Halcyon Power Loader Model: a model-building exercise article by: GF Willmetts.

Introduction

A couple years back, moving in a new bookcase into my front room, I hadn’t anticipated the whoopf! of air pressure putting it in place and sending my Halcyon model of the Aliens’ Power Loader flying off the top of an adjacent slice of furniture, trashing it and the difficulties in repairing the arm amongst other things. Considering an unmade model kit would cost at least £200 these days, I didn’t really dream I could afford a new one, let alone that price making one and making a mistake. However, after a bit of negotiating on ebay, I got a half-made model for just less than a quarter of that price. Considering the high prices old genre models are currently selling for, you would think even existing model manufacturers would buy old metal moulds and re-issue them, especially this Power Loader kit from Halycon.

The problematic part was none of it was painted but very securely made and still left me wondering what glue was used. Although the Power Loader was moulded in yellow plastic, it will need a proper paint job to make it stop looking plastic, ensuring there was something for the main coat of paint to stick on and for aging the model and to give a better grip for the decals.

It also seemed appropriate to turn into an article. It might not be possible for you to afford to make a Power Loader but it might provide some information that you can apply some of the techniques to your own model-making, especially when you are modifying to add lights, albeit one in this case, and the problems it can cause and weathering the model to match its source. Put under the classification of what to do with some spare time over lockdown but take your time doing it which ultimately ended up being nearly two months.

I’m going to assume you have got some model-making experience, some basic tools and such. For those starting out in model-making, it’s also a good thing to have on your CV hobby list because it shows you can follow instructions and can multi-task. At my original job interview years ago, it was the one thing my interviewers asked the most about.

Always remember the model instructions are there to show you how to connect the parts, not necessarily the order you do it in. Have you ever come across any pointing out which parts to connect before spraying them with paint or even suggesting painting while building for an even finish? Exactly. It’s a guide not a gospel.

It’s always problematic as to when to paint any model kit. Whether it is to combine the parts first as this was, paint solely on the sprue (that’s the proper name for the frame holding the parts) or combine parts on the sprue before spraying. Setting up a spray station from a cardboard box or polystyrene this time also means care has to be taken so the parts don’t stick to it so have opted to use cut-down toilet roll tubes to place it all on. If there are marks, then they will be minimal and easier to spray over. Don’t do this inside the house, in an outhouse or outside with circulating air is best when using aerosols because they use flammable gases.

Apologies for any repetitions, more so as I was typing the draft as I was making the model and sectioned various sections as I went along.

Oh, I found my original soldering iron a bit awkward to use and ending up buying a new soldering iron kit with an adjustable temperature soldering iron. The accessories had most of the kit you would buy for a modelling kit to set so compare what you get before buying both like I did.

A Matter Of Scale

A little discussion point here. A problem I’m sure many people have is getting an accurately painted model that looks like the film or TV model. After all, the model-makers there would have different sizes of the same model. We read with the Century 21 models that Derek Meddings team would use car paint and then sand the model down and do it all over again several times to make it comparable to a full-size model. They were also, for the most part, working on large wooden models, not smaller plastic models so absorbency is different. Likewise, under camera and lights, let alone only for a few seconds, you’re less aware of the scale of the models until you see behind the scenes pictures and not always close-up to examine the work.

I doubt if any of them expected to come under the scrutiny we would give them over the decades. I should point out that I haven’t seen many original film or TV models other than a few made of Martin Bower and under normal lights are about the same paint standard as any decent model-maker. Ultimately, you can only do as well as your eye can match colours so don’t be despondent if it doesn’t look quite right. Well, not unless you have access to studio lights and know how they affect colour.

With the Power Loader, despite it being a popular piece in ‘Aliens’ isn’t seen for more than a 6 minutes on screen, differentiating between one full-size version for Ripley and a hidden stunt actor hidden behind her to help move the fibreglass frame and a smaller model for the fall through the airlock at the end of the film. Photos are spread through a lot of books about ‘Aliens’ than as a collective and a lot of YouTube watching of the scenes looking at the detail. I also spotted a few things that have not been spotted or ignored in the various Power Loader toys and even diagrams so work from photos or film clips to make your own judgement calls. Do your own research as much as possible because then it becomes your work.

