1/25 Studebaker Turbine Truck

[kilrathy10]

Just beautifully engineered, Man....This is awesome.....So much detail....Everything is just "Spot On".....Amazing how you get everything so straight and aligned....

Edited December 11, 2014 by kilrathy10

[Casey]

Thanks, J.T. I like to work off a plan, but sometimes I do more seat-of-the-pants engineering, like tonight, and that can cause problems.

I decided to use the Astro 95's rear cross member, which is basically an H-beam to which the ends of both track rods attach, so I made three more H-beam cross members using styrene C-channel and strip the same width. I centered the Astro H-beam between the rear axles, then spaced back the rear cross member so the rear axle would clear it, then spaced the front cross member to match:

Not long after the glue dried on the front cross member I realized I failed to leave space between the frame rails for the front axle's differential, so the front cross member had to come out.

More sanding and cleaning up the frame rails, and more borrowing of parts from the Astro 95 kit, namely the remaining frame cross members. I already had the front half of the trans crossmember in place, so I narrowed the rear half and glued it in place:

At least the funky twists on the added frame rail sections (mostly) disappeared once the rearmost two cross member were added, and once I decide what to do with the frame rail ends, I'll probably add one more.

I picked up a GMC Truck service manual, too, so no shortage of good info and reference material inside:

[1930fordpickup]

Looking good. I like the info picture you added Casey.

[Trucker Al]

Love this idea! cant wait to see it finished!!

Alex

[Casey]

cant wait to see it finished!!

No guarantees it will ever get to that point.

I'm trying to figure out how to best locate the dual fuel tanks and the four batteries, and I'd prefer things to be symmetrical, so I'm still considering my options. I may end up filling in the steps on the Astro's tanks and casting some copies, too. It's going to be a tight fit between the back of the cab and front of the bed, but it should all fit.

[Chuck Most]

What I'd do...

Lose the steps in the tanks, and either mount the batteries under the cab (doubt there's much room though) or use a second battery box. Air tanks or a small tool box could also be used on one side or the other to balance things out.

[Casey]

Lose the steps in the tank

Done. Well, I filled the holes where the step indentations were, so hopefully tomorrow night I can get the two tanks finish sanded.

I removed the gauges/instrument cluster from the AMT '53 Stuebaker Starliner kit's dash and added it to the truck's dash, butt I still have some blending to do. I figured with a semi-experimental turbine engine, a few auxiliary gauges would be a necessity, rather than a luxury:

I cut away the sides of the interior tub, too, as seen above, but I'm not quite ready to make the cab's doors functional just yet. I wanted better detailed door panels and might make a few more changes and/or additions to extend this project even longer.

I picked up the AMT Ford LN 8000 Race Car Hauler kit today, too, so it will donate a few things to this project.

[olsbooks]

A most interesting build.

I don't always kitbash to this extent, but when I do, YOU have the process and skills down pat to an art. Thanks for the details and inspiration.

OR....as it goes on the commercial.......

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by olsbooks

[greymack]

I sure like this build and all the detail. Looking nice man

[Casey]

I'm not quite ready to make the cab's doors functional just yet.

Now I'm ready.

There was too much overlap between the work needed on the interior and the body, so it was time to cut out the doors. The wheel houses are already a very good fit to the body, so I will concentrate on filling the jambs, making door hinges, and tweaking the dash mounts.

[Casey]

Fuel tanks are sanded, so I made four tank brackets from 3/32" square brass tubing to mount them to the frame rails. I simply cut a V-shaped notch on the inside of the bend, cold bent the tubing to 90*, then soldered the bend to strengthen it a bit and fill in any gaps. After measuring twice and cutting both legs of each bracket once, we have these:

I drilled a hole in two of the brackets and used some R.B. Motion bolts for holding them in position temporarily against the frame rails:

I started on the one of the rear leaf spring packs, but still need to trim some to length and shape the ends a bit, too. The piece of 1/16" brass rod is holding them together temporarily:

[Chuck Most]

Some pretty good door jamb/hinge detail shots- http://www.purplewave.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?140116/H8359

[disabled modeler]

That is awesome work Chuck...!

