Goodyear Blimp

I thought a Goodyear Blimp flying over the track would be a good addition.  When I started looking, I soon came across a Revell plastic kit that was sold in the US during the mid-Seventies.

As you can see from the box, this kit replicates the lighted message board on the side of the blimp, as in this real photo...

I found a kit in reasonable condition on eBay and had it shipped over from the US.  For a thirty five year old plastic kit, it was in pretty good shape but the mechanism is rather primitive.

Inside the model is a motor driving a cylinder around three bulbs...

The cylinder is loaded with a loop of paper with a dot matrix pattern - white on the side you can see in the photo but in different colours on the outside.  This scrolls around when the motor is switched on to make it look like a moving lighting display.

This is a bit dark but here's my video of how it looks in operation (link).



As well as this pattern, the kit comes with another couple plus a load of blank rolls and a set of felt-tips (I wonder if they still work?) so that you can make up your own designs.  No doubt a specific message for the Highwood Circuit will be coming soon...