Chariots of Fire

Maybe not so much. Things like hydraulic fluid around pistons, grease drippings around articulation points, etc. bright shiny bare metal for the grabber surface and blade on the rear, dusty but not muddy tires, slightly worn tire contact surfaces. Even worn off paint where the operator walks and grab handles, door edges where constant contact wears the paint off. These kinds of things are easy to do with light washes, weathering powders and the like and they don't take away from the details of the piece. They just enhance without making it look like a muddy mess.

No mud. Just a little wear at typical places where the paint would rub off.😃

That's really something! However, I have never seen one quite so clean and neat! Time to get it just a little bit dirty and with the paint taken off the claw and plow! 😎

No. I gotta go upstairs for a couple of minutes!

Agreed. Rustoleum paint is without a doubt the worst paint for model work. It's thick, Does not spray cleanly and remains tacky for days. It also is worthless after the first two or three uses. The nozzle cloggs and cannot be cleaned. The paint in a can might be ok for outside house paint but that is about it. Tamiya and Testors have some great colors that are rattle can ready. Not a bad way to paint in some ways.

Hi, Mike. Check out the IPMS (International Plastic Modelers Society) forum or Military Modelers Forum. Either place deals a lot with military aircraft builds and modeling. They might even be able to offer some advice on the ordnance the F-18 carries. I do military softskin models as well as civilian pieces and have found that more than one forum helps when I need advice. BTW. You are still welcome here, for sure!👍😉

Back into it, I think! A few months back I had set this build aside for lack of enthusiasm in getting involved in the details of the body. In the process of doing other things one day, I knocked the box with the truck inside onto the floor. The officer side front door came off, the frame was snapped in two along with the underpinning of the rear tandems. It immediately went back in the box and was left that way until a few days ago. After taking another look at the damage I decided to see about fixing it. The door went back almost immediately and with only slight evidence of it having been broken clean off. It took a bit more to reassemble and reinforce the frame where it broke and even more to put the tandems back together. I had to pop off the center hubs of the rear tires to remove them but fortunately I had used CA sparingly for just that purpose. So here is where it is now and with additional study and a few photos of the real rig I just may get back into it and "get 'er done!"!!

Welcome, Kat. I have a friend who is from the UK and is a modeler. I'll ask him where the better hobby shops are that might have a good selection of what you are looking for. You'll find plenty of encouragement here with lots of ideas that you can try out.

Welcome to the site, Beckham. Can I make a suggestion? Start small with just a tiny part of the diorama you plan on building. Don't think of the overall project that you have to get done all at once. It will try your patience and that is something you will have to get used to. Looking forward to seeing what you do.

Welcome to the MCM Forum, Wan. Looking forward to seeing your work. We are here to help if you have any modeling questions.

Got a piece of window glass from local hardware store. It sits on a wood cutting board that we discarded from the kitchen. I tape the edges with masking tape to protect fingers from getting cut. A perfectly flat surface for making frames or preparing squared up corners.

Carbide drills are my favorite also. I found a good source when I need to replace them. Toolbits Unlimited has all kinds at reasonable prices. I buy #74's in sets of 10 and the cost is only about $6. Also have a variety similar to Peteski.

Hi, Greg. Has 5 holes just like the mounted ones. The outside ring with 12 bolts is separate.

After a bunch of fiddly stuff finally was figured out and completed, the ambulance went to the paint shop and to the sign shop for the decals. Finished it up with a completed interior, GI gas can and pioneer kit for the passenger side. Not sure what will be next. A few days off from an intense work week and a clean work bench may lead to something. We'll see.

Hey, Peter. I bought some of the FF chrome and it is really nice. The great part about it is that it can be brushed on so that it floods the area whereas Molotow and other pens are very restricted in the surface area they can cover. It appears to be very durable. Bright is ok with me. Certain details just cry out for a nice shiny surface. See you at CP!

