Giraffe Car
Giraffe Car
When I was a teenager I had an OO set up. Not surprisingly it was all Hornby (with several name variations!) The one thing I scrimped, ferreted around at the back of furniture, dug pennies out of chewing gum etc for was:
The R348 Giraffe Car set!!!
These things are rare, I am the only person I know who has one. I am not sure but I think they were only made for one year 1971 (?) Anyway I got one by virtue of scrimping and saving and I have it today -still in its box. Yes it still works -although somewhat creakily!
The picture below gives some idea of what the effect was :
The giraffe moved until the neck of the giraffe touched the flail at which point the giraffe neck ducked and the flail passed over it -then the head surfaced again. It was done by having a length of upturned rail in front of the flail. A magnet under the car was attracted to it and by levers the head bobbed up and down. The very early ceramic magnet has lost nearly all its flux over the past 30+ years, but the mechanism still functions with finger power.
So, what made me decide to build a 16mm scale version of one?
Well I have been building quite few locomotives in the past months and I thought I might like a change. This will never be anything other than a silly toy or a thing to take to Open Day exhibitions -but I think I will enjoy making it!!!
My wife and son have insisted that the head of the Giraffe move from side to side -as if it is watching the world go by... SO, I have included an electric motor and crank to move the head.
Something tells me this is the start of some extreme silliness!!!
Giraffe Surgury
Two spatulas are taped to either side of the neck of the giraffe. This provides clear edges to saw down.
Having sawn through the shoulders and well into the chest cavity of the giraffe it is now time to saw through the back of the neck.. Care must be taken to accurately line up the ends of the existing saw cuts with the new neck cut.
Once the neck cut has been made -the cut is further extended with 3mm drill until sufficient depth has been made that the head ermm falls off. This was greeted by my small son with cheers and with shouts of 'cruelty to rubber giraffes' from my wife!!!
The head section is then cut to provide the required angle to the base (ie nod angle) and then a pinned through the shoulders with a length of 2mm bar.
