Dan Schmitt grew up on a farm where mechanical opportunities abound. Dan’s mechanical aptitude was always in play with that environment. And so, he was constantly tinkering or making things. 
During his youth on the family’s Illinois farm, Dan once decided to build a boat. Dan’s first building exploits did not pass muster. But he salvaged the project, as noted: “I built a boat entirely from wood. Rowing that awkward thing was a lot of work. I rigged a nifty paddle wheel on the back of the boat. Then, I scrounged up an old Briggs & Stratton engine and belted it to the paddle wheel. It seemed like a good idea, until the paddle wheel splashed water into the boat and I nearly drowned. My paddle wheel boat got set aside.”
Dan went on to recount his scratch-built boat experience, “While in town one day with Dad, I saw a small propeller displayed in the window of a hardware store. I talked Dad into buying it for my boat. With a little gear work and the propeller attached to a shaft, I soon had an inboard-powered boat using the Briggs engine. It didn’t move very fast across the water, but I stayed dry and it was easier than rowing.” But building additional mechanical things got put on hold until sometime later.


Mechanics evolve
Following graduation from high school, Dan served a stint in the United States military. A few years after Dan and Martha married, they ventured west to settle near Omaha, Neb. Dan soon found employment as a welder in town. However, he and Martha also farmed about 100 acres at their newfound home north of Omaha.
With Dan’s inclination for mechanics, he began overhauling tractors as a sideline. He worked on his own tractors at first, but soon did restoration work for friends and neighbors. 
“I always liked tractors from the 1940s and 1950s period. They were well-made, easy to understand and something I enjoyed working on. Word got around that I was doing tractor mechanics, so I was kept busy. I restored a few tractors for myself and started a collection of the old reliables,” he explained.
In due course, Dan started displaying his tractors at antique farm machinery shows. While exhibiting at these shows, Dan took note of tractors and other machinery that had been customized and scratch built. In 1984, Dan and Martha started attending the annual Tri-State Gas Engine & Tractor Show staged in Portland, Ind. During one visit at the Portland show, Dan’s interest was triggered to build a piece of equipment. 
“I had a lot of experience welding. And with my tractor restoration work, I knew a lot about those mechanics. I thought, surely I could build a scale model piece of equipment. But, I wanted to build something different,” Dan suggested. Sometime late in the 1980s, Dan’s yearning to build something different was launched. He started scratch building models of industrial equipment that were fully operational.

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Die-cast models of self-erecting cranes are quite rare on the model market. This crane type is typical for European construction sites where a crane is needed to move concrete bricks, roof elements or concrete itself since European houses are built of concrete and only a few wood elements. Therefore such a crane is busy with one house for at least a couple of weeks.
At the 2013 International Toy Fair, NZG presented the all-new Liebherr 81K self-erecting crane, and some years after the nice 32TT self-erecting crane. It is now NZG’s second crane model of this category. And it is really a superior model with high functionality and perfect details. But it is also a model, which is made to be shown on displays without many disassembles due to its filigree and great details.
The 81K is available in two different sets, one set with only the crane model and another set which includes the axles and a truck with Hiab truck crane for transport and assembly. At Bauma was also a version available at the Nagel booth (a Liebherr dealer in Germany), showing this set in the Nagel company colors. And by the way, the real crane was rewarded in 2011 with the IF Product Design award.
NZG copied the real crane perfectly with converting the dimension correct. During travelling the real crane has a length of 16.25 meters and this was perfectly converted into 32.5 centimeters on the model.
It was also a requirement to realize the crane’s assembly in an easy and simple way. That is why the real functions as climbing with additional tower sections or the ropes within the boom have not been realized.
By using a small key the tower will be erected vertically. Both winches feature a detailed copy of the electric motors. 

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The Peterbilt custom that was built by Jim Powers of Extreme Toys. ​

It is amazing how Pete can cram so many models into a display case. ​

Thanks to Pete Rinaldi’s philosophy regarding his miniature replicas, “I cannot see spending money on them, if you can’t show them off,” readers get to see his impressive miniature fire engine collection. 
Pete went on to say, “All of my trucks are displayed in glass showcases, except for the 1:32 scale models.” The shelves are also made of glass and the back walls of the curio cabinets are mirrored. 
The result is an eye-catching view of every side to a miniature.
The wall-to-wall accumulation adds a dramatic presence to the family room. When asked about the approximate number of models, Pete replied, “935 and growing.” He began amassing them in the late ’50s when he was a child. “I started with Matchbox and still have all of them.”
Pete began his tour by pointing out the FDNY Mack Super Pumper System. This set of the Big Apple Macks was purchased at the New Jersey Firemen’s Home, Boonton, N.J., Show. Pete mentioned that he saw the actual trucks when they were in service back in the 1970s.
Then Pete went over to a cabinet that had wooden fire trucks on the top shelf. He explained that these models came from a catalog during the 1980s. Underneath the wooden fire trucks were four shelves that house a variety of Jim Beam collectible fire equipment. These items were bought at various liquor stores in the ’70s. 
Amidst Pete’s vast collection he displays Mack replicas. One is a Mack Aerialscope remote control that was acquired at the Fireman’s Convention in the mid-1980s, an E-One tanker and an E-One ladder tower. Pete said that the toy manufacturer Nylint made both E-One Macks.
Pete purchased a Ford pickup, Chevrolet chemical wagon, Ahrens-Fox pumper and a 70th Anniversary Seagrave pumper, all at truck shows.

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