Chariots of Fire

Hello, Juregen: The canvas roof, or tarp,is a single ply sheet of "kleenex" tissue that I draped dry over the brass frames. Then I painted the tissue with a mixture of water and white glue. The tissue needs to be plain with no imprints or designs otherwise they will show up in the final product. I let it dry over night. After it dried I gave it an outside only coat of Tamiya AS-6 which is the color of the model. I let that dry. I decided to roll up the sides rather than show them tied down. Once rolled up I glued the sides in place. Then I painted the whole thing again this time both inside and outside. This sealed the "tarp" to the frame. The straps are only strips of brown paper bag. I used a small piece of brass wire to represent the buckles. They are just glued down with CA which tends to seep into the paper. To hold the straps in place under the rolled up tarp I made a small brass "U" out of wire, folded the end of the paper strip around it and glued it over. Then I tucked the "U" under the rolled up tarp and glued it in place. The final touch was to use some weathering powders to highlight the edges of the top and where it is drawn tight against the frames. Military modelers use this technique all the time. So I decided to give it a try. Worked well.

This is about as good as I can get without removing the top. I can do that if I am careful but in the meantime here is what I can show. I need some better lighting as well.

I love working with flat paints! They hide a lot of those flaws! Just finished the rear view mirror. Now it's on to the slat seats in the back. That's one reason I decided to roll up the tarp sides so you can see inside the body better.

Quite a bit done since the last posting. The project is nearly done. Need some markings on the hood, bumper and sides.

Those tires and wheels are the exact ones I used on the WC-52. I did modify them a bit for the locking rings that go on the outside. Lots of goodies on the Ertl piece!

Try the model ship builder's guild. Also Model Shipways can probably help you out.

Craft wire is perfect for making that sort of thing. What espo said. Michaels craft store is also a good source. But you do have to fabricate your own.

The original question was why was it so hard for young people to get into modelling. Ceaser_Salad: Has your question been answered???

I've put the top aside for now. Got some 'wrinkles" to work out on its construction. But here is where the build is of today. Last thing done was to paint and assemble the headlight buckets, make up a blackout light and two small running lights for the front. Time to start on the winch and front bumper. Interior of the cab is done with all of the levers, controls etc. I've added just a bit of wear on top surfaces such as the running board and the plate on each side the the cab where shoes would normally wear the paint away. Still have some windshield wipers to make up and secure the clear sheet for the glass.

Why would any kid today want to do anything so mundane as building models anyway? Everything is done for them. Instant gratification has been the thing for years now. To build something and then show it along side something another person did? Why that might breed hurt feelings. Can't have them getting their sensitive little egos hurt ya know. The current generation has no clue what it means to entertain themselves away from the cell phone or video games. It's not a matter of patience. That comes with practice. What is missing is discipline whether it's in the home, in school or at play. I know, I'm ranting. And there are some young people today who have it figured out and will become great men and women in society. So it's not fair to put them all in the same category. Nevertheless they are in the minority compared to others who seem to have no clue which end is up. The question was asked and that is MHO!!?

I'm with Zippi. The paint is truly great just the way it is. Sometimes a clearcoat just is a step too far.

Did some painting on the canvas top. Ok, but I think I can do a bit better. A piece is still needed between the windshield and the body canvas and a piece needs to be made for the back. Floorboards are done and ready for installation. Today was windshield day. It's made of brass tubing, brass angle and strip stock. It folds down.

Going in a slightly different direction with the build. The WC has a canvas top so I began to experiment with some plain kleenex type tissue and a white glue/water mix on top of some brass ribs. Just a trial run really to see how it works out. There are other pieces that would have to be done including the piece that runs from the windshield to the top of the canvas top and a rear piece as well. The tiedowns on the body are what hold the canvas in place. Doing the ropes for that should be a lot of "fun". In the meantime a center section of the floorboard is in a cast for molding parts in resin. It will sit on top of the flat floorboard piece that is already made. Then comes the windshield. The small pieces of plastic on the sides of the hood are 0.030" quarter round to represent the vents. The round circles on the back of the body are the outside of reflectors. Once the body is painted the centers will be painted silver and toped with Tamiya clear red. The canvass tiedowns are brass wire, flattened on one end and then bent over.

Wow! What a transformation. Looking forward to see what you do with it!

The basics of the hood are finished. Just a bit of touchup and the six louvers for the sides. Now it's on to a few details under the fenders and then the floorboards. The two cutouts in the body on the right side are done as well. The larger rear one will have a reflector and a tiedown hook. The front one just has the hook. Left side still to go along with the fuel filler.

