Night to day

[Rockford]

Yet another snap kit. The Kenworth T600 with full aero kit. I don't know about you but these always remind me of Sam the American eagle from the Muppets. 

Anyway, I decided to convert this to a day cab, leaving only the skirts in place. I'll use the rear wall of the sleeper to create the rear wall of the cab as it has rivet detail on it. 

Out came the saw! 

I also intend to remove some of the deck plating they put on the chassis to hide the lack of detail on the duals etc... This will require inserting some detail to make it look better. 

Haven't done anything like this for a while. Quite scared.

[Jim B]

Should be a nice looking daycab.

[Biggu]

Nice clean cut....

[Rockford]

I cut the rear wall out of the sleeper, and extending the cut into the roof cap, this  is because I intend to match the cap's edge with that of the cab's roof cap, plus it will look the same when painted. Red plastic is difficult to hide so I'd probably end up with a shade difference in the paint if I used white card. I filed the cut down flush with the cab rear wall and, with a little filing, the panel dropped in nicely. You can see how the line of the roof cap continues across the rear wall.  I can even use two grab handles on the rear of the cab because the holes transferred across! Before I was overcome with my own cleverness I pondered whether I should have cut out the rear window aperture before I glued the panel in? Probably, one step forward..... never mind. 

Hacked the interior in two and it drops in nicely. Does anyone want a bed for the night? 

 

[Rockford]

This is the truck I'd like to copy with this build. Tidy little number. 

[Chariots of Fire]

Here's a suggestion.  If you have an extra kit that has the same tires, cut the face off the extra tires, sand them smooth and glue them to the inner face of the tires you are going to use on the model.  Makes all the difference in the world.

[Jim B]

I have to admit, the wheels & tires are probably the biggest shortcomings on these kits.  The kits do build up nicely, though.  I've heard that AMT's 1/32 kits were nice, too; if you can find them.

[Aerodyne03]

Nice idea, I love the t600 and using a 1/32 model is a good idea
 rather than a beast in 1/24, don't stop, I follow your WIP with a 
lot of interest !!??

[Rockford]

They look ok sitting on a shelf, they seemed to get the cab profiles spot on and that's the main thing your eye sees. The AMT ones do look good but they appear to be as rare as hen's teeth with prices to match, so no-go for me I'm afraid. Mind you some of the prices for these Revell kits are scandalous now. Which means I can't justify cannibalising other kits to splice tyres together [as suggested by Chariots of Fire], though I appreciate your idea, I'll just have to live with what I've got. Like we did in the 70s with British Leyland! ?? 

Aerodyne: One of the benefits of the 1/32 kits is the size, I don't have the room for 1/25 kits, they're just too big, though didn't stop me buying one again recently. [Recently in modellers terms is within the last 15 years]

Thanks for your comments guys, I'm determined this build will not stall. 

[Rockford]

Scary part! Marking up and cutting out the rear window. I laid masking tape across the panel, found my centreline and then drew the box. Using a geometry set circle thingy I drew 3mm radius on each corner. Drilled a row of holes which I then broke together to form a slot and got filing. Used a rat-tail in the corners and finished off with 600 wet and dry. I left the tape on to protect the panel from scratches. Looks ok. Now to rub the joint in the back wall down. 

[TarheelRick]

On 8/6/2020 at 1:31 PM, Rockford said:

Red plastic is difficult to hide so I'd probably end up with a shade difference in the paint if I used white card.

Definitely enjoying watching this build.  I have one in my stash I am wanting to turn into a race car hauler.  And yes, you do have the right idea on the shade difference in paint.  It is quite noticeable under the window in the white area of this build, and if you look really closely you can also see a color shift in the gold area right in line with the bottom of the tire rack.

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by TarheelRick

[gatorincebu]

 For some reason I like that truck better as a daycab. And you done some nice work on the modifications on this one.

 

Be Well

  Gator

 

[Aerodyne03]

Great job and the modification makes it much more original ...??

 

 

 

---

 

[Sledsel]

Looks good. Always fun playing with these snap kits. As an FYI, if you loose rivet detail, Archer "O" scale 5/8 rivets work nice on 1/32 rigs.

[Rockford]

15 hours ago, Sledsel said:

Looks good. Always fun playing with these snap kits. As an FYI, if you loose rivet detail, Archer "O" scale 5/8 rivets work nice on 1/32 rigs.

Andy, thanks for the tip, i'll look them up in case I need them. 

