Another Tootsie toy rehab...update: 07/16 two trucks completed

Great job, how many of these little Jems ended up in the dump? Don

Nice to see these old toys get a new life. Well done! 👍

Another "Original by Mark" for the layout.  Nicely done.

Nice!  Excellent scrounging and repurposing!   

those look great! I have the green/yellow dump truck in about the same shape.

also have the cement truck like this one, but it's missing the cement barrel. Need to get around to making something for it.

  It’s so nice to see these trucks being given a second life. If it weren’t for people like you, Mark, things like this would probably end up in a dump. Great work!

Jim

Fantastic! 

Thank you for all the kind comments. These projects are really fun for me. I like watching car customizing TV shows like "overhaul'n" and such, but could no way afford to do those kinds of things on the 1:1 scale vehicles. But I do derive a lot of inspiration from those show and I just do them in miniature.  

Steamer posted:

those look great! I have the green/yellow dump truck in about the same shape.

also have the cement truck like this one, but it's missing the cement barrel. Need to get around to making something for it.

Dave, I have been wanting to do a Cement mixer. I found one on Ebay missing the barrel like you mentioned. In my exuberance, I paid 99 cents for it thinking I got a great deal. When I got it, it was more like HO scale, measuring only about an inch long...DRAT!  So, MMMMM....if you want to part with yours...? 

"make me an offer I can't refuse"........seriously, email me (in my profile....)and I'll take some pics and measurements.

I and a lot of other kids, probably, had many of those on my layout. None of those was what l think was a seen Tootsietoy circa 1940 school bus, the only one I'm aware of that era. So l search. 

those are outright beautiful!!!!

- walt

In regards to the lack of, or mixing of scales for O scale vehicles; one vehicle always stood out to me.  The 1956 Ford F100.  This truck is a popular model and is produced in 1/43, 1/48, and 1/50.  I have always thought that the scale models of this truck looked out of scale.  In the real world, the F100 has an relatively large cab when compared to other manufactures.  I did a little research and it seems that the Ford 1956 F100 cab is nearly identical in size and shape to the F700-900 series cabs.  Using this fact, I have begun a project to use 1/43 scale F100s to create "comfortably appearing" 1/48ish dump trucks.  The attached pictures show my progress.  Note the mock up using a paper dump bed.  That bed would be approximately a 16 ton coal load in 1/48 scale.  I have some wheels from Don White and some other details, and will have to build a frame, but I think this cross scale experiment will make a fairly reasonably believable 1950s-60s era coal dump truck.

Mark Diff posted:

Hello All. A while back I posted some pictures of some Tootsie Toy trucks I've upgraded or rehabbed if you will...

As a little lad, I had that exact same green/yellow dump truck! Played the snot out of it. Probably ended up tossed. How silly of me. I recall LOVING Tootsie Toy products. Very durable, lots of play value. You could fill your pockets with them and head over to a neighbor's house to play (or sneak 'em into church!).

I can't remember what all Tootsie Toy items I had, but I also think I recall some tractor-trailer trucks, etc.

You're doing great "saving" those Tootsie Toy trucks and re-purposing them into very presentable layout trucks! Well done!

Andre

Wonderful work! I really appreciate this, as I've worked similar old vehicles into the layout...for me, vehicles are a sub-hobby within the hobby. I usually leave them as found, including chipped paint and minor dings. Their battle scars speak to me of their lives -  LOL.

Couple of years ago I started ebaying old, beat-up Tootsie toy cars and trucks for my great-grandson Logan. Cheap. Stripped and repainted them. Idea was that he could play with them and if they got chipped, etc, it was no big deal. Eventually the project grew to a fairly large collection. This photo is the original set.

This thread has done some memory jogging. I think I also had a blue and silver dumptruck, a box van semi truck, and a flat bed semi w/stakes.

The reason I remembered the yellow/green dumptruck is because later dad bought a brand new '59 Chevy Impala that used almost the same colors.

Really fun memories of Tootsietoy this thread has triggered! It would be WAAAY too easy for me to start collecting a "few" Tootsietoy trucks!

Andre

Nice job! Now you just need some O Scale bugs for the radiator.

Sean

These are mine from my youth.

Mark, In one of the comments above you mention "opening up the front wheel well"- how did you do that?

Again, thanks for all of the kind words. I am glad I was able to rekindle some fun memories from our collective youths. 

Rick: Great job on the F-100. Those are exactly the kind of projects I like. I wish I had thought of that one. 

Sean: LOL, That would make an interesting scratch built detail. But then some one would wonder if those bugs were true O scale. 

Big Jim: That is a really nice collection. I really like the autos. After this next set of trucks I currently working on, I have 2 cars to redo. Expect a lot of shiny chrome.

