BK9300

Very interesting article - amazing the improvements that keep being developed!

Some days, lots to show for my efforts, but today was not one of those days - a couple of do-overs held up starting the inner brace. Did get the inner fenders finished off, though, so that's a bonus. Had to retest the fit of the cab/hood with them both being raised by 2mm. Measurements from the desk top to the top of the hood, show I should be able to do the inner hood brace and not have a conflict with the air intake plenum. It was also gratifying to see the driver side row of bolt holes (for the inner fender rubber flap) are close to parallel with the frame rail In order to finish off the inner fenders, I had wanted to add something resembling the reinforcement structure that is part of the fiberglass molded inner fenders on the real truck. This inner most layer of ribbing shown here should actually have been depressions, instead of being raised. Again, not paying close enough attention to pics of real hood, I made a mistake in the layer below, so this is the result I will need to live with. Enough do overs done today on the ribbing as it was! So, guess I'll have to wait till later this weekend to see about that inner brace. Hope you all have a good weekend and thanks again for the generous comments along the way!

Thanks a lot, Ken!

Thank, Jeff - always seems to be more clean up needed than I think is going to be the case! The photos always show more rough edges than my eyes can see.

Everything's coming together, Scott - just a great looking truck! I think the diamond plate in the chain box will add a bit of break in the red deck area and fit right in.

The horizontal bars did look 'custom', but no doubt the vertical bars will add back some strength, and look good, too!

Continued on with the hood today; did final sanding before priming, then started work on the inner fender panels. Not quite ready for first primer coat - central raised section on hood needs to be fashioned and inner fender work completed Made more templates from existing inner fender edge - first go at template taped down to sheet to hold it in place for cutting. Needed to cut templated inner panel into sections because real WS 4900 panels step inwards in two places Remainder of templated panel, with holes pre-drilled for bolts to hold rubber flap in place once hood is painted Final templated panels in place Some tidying up to do, once glue sets; am also going to try and make the inner hood brace - see next pic This pic shows a real hood's inner brace - will have to test fit hood/cab on frame again, to determine if there is enough clearance, between the top of the engine's valve cover and the bottom of a brace, for the air intake plenum to cross over to the turbo Will carry on again tomorrow - will check clearance in the morning and see if a version of a brace is possible. Thanks!

I'm always going to be amazed at the quality of your hand painted finishes! And, as always, great job with all your extra detailing - the fenders, especially, stand out because they are so visible. Pleasure to watch.

I agree about the wood deck - looks terrific, right down to the bolt head detail at the plank ends.

It's a good looking truck - will be a great add to your completed builds!

Good job on the pylon - all chromed up, with the light bar, will look awesome!

Looks great, Ken - the colour of the decals is striking against your cab!

It must be frustrating about the working doors, but good to see the truck body moving forward - looks very clean!

Thanks, Francis! Sometimes it feels like the model is dictating what to do, rather than me!

Do you have a link to that set of machine screws on Amazon? Not sure my searches showed what you are talking about… That’s quite a garage full of new plow trucks! I wish there was a 1/24, WS 4700 cab/hood out there - good looking truck. The truck in the foreground must be for freeway - two wings! And, looks like it might have two tag axles? Must be quite the dump box on there - big load for fewer trips back to re-load!

Your engine looks stunning!

Your trim painting look exceptional! Do you ‘over tape’, then trim back with X-acto knife like you would do with Bare Metal Foil? Looks great.

Really like your dashboard detailing, Luke - very crisp! How do you get the gauge bezels so cleanly defined?

Some progress on the hood has been happening; have done an initial sanding on first go round of putty (needs a bit more). Been doing some test fittings of cab/hood together to see about any height adjustments that may be needed - back on page 1, I made a rear cab air bag/shock suspension and I can still set the cab forward or backward as needed to make the front of the hood locate properly. I will need to make a slight height adjustment to the cab suspension as I finalize where I need to attach front hood hinges. The front cab support will need work as well. Lots of going back and forth from the model, to pictures I took today, to get it straight in my head about what's needed next! Hood sanded after first bit of puttying When I test fit the hood to cab again, thought I better check some alignment, front of hood to door line on cab. Cab positioned so door line vertically correct, but.. front of hood needs to drop down slightly - will have to do that by shaving a wedge off of the back edge of hood. With the hood alignment corrected I set cab/hood on frame to check for height and to also start the determination of where the WS style hood hinges need to mount. The blue arrow indicates the hood hinge point provided by the kit, but its too low for the hood to tilt properly - I need to fashion hood hinges that mount to the frame, approximately, where red arrow is pointing. I have a couple of rod ends from RB Motion that I hope to make work, that will connect the bottom of the grill surround with the hinge support. Hood/cab will need to come up about 1.5 mm to allow hood to hinge properly using the new hinges. Rear cab support will also need a 1.5mm shim added on top of it - bottom of cab will still be at a height above the frame rails similar to that in my pics of real truck While cab/hood were roughly in place, I needed to check out the clearance for the inner fender and rubber flap that are on real truck - that flap was riveted to the inner fender molding, and extended just slightly below the top of the frame rail I was worried about interference with the flap, by power steering hoses and brake pot air line - the photo is kind of grainy, but, given that the flap only extends downwards to just below top of frame rail, it shouldn't interfere with any hoses. While taking the fender clearance photos, it became clear that the modifications to move the firewall back made problems for me with the front cab mount. This mount was made a long time ago, not knowing about any future work to cab/hood I might do. So, now I need to shim the support piece because it sits right at the junction where the footwell starts to slope up. Seems like I keep creating more work for myself! But, I really think that, once the hinge problem is solved, the rest of this is going to go reasonably quickly. Going out to the shed to apply a bit more putty to hood. In a few days, after the inner fenders are shaped and in place, and the hood re-sanded, should be able to give it a shot of primer and see what that reveals for any more work! As always, take care, and I welcome your questions and comments!

Slow progress with the body work, but it’s coming along! In the meantime. . . Many years ago, a video was made by Rob Bryce, showcasing the work of some of the road crews of YRB as well as those of the City of Prince George. All the solid yellow trucks belong to YRB while the white cab/yellow dump body trucks, and other equipment, were the City of PG. Now, the music for the video is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Rob sure got some great Go-Pro and drone action shots of the plow trucks, like the one I’m modelling. He dedicated the video to these road maintenance workers - a fitting tribute to an often thankless job!

Thanks very much, Steve - I know there's lots going on but thanks for having a look! I appreciate that, Victor - so far, so good with the body work - a coat of primer will tell all! Yes, it works well - who knew the counter top guy would end up helping with my model!

Very impressive modifications to your frame, right down to the pins for your engine mounts - very nice!

Thanks for checking out the WIP, Steve - lots going on, for sure, and more to come soon!

You build awesome truck combinations, Lewis - nice restoration!

Driver's side tank looks great, Scott - hope you get the front winch mounted so your hood opens, to show all your detail work!