Six Axle Truck Crane. New pix 4-26-09

[Southgate]

Thank you, guys! Tonight I actually finished up a couple truck models not related to this build. It was Dec 2008 las time I finished a model! I'll post them here when I get pictures of them. The crane is fun to work on, but sometimes I need to break away and do something shorter term, ya know?

[ewaskew]

Great craftsmanship this thing is very nice.
Earl

[Southgate]

It snowed a bit here sendin' me to the bench for a couple days. I got around to the hood part of the bodywork. I trimmed down the size of the flat sheet that I had on there, and added butterfly type hood sides. Pins work for the center hinges, drilled into the edges of the sheet.


Brass piano hinges are used on the outer hinges. They're held on with super strong 3M adhesive film.






I thunk up a way to make exhaust stacks from all aluminum. These little ends are turned on the lathe. The muffler length is decided and tubing cut to length. Expanded aluminum from frying pan spatter screens is used for the heat shield. Note the steps in the turnings. They correrspond to the differing tubing and screen.





Mock up location

[gatormarcstaug]

Dan,
Dayum that is bad azz!!! The mufflers look great! What is the black material on the outside of the hood? plastic? The hinges are cool. Also I like your cab design.
Looking real good !!

Gator

[Southgate]

Thanks, Gator. That black material is plastic from a defunct DVD player, the same that I got the grills from.



It's hard, I tell ya to not see the potential in EVERYTHING around for building materials. This subwoofer on my computer for example...




I find myself looking around for something to replace that cover with so I can have it for models! I think I mentioned that Wal Mart sells frying spatter screens. They have the best expanded aluminum material for scale building, and it's under $7.00 for 2.

[gatormarcstaug]

Dan,
you are right. You can find things to use on a build most anywhere. I have a couple of the splatter screens , but have yet to use them. I also have some wire mesh from Hobby Lobby. I think it is meant to be used with papier mache?I used some on my payhauler build. It was not bad to work with, cuts with scissors or a sharp exacto. The only problem I had was I was try to fix it to a small surface area. I tried superglue and that failed .So I used a thin strip of plastic and put it on top of the screen and then used Tenax7R it now looks like it is welded in between two strips of metal.
I have to say I admire you expertise on the mil and lathe. I really do not think I could ever do that. To finite for me. But I do love the pieces you've made.The stacks are awesome.

Gator

[Southgate]

Thanks for the comments. Running a mill and lathe are not that tricky. Basically it's mathmatical. Mostly subtraction. There's bit of a feel for machining, mostly on the lathe, but it comes rather easily too. Don't be psyched out of learning it, if that's what's holding you back!

[gatormarcstaug]

The math!!!! ;D not at all good at that never have been!!

Gator

Mar 5, 2012 13:40:14 GMT -5 Southgate said:

Thanks for the comments. Running a mill and lathe are not that tricky. Basically it's mathmatical. Mostly subtraction. There's bit of a feel for machining, mostly on the lathe, but it comes rather easily too. Don't be psyched out of learning it, if that's what's holding you back!

[Southgate]

It's not calculus! LOL Pretty much simple subtraction most the time. How big is the work piece? How big do you want it? Take that much off. Sure, there's a learning curve, but the end results are far and away so worth it. In fact, I only took basic math in high school. Dan

[gatormarcstaug]

Dan,
I see your point.And I most likely could learn it, if I really set out to!. However there is a substantial cash outlay involved. And I would guess that there is a constant need to replace broken and worm tools. Which might get to be a real problem .If and when I make the move that I am working on.
Oh by the way. Would you have any of your extra or redesigned parts that you care to sell to a fellow modeler??? Mainly sheaves , shackles, and possibly your design for your wheels for the payhauler rims !!!!
What other sites do you have this work posted on. I had a couple of the sites but had a major computer crash and lost a lot of links. There was one site that fellow from Europe was comepletely up dating and detailing the D-8 Dozer kit. I would like to find that group again!

Be well
Gator

[Southgate]

I don't usually think about selling parts, but there's no reason why I couldn't. I do have one project for another model builder I need to get on (hi Ken!) Sheaves are easy enough. About the Payhauler rims, do you mean the cast hubs? Hmmm... Makes me wonder, what are you planning to build?

Shackles. On the ones I made, I also made molds for popping resin copies. On the ones I bought, they can be had for good prices from the manufacturer. Ozark Miniatures G scale... They don't list shackles separately on their on line lists, but call 'em on the phone, they'll work with you, and they're super friendly.

My most extensive post on another forum is linked below, and it takes the project almost from the beginning to present. It even shows when I got the lathe and later the mill, and how this changed the evolution of the whole project. Much of it's content was before I discovered The Truckstop. Includes making the shackles for that matter. And lots of other gory details I've spare'd the Truckstop from. But if you can sit through 19 pages, here it is.

s13.zetaboards.com/B_n_B_Auto_Builders/topic/89997/1/

[gatormarcstaug]

Dan,
Thanks for the link. As for the parts . I will contact you in IM. And I will go to Ozark for some of their stuff before the move.

Thanks
Gator

[Southgate]

Hi folks. It's been a while since I've posted any progress here, but there has in fact been some. The cabs are coming along as noted in the last page or two. I found a Tupperware utinsil holder of some sort that had a great grill pattern in the back of it...


I milled the face off of it and trimmed it to size, and it makes for a neat grill for the upper unit.


I finally got around to doing something that I'd been putting off for a long time, adding the sheave plates to the boom head. this keeps the cable from jumping track and getting all tangled up.






Then, I got this "bright" idea. I'll give you the long story short version. 4 months in the making:





I was in a hobby shop in Sacramento, and was made aware of these LEDs, that with considerable work, can be adapted to model headlights, side markers and tail lights. The LEDs are actually shining the colors; white, red amber. The front signals under the headlights and the clearance lights are some different LEDs I got from All Electronics (order online or by phone).



The camera greatly exagerates how bright they are. They are dialed in to a pretty realistic level, not as blazing as they look here. Also, the side markers, tail lights, and front signals are operable as emergency flashers, a very hard earned feature.

All the lights are powered by 8 AA batteries hidden under the deck, and the switches are hidden in the front grill of the carrier. the lights are not radio controled. Notice in the view of the tail lights, the carrier deck is not on the frame. It is an independant system.

I can post more supporting info. As I said, this is the shortened up version. Dan

[halfpint33]

Dan that looks great.Nice use of household items.

[stretchw9]

that is sweet can't wait to see more