Got some work done on the hood in the past couple of days. It's a real bummer to have finally run out of the small piano hinges that can be soldered on. So I opted for using some of the Micro-Mark H style hinges in three places and filled in the gaps with small pieces of brass tubing. One alternative would be simply to use all individual H hinges but I think this will be ok in the long run. Now it's on to the hood sides with a similar hinge issue. But with those the entire hinge is inside where it cannot be seen except when the hood is folded back.

Second fender is now on with the left side running board. This is where the spare tire will be mounted.

WOW! Does time fly! If you had asked me when that was I would have said 4-5 years ago. But 9! Must be getting old!

The fenders have been cast and the process of mounting them in the right place is being done. Lots of trial and error, even with scale drawings because so many different things have to match up. I did some study of the photos in the technical manual reproduction to get some information. The rest is just getting pieces cut, fit here, cut there, sand this, match that.....etc. In the background is the mold and the two Ren Shape fender masters. They were simply glued down to a flat base like the casting at the right and a box was built around them to hold the RTV. Even with the raised outer edge, the castings can be removed easily one they are set hard. It took a bit to get everything lined up. The grill guard is made of small strip brass and wire soldered together. If the winch was not part of the model the grill guard would extend down abut twice as far. But the winch and its frame do the same thing to protect the radiator from objects coming at it from the front. The fender at lower right will be trimmed as the right one that is now on the frame. Not only is it a piece of the model detail it really stiffens up the resin casting so that it will not sag. The fender has an outer edge that is thicker than the underneath part. The radiator shroud is temporarily screwed to the radiator so that things can be lined up. Once all is said and done the radiator cap will hide the screw.

Was that the issue that featured the USAF Type O-5 Crash Truck?

I'm not a good tinker, Bob! I've tried it several times, some results not so good, others ok, The most difficult part is getting the bend at the outside edges. I tried soldering a thin strip to the fender once it was curved but that meant having to bend the strip in two different directions. Even after annealing it was not easy. So I just went with what worked before. Besides I am doing two of these rigs so making a mold meant killing two birds with one stone. Or in this case casting two sets of fenders with one mold!

Here are the pieces carved from Ren Shape for the fenders. With this work completed the next task is to give them a coat of clear gloss to seal the pores and then they will be ready for casting. The block in the background of the first photo is the Ren Shape. The outline of the fender was drawn on one face and the fender was roughed out on the band saw. then the outside curves were sanded to the line drawn. Then the final underside was sanded out using a Dremel and sanding disk. In one fender I had to add a small sliver of Ren Shape to the inside but it is sanded smooth. It takes CA glue nicely. The inner fenders will be done separately to fit on top of the frame. Once the fenders are cast the inner fender pieces will be glued to the fenders themselves. This will strengthen the castings and keep them from possibly sagging later on although that was not an issue when I did the fenders for the Class 325's.

Since the last post I have made an executive decision to switch to Ren Shape for the front fenders. Having done one fender in brass the decision was easy as there is much more control over the shape. Once a set is made a mold will be made to cast two sets. One set for this one and one for the next one when it comes on the line.

Work begun on the body. Basic construction is with .030" Evergreen stock. The inside of the bed came from the '41 Chevy pickup kit. It was exactly the right width and only needed to be shortened about 1/4". The raised center part of the tailgate and the front of the body raised portion were made using 0.040" half round stock. Small strip brass was used for the hinges and the upper latches. Each of the tail lights and side lights on the body are indented. So far the back ones were done by opening up each area and using a rat tail file to make the opening round. Then a piece of sheet was glued to the inner face of the body. Finally a drop of casting resin was put into the opening. Surface tension kept the resin up against the outer portion of the opening. When it set it looks like the edges are beveled. Now to begin some work on the front fenders. If it looks like the body is extra wide compared to the rear wheels it is. The track is only 63" while the body width is 82. Maybe in the design they were expecting to use double wheels in the back but this is how it is. The front fenders are just about the same as the Power Wagon that came out after the war. There have been several done as diecasts; Danbury Mint, Matchbox and Ertl to name a few. Below are a pair of resin cast fenders that were done using the Danbury Mint model as a master. The shape is good and surprisingly it is the right scale and width. However, I'm finding them too thick for my taste so using some masking tape I covered the surface of them and then trimmed the tape. The tape was lifted off as one piece and laid flat on some brass sheet. I'll cut the outlines, bend to shape and solder on the tapered edge. The results will be a much finer fender line.

The axle on the Ertl P/W extends into the brake plate and it (the end of the axle) Is split with a round nub on it. When pushed into the brake plate it snaps in place and cannot be dislodged without cutting. I tried squeezing the ends together with needle nose pliers to see if I could pull the axle free after I removed the tire but it would not budge. You have to pry the tire off the rim. After doing that the outside portion of the wheel will separate from the brake plate to expose the nub on the end of the axle.