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

[Southgate]

Mike, I'm ahead of you here. So far there is one truck ready for hauling.

(1) Peterbilt 359 converted to a daycab, (old original Monogram release)

There are 5 more trucks in the fleet under various stages of completion, but all have the cabs and frames painted:

(2) An IH 4070A, original Ertl Transtar cabvover, pretty close to box stock.

(3) Peterbilt Tri-Drive, from the latest revell release

(4) Peterbilt service truck, Also from latest release

(5) GMC Astro, 4 axle.

(6) Western Star conventional, Italeri.

All are painted in the same color scheme. A couple of pickups are coming along too. Some have been featured in their own threads.

I just went through my pictures looking for some later photos to post. Looks like I'm pretty deficient in the progress photos, so maybe tomorrow I'll see what I can do to remedy that, but here are a couple pictures from the archives, just to get the idea.

348 Service truck


Daycab 359


here's that daycab, along with the Transtar, and the GMC, which is now painted.


Like I said, I'll try to get some new pictures of everything so far.

[firefighter8104]

you got some really good building skills!!!

[Southgate]

Meanwhile, back at the crane...I have been working on the carrier's bodywork. The cab here is styrene, I just penciled in the windows for an idea of how they'll look. The cab is just taped together, but it will be glued to the deck when I get the door and window openings all cut out.


On the deck, the fenders (raised areas above the wheels) will be covered with Plastruct diamond plate, painted to look like aluminum. The rest of the deck will be body color to look like steel.


The frame extends beyond the fenders for the rear outrigger to mount. Both outriggers will be detachable for transport mode.




That's how it looks as of this writing. I'll keep ya posted as progress is made.

[gatormarcstaug]

Dan,
Now that is really starting to look good. Not to many people think about what is under all that sheet metal. I am waiting to see how you finish it all out!!

Gator

[kwt904wolfman]

total incredable amount of work it just blew my mind and you did great job it something i have never before .. so how much whole crane weight

[Southgate]

Marc, now that you mention it, the "sheetmetal" on the carrier is going to remain one big piece, including the cab, engine cover fenders, everything . It will be removable to access the innards.

Wolfman: She tipped the scale at around 29 lbs, last time I weighed it. That will go up a little as I finish out the body and add a front bumper, and a few other items.



The crane is finally at the stage I have been waiting a long time for, the "looks" part. It seemed it would never get past mechanical and electronic developement! I take the summers off working on it, but as winter has set in here, I'll get to spend some time making the big visible changes. It's looks may not change much to reflect a ton of mechanical developement, but adding body and decks, cabs, etc are openly obvious. Cheers! Dan

[Southgate]

Here's an update on progress on the crane. Since my last post, a number of mechanical and electronic features have been refined. Bodywork had been started on the upper unit. It required removing a side panel to turn on or off the power. The switch was laboriously relocated to the top of the unit, just below the top deck...


A slot was cut it the deck to make room for the switch top...


And a air intake was turned on the lathe, and some mesh added to it. This hides the switch in plain sight. Much easier to operate, without the distraction.


The carrier has also received attention. A front bumper was made from steel. Welding, grinding, and milling was required. Not something I recall ever doing on any previous 1/25 models. It adds a full pound (equal to 7 tons) of frontal counterweight.


The carrier deck has also seen improvements. Made of styrene, the fenders were shaped in, the counterweight raising platform finished. and a cab is well under way. The majority of the deck will be covered with Plastruct diamongd plate material.


Those grills were cut from a discarded DVD player, they have the perfect look for a big ol' industrial machine. Since this picture, that upper grill has been moved back a bit, and looks better. Pictures later. The headlights are just sketched in with a pen for now, they will be done properly as soon as I find the ones I have set aside for this project.

Note the 2 dark gray magnets. The hold the deck snug to the frame by way of the steel bumper, and the cab has a piece of steel in it, so the magnet holds it firmly in place, yet it can give way instead of crunching when accidentally bumped.


I'm exited to finally have my head back into this project. I was pretty burnt out for a while, but I'm really enjoying it again, so there should be a new wave of progress over the next few months. Dan

[halfpint33]

Dan this thing is one the best,if not the best,scratchbuilt models I've seen.Lookin foward to the future updates.

Have you posted pics of your model rr somewhere?If not could ya?I'ld like to see it.I'm starting to plan me another n scale layout.

[Southgate]

Thank you, Halfpint. I havn't posted any real pictures of my RR layout, other than as background shots. It's basically running, but there's no scenery, just lotsa particle board.

[bonze]

Dan the crane is coming along real nice !! This project has been awesome from the start, hats off to ya.

Hope You and the family had a good holiday

[-DJVG-]

Wow this thing is incredible, great workmanship

[Southgate]

I meant to post this a while back here. Life can be so distracting! I finally got in the mood for some good ol' styrene scratchbuilding. This cab for the upper unit has been a shell kicking around for quite some time. So I reconed it was due for some attention.

It seemed that since I will want a figure in the cab sometimes, and not others, I'd have to devise a way to make it removable. I have a real hangup with figures in cabs or interiors; I wanna see their hands and feet ON THE CONTROLS, and their backs and butts in the seat, No air between them. So, The interior and figure would have to be built simultaneously. A control pedestal was scratchbuilt following general practice of real cranes.


Then I had to further chop up the headless hors--um, operator to make 'is hands reach the knobs.


Now in order to be able to get him out of the cab, something would have to give to make room to do so. A sliding seat should fit the bill. The slider is simply a precise fitting slot that the seat base slides in. Rare earth magnets hold it in position, fore or aft. A thin slippery sheet of clear plastic goes on top of the magnets to make the seat slide smoothly. This technique would work in any model where a sliding seat may be handy.


Note this is all going on a separate floor panel, not directly into the existing cab. Makes building it way easier.

Time for a little chat with the boss...


Another magnet was surgically implanted where it would be most effective, and another was installed in the seat, which was thinned for max magnetic attraction. He really sucks back into the seat and stays there. OK, now about that headless situation. The figure was originally a race car driver, but since he has retired from that occupation, the full face helmet would no longer be needed. Some other head would be used.

Huh? What! Who... me?


I used a mill, but any razor saw technique would have worked well enough to cut and graft the pieces together.


I'll post this and then continue to avoid over posting pictures.

[Southgate]

So, the figure and seat are looking OK, along with the control pedestal. That all slides into the cab. I forgot to mention that the door had already been installed now in brass channels. They are made by milling one side off of a piece of K&S square tube. The door slides open and closed.




Since these pictures were taken, the front window panels of the cab have been milled out of styrene. So this cab is nearing completion. The carrier's cab is incomplete yet too. All in time. Thanks for following, if I haven't put ya to sleep! Dan

[gatormarcstaug]

Dan,
Welcome back! Been wondering about you. I was going to get in touch to get the link to the other site that this build is on.
That figure in the Cab is da bomb!! So cool. I like the opening front and over head windows as well.
Sue have missed your updates on this project.

Be Well
Gator

[41chevy]

Good to see you back on it. The work is fantastic to say the least! Paul