Jurgen Zander explained that in Tucson, at this time of the year, many corner lots are filled with Christmas trees. The trees are mostly hauled in from Oregon. He tried to capture that scene with this little diorama. The Chevy truck had no manufacturer markings, but it is usually marketed as “Looks good on your HO layout,” because it is too large.

Jurgen cut the pickup bed off and mounted the cab on a scratchbuilt brass frame. He added fender extensions and a skirting between the grille and the bumper. Testors metallic red paint is a perfect match to the existing paint on the cab. The trailer body is from Tyco and is mounted on a scratchbuilt brass frame. The other vehicles are from left to right:

International pickup. Jurgen started with a Tyco Ford. He split it lengthwise to make it narrower, and twice across to shorten it to proper dimensions. Then he modified the front end and scratchbuilt the grille.

Ford pick-up. The front is from a Alloy Forms panel van, the bed from Varney, all mounted on a brass frame with brass wheels.

GMC panel van. From Magnuson Models, wheels mounted on axles.

Chevy Bel Air. It had no roof and no grille when he picked it up at a swap meet. The roof is made from copper and the grille came from a Mini-Hot Wheels. The wheels are from Williams Bros.

Ford rack truck. From Alloy Forms, wheels mounted on axles.

Chevy 4 door sedan. For this model Jurgen used a Ford from Jordan, changed the front end, lengthened the fenders and added a distinctive trunk

The Dodge pickup is from a Matchbox dump truck. Jurgen removed the front and sliced the cab to make it narrower. The bed sides are made from very thin brass, filled with solder for stability.The frame is made of brass. The wheels are from Tyco.

The little strip mall is made from hardboard. He painted all the figures and mounted them on the corner lot covered with real dirt.

Posted December 23, 2004