Got a bit more done on the build. Rear doors are done and top has been secured to the body. The bumper is made of brass and has been mounted to the frame. Got some tow hooks to add.

Got the hood done after a lot of trial and error. Headlights are in place temporarily and the fuel filler has been added to the left rear. The hood will sit flat when I get some pins mounted to hold it down. Two different curves make it hard to bend in two directions at once. But it's coming.

Yup! Getting there!

Got a lot accomplished in the last couple of days. The radiator is set along with the shroud and the fenders and running boards are in place. Today I worked on the hood sections. Still some tweaking to do on the center of each piece to get it ready for a hinge.

Just comparing the model to the real truck it looks like the grill could be raised just a tad. Match the height to the hood by adjusting the edges of the hood so it is squared off to meet the grill. Then reshape the top of the fenders accordingly. I think you also have to take out the sculpture line that goes around the fender opening. So don't put it away yet! It's getting there.

Looking good, Mark. More and more like an IH every day! Keep it going. Hope you are feeling better.👍

It's a reverse clamp sort of thing, spring loaded so it grips. Has two triangular pieces of metal that draw off the heat.

I don't do videos but at least I can explain what I do. The brass is thin sheet of 0.015" thickness. It has to be clean so I do so with some steel wool. For the air vent, the top curved surface was made first by cutting out a piece of the approximate length and width I need and was then trimmed to final size. I bent it slightly using a piece of brass tubing as a guide to get the curvature even. Then I laid the curved piece on its side on top of another piece of brass sheet. Liquid flux was put along the edge of the curved piece along with some small pieces of thin silver bearing solder wire. I use a small butane torch to heat the brass sheet, holding the torch away from the sheet 4-5 inches. The heat is applied in the area that you want the solder to flow, in this case against the curved edge of the other brass sheet. Once it flows take the heat away and let it cool. Then the second side was applied the same way. Final trimming of the sides was done after the solder cooled. It only takes a few seconds. After that the hole was cut for the photoetch mesh using a drill for a starting hole and then small files. Whenever I can I try and solder pieces that are oversized and then trim them down afterwards. Trying to solder finished pieces without getting them misaligned is nearly impossible. I also have a soldering iron that has adjustable heat. I use that for small pieces where only the minimum heat is applied. I also use a heat sink to draw heat away from places I don't want it to go. Sometimes resistance soldering equipment is better to use but the equipment I have has heavy cords and I have found it hard to keep things in place during the soldering process. The benefit of such equipment is that the heat is directed right at the point where you want the solder to go. Eliminates a lot of cleanup. Hope this helps, Mark. My suggestion is give it a try and see how it works out.

Made some real progress in the last few weeks. It took a while but the effort was worth it. The top needed some adjustment and the body sides also needed modification for height and length. With that accomplished work on the body interior commenced. There just was no way to get the details inside with the top glued down but with them now complete I can do that. The dark red linoleum floor has since been added but is not shown in the photos below. Stretcher brackets, compartments for emergency supplies, arm and leg splints, interior lighting and support brackets were all done for the body and top. The seats are folding type. The one on the left is up since a stretcher will be supported on that side. The one on the right will stay down. The straps near the floor are for securing loose materials. The two loops inside the top are the other stretcher support brackets. Rope ties from the stretcher will be hung from them. The top is now ready for final installation. The cab doors have been hung and fitted. The last remaining bit of body work to be done once the top is secure includes feathering in the top with the windshield and filling in the two areas where the curved wrap is above the doors. The drip edge will be installed along the joint between the top and body sides. One last detail is the air vent in the top. It is made of 3 pieces of soldered brass with a photoetch mesh inside. There is a fan also inside the opening that can be seen from the top and from inside.

Today I made a slush mold and cast a top for the WC-54. The Renshape top was used as a master. After the mold set up I poured in some two part casting resin and sloshed it around the surface. It took about 5 such applications to completely get the sides to a reasonable thickness but now the interior has the shape of the outside and I can detail the interior of the body.