and Stairs, or JTT Scenery #97449 Diamond Plate or #97456 Tread Plate for the walkways.
Refer to your favorite google images or books for the type of operators cab you’d like to build. Evergreen Styrene has all the angle iron and strip you’ll need to build a great looking cab and platforms.
I suggest heavy duty coat button thread for the winch cables if you’d like them to be thread based. Or, if you have the patience, you can use 0.012 brass wire and make individual cable strands. This makes for a rigid set of cables that may last longer.
Crane is supplied with all parts necessary to build the crane itself, as well as a P&H 250t ladle beam
Reference photos from a patent drawing are provided in the gallery. Note: This kit takes just over a week to produce.