Hokie: Cutting out the wheel well was easier than I had imagined. I drew the area to be cut out onto a small piece of cardboard and then cut that out, turning it into a template. I laid the template over the wheel well and then traced along the edge onto the metal surface. Flip the template over and then repeat for the other side of the truck.

Having the cut out are marked onto the truck, I then drilled a number of small holes around the inside of the line marked by the template.

I then used my Dremel setup with a fiber backed cutoff wheel and cut along the line from hole to hole, making a rough cut out of the well. I then put a grinder stone attachment on to the Dremel and then smoothed out the opening to the desired shape. I used a hand file for any final fine filing that was necessary. I hope this helps.

As I alluded to earlier these next two trucks...

will have as part of their transformation, these two little gems...

One truck is almost done, just waiting for the glue and paint to dry (isn't it always the case with these projects) and the other is in the body shop. Stay tuned for further updates.

I remember having the COE on the left when I was a kid. I’ Interested to see how it comes out. 

Great job Mark. I'm sure they will show up on the Team track soon.

Bob

Chris Lonero posted:

I remember having the COE on the left when I was a kid. I’ Interested to see how it comes out. 

Tootsie tractor side-by-side with Ertl tractors.

With lower portion painted dark blue to resemble Santa Fe paint scheme.  John in Lansing, ILL

Love the Tootsie work; my Tootsies didn't make it - strangely - and my Dinky Toys, while played with and enjoyed, I now see as largely British-irrelevant, and mostly military, which is not my thing.

I do have a Dinky 1957/58 Plymouth Plaza that is a prime candidate for a re-do. 1:43, I'm sure - so OK-ish. Just need some tires....and a Tootsie Ford tractor very similar to the green Tootsie IH tractor above, so it will get a little attention.  

Old plastic kit; found it at a train show in this condition:

Now. The COE (any brand) has to be the best-looking tractor ever made.

D500 posted:

Love the Tootsie work; my Tootsies didn't make it - strangely - and my Dinky Toys, while played with and enjoyed, I now see as largely British-irrelevant, and mostly military, which is not my thing.

I do have a Dinky 1957/58 Plymouth Plaza that is a prime candidate for a re-do. 1:43, I'm sure - so OK-ish. Just need some tires....and a Tootsie Ford tractor very similar to the green Tootsie IH tractor above, so it will get a little attention.  

Old plastic kit; found it at a train show in this condition:

Now. The COE (any brand) has to be the best-looking tractor ever made.

I've seen that kit on ebay a few times. Seeing pictures of it actually built, it makes me itchy get one. Yours really looks nice, with a little TLC, would make an excellent model.

Friday after the mail man left them at our home.

Saturday morning after drying overnight.

Saturday afternoon after a rattle can paint application by me and brush on paint for the wheels and saddle tanks by the great wife.          John in Lansing, ILL

those look great John, hadn't seen those in blue.

those look awesome, what are you using to make the small separately applied details like side view mirrors and such? also how do you attach them? Are you drilling tiny holes in the body or are they just glued on?

rattler21 posted:

Friday after the mail man left them at our home.

Saturday morning after drying overnight.

Saturday afternoon after a rattle can paint application by me and brush on paint for the wheels and saddle tanks by the great wife.          John in Lansing, ILL

Great job John! 👍

Very nice article.  After reading it, I ran to my basement and found that I had these two in my miscellaneous box.

Fire truck needs some ladders. 

haven't seen those trailers before

There is a complete emergency vehicle set on ebay.

rattler21 posted:

Friday after the mail man left them at our home.

Saturday morning after drying overnight.

Saturday afternoon after a rattle can paint application by me and brush on paint for the wheels and saddle tanks by the great wife.          John in Lansing, ILL

Looking good John! Even something as simple as a repaint, can really make these toys/models look fresh and new. Good work!

BTW, one of the two I have been working on is complete, the other is just about to leave the body shop and headed over to paint. Stay tuned, I think you might like how these will turn out.

stevin posted:

those look awesome, what are you using to make the small separately applied details like side view mirrors and such? also how do you attach them? Are you drilling tiny holes in the body or are they just glued on?

If you mean the side view mirrors like these...

Then yes, small holes are drilled into the body and the mirrors attached with CA (super glue).

They are after market white metal parts I got from Don Mills Models.

So I finished these two trucks. From these...

to (drum roll please), these guys...

I am pleased how they turned out. I think it really improves the basic look of the cabs. It shows these old toys can really shine with a little work, at least I think so.

                               very nice Mark !  they look great !!

Looks like a lot more work turning the pups into bodies than finishing up the cabs.