wide by 21½” long, and can accommodate two reefers. It has
a cutout 1½” wide by ½” deep to accommodate the conveyor
belt. The lower loading dock on which it sits is 3” wide (12).
The hatches on the reefers can take “ice blocks” ½” square, so
I sliced ice blocks off of a foot-long rod of 1/2” square Lucite,
making them 3/8” high so they wouldn’t topple going up the
conveyor belt.
I was ready to declare success. But I had made the top of the
conveyor belt almost flush with the top of the icing platform. It
looked elegant, but in practice, cubes wouldn’t shift from the
conveyor belt to the platform. They got stuck at the transition.
Back to the drawing board. I determined that the conveyor
needed to be an inch (4 scale feet) higher, so blocks would
tumble off it onto the upper icing platform. So I built a lower
dock, flush with the original loading dock, on which the con-
veyor platform itself would sit. It has a cutout in the middle to
help hold the wires from the battery pack to the motor (13).
11: I have removed the roof to expose the motor and
gears allowing me access for maintenance that might
be needed. This provides a good view of the fit inside.
11
12: I am approximately halfway through the construc-
tion of the upper icing platform. You can see the
notches for the conveyor on the side as well as the
opening for the stairway so that the workers can reach
the upper deck. As you can see from the photo there is
nothing very complicated about it. It’s just simple con-
struction that anyone can do.
12
13: Here is the
lower deck to
raise the con-
veyor. I could
have rebuilt the
conveyor, but
this was a sim-
pler option and
it enhances the
overall scene.
13
Animated icing platform - 5
MRH-Aug 2013
