Builder: Michael Gainey
aka manic modeler

I am a clock repairman by trade. I cannot remember where I saw this model first, but when I did, I knew I had to have it. I kept searching on Ebay but never found one. I finally found one at a model show unbuilt! I knew it would super-cede all other current projects. It took me two years to finally finish it.

The windshield and headlight decals that came with the 50-year-old model were toast, so I had to print my own. It took quite a bit of time to get them dark enough to be visible even on clear plastic but finally got it done.

The chrome on the gas tank and tail pipes was awful after separating from the trees so I covered them all with Bare Metal Foil. Looks better but not quite as nice as I would have preferred.

I could not get the windshield to stay shut so I had to make a small metal latch/handle.

Note the close up of the interior with the windshield removed. I took some gears from an actual cuckoo clock movement and modified them to fit along the back wall of the interior. There are actually three connected gears but you can only see the lowest one and part of the second.

I wish I had thought to place some sort of a black cushion in the middle of the lower gear to act as a pad for the driver to lean against.  

I wired the engine and then added more cuckoo gears on the outer back wall to replace the plastic gears that came with the kit.

I also used actual chain from a real cuckoo clock. Did not notice that the engine sits a bit crooked until I saw these photos. Not sure how that happened.

After painting simulated flames in the lantern, I coated the dry paint with clear window maker to make it seem like glass. Didn't get the exact look I was going for but at least it is colorful. Did the same thing with the moose eyeballs.

I used a black wash on the fan and the cooling fins to bring out some detail on the engine