I have tended to be a little heavy handed when I spray in the past, mostly for trying to get in every part. However, I’ve used rubber solution to cover the joints and connection holes and will take several light sprays to achieve each layer. Once I started using the primer, catching all the little ledges, I had to abandon the idea of doing a complete silver spray undercoat simply because it would take too much paint and then scratch off later compared to painting some aluminium on. Thereafter, a spray of yellow and when all dry and I’m happy, the removal of the rubber latex and get down to the detailing on top.

Even at this stage, I’m back studying the photos, especially some new ones I acquired and jaw-dropped when I realised that the rider seat padding isn’t actually black but a dark grey and needed more verification, which also shows how studio lighting can lighten or darken the colours. Oddly, googling the Power Loader and the complete toys pop up more than stills from the film. Certainly a lot easier than when I made my first version nearly 30 years back.

A minor set-back was running out of yellow aerosol, more so before the main chassis and hydraulics. No matter, ordered up another aerosol and a lesson to make sure you buy enough paint, whether its small enamel cans or aerosols.

Ripley

In the meantime, I turned my attention to the Ripley figure. I have a lot more photos to draw upon this time and a greater understanding of studio lighting that tends to show Sigourney Weaver as a black haired when she’s more brunette with light brown eyebrows. As I’m going to paint her in acrylic as I do have a better range of colours and can blend them.

Skin tone is a different thing. The standard idea, especially for scale models is to go for pink, although skin colour is generally a combination of diluted, water in otherwise, yellow oxide or yellow ochre and burnt sienna on top and with a dab of PVA glue or Gel Medium for translucency later. The undersides of the arms and palms a little whiter is something I thought I ought to try this time. Let it dry and see where you need to touch it up. Acrylics do dry fast which means you can do a lot of work a day but like with normal painting, it pays to do a bit a day and look with a fresh eye the next. Washing over it blends the colours and if too dark a little parchment colour (a dull white essentially) will tone it down.

Drying, even with a Gel Medium undercoat, if it looks like it’s blotching ie drying patching, go over it with the colour a bit or a little water in the drying process. If all else fails, just repeat the process the next day as acrylics can easily be worked over. You really don’t get much opportunity to practice these things and the scale is far different to painting portraits. When the details are added, it becomes part of the whole.

People are so used to seeing people with pink or brown skin, the colour choices will look a little odd but be grateful that Ripley didn’t get a suntan or appear on ‘The Simpsons’ (although I have heard she did) and be yellow. The smidgeons of colour I used were really tiny. If your choice of paints are limited, you might get away with water colour providing you mix it with Gel Medium or PVA glue as a setting agent. Slightly annoying is because the arms rotate, you’re likely to get a little paint on them, so always check any motion Even so, leave to dry overnight before adding eyebrows and eyes and a red lipstick for the mouth.

I have to confess that the skin looks odd close-up and a tad patchy but good at a distance and added burnt sienna and such to develop the texture further, not to mention reworking the eyes. Sigourney Weaver didn’t appear to wear mascara on her lower eyelashes so it highlights the white in her eyes which was a little tricky as it’s a standard face and could probably have done more with an expressive face.

If everything looks OK, colour the hair, I made brunette from dark umber. Getting the features right will make painting the clothes simple in comparison. Make sure you have some delicate paintbrushes and a steady hand, which is largely a better reason to do it on another day. Laying down the colours is a standard practice with painting anyway.

Even so, it did make me think that all that white around the skin texture might be throwing things so decided to paint her overall bottoms for contrast. I chose Payne’s Grey initially and realised it was too dark and, while wet, painted over it with Neutral Grey. It also served as an example that when painting with acrylics, if you get it wrong or overlap with where you are going to paint with a different colour, just let it dry and do it with the right colour. Neutral Gray on its own makes for the vest so there is a marked contrast and then toned parts to match the sweat she got from going in the Queen Xenomorph’s lair.

Touch-ups. There were a couple white spots on Ripley’s overall bottoms and by using a darker wash over them, I added up making them look a tad dirty which didn’t seem such a bad idea. It isn’t as though the Sulaco was that clean and Ripley had just been rescuing Newt.

An odd thing. Looking at the Ripley photographs, her grey tee-shirt was actually white before she went down to the LV-426. After the facehugger incident, she changed her clothes and the tee-shirt was whiter, suggesting she replaced that one as well and got it sweaty and dirty rescuing Newt. Look at her again after the Queen has left the airlock. Methinks a change to a Parchment white colour.

