BK9300

Looks good, Brenton - the other chrome parts you have yet to add will definitely add some bling!

Looking good, Victor - almost looks like you've got enough headroom for a sleeping loft!

That looks pretty special, Gary - hope you find the hood you need! Any chance of extending/modifying your existing hood?

So well done - looking terrific in the mockup!

So close to being finished the battery boxes - a little more work, and then paint! I had made the brackets for the upper step a few days ago, and now had to attach them to the box. I'm not confident about the epoxy holding the diamond plate to the covers - a corner of one lifted while I was trimming the lower and back edges of the plate. I used thin CA glue to hold the corner back in place, but not as sure as I would like to be how well the diamond plate is secured. I wasn't going to epoxy the brackets to the diamond plate, or use CA glue because I'd make a mess around the brackets, so I decided upon actually bolting the braces to the cover, like the real thing. Taped the brackets in position and used a 0.6 mm bit to drill through the plate/styrene cover; the bolts and nuts in the pic are from Scale Hardware - Brackets with the bolts spotted in place - With some (lots!) of difficulty, and a pair of tweezers in each hand, I did get all the nuts snugged up into place. I nipped off the bolt ends, and applied some thin CA glue the nuts and threads that should, hopefully, keep the nuts from backing off. Then, I cut a couple lengths of the Auslowe metal steps to fit in the upper brackets. Same problem here about how to attach both sets of step treads. Might rough up the inside ends of the steps, and the styrene perches, and just go with CA glue. Seems a bit of a shame to paint over the metal parts, but the real ones are aluminum so that's what's needed! One more mockup of boxes on truck - Next, to completely finish the fabrication, I need to have a go at those CTM hood latches, for the sides of the boxes, to hold the covers in place. Would be great if I could attach them so they could be unhooked - the rubber latch is a tiny bit stretchy - and the covers remain removable. After that, need to paint, then onto batteries for the driver's side box, then onto the wiring to the motor. Take care!

Thanks, Dan - it's getting there, and quite a few more updates likely needed! Thanks, Gary - thankfully, I've been getting lucky with a bunch of 'firsts' for me in this build! Much appreciated, Francis! About those tools, every time I go to the hobby store, I come back with more paint, and tools, than I intended to buy. If I was 10 (or 15) years younger, I'd sure like to have a try at the type of machining that you're so accomplished at. But, I think I'll just 'stay in my lane' and carry on with tools for styrene! Thanks, Scott, and with posts like yours, I'm continuing to learn about trucks - didn't know about all the different groups of batteries out there for trucks!

I agree with Gary, and your primer laid down very smooth on the body. Should look great in maroon.

Very sad to hear about this. Don’t know him personally, but had a few email exchanges when ordering parts in the past. Hoping for the best for him through this tough time.

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.