Yes, this one is autobiographical: My mom loved to tell the story of how I’d get up early on garbage day, kneel on the couch staring out the window, and blow kisses at the garbagemen. Of course, that was in Jersey City (where there were no alleys), and I’ve transposed this scene to Chicago, but in the same era when I was a prepubescent tyke: the early seventies. My first attempt to sculpt a chubby young Jim flopped, and I’m now sorry I showed the box at MFCA 2023; it’s looking much, much better now (I think) and I was happy to show it again at the MMSI Chicago Show 2023. (It won a silver medal at MFCA, and a gold at MMSI, after a lot more work—every project can always be improved!) I’d wanted to do this scene for quite some time, but was frustrated by the lack of a garbage truck in either 1/24 or 1/32 scale, and I was reluctant to scratch a vehicle with that many oddly angled surfaces. Last summer, AMT finally released a kit it had started in prototype several decades ago—of the right era, no less!—and I was off and running. Here are shots of the box in progress, up to and including the newly resculpted kid. And yeah, our living room really did look like that.
Initial positioning. This would result in a much bigger box than I’ve come to like, even though I do favor 1/24 or 75mm figures, but hey, the kit was the kit (and it was a bit of a stinker, but I enjoyed every minute working on it nonetheless).
Since I only rarely build vehicle kits, I always forget that you have to build and finish the cockpit (as in my Lancaster box) or cab (like here) before doing anything else, and that means sculpting the figures, even though I like to leave them for last in the box-building process. My pal and the site’s co-editor Barry Biediger thinks my truck driver, barely visible in the finish scene, looks ace photographer and my friend Bob Sarnowski. Sure!
Framing the inner scene and building the garage facades in the alley. The idea was that this would be two dioramas in one: The truck in the alley, and the living room, which functions as a second reveal after the black velvet reveal setting the scene back and eliminating room light.
The living room coming together.
Weathering begins on the parts of the truck viewers see, while wiring for the lighting is obscured in the back.
Weathering progresses and the scene starts to come together. The nicest compliments I’ve gotten were “I can almost smell the truck and feel the cold!”
The garbageman (or “sanitation engineer,” as some prefer) in progress.
The inner scene almost complete, and playing with the head and tail lights.
My second attempt at sculpting the kid. I eventually got rid of the glass in the living room window, since it caused no end of aggravation with unwanted reflections, and really wasn’t needed. Barry 3d-printed the toy garbage truck, which looks exactly like the one I got as a kid, and which I still have to this day on a shelf in the library.
The box on display at the 2023 MMSI Chicago Show (photos above by Bob Sarnowski, photos below by Felix Gonzales), and a final shot by me at bottom.