The straps from the Power Loader are now obviously blue, that I painted cobalt blue (don’t use Gel Medium if you want it dark) but there are some black gun straps she was carrying but as they were mostly hidden, that might not really be a problem. I’m less sure about the exposed shoulder, although I did put it back in prior to rewatching the film. I think we should be allowing some liberties here. If you want to test your eyesight when watching the final scenes, see if you can distinguish between full size and scale model scenes. The amount of work for a few seconds on screen is amazing but I bet your eye would spot something if it hadn’t been done properly. As far as I’ve seen a lot of ‘Aliens’ stills, I can’t recall seeing any of the model scale Power Loader from the film in close-up.

Looking at the film again, you don’t really see much of the Power Loader in either of its two instances close-up but weathering would mean exposed metal below the yellow paint, especially on the protective cage, and grease. I think, for the latter, it might pay to use acrylic than enamel because it could be used as a wash if you really want to make it look greasy.

Detailing

In many respects, the Power Loader is remembered for being yellow, there aren’t that many choices of yellow enamel sprays to select from. Consider the darkish lighting in the original film and models and toys and so forth have gone for this. By the time you’ve added the decals and aged it, you’ll still have the right realism at scale. However the pistons are aluminium coloured as opposed to being silver as suggested in the instruction pages, if you assume normal lighting conditions. Aging the model means scattering some aluminium colouring but that can be done when the model is complete and matching to the film and, as a bonus, it does give a better reflective quality from a distance. When you do that, don’t forget, the queen xenomorph flaked a large scrape off the protective cage bar which wasn’t actually all aluminium but a smear of black.

There’s also a black line along the edge at the sides and back of the feet from when it moves. There is one extra bonus in case touching up the yellow isn’t going well, can also be aged. No one really identifies what exact metal the Power Loader is made of in the film. Presumably, its some sort of re-enforced steel but light enough to enable its driver to manipulate. Not aluminium but steel has a similar colour and better than using silver which is too reflective.

Lighting The Power Loader

When I made my first Power Loader, putting the wires inside the chassis before gluing it together was very easy. Working with a pre-built chassis less so. I bore the holes and opened up my original to pull the wire out and hoped I could bore a hole on the inside and manoeuvre a wire through but found the drills were definitely not long enough to get any sort of grip on one of the internal supports.

I did consider running the wires on the outside of the chassis but the yellow coated very fine wire didn’t make a good connection and there was still a matter of anchoring the flashing yellow LED. Consequently, I drilled a hole at the bottom of the chassis and one straight up at the other end which made it easier to pass a wire straight through the chassis. Having the previous damaged model, I worked out the best place to drill a hole directly under where the LED would go. There were two pieces of plastic to penetrate and a combination of a small twister drill bit and a tinier drill bit to give it some grip finally got through. Ultimately, I ended up using a low power motorised drill for the final bit inside. This is delicate work with a touch of ruthless pulling about it so take your time.

Pushing the wire through was one thing, getting it out the top quite another. However, I could see the green wire at the base of the hole. Make sure you have some modeller tweezers as they have good grip before you start. It took a long while of fiddling before I finally got a grip on it and pulled the wire through.

To get the second wire through the same way isn’t practical as the green wire gets in the way. A simple trick is to cellotape the end of the black wire to the green wire. Only one wrap or it’ll be too thick, so cut off the surplus tape and gently pull through. After difficulty the night before, I tried it first thing in the morning and it went through quickly. If at first you don’t succeed, have a rest and try when rested the next day. It isn’t as though we don’t have time on our hands in lockdown.

However, having put the wires in from the other way around mean I now had to work them through from the top down with fresh wires. Using them I tickybacked the other wires down in reverse and nearly lost then inside the chassis but soon pulled out, down the tubing and was actually done in a matter of minutes. The more continuous wire you have, the less likely the wire breaking or having to worry about anything other than at the component ends. Don’t ever think it was a waste of time making mistakes. I learnt more from the practice.

The LED

For length’s sake, I reused the original flashing orange LED, chopped the legs on the LED shorter, ensuring the longer leg was still that way. Solder the wires to the LED and touch the wires to the battery connector and if it lights up then you haven’t got any dry joints. Flashing LEDS take a lot of power and a 9V battery has to be used, so make sure you have the right connector for it.

