rcdave

that totally looks awesome I love it!!! I am so inspired... how did you make it so the gages glowed but not the rest of the dash.

I'm glad you like it. I cut holes in a peice of electric tape to match the gauges and put it on the back of the dash and then I put the Led on and made a lexan box around it and sealed it with liquid electrical tape.

Looking good, looking real good. Question. How are you going to paint the body now that you have some of the chrome on?

If you are referring to the marker lights on top, I just desoldered them to paint.

Nice dash! I wish I could see it glow in the dark. Great job on this one.

Wish granted.

Holy Cow!  You should consider selling a bill of materials/kit so some of us could give this a try.  Absolutely amazing!  I would be real curious how many $ you wind up with in this thing just for future planning.  If I hit the lottery, I would like to try something like this with the 1/16 Monogram Peterbilt.  I remember when I was a kid (far too long ago)  I took a battery operated war tank drive out of a Tamiya kit and put in a 1/32 snap tite GMC General kit.  It was "front wheel drive" and had the batteries stuffed in the sleeper.  Ahhhh  memories.  FANTASTIC job.  Excellent use of the old brain.  

I am keeping a list of all the parts and prices. Do you know Tamiya makes a 1/14 semi that is very popular with a tons of aftermarket parts.



Still working on paint but I finished the dash, I think. Looks better in person cause the camera shows all the little imperfections alot better. I put a blue LED behind the dash so the white gauges are backlit.

Waiting on paint to dry so I can clearcoat it. I like the look of big 10" stacks so I got some 7/16" x .016" thin wall aluminum tube. I didn't think it could be bent without professional tools but I tried it anyway and it worked well. I packed the tube with sand and heated it with a propane torch, this is the tricky part. Then I put the tube in a handheld tube bender and carefully bent it. The 1st try the tube ripped when I was almost done, it needed more heat. The 3rd try I got it too hot and it was a little deformed but the 2nd and 4th turned out nice. The bends could be tighter but the are close enough. I know they are too long but I can't decide if I want angled cuts or straight cuts. Also needs to be polished.