BK9300

I’ll agree with that! Really liking the level of detail - lots to take in and enjoy.

This combo is going to be a sight to see, for sure! Really looking forward the details inside the trailer - wonderful work on it so far, Victor!

Always a treat to follow along on your builds - get to continuously pick up detailing nuggets!

Great looking trio of Mack’s! Your process of designing and printing your own ‘kits’ lead to very unique builds - well done!

That’s quite a combination, Jürgen! Look forward to seeing your post in “Under Glass”.

That’s impressive, Dan. It’s amazing, in real life, how the cars move so little and no damage is done to them while confined in such tight spaces!

Just about there, with the battery/tool box fabrication, and I got to use a new tool today, for the first time! Had this in the cabinet for awhile, thinking I was going to be making a set of the photo etch boxes from I had purchased from CTM - they weren't deep enough, though. But, turns out it was very handy for bending the diamond plate covers. Taped everything down, so I didn't mess up the scribe/cut line on the diamond plate. A few passes and some decent pressure on a fresh X-acto knife blade, and the thin plate was cut apart - I cut a small, test section, to get the spacings right for the bends on the actual covers - scribed a couple fold lines on the backside of the test plate and gave it a try. Test cover held in place with tape Covers bent to shape and held in place with tape. I wasn't sure how much the cover plate length might shorten from the bending, if any, so I left the lower and back edges of the plates a bit long - I'll trim them to their final size before I epoxy them in place. Tomorrow, need to do a bit of clean up sanding on the boxes, trim and epoxy the cover plates in place, make two sets of upper step brackets and steps, epoxy and 'bolt' the upper brackets through the cover plates, and set them aside to let the epoxy cure. Hope to get some paint on them sometime this weekend - take care!

Thanks a lot, Francis - appreciate the comments - and didn't stay awake very long early yesterday morning, so all is good. I am a bit surprised (and thankful!), though, that moments like that often lead me to solutions for problems about how to fix something or make the 'next step' clear!

That's remarkable and very believable weathering you achieved on your 'Mule' - just an amazing job!

Thanks, Jeff, and I’ve appreciated all your observations along the way, from hands-on with these trucks. And who’d of thought that wondering about clearances on a model would wake someone up at night ! You’re too kind, Jürgen. I suppose anything is possible, but there are several other project ideas already in line! Much appreciated, Gary! I sure seem to rely on those templates from my digital model.

Excited to see you’re able to get back at this wonderful project - tremendous amount of excellent scratch building going on!

Had a bit of an anxious moment at 4:30 am today - I found myself quite wide awake, wondering if the battery box would be in the way of the underbody plow. So, that was first on the list for today and all turned out ok. Got some more done on the boxes - made the covers that I will now need to see if I can cover with thin, diamond plate from CTM. Set the truck up with the underbody plow in place and mocked up the battery box again - lots of clearance. (step tread looks a bit warped but I think it will lie straight once epoxied in place) More patterns for the covers - scored the cover lids where the bends are needed - Covers are made - I added 'cleats' at the inside, back edges of the covers that slip over the back edge of each box and hold the cover in place. I still hope to attach sets of those little photoetch and rubber hood latches from CTM - more small holes to drill! Once the diamond plate has been epoxied to the top surface of the covers, I will need to add two brackets and a step to each box. Again, the boxes will be painted satin black and I'm leaning towards painting the cover/step assemblies aluminum - there is a bit of room between the covers and the boxes so paint won't bind the covers. I'm hoping to end up with the boxes looking close to this - Thanks again, to all who have a look and thanks, too, for the generous comments along the way!

Thanks, Steve - glad you like all the 'stuff' - I know you're a stickler for the details in your builds, too! Thanks, Jürgen - well, definitely some manufacturing going on, but the production line isn't going very fast! As far as the Marmon - the 'Rolls Royce' of trucks - I don't know if I could make a cab and hood from scratch.