I ended up having to cut the LED legs even shorter simply because of the amount of space inside the mount. If you ever have a similar problem, just be practical to the model’s need. There might be enough distance for the legs sans wires but not combined together. Well, that was the plan until the leg from the old LED fell out and with no spare, had to order replacements. You never know when spares might be handy and to make up to £3.00 costs bought some spare LEDs for future kits. Always think ahead, especially when it comes to wing light indicators because they are tiny LEDs. Even so, it’s a reminder that LED legs can only take so much abuse. Once happy, wrap a little insulating tape around one leg and then the other so they both stay together when you pull inside the chassis. I found this a bit more flexible than using tubing and stops short-circuiting.

The new flashing orange LED was 10mm and although a smaller LED, like 8mm could have the orange top, this way would ensure a larger flash and didn’t need to use the supplied orange cone supplied. It’s a shame you can’t see it working in the photographs.

If necessary, some glue can be used to secure the LED but only dab as it if ever needs to be replaced you want it easy to pry off. The exposed wires at the back of the chassis, I opted to paint yellow but later covered with yellow insulating tape.

The Switch

The wiring of a switch is actually very easy if you have three pins. You just need to cut one of the wires and solder one to one pole and the other to the centre pole and flicking the switch gives it an on and off. If the solder cools silvery then you know you haven’t got a dry joint obviously you’re going to test it to see the light flash.

However, I was using a very small switch was becoming a little difficult to hold and solder the pins at the same time. I then remembered I had a press button switch with only two pins, on either side and life suddenly became a lot easier and was soldered and tested in a matter of seconds. In many respects, a switch is just a circuit-breaker so could be attached across either wire. The choice is yours so hope the above info will aid your decision.

Decals

Putting on the transfers does have a problem, more so as they were on a very small piece of paper. The stripes on the lower arms stuck together when free of the water. I checked my first model and saw a similar problem there as well and going to be even more careful with the rest. Please remember, cut out what you’re going to do than shove the entire sheet into water or you’ll have an unsightly mess and can’t use anything.

There were problems with several of the decals and even in books on model-making, although I haven’t read that many, there has never been any explanations of what to do if they don’t unfold properly. Essentially, you have one shot at doing it and can’t get replacements. You would think manufacturers would double up on the decals for the awkward-handed and not hand you a titchy sheet.

However, as this is supposed to be an alien queen scratched Power Loader, at least it can be adjusted as part of the weathering.

The biggest failure was with stripes on one of the arms and legs, a decent 00 soft brush, not hard as it doesn’t hold the paint, and it can be copied off the more successful decal placement. With the leg, remember its in the reverse of the other one. If I’ve got that wrong, I figure I can always paint it out and do it again but do pay attention to how it’s done. Holding your breath should steady your hand.

Protector Frame

Something that is not shown in any model-making instruction is to equip the flame-thrower with wires. It’s rather simple but awkward to do. I ended up using some gorilla glue at the base of the flame thrower that will peel some of the paint off but it makes for a better grip. Put a small dollop there and leave so it starts to dry or gobby. Cut two lengths about 10½ inches of red and black tubing or wire of the right thickness and you can decide how much to shorten it depending on where you intend to put the ends on the back of the chassis. Set the frame up so it doesn’t move, press a red end outer and the black end inner and leave to dry. I did try just holding it for half an hour while watching some music on You-Tube but it wasn’t as effective as that.

I’ve only had a bottle of gorilla glue recently but found a pair of mini-pliers could clip the resin off where it over-flowed, so not as permanent as advertised and an alternative to the normal model glue. I ended up playing with a variety of glues although principally Revell’s Contacta Professional glue and occasionally UHU. The mini-pliers became my favourite tool.

Let it dry thoroughly overnight. You then use a black tag wire to tie it to the frame in three places that duplicates how it is done in the film. I ended up adding a fourth tag at the top within the metal guard to ensure the wires kept together although keeping it in place next to the mesh wasn’t practical in the end. A little touching up with black paint to the flame thrower and a little detail that’ll make it look closer to the original. Once all the tubing is completed it can be stuck on the back of the chassis but more on that later.

More Detail On The Arms And Legs

Another thing I hadn’t really paid much attention to until a further study of the photographs and then looking more sharply at the film clip is there are twin cables or pipes underneath the levers Ripley used on the Power Loader arms.