[Casey]

Some pretty good door jamb/hinge detail shots

Perfect, thank you. Saves me from asking you for more shots from that '59(?) you had access to.

[Chuck Most]

Yeah, when I sold that, the second it was gone I thought "You know, I never did take any pics of the hinges, door jambs, or seat pattern..."

[Casey]

The individual leaves in one rear leaf spring pack are almost done. Not sure if the bottom leaf will be needed or not yet, so I haven't trimmed it for length:

I still need to add clamps and possibly adjust the second longest leaf for length, too. I filled in the spring eye with some styrene tubing for future ease of mounting, though it's not shown above.

Next up were the rear leaf spring brackets for the front springs, but in my motivated state I failed to notice the rear ends of the springs are where the shackles are located, so I will need to go back and fill in what I removed. I don't think mounting the shackles at the front end of the front springs would fly on such a heavy truck:

The news wasn't all bad, though, as the new brackets align perfectly with the front axle's spring pad areas/mounts:

The brackets are a bit close to the fuel tanks, but there shouldn't be any issues, even at full suspension compression with the shackles swinging back:

I used the steering knuckles from a previously cut-apart C-series front axle, trimmed the molded-in knuckles off the GMC Astro 95's front axle, did some sanding and test fitting, and ended up with this:

The two pieces above the axle are the two longest front spring leaves, one for each side, with styrene tube used for the spring eyes. I'm trying a different method which will (hopefully) allow me to get the spring curvature correct once I permanently assemble the leaves.

[72 Charger]

Such neet work Casey looking good

[Superpeterbilt]

Awesome work.

[Rigzndiesel]

Very nice scratch building. I wish I had skill like this. You are doing amazing work here, it is fun to watch!

Jeff

[Ramfins59]

Nice work Casey.

[Casey]

Thanks, guys.

Chuck's link to the C-Series tanker images was extremely helpful, especially the door jamb image shown below, so with that are in mind, it was time to do some cutting in the stepwell area. AMT squared the front of the stepwell area off when it should have been more rounded, at least the section where the windshield washer reservoir resides, like so:

I cut off the front of the stepwell area and added a quarter-round section of 5/8" diameter styrene to get the shape closer to the real thing. After everything has cured, I'll bevel the quarter-round piece to match the angle of the floor. After this one small step, here's what it look like:

Underneath the cab I added a piece if 1/16" styrene rod to support the joint, but eventually that area will be smoothed once I add another filler piece to match the thickness of the stepwell's sides, seen as the white styrene pieces the round rod butts up against:

I think I have an idea regarding how I'm going to make the hinge pins, too, but there's still lots of jamb work to do before I get to that point.

[dragzz]

looking good

[Casey]

My order from Scale Hardware arrived this morning, so I was able to get all four fuel tank brackets drilled and test fit with the brass bolts in place:

[72 Charger]

I like what your doing with the door jambs Casey. I think I will be watching VERY closely

[Casey]

I'm not all that satisfied with the styrene rear leaf springs, though the thicknesses and width were spot on for .500" and .750" thick 3" wide 1:1 leaves. I looked a little harder and found some 1/32" x .125" brass flat stock in K&S's Special Shapes line, so while the width is near perfect, the thickness scales out to .781" in real life-- a tiny bit thicker than I wanted, but I think it'll work. The additional thickness of each leaf will mean fewer leaves per spring pack and a slightly beefier look, but most of the spring pack will be hidden by the rear tires anyway.

I started by cutting the top leaf roughly to length, heating and forming the eye at the forward end, then giving it a very slight bend. The second leaf was shaped around the first, but only has half an eye, so much easier to make. I bent the rear end of the second spring 90 degrees to match this reference photo I took of a Chevy C7500 truck:

Leaf #3 also received a bend at the rear, but its bent end is located forward of the rebound bolt, which was also added on both sides using Scale Hardware bolts:

I also picked up some .250" aluminum rod and made a tank to replace one of the kit's two-piece styrene tank: