Chariots of Fire

With the body work basics complete work on the compartment doors commenced with the cutting open of the rear ones. While the real truck has piano hinges but there is an alternative to a piano hinge. (Wish they were still available but they are not). The rear door has been fitted with a small section of brass tubing on the left side. It was glued to the door with CA. After the tubing was set additional CA was put along the seam on both sides and then wiped clear. The surface was given a light sanding. This fills in the very small area between the tubing the the flat surface of the door. Notches were made in the body, both top and bottom and similar small sections of tubing were glued in place. A piece of stainless wire is run up through the bottom piece, through the tubing on the door and into the upper small tubing section in the body. The door swings easily without binding. On the right of the door is a chrome slam lock from Don Mills Hobbies. A rectangular opening is made in the door for the back of the lock. Now the door opens. In the foreground is a piece of the stainless wire that is used to pin the hinge pieces together. It's small stuff but it works. Once painting is done and final fitting of the doors is complete the pin is installed and given a small drop of CA to secure it so it won't fall out. Note the putty at the top of the door. That is where the small piece of tubing is. When all is sanded smooth the tubing will not show, and will be locked in with CA and putty. Now on to the rest of them!

Rear of the body has been built up using some treadplate and sheet stock. It's amazing how much more rigid the body sides are now with the added pieces glued in place. In addition I'm going to use a bit of artistic license and install this generator/engine combination just behind the cab. The real truck has the compartment doors lettered "Power Supply" and "Emergency" so I think it will fit.

Thanks, Casey. I saw the photos with the engine change. No where near like it was when new. I'll figure something out. I have a gas engine/generator made up for the front of the body. The lettering on the sides suggest that there was one. So I'll open up the compartment doors to show the generator in place.

If they miss this one coming there is something wrong!? Nice clean build, Ken!

Here's an update on progress. The body basics are done with the exception of cleaning up a couple of areas. The interior will be next and then the compartment doors will be cut open. The body is made of 0.030 sheet stock with round tubing corners. The tubing was quartered and glued to the side, front and top panels. The small corners were filled in with plastic and putty. Putty was used to clean up some of the seams but for the most part only light sanding was needed. Top rear edges of the canopy still need some cleanup and then I'll put in a piece of sheet stock inside. There are ribs for stiffeners inside the top but another layer of sheet material will stiffen it even more. Lots to do on the interior of the body, build the compartments and cover up the wheel wells.

Thanks for the searchlight ideas! I need to do two for the Port Vue Reo!

You should also be able to use 2 part clear epoxy to attach the windshield. Mix the epoxy and apply it where the windshield will go. Let it sit until the epoxy gets tacky. Then put in the windshield and hold it secure. You will get a good bond and there won't be any running of the epoxy.

A couple of suggestions for the wear that would take place on the running boards and floor boards. Tamiya makes some great weathering powders including a metallic one that if wiped sparingly along the corners of the running board would indicate the paint has worn off where the driver would step. Maybe a little at the corner of the seat base where his shoe would scrape against it. Similar wear on the brake and clutch pedals and on the floor directly under them.

No problem, Brian. You know the build better than I do. No sense messing with something if it doesn't help.

It may not be too late to correct those fenders. Make a cut with a razor saw behind the fenders aiming it down to just ahead of the door line. Don't go all the way but enough that you could put in a shim and glue it in position without the rest of the resin binding. Then use some plastic to fill the gaps. It will improve the looks immensely.

Hey, we've got some snow down here! Want to try it out???

