Metal Monsters

We wrote about the Mini-Time Machine Museum of Miniatures a couple of days ago, but there was a special exhibit at the museum that deserved a separate visit and comment.

Seeing the photograph of an old rusted auto on the cover of the brochure entitled "Metal Monsters" and the words "Automobile Relics" below the title had me hooked.

The brochure began: "Jim Roark’s...miniature American classic cars are not your typical pristine miniature collector cars; rather they are vehicles that have been abandoned, left to rust and fall apart."

Entering the exhibit room, we were greeted by this diorama of sedans, roadsters, pick-ups, and a coal truck from the 1920s.

"Roark works with...plastic model kits and ages the contents so that they appear dirty, abused and distressed rather than shiny and new." Shown here is an example of this distressing of a 1925 Mac Bulldog Truck and a 1920 Ford Model T.

"More recently he has been taking die-cast model cars and literally tearing them apart then antiquing them with paint and chemicals until the vehicles are in a dilapidated state." Compare the old and new 1932 Ford Coupes.

Walking among the displays, we could imagine coming upon an old garage with a 1930 Citroën Mini Bus behind the building

or an abandoned farm with a 1959 Cadillac rusting away in "the back forty"--just two of the places you might stumble upon one of these relics.

Said Roark:
"There is an indescrib-able thrill when you come across one of these 'Metal Monsters,' lost and forgotten, in a field, desert..." or under a dusting of snow. Here is a 1940 Ford Pick-up.

"They show years of faithful, loyal and devoted service that was once given to their owners. Now they sit abandoned and forgotten.

"Yet underneath the rust and rot there is still the beauty, character and elegance that once made them the Powerful, Romantic, Rulers of the Road!"