Yesterday afternoon, after taping down the pieces to a piece of 0.5mm sheet, I started cutting the pieces out and soon decided that the 0.5mm stock would look too thick, so I transferred all the cutout patterns to a sheet of 0.25mm sheet and carried on. I did get all the pieces for the battery and tool boxes cut out late yesterday afternoon, but still have more to do for the covers. Did a bunch of sanding and edge truing this morning, then spent the rest of the morning and afternoon solvent gluing all the box pieces together, with wait times in between for joins to set up. I used my aluminum miter box as a line-up tool, to square the starting seams as best I could. Some more hardware to be used - those tiny, aluminum and brass hex rivets from Top Studio will 'bolt' the mounting flanges to the box as well as the supports for the perforated steps from Auslowe. The diamond plate will need to be cut to make the top layer of the covers for the boxes. The basic boxes have been assembled, with some of the pieces for the covers in the background - definitely much happier having used 0.25mm stock instead of 0.55mm - looks more to scale. Managed to cut the metal steps to length using several careful, pressure cuts with an X-acto blade. 'Bolts' are only in temporarily - will need to be trimmed to length and CA glued in. Perforated steps mocked in place - boxes will be painted satin black The underslung cross member and the battery box mocked in place This pic looks like a lot of room between the back edge of the fender and the edge of the battery box. It's that way on the real truck, too - maybe needs to be that way because of the cross member? Don't know the answer to that! The batteries I have are from CTM, but are listed as 'European truck' batteries, with both posts on same end. I also don't know if there are North American batteries like this, but I am converting them to bolt posts, or threaded terminals, and will put the posts on opposite ends of the batteries. Will hopefully get the covers made tomorrow!

Very kind of you, Francis. And about results, sure looking forward to your upcoming posting(s) of progress on your machined engine for the Demon!

Beautiful build! And I'm still in awe of your diorama setup...

Another beautiful creation from your work bench, Germán! You bring very talented skills to your model making.

Tremendous job, Mark! You devoted a huge amount of time, dedication and determination to this project and should be rightly proud of the result you have created. Well done!

I've not stopped work on the dash, but as is happening more frequently, I'm needing to jump around to get all the finishing to come together. I need to paint the cab, finish the interior, and wire the firewall, which includes a bit of wiring from the engine. I will need to finish the starter wiring and that led me to the battery boxes and my distraction from the dash! So, my list is good for what's left to do - not so much for the order in which to do things. I finished cutting out all the pattern pieces for the battery box / tool box steps and taped them all down to a 0.5 mm sheet of styrene. In the past, on this build, I've cut out the pieces with a razor saw. I read somewhere, recently, of someone simply scoring the plastic and snapping the plastic along the score, like I've done with gyproc. I'll have to give that a try on some of the longer, straight cuts, to see if it will speed up the process a bit! Not much accomplished today, and choosing to cut out parts in this manner has, overall, certainly added lots of extra time to the build, but I get to end up with a custom part and will be certain of having finished battery/tool boxes that are solid and represent the real Western Star boxes. lots more cuts to make. . . I've seen some examples of photo etch battery cable ends available online, but they are very small and I don't always have good luck applying CA glue. So, looking at lots of truck battery pics online, I'm going to modify some resin batteries I have, into bolt post batteries and use some of the Scale Hardware fasteners to bolt the battery cables in place. If I use 0.5mm brass rod, I can use pliers to flatten about 1.0mm of an end, shape it a bit and drill a bolt hole in it. Then I can cut off the flattened section, with a bit of extra length, and insert it into a suitable size wire for the battery cables and bolt them into place. That's the goal anyway. This has become a much more involved project than I first imagined, but it's been a very rewarding experience - both the project's modeling and the opportunity to see all the great work going on in the forum. I very much appreciate all your comments along the way, so, hopefully you can endure to the end - it is in sight! Take care.

Thanks, Steve! Yes, Jeff have a good idea about the punch and I've had success with the dryer in the past, so all worked out well! Thanks a lot, Gary - don't know how you do more than one build at a time - I wouldn't have room or be able to keep things straight! Thanks very much, Mark - I appreciate you having a look!

Excellent detailing and paint finish, Randy (like the rusting weld seams on your exhaust piping!) - terrific job!

You created a very striking model, Steve - congratulations on a job well done!

Nice tribute to your Dad’s truck - great memory to preserve.

That’s a real brute of a machine - would be humbling to stand beside one in real life!

Great job with the foil work, Scott. Your interior is going look like the real deal when your done, too!