I see you are associated with The Mahoning drive-in? I reached out to them recently to discuss getting the ACS cast involved in an event, but no response, lol. I thought it could be a cool event,
You'll shoot your eye out - My everyday display of A Christmas Story Props
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- Start date
twnhstnut
New Member
I am in constant contact with the owners. What is your proposal? They do a Christmas in July event every year I believe. Are you able to arrange a cast event? I'm not sure who I'm speaking with right now but I would love to get some of the cast there for an event. People who do signings there generally do well. Let me know your thoughts
Sorry, I just saw your reply.
I work with Yano Anaya and Emmanuel Soba as management at ACSF. We are always looking for venues for events. If you have an email we could talk, I would like yo have Paul, our public relations person, reach out to discuss possibilities.
When we gonna see the updated zeppelin pics?
twnhstnut
New Member
Progress on the zeppelin is slow but steady. Here is a recap to where I am now.
-Zeppelin opened up
-tail and gondola removed
-dents hammered out
-inside hull and gondola soda blasted
-inside hulls and gondola primed
-beginnings of front wheel axle support created
-replacement tin wheels ordered
-tin wheels painted red
-starting work on main front axle
Note- I cant reassemble the hull halves until I finish the front axle and wheel assembly which connect to the gondola which has to be fastened to the bottom hull from the inside. Even after that the whole rear wheel assembly needs to be made from scratch and attached to the lower hull from the inside too. I am still trying to get some more measurements for that rear part because it is made from one piece of folded tin. I am playing around with some card stock at first to mock up all the bends I have to do before trying it on the tin.
-Zeppelin opened up
-tail and gondola removed
-dents hammered out
-inside hull and gondola soda blasted
-inside hulls and gondola primed
-beginnings of front wheel axle support created
-replacement tin wheels ordered
-tin wheels painted red
-starting work on main front axle
Note- I cant reassemble the hull halves until I finish the front axle and wheel assembly which connect to the gondola which has to be fastened to the bottom hull from the inside. Even after that the whole rear wheel assembly needs to be made from scratch and attached to the lower hull from the inside too. I am still trying to get some more measurements for that rear part because it is made from one piece of folded tin. I am playing around with some card stock at first to mock up all the bends I have to do before trying it on the tin.
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twnhstnut
New Member
Zeppelin project on hold until I get some crucial measurements for rear wheel assembly. In the mean time I took some inspiration from user BossThreads and decided to make my own "perfectly straight star". I have all ready built a leg lamp and a crate lid but I felt that a tree in the window with the star would really dress up the house and finish the display. For those of you who are into duplicating things I will post the steps that I took to get this done. It was a lot of fun and once again thank BossThreads for getting me to think about this
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That "fragilé" crate top is a fantastic idea. I've thought about recreating the whole crate to display a leg lamp on top, but this is much more practical (both for display and for storage(.
This is historical!!
twnhstnut
New Member
Hi All
Its been a while but I am still working on zepellin and still collecting as many screen accurate toys from the Higbees window scene that I can find. I had the great pleasure of displaying many of my ACS items at the Mahoning Drive In in Lehighton PA. They were doing a 2 day Christmas in July showing of ACS and White Christmas. Special guest Zack Ward was there live both days to do signings and photos. The people at the drive in know I am a huge ACS fan and asked me to do a photo op set. I took many of my real antiques and props that I have made and recreated the Parker family living room. It was going to just be for the patrons to take photos on but Zack was so impressed with the set that he did special photo ops on it with patrons. I also had the great pleasure of being his driver for two days to get him to media interviews and his hotel. The interior living room set includes a lot of props some are easy to see others more subtle. There is the wall phone which when picked up has the screaming Schwartz mom on it. A real Wesinghouse 780x radio, bar set on top of radio along with plant, ashtray and ralphies glasses. The leg lamp I made, a red ryder bbgun in corner. Watering can, glue bottle, shades, curtains window props, a "one too many" outlet setup that had sparking lights in it, Fireplace, table that I built with flickering flame, A real LOOK magazine as seen in movie, fly swatter, blue bowling ball, bunny suit gift, tree with replica star that was shown how to be made by another poster on this forum and othe incidentals. The outdoor stuff we did by our car was a mock HIGBEES display with real screen accurate 1940s toys and a playful table set with a hound dog getting ready to "steal the meal". Oh I also made my own Ralphie White Cowboy outfit from scratch! We had a lot of fun building these sets and meeting Zack was just great too. I have many pictures of the week end and have included some here. - John
Its been a while but I am still working on zepellin and still collecting as many screen accurate toys from the Higbees window scene that I can find. I had the great pleasure of displaying many of my ACS items at the Mahoning Drive In in Lehighton PA. They were doing a 2 day Christmas in July showing of ACS and White Christmas. Special guest Zack Ward was there live both days to do signings and photos. The people at the drive in know I am a huge ACS fan and asked me to do a photo op set. I took many of my real antiques and props that I have made and recreated the Parker family living room. It was going to just be for the patrons to take photos on but Zack was so impressed with the set that he did special photo ops on it with patrons. I also had the great pleasure of being his driver for two days to get him to media interviews and his hotel. The interior living room set includes a lot of props some are easy to see others more subtle. There is the wall phone which when picked up has the screaming Schwartz mom on it. A real Wesinghouse 780x radio, bar set on top of radio along with plant, ashtray and ralphies glasses. The leg lamp I made, a red ryder bbgun in corner. Watering can, glue bottle, shades, curtains window props, a "one too many" outlet setup that had sparking lights in it, Fireplace, table that I built with flickering flame, A real LOOK magazine as seen in movie, fly swatter, blue bowling ball, bunny suit gift, tree with replica star that was shown how to be made by another poster on this forum and othe incidentals. The outdoor stuff we did by our car was a mock HIGBEES display with real screen accurate 1940s toys and a playful table set with a hound dog getting ready to "steal the meal". Oh I also made my own Ralphie White Cowboy outfit from scratch! We had a lot of fun building these sets and meeting Zack was just great too. I have many pictures of the week end and have included some here. - John
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Great collection! Nice job on the displays.