For this I had a ponder. Use similar tubing to what I’ve used elsewhere and for the hydraulics. At least that way they are already coloured black. The length is easier to figure out as it must be at least the length of the lever slots plus a little extra length for slack and gluing. I found the best way to glue them on is dab some gorilla glue to the base of lever and let it go gobby for an hour and hold the ends of a piece of black coated tubing against it until it begins to set and let it dry itself. Cut to the right length then saves a lot of fiddling around with small lengths of wire until one end is secure. Then do the same to attaching the wires to the front end. Once dry, for both arms, touch up with black paint.

Looking at the first use of the Power Loader footage, there are cables at the base suspension of the hydraulics of the feet. Looking at the only two stills worth looking at, for each piston, top and bottom, there is a connection to main leg with a little give for movement. This is even less exposed than the arm levers and looks fiddly so having a think about them. In many respects, considering this is a couple centuries down the line, you do have to wonder for all the advancement, the Power Loader is still relying on basic hydraulics and a lot of exposed tubing that can be cut or torn off by the Queen Xenomorph. Quite why she missed that is anyone’s guess but I guess director Jim Cameron wanted her majesty to lose. On the other hand, having exposed tubing means if someone wants to cut a connection, it would be pretty easy to see and remedy.

I found another photograph and there are two pipes from these pistons leading up each side of the both legs. Oddly, Halycon left half of it as long slots but if you have some spare tubing it is possible to glue into. Be careful because the paint will run a little with standard plastic glue so you might have to touch it up with black paint but it adds detail probably missed by other kit-builders.

Then again, wherever the hydraulic piping goes there’s silver connectors as well but the problems with getting the tubing to stay in place dismissed that idea. When you add the piping when the legs and arms are attached, I found it easier to work from the bottom up as I could see what I was doing. Oh, don’t forget, when attaching the legs to the chassis, they shouldn’t be glued and allow some movement to keep the model upright. As you’ll find when attaching the arms and back pistons to it, you’ll need to adjust the legs for the right balance. It’s a shame the arm connections couldn’t be click and stay as well as it would have solved a lot of later problems keeping them in place. When making other models, I assume you test the parts connecting together so pay attention as to what needs gluing and what doesn’t.

Oh, an odd thing to remember. If a model kit, such as the Power Loader, has bendable joints for the giant pistons at the back of the arms, and got stuck, remember standard model glue does loosen paint and when it dries maintains its position so serves a double purpose. Don’t be too eager to stick the back Actuators to the chassis base as you still have to connect the 16 tubes. It makes it easier to put the tubing in the right place and it appears that once the upper arm links are glued down, seem to support themselves and the arm height can be adjusted by adjusting the chassis and legs. This is something that should have been laid down in the instructions, more so with all the problems of connecting the tubes. I love karma.

ARMS AND TUBES ON

I forgot how much of a pain it was to put the arms and tubes on. It’s easier to put the tubes on when the arms aren’t there because you can lay the Loader flat. The problem is, they don’t stay put and you really do have to take your time doing it and still half will drop off again. Better half than none in the first place. Even so, I was playing a two week game of reconnecting tubes that wouldn’t stay put. It might have been easier if the plastic spikes had been longer. It isn’t as though they wouldn’t be hidden inside the tubing.

The arms are even more temperamental. There is the top hole for the piston and the bottom hole for chassis. Don’t try gorilla glue on this but do only an arm at a time. I was using an assortment of small boxes and stuff for the height. Do one arm at a time and don’t connect the tubes until both arms are secure or you’ll have a bigger problem keeping everything in place. The height of the arm should be matched to Ripley’s arms and you’ll realise why they are adjustable. Using UHU was actually a lot easier because it was elastic enough to allow some arm movement even if one arm kept coming off and meant re-sticking but ultimately got the better positioning. All learning curve.

This is what ultimately delated completing the model last month. The chassis and legs needs both Ripley and the support frame on it to give the necessary weight to stay down while each arm is attached, ensuring that Ripley’s hand is in front of the lever to ensure the right height, and allowed to dry with the back piston support added as it dries. You might have to wait until everything is dry before attaching the back piston to the chassis but it does work. ‘Course, there is still a matter of re-attaching the cables and nothing falling off. It’s delicate but don’t rush getting it right at the end, more so as there’s more weathering to do yet.

