spencer1984 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 As some of you may know, one of my ongoing projects is realizing all of the original 1984 Autobots fromĀ Transformers figures as 1/24(ish) scale models. One of the last few remaining is Huffer, the orange truck that was either a superdeformed semi or a yard tractor: I decided to consider it the latter, and am making a yard mule using Lindberg's Dodge L-700 as a base. I cut the chassis at the ends of the spring shackles to reduce the overhang, but otherwise built the frame box stock: Nothing really close to the cab design exists, so I' scratch building that from styrene It's a bit of a weird project, but this little hobgoblin of a truck has been fun to work on so far. I'm hoping to get the final details on the cab and get some paint on it this weekend. Any comments/criticisms are welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Wow that isĀ cool.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towman1271 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Ā I like your idea.. Great imagination! Looks god so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotnitro? Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Now that's cool !!! Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 Thanks, guys! Got some more detailing done on the cab today, so I decided to throw some paint on it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Very cool. Nice fab work. Looking forward to seeing more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Interesting project! Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Thanks, guys! Got a bit more done, with the inside of the cab now painted and some door handles added from Don Mills Models: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am73grand Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Cool project!!! I've always wanted to build an Optimus Prime cab over. May have to do it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Thanks! Go for it, AMT's Freightliner is a near-perfect base for Optimus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotnitro? Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Oh yeah that brings back memories !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Brian Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 This is really cool, there are a few Transformers builds I wantĀ to do too. I'm looking at doing a Prime like the one above and using the Revell K100 to do a Motormaster like this show truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 That'd be awesome, I'd love to see a scale model version of Motormaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 Interior is done! I made some door panels and the floor from sheet styrene,Ā then used some parts box seats cut down to look appropriate... The dashboard and steering wheel were taken from an AMT Freightliner (my first attempt at Optimus Prime about 20 years ago). I cut the dash flat across the front, then sanded the bottom so it would sit on my custom engineĀ tunnel. Dash & tunnel went in first, followed by the door panels. Then the floors with the seats already mounted finished things off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Coming along nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbill Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 that is pretty neat! looking great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 Thanks, guys! next up is the bumper: The main part of it is half an I beam, sanded flat to get rid of the inevitable curve that comes with parts like this. The wings are 0.040" sheet styrene, cut to follow the line of the wheel opening on each side. Turns out I shouldn't have cut off the forward frame rails: Huffer's nose is a lot longer than I had guessed up front. Since I'll be gluing the cab in place, I decided to cheat a bit and I made the standoff from another piece of I beam. While it lacks accuracy, it did make adjusting the tilt and spacing to theĀ cab a breeze. And with everything closed up, you'll never see it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpreadAxle Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Cool project idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 With my distraction for NNL East now finished, it's time to get back to work on Hiffer! One of the Minibot's most distinctive features was his exhaust pipe hands, and I wanted to homage that here. The mufflers are from an Italeri truck detail kit, with toppers from an badly beaten Huffer toy. Once painted with some Molotow Liquid Chrome, I mounted them on a custom rack. The X brace is something I first did on my Prime build to guarantee parallel pipes, and seemed like a good idea here as well. The diamondplate is more of the material I used for the decking, and the crossbean is notched to clear the transmission. Here it is mounted and drying, with the cab and a fuel tank set in place to give me an idea of how it'll all go together. So far so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 You've really got a way of capturing these subjects! Looks great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 Thanks! I've just wrapped him up, pics and text will be posted to the "Under Glass" shortly! In the meantime, here's a preview: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Very nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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