As I walked along the sidewalk and approached the platform where this large crane was located, I stopped and observed how carefully the operators handled such a monstrosity.
I knew it was a roller crane, but I had never been able to see from this close how long the arm that lifted the load actually was. And I couldn't even fathom how big this big boy toy actually is.
A few decades ago, when I was younger (it's true, I wasn't a little boy then either, but I loved toys), I often stopped by a neighbor, when he needed any help in the apartment where he lives.
And that neighbor, a civil engineer, was a big, but also a small boy. He worked on construction sites all over the world, mostly in African countries, where Yugoslav construction companies were dominant in construction for decades of the twentieth century (I guess it was because Yugoslavia and its president Tito was the founder of the non-aligned movement).
And as a civil engineer, he had daily contact with various construction machines, cranes, bulldozers, cranes...
And he collected their models for decades...
A full showcase of various "toys", every time I stopped by it was interesting to me and when I think of it, I think what a setup in #HiveCollectors would be.
Just a question, would you allow me to open that display case for him now and approach his impressive collection?
So I will share with you just one model from that collection of his, a piece he gave me as a gift on one occasion, when I helped him fix TV remote controls for which I didn't want to charge him a single cent.
To repay me, he gave me a model of a crane.
You guessed it, the same (or similar) model to the one I saw on the street 🙂
And that model, in a scale of 1:50, which fits easily in my hand, has all the details on it, as well as the real crane.
Complete chassis with wheels (with one spare), cabin for the driver, as well as the operator of the crane, a lifting arm that can be pulled out in three segments, a hook with a cable for lifting the load, as well as side spacers, on which the crane, when placed on location, is lifted from the ground, in order to free the wheels, i.e., to achieve that the load is transferred to the crane chassis itself, and not to the vehicle mechanisms (springs, shock absorbers, suspensions, undercarriage...).
Often, when it's time to dust the display case where I keep it, I take it out and play with it a little. Certainly, it is not a real toy for little boys, but for those young at heart, if they know how to play with a model like this.
If I ever get a chance to photograph the rest of his toys (models) at my neighbor's house, maybe when he's dusting his display case, I'll be happy to share them with you.
Until then, the Hive community will have to settle for just presenting this one mockup, but a mockup.that works hard and successfully lifts my damaged Hive pendant, symbolically, to some new/old heights.
