LOBBS

Happy to report that the surgery was a success. Spent way longer than I care to admit gently scribing the seam between the pan and block with a #11 blade enough to weep some acetone down to loosen the CA. I had intended to paint some of the components separately but realized there is zero positive location to some of the pieces, especially the pumps on the passenger side of the front cover, and I would have ruined any paint work getting it assembled. So, I'll pick them out as best as I can after I paint things red. I don't have Cummins red so I may lay down a coat of semi gloss black base coat, mask off some of the bits, then hit it with Tamiya Italian Red. The black under the red should shift it a shade or two darker.

I may just have to live with the oil pan. It's super glued on 😅. I'll give it the ole college try to work it back off first though because it'll irk me knowing it "fits" but isn't correct.

If anyone was curious how true to scale the STS ISX15 Cummins is, relative to the Maxxforce, yes, that is the kit oil pan on the 3D printed block. The mounting flange of the printed pan cracked while I was cleaning it up but this will suffice. I had to make a couple of passes with a file, maybe .010" total between both ends, and it fit like a charm. I don't know if they're that close in real life but I have zero doubts the Cummins will drop right into the same space as the kit engine.

I reached out to ST Supply and thankfully they were able to hook me up with some instructions after all. They've been quick to respond to any questions I've thrown their way. I may get the Cummins together this weekend before I pack up my paint booth

Great trade with @Valvefloat finished up this week.

I brought the "X15" to work to look at it under magnification and it's actually engraved as an ISX15. In the upper left corner of the front plate, there should be more of a "pocket" or opening near the pulleys and under the upper portion of the timing cover from the pics that I've seen. It's like they modeled a beauty cover of some kind to hide it. In any case, it should be an accurate SOHC Cummins for the LoneStar. Now, I just have to figure out how to assemble all these little bits with a lack of knowledge on what most of them are 😂

@vincen47 here's that X15 from ST Supply. Not sure which of these pieces would be most helpful to help identify which variation it is. No instructions were included.... I'm not even sure what some of the pieces are. So, I suppose I'm just going to find as many reference photos as possible and wing it 🤷‍♂️. I'm guessing that I can saw the transmission off the Maxxforce and mate that up.

So am I. It's on my wanted list

Finished up great trades with @NitroMarty, @Kennyboy and @dust collectors this week.

It's been a good week in the trades department. I'm stupid excited about this fan nozzle kit for my Grex TG airbrush. It replaces the standard cap with a fan (I also sized up to a bigger needle and nozzle with the kit) converting the airbrush into a mini paint gun. Now I can use my smaller standard 0.3mm set for detail painting and metal paints and use the bigger fan for bodywork.

I'll take pics when it arrives and post them here

It's been a few days since I had a chance to sit down and work on the hauler. Getting close to having the exterior done. Really just working out dimensions at this point. I'll have to break it up into separate parts to make a printable assembly model.

@vincen47 I happened to pick this one up when I was on ST Supply's site grabbing some CTM photoetch lights they had on sale. It's also an X15. Curious as to what variant it is, they said it's correct for a LoneStar or ProStar, but it's at least a Cummins instead of the MaxxForce. I don't believe it's the one that you had mentioned but I also know that it's not the Auslowe engine. Maybe it's a new contender?

Smooth trade with @Ken Hart

I don't mind a financial support option (and I'll admit that I use an ad-blocker) to help others not have to see ads. I dip in and out of the hobby for stretches based on what's going on in my day to day. That being said, I also have a gym membership that I pay for each month and also dip out on for stretches so I'm sometimes just free money 😅 My biggest frustration is with the search function especially when I'm on mobile. It seems to only search within the area you're in when on desktop, which is fine, but it'll pull from the whole site when I try and search on mobile for some reason