As I said above, one of the arms kept dropping off. In the end, I drilled out the glue in the hole, wishing I had an even larger drill to make the hole larger but settled using UHU, filled it, let get globby and stuck it back on the chassis. Another 12 hours it was still loose but I put it down to the glue in that quantity needed more time to dry and left if for 3 days. So far so good but a lot of patient work so make sure you have somewhere you can leave it undisturbed.

Everything else, like the tubing, is follow the instructions sheet. Oddly, there is a serious omission for it saying where the top tube connections. You can work it out by logic and they connect to the back Actuators, although as I had already them in position had problems getting the tube ends into their spikes. The outer link goes to the bottom piston and the inner link to the top, when you compare to the arm pistons.

The problems of sticking the tubes on will try your patience. In the end, one of the back actuators dropped off and the arms more or less stayed in place made it easier to stick the tubes on. I think if I had to do this again, I would stick the actuators on after all the other tubes were in place simply because it would make life easier.

There is still a matter of where to put the two tubes from the flame thrower. It’s problematic that there aren’t any back view photos of the Power Loader enough to follow where the tubes go. Certainly the toys don’t cover this, let alone the connections for the arm controls. So, a little logic needs to be applied. It’s obviously using a combination of oxygen and some flammable gas, so the bottles of that need some protection but also ease to replace them. The only place really is inside the chassis, so the tubes really need to go up under the unit with the piston tubes. On the sides of the chassis there are, what appears to be, large indents. I could imagine them being opened to get at the bottles from either side. Oh, don’t forget there’s a very tiny red light, alas having to be painted cos it really is so dim and it would be an impossible task to wire in a semi-complete model, on the right hand side behind the headrest.

Where the flame thrower wires go is debatable. In the end I decide to tuck it in next to the exposed wires from the LED and put some yellow insulating tape over. If I have to take the head frame off or even get at the LED wiring, simple to remove and who’s going to look at the back of the model anyway?

Getting The Arms To Stay Up – The Attempts

The biggest nuisance was keeping the arms up and in the right position. The left arm, as you look at the Power Loader wasn’t a problem. The continual falling off of the right arm was a nuisance. Filling the joint with UHU wasn’t enough. The choice of UHU was because it was spongier allowing some give and capable of holding the joint, except the arm would still slowly drop down.

In the end, despite the twin aerials, which I encased in the half toilet roll tube, I tilted the model on its side and slightly up, made sure the arms were in the right position, using Ripley’s arms as the positioner and glued again and left over night. Even so, one of the aerials broke up and got lost so was replaced with one from the old model so don’t rush to throw it away. In fact, I decided to keep the wreck in case I might need spares. It isn’t as though I don’t have an empty box for it.

Once I was happy the joints were stable, a bit more paint to cover the glue but be careful in case it softens the glue. Thankfully, at a distance, no one is going to inspect that too closely unless you intend to point out your problems with the model making.

I still wasn’t sure about the arms not drooping and decided to put some blu-tac in Ripley’s hands to doubly make sure they stayed put. At least it gives the option of taking her out of the model. Everything else is a gentle movement of legs and/or chassis for adjusting Ripley’s position and move her head further inside the frame. All minute movements.

Weathering And All That

Looking at the opening clip of Ripley using the Power Loader, the full-size version looks like is been dipped in or sprayed with a light oil. Although I could probably achieve this with a light grey or sienna acrylic wash, with a brush, not dipped in water, I think for the present, I’m just going to touch up the yellow scratched away on the feet and arms with aluminium paint, particularly on any exposed edges which seem to have had the most battering. In my living room, under normal lighting conditions, there’s already a grey look anyway on the yellow. We don’t really see the model miniature in the film until the airlock scene and that’s only for a few seconds. Please bear in mind all my photographs were taken with the camera on flash to ensure there was enough light so you could see the detail. Under normal light, it looks a little dimmer. This also explains why studio models light differently in films.

Finale

Doing a little a day and a lot of thinking is actually a good release for stress and am already planning to do a couple more models that can be bought a lot, lot cheaper. Hope the photos help and give you some ideas for any model you are planning to make. You might be lucky and get a half-made model cheap. To do a Power Loader without some model-making experience is asking for trouble.

Considering there are at least a dozen Power Loader toys out there and I own a one of them, you do have to wonder why no other model manufacturer has considered making another model kit of the Power Loader. After all, it isn’t as if it wouldn’t sell, is it?

All done and I’m off to Bay 12.

© GF Willmetts 2021 includes the photos used.