Schaefer Brewery becomes Die Craft Manufacturing Company
You may remember Martin's eagle-eye spotted that Pola's Schilling Iron Casting was actually a variation on the AHM kit of E. L. Moore's Schaefer Brewery. He's done it again and thoughtfully alerted me :-) You can see that Life-Like's Die Craft Manufacturing is a re-boxing of Schilling Iron Casting, which itself is a reconfiguration of the elements of the E. L. Moore designed AHM Brewery. This Iron Casting / Die Casting company is an interesting variation as there aren't the usual clues to its heritage. It's only after an examination of the images and parts is it clear who its ancestor is.
That's the kit I had as a teen. I assembled it listening to Rod Stewart albums, which are forever linked in my brain. Years later, I bought 2 more kits to build Art Curren's Perry Shibble kitbash. I squared off the peaked roof, making a more American look. That build still survives on a HO module that I sold... and still shows up at random local train shows.
Do you have any photos you could share? I've wanted to give the Perry Shibble kitbash a try. I've got a ModelPower Brewery kit and I want to buy a first AHM boxing of the kit. I've seen later AHM boxings, but I want to try and find a 1st ed whose pricing won't bankrupt me :-)
Come to think of it, I used the loading dock portion to build a coal mine. I sheathed it in ELM-corrugated sheets (ruled paper over Northeastern's textured wood), put it on some stilts and... filled it out. I tried to keep it after tearing down a bigger layout, but I stored it in a bad place. Got a 2x4 dropped on top of it. Goodbye, coal mine.
My photos of Perry Shibble are all just a bit of a corner, nothing more. But imagine the AC kitbash with squared off rooftops. Peaked ends looked too European for me. It probably lacked the number of roof details AC recommended; I often got lazy by that point.
That's the kit I had as a teen. I assembled it listening to Rod Stewart albums, which are forever linked in my brain. Years later, I bought 2 more kits to build Art Curren's Perry Shibble kitbash. I squared off the peaked roof, making a more American look. That build still survives on a HO module that I sold... and still shows up at random local train shows.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any photos you could share? I've wanted to give the Perry Shibble kitbash a try. I've got a ModelPower Brewery kit and I want to buy a first AHM boxing of the kit. I've seen later AHM boxings, but I want to try and find a 1st ed whose pricing won't bankrupt me :-)
DeleteCome to think of it, I used the loading dock portion to build a coal mine. I sheathed it in ELM-corrugated sheets (ruled paper over Northeastern's textured wood), put it on some stilts and... filled it out. I tried to keep it after tearing down a bigger layout, but I stored it in a bad place. Got a 2x4 dropped on top of it. Goodbye, coal mine.
ReplyDeleteOuch! That reminds me of The Great Pile of Toys Falling on the Balsa Beechcraft Airplane Incident of '76. Tears and splinters abounded.
DeleteMy photos of Perry Shibble are all just a bit of a corner, nothing more. But imagine the AC kitbash with squared off rooftops. Peaked ends looked too European for me. It probably lacked the number of roof details AC recommended; I often got lazy by that point.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the peaked roof aspect. When I was studying his instructions I thought I could only use it on the Ocean Park Loop if the roof was flat.
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