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Gauge 1 model
Cranky was designed by art director, Robert Gauld-Galliers and built by model-maker, Chris Lloyd. The model was built out of plastic mouldings and styrene card to standard 10mm to the foot. It had two motors and gearboxes. One was used to turn Cranky round and the other was used to control the winch. Both of these features were controlled from the same remote.
The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.
Eight different facial expressions were worn by Cranky on screen.[1] The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.
Cranky has had modifications throughout the model era. These include
- Series 5:
- Chains held his crane arm to his body wrapped around a pipe between his nameplates.
- Series 6:
- Two metal strips are shown replacing the chains.
- He gains a new shocked face.
- Series 8:
- His nameboards are now positioned in the centre of his cranehouse roof.
Cranky's model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios.
CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Cranky was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.
Photographs of Cranky's live-action model were used for referencing. According Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.
Cranky has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include:
- Hero of the Rails:
- His nameboards are positioned in centre of his cranehouse roof again.
- Series 13:
- The design of his hook changes.
Voice Actors
- Matt Wilkinson (UK)
- Glenn Wrage (US)
- Hisao Egawa (Japan; fifth - eighth series)
- Takaya Kuroda (Japan; ninth series onwards)
- Christoffer Staib (Norway; thirteenth - sixteenth series, excluding Day of the Diesels and Blue Mountain Mystery)
- Simen Sand (Norway; Day of the Diesels - seventeenth series, excluding the fifteenth and sixteenth series)
- Walter Wiegand (Germany)
- Eckart Dux (Germany; Audio Books only)
- Klaudiusz Kaufmann (Poland, thirteenth series onwards, excluding Emily Saves the World, Timothy and the Rainbow Truck and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure)
- Jarosław Domin (Poland; Emily Saves the World and Timothy and the Rainbow Truck only)
- Piotr Bajtlik (Poland; Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure only)
- Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada)
- Octavio Rojas (Latin America; thirteenth series onwards)
- Jeremy Luton (The Netherlands)
- Dan Schatzberg (Israel)
- Mauro Castro (Brazil)
- Ángel Amorós (Spain)
- Petri Hanttu (Finland; Misty Island Rescue onwards)
- Loukas Frangoulis (Greece)