More work completed in the last couple of days. The doors for the cab have brass hinges for opening. I use Micro-Mark's "H" hinges, the smallest they have. The door and door jamb are notched just enough to accept the hinge. CA is used to set the hinge location and then small nails are used to permanently attach them. The nail heads are ground down so that the hinge closes without binding. Instead of using the pins that come with the hinges I use a section of stainless steel wire that is very stiff. That helps to keep the hinges in alignment so they will open and close without binding. Once the hinges are in place the doors are reshaped using strips of plastic stock. Scribing the resin casting results in openings that are too wide and the plastic helps to close them up some. A bit of space has to be left for paint. It's surprising how much thickness a coat of paint can have that will mess up the door closing. The entire door perimeter doesn't need shimming. Only those parts that are really wide open. The final fit will show where those places are. Door is in place and the edges are trimmed for a good fit. During the process of working with this door I broke off the door handle and then inadvertently swept it into the waste basket with all of the other scrap. A new door handle was cut from a piece of brass strip stock and installed in its place.

Nice looking rigs! HO scale is nice sometimes as a change of pace. Looking forward to seeing the results!

Those wheels are great! They show off the detail, a little of the original shine and some wear all at the same time. And they have the look of having been taken care of. Great job!

Some additional photos of the progress made since the last post. I found some blue rattle can paint that looks pretty close to the color used on the actual rig so I painted up the front wheels and trimmed the edges in silver. The center hub will be done with Molotow chrome but not until a lot more is finished so that they don't get marred in the process. The hood now stays open with the rod made of brass tubing pieces. It slides on the rod that connects between the radiator and the firewall. Now I can close the hood without it binding. Two T handles will secure the hood down in the front.

Don't forget the door handles and mirrors! Looking real good!

the engine is just about complete. A light grimy black wash darkened it up a bit which is more like the actual color. Wiring of distributor is complete to plugs. Fuel line is done to the carb from the fuel pump and the fan belt is in place. The steering gear was finished up tonite and just needs some paint to finish it off.

That actually makes me cold!!? A fine piece of work!

Using the images above and the dimensions shown I was able to capture a reasonable engine. I found that the Opel Blitz engine was close to the correct size but I had to make some changes. The manifold and spark plugs are completely reversed so I cut off the bell housing from one end and glued it to the opposite end of the block. Then some fabrication was done for where the crank case pulley and water pump pulley are located. The outside water jacket was a pieceo of exhaust manifold from the parts box. I made the distributer and added the Opel carb and manifold pieces without any changes. The air cleaner was too small however so I found a clear wiggly eye in the parts box and attached it to some tubing and painted it black. Three pulleys were turned on the lathe. I'll keep them unpainted aluminum. A strip of black electrical tape will be wound around the pulleys for the fan belt. The driveshaft was in the parts box but the shaft itself was made of brass tubing so that it could be put in place, and slid to its full length in the holes in the end of the transmission and the differential The paint color is a bit light for a Gold Comet engine but the engine will be given a dark wash to give it some tone and some highlights. The exhaust manifold needs some browning up as well. The engine sits in the frame using front and rear mounting points. The mounts are drilled for pins so it can be located in the same place each time it is set in. During the building process it will be taken out and put back any number of times for fitting various other details.

I would not put anything on the plastic in the way of polish or compound. It might interfere with adhesion of the paint. Do the polishing on the paint after it has cured.

Oh,Wow! thanks for the drawings! I found a block to start with but now I will have to check the dimensions to see if it is close. These also give me some details I was looking for. Images I found are not that clear. thanks again "Leafsprings!!

That is some fine work! You sold me on the tire chains. Never thought they would look good but you did it! Great job!

Hey, Ken. What did you use for the hood hinge? Love the color combination!

I had to make a slight adjustment in the bumper location and it occurred to me that if I made the bumper out of brass and then plated it I wouldn't have to fool around with Alclad or BMF. So now the bumper is nickel plated. Since I was at it I changed the front fenders as well by adding a small piece of REN shape to the bottom of each one. Once painted the difference in materials won't be noticeable. The hood also needed a bit of shimming on the passenger side. May as well get the little things out of the way. Next up will be to try and build up a 6 cylinder Gold Comet engine. I'm also waiting for a package of brass hinges to come in so the cab doors can be mounted.

Thanks, Casey. From what you recall does the rig have anything else besides the spotlights and the long side seats that are visible? I've not been able to come up with a good view of inside the open body.