Archer Atomic Defense Truck...Repair...Restoration?

[Tinman]

While attending the 2012 Botstock I found the remains of an Archer Atomic Defense Truck in the outdoor section of the Renninger's Flea Market; the seller didn't know what she had but unfortunately, none of the payload parts or bracket were included that would have come with the truck circa 1953. I remember paying $10 for it and initially tried to flip it on eBay, but it wouldn't sell because of its condition and the lack of the impossible to find parts for the four payload options.

 

Fast forward to July 2024 when a better example of the truck, missing the same parts, didn't sell on eBay for an asking price of $59. The lack of interest in the truck prompted me to dig out my example and give it a second shot at life, using the original features as inspiration. Up front I’ll say I don’t 3D print, so it’ll be repaired/restored etc. the old-fashioned way using sheet styrene, tubing, and greebles from my model building parts bin.

 

Below are a few pics of the original toy showing the bracket that held the various payloads and the “Space Boy,” normally glued at the rear platform and almost always broken off when found in the wild.

 

 

 

Below are pics of my example as found at the Renninger’s Flea Market. The bracket at the rear had apparently been tore off by an original owner; looking at pictures I’ve collected over the years it’s obvious the bracket was not meant to come off, being locked on by the underside construction. The platform at the very rear suffered a broken corner and the Space Boy was missing, leaving only two holes, melted plastic, and glue residue.

 

 

[Tinman]

Repairing the bracket mount.

 

[Tinman]

Repairing the broken corner on the rear platform and sanding down the glue residue; although you can still see the area of residue, it's perfectly smooth.

 

 

 

[Tinman]

Building the payload bracket from styrene plastic utilizing pictures of the original for rough measurement and inspiration.

 

[SAL]

Beautiful work!

[Brian..]

An excellent restoration.

[ROBODUDE]

AMAZING!!!

[robothut]

Coming along nicely. Can't wait to see it all together.

[steve]

Very nice.......cann't wait to see the final results.

[Tinman]

Thanks guys, it's been fun so far. For the most part the bracket is complete; I used a little artistic license and added four triangular supports on the bracket arms to improve the structure.  For now, I'm keeping the payload mounting holes small until I get a better idea on how I want to move forward, I'm definitely not going down the path of the original design because I'm dealing with painted plastic parts vice injection molded parts cast in a solid color...if that makes sense.

 

Note: See picture of green truck above for the 1953 bracket design and payload attachment method.

 

[Roboto]

Fantastic restoration!!

[Andyman]

Nice old school approach, Bill. Well done!

[Tinman]

The Atomic Defense Truck had four payload options or "Defense Weapons of the Future" with the "Atomic Siren" being my favorite and the one I wanted to build using the original as inspiration.  Going through my parts bin I found an Easter egg of the correct size and a clear plastic part I saved from the inside of a Keurig K-cup; combining those with other spare parts and styrene plastic sheet, strips, and tubing I have the start of the Atomic Siren MKII, although I prefer to think of it as a Directional Sonic Disruptor.  A siren doesn't sound like much of a weapon.

 

 

 

[Andyman]

Love it!

[zebedee]

Very clever, excellent job