Chariots of Fire

Here's the latest pics of progress. Some additional details have been added to the cab and the interior is done. Rear fenders are in place along with the 5th wheel and the plates that direct the trailer to it. Tail lights are installed on each side of the pintle hook. Reflectors are on the outside of the frame. Decision was made to keep the cab removable, otherwise the engine detail would never be seen. I jury rigged a stand to set the cab on for display purposes.

Micro Mark items. Think they are actually made for doll houses but they fit the bill here.

Lookin' GOOD!!! Beefy looking rig for sure!

Yes it did!

The elves continue to be busy. The frame and running gear have been painted and the engine is installed. Exhaust has been added. A tool compartment is now behind the air tanks and the fuel tank is on the left side just behind the cab. All of the driveshafts are in position. I was able to get some 3D printed U-joints and put them on sections of brass tubing. They are very well defined and are easy to use. The hand brake is also now behind the transfer case. Got a few details to go on the cab with the air cleaner, fuel pump, 50 cal. mounting brackets, windshield wipers and motors and finishing up all of the details inside the cab. Plenty on the plate still to go!?

When I did mine using the Eishhorn casting all I used was the front. I blended the casting with a kit cab and used the interior from the kit as well.

It looks like it, Greg but unless Jim Eishhorn made some changes in his master, I'd say its a copy or one close to it.

Simple tool. Take a piece of brass tubing and taper the ends so that it is thinnest on the inside. Use a piece that suits the diameter you need. Place it on a piece of flat thin evergreen and hit it with a hammer. You'll have a round headlight cover.

Finally got to the point of adding some paint. The frame has been sprayed with Rustoleum etching primer. Tires are painted with Tamiya TS-82 rubber black. Rims are Testors olive drab. The engine is Duplicolor gray primer which will be the base color. Detailing will bring out the hi-lights. Still have the fuel tank and tool compartment to add to the frame sides but painting it first helps keep the coats of paint lighter.

That's pretty nice, Tom! Great work!

Another experience with Duplicolor is that the more coats you put on, the brighter the color gets. Not saying it should be put on heavy but 3-4 coats is probably a good number. Duplicolor is a very fine spray that allows it to be done that way. Polish out the foggiest after the last coat. You should get super results. Never try polishing it out between coats or you will have a real mess on your hands. The paint will draw and bead up and Duplicolor is a hard paint to strip.

I've had that happen to me a number of times. I just let it set up good and then polish it out. Doesn't ever seem to be a permanent problem. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.

☺️

Fenders are secure to the cab sides. Lifting hooks added to the front bumper and brackets are installed for the headlights. Lights are there for location but won't be set permanently until they are painted, interiors done with Molotow chrome and covered with a clear lens. Tires were painted with Tamiya "rubber black". Best representation of a rubber color I have found yet.

hey, Bob. I've tried styrene strips a couple of times but you have to roll the edges a little to maintain the look of individual leaves. That is the beauty of the brass in that the sides already have just the tiniest bit of roundness to them. Even painted the leaves still stand out. BTW, soldering the leaves is one of the easiest of things to do. I used a butane torch to heat just the ends one at a time to pull the solder in between them. Start with the shortest pieces first and build up from there. There's no solder in the middle at all. No sorcery in those steering knuckles. They all are made the same. Here's a pic of others that were used on a different build. One end goes into the axle and is secured with epoxy. The other end goes through the wheel that has a bushing in it. The wheel is secured with a small screw and washer. The screw goes into a plastic insert that is drilled out and threaded.

Only downside I see is that the images have to be trimmed right to the edge to avoid the white background. An advantage of using the ALPS and being able to put down a white background first. But this certainly is a good way to go in certain instances.

Resin castings from a mold make solid tires but it avoids what happened here. I note also that the surface is real glossy. A different type of 3D material might be in order.

Good advice on the hard suction. Impressed by the "postS"?

Another update. The front end is built up with the kingpins in place so that the front wheels turn. Tie rod is done except for final securing to align the front wheels. A few little things to secure before getting to that.

Used what I had which is a tad narrow but it worked out ok. The real springs would require a 3mm width but all I had was 2.38 mm.

Your tire fix is spot on. I did the same thing with some of the 1/32 scale trucks as well, shaving off the back of a spare Monogram tire and glueing it to the open part of the plastic tire. Worked like a charm.

Springs are now mounted on the frame and the rear axle is set at the proper height. Still work on the front axle to do in order to get the right location and wheel track. Here is where we are now.

Been so long since I did the work I don't remember. Going back and looking at your resin casting, it may be a re-pop by someone else. My headlights don't look anything like yours and the hood on mine has a small rectangular cutout in the front of the center ridge. The ridge is about 6 mm wide. Mine also does not have the vertical marker lights on the front of the fenders. The headlight lenses on mine have yellowed with time so they probably were clear resin.

That's why I made the cover but I'm thinking that I might find a way to remove the whole cab for viewing of the engine. We'll see.

Pretty sure Pinecrest Miniatures from Jamestown, PA cast that a number of years ago. I had one that I turned into a mid sized pumper. I only used the front hood and fenders, however and blended them to a kit cab.