Zack is a great guy. I have been working with him and the rest of the cast for the past few years now, and he has never been anything but cool.
Cheers!
twnhstnut
New Member
ZEPPELIN IS DONE!!!!
After more than a year I was finally able to create the last of the missing parts for the elusive Katz zeppelin. To refresh and round out the story, someone who visits this site had two of these. This one was his starter one and eventually he was able to get a complete one. This member had seen many of my posts regarding collecting and restoring ACS items and generously offered to sell me his starter one. As far as I am aware there are less than 10 known.
This one had a great hull and gondola but over the years the front axle, wheels and rear wheel assembly had become lost. I have detailed the dismantling of the piece and the recreation of the front axle and wheels but the rear wheel assembly was much more complicated. It mainly consisted of a single piece of steel that was folded origami style to hold a wood wheel and propeller. I had made as of my last post an aluminum template that I configured after getting some crucial measurements from the previous owners complete model.
Seeing that I was on an unpaid mandatory 5 day company shutdown next week I had planned to use that time to finish my project. I started yesterday by transferring the aluminum template onto the tin sheet I purchased. I bent up the steel, primed, shaped and drilled it for axle and prop rod. Seeing this done I fell into the "steel trap" and just kept going for the day. I next cut out a wood circle and turned it on my drill while holding a turning tool with a V cut profile. I made the leather propeller from a discarded wallet my wife had and made the prop shaft from some brass rod that I purchased that day.
The last major thing was to touch up the paint a little. I did not want to paint the whole outer hull (I did paint the rusty inside areas) and lose the original stickers. I tried to do individual scratch touch ups but soon noticed that in the bright light you could see all the bumpy strokes. I came up with the idea of brushing model paint over a certain area and then immediately wiping it off with a cloth. This let all the scratches get filled in and placed a unifying opaque coating over the rest of the hull. I really liked the result. Next was a dry brush rub of black acrylic paint over the hull, wheels and rear wheel assembly to give the piece some age. I popped the completed rear unit onto the hull, folded over the little tabs and then put the two halves of the hull back together.
I am no toy restoration expert but I think this came out pretty good AND it was done just in time for Christmas! I have included pictures with this post and if you have any questions about anything I did please let me know. Thank you all so much for following this long but fun journey. -John
After more than a year I was finally able to create the last of the missing parts for the elusive Katz zeppelin. To refresh and round out the story, someone who visits this site had two of these. This one was his starter one and eventually he was able to get a complete one. This member had seen many of my posts regarding collecting and restoring ACS items and generously offered to sell me his starter one. As far as I am aware there are less than 10 known.
This one had a great hull and gondola but over the years the front axle, wheels and rear wheel assembly had become lost. I have detailed the dismantling of the piece and the recreation of the front axle and wheels but the rear wheel assembly was much more complicated. It mainly consisted of a single piece of steel that was folded origami style to hold a wood wheel and propeller. I had made as of my last post an aluminum template that I configured after getting some crucial measurements from the previous owners complete model.
Seeing that I was on an unpaid mandatory 5 day company shutdown next week I had planned to use that time to finish my project. I started yesterday by transferring the aluminum template onto the tin sheet I purchased. I bent up the steel, primed, shaped and drilled it for axle and prop rod. Seeing this done I fell into the "steel trap" and just kept going for the day. I next cut out a wood circle and turned it on my drill while holding a turning tool with a V cut profile. I made the leather propeller from a discarded wallet my wife had and made the prop shaft from some brass rod that I purchased that day.
The last major thing was to touch up the paint a little. I did not want to paint the whole outer hull (I did paint the rusty inside areas) and lose the original stickers. I tried to do individual scratch touch ups but soon noticed that in the bright light you could see all the bumpy strokes. I came up with the idea of brushing model paint over a certain area and then immediately wiping it off with a cloth. This let all the scratches get filled in and placed a unifying opaque coating over the rest of the hull. I really liked the result. Next was a dry brush rub of black acrylic paint over the hull, wheels and rear wheel assembly to give the piece some age. I popped the completed rear unit onto the hull, folded over the little tabs and then put the two halves of the hull back together.
I am no toy restoration expert but I think this came out pretty good AND it was done just in time for Christmas! I have included pictures with this post and if you have any questions about anything I did please let me know. Thank you all so much for following this long but fun journey. -John
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BDA TK7503
New Member
That is awesome, thanks for sharing
twnhstnut
New Member
Tim. would it be possible to send me a few pics of the zeppelin from the underside of the rear wheel assembly. I do not know if you have seen my posts here but I am trying to rebuild that assembly for a zeppelin that a friend sold me. I am trying to see/confirm a few things. Did the zeppelin make a clicking noise form the gear in back striking against a metal tab? How does the V shaped whell interact with the prop shaft to turn it? I have my assembly built and installed on my zeppelin (see posts) but if I can go a step further and get the prop to spin that would be a home run. Thanks - John D