Tarheelrick, that's a very innovative car carrier made from the fire truck and the issue with red versus white  plastic doesn't detract from it at all. 

Enrico & Gator, sometimes less is more!

[CRUSADER2]

Interesting project to follow, its looking good so far.

[Rockford]

I said I wanted to add some detail to the chassis on this kit, Revell hide the lack of detail with tread plate so that had to come out first. This exposes the top of the rear diff which is hollow so that'll need building up, also you can see there are no brake chambers or shocks or proper crossmember etc...

[Rockford]

I used my cordless drill as a primitive lathe to turn some brake chambers. [I don't recommend this as a method,  I'm just demonstrating how incredibly stupid I can be]

I'm going to make spring-brake chambers [as we'd call them in UK] that apply the brakes when there's no air in the system, rather than plain service brake chambers. I considered adding slack adjusters and cams but I think that would be a little bit excessive. 

I first rounded the end, measured 5mm and 2.5mm on the sprue then slowly turned the chuck holding the pen against it to complete the circle. At the 2.5mm line I will turn a groove using a triangular file to create the two halves of the chamber I'll then cut it off at the 5mm mark.  Finally, I used a scrap exhaust pipe from a 1/25 Camaro kit to form the black plastic cap on  the end of the chamber where the winding-off bolt is [in America you'd call it caging the brakes]. Glued them to the axles and the look passable. 

[Rockford]

I will install some shock absorbers on the rear axle too. I made them out of plastic tube, using small pieces at each end to form the locating eyes. I can't fit these until the axles are installed.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Rockford

[Jim B]

The shocks & brake chambers are really nice additions.  Should dress up the frame a lot.

[Aerodyne03]

The work is progressing better and better, you are making me want to do the same thing too, some time ago I read what you wrote on the issue of badly shaped tires, some time ago the set came out in 1/ 32 of the t600 with semi-trailer in the Kiss or AC / DC version but, you could make it as you want, they are nice kits and the semi-trailer could hide the mess of the wheels where it is most visible, in the rear axles of the tractor

[Chariots of Fire]

I've got plenty of those tires if they would be of any help.  Just send me your mailing addy and I will send them to you.

Charlie

[Rockford]

Charles

Thanks ever so much for the kind offer but I'm ok with the tyres as they are, they fool the eye enough to look ok. I also think I'd make more of a mess of things than anything. I'm just waiting for the mistake that blights the whole thing, paint soon so could be that! 

Thank you all for the kind comments too. I look at some of the work being done on this site and I realise that mine is pretty primitive, but it is a real diversion for me, I become absorbed in the task, remembering my days "on the spanners" in the UK. The trucks were pathetic next to the American stuff [ERF, Seddon Atkinson, Foden, DAF etc....] but we had Cummins 14litre engines and Fuller transmissions [which were a bullet proof combination] with Rockwell rear axles so I see some familiar stuff! Takes me back. Strangely, Caterpillar never got into truck engines in UK although I did work on a few in plant like 'dozers. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Rockford
Spelling

[Rockford]

Stripped the chrome off the wheels using bleach because these are going to be unpolished aluminium.  

I don't know whether I'm using the wrong product but although the chrome disappears it always leaves behind a clear lacquer on the parts so that they still need sanding to get back to actual plastic. 

Made myself a pogo stick out of some hollow plastic tube and some solid. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Rockford

[Rockford]

I want to move the fuel tanks forward so that they're pretty much completely under the skirts leaving as much empty chassis rail as possible. It also gave me the opportunity to remove the big locating boss they put on the chassis on these kits so the there is is just one straight rail right through. Also stripped the tanks because they're  going to be aluminium like the wheels. In the chassis  shot you can see the cab mount crossmember I've built out of square rod. 

I love seeing bare chassis, you don't see anything over here in Europe because everything is crammed into such a small space on our trucks that there's no space left unused. In the 70s and 80s when trucks were much simpler you'd often see the chassis on a truck but not now. I can't generate any enthusiasm for modern trucks, they're just so ugly and ungainly looking with their mini tag axles, steerable trailer axles and all the aero kit, and don't get me started on the amount of plastic! When we had metal bumpers, if a truck hit something you could pull the bumper out and weld any cracks, now it's got to have a complete front end on it costing thousands, but I did say don't get me started so I'll leave it there. I'm not writing a commentary on modern vehicles I'm doing a WIP on my Kitty Whomper.