BK9300

Good to see the display case - better access to viewing your builds than when they were up on the shelf! How long ago was your Cruiseliner built, that the glue was failing?

Beautiful polishing job - finish looks great!

Your truck is really looking dressed up, Gary - very sharp indeed! Hope you get rid of what's ailing you soon.

Well, Jeff, you’re probably right about being annoyed if I didn’t take it further! My wife also asked me if I’d be happy if I didn’t make the hood better. So I guess I need to figure out a way to get the cab/hood closer to the real thing. Small steps is definitely the way to go, and the support (or sarcasm!) along the way is appreciated! Thanks, Jeff.

Yes, Lee, I made a lot of work for myself! Like I said earlier, was reluctant to start cab and hood, because I knew how much would need to happen to get it close to the real truck. No turning back now, and I appreciate your compliment!

More from the 'never ending pile' of Macks! You may have set a bunch of these kits to the side way back, but you certainly are catching up these days. A person might think you have a plan in place! Good start (resumption) to another build, Lee.

Pressing on with the hood, managed to get the hood back in one piece again - just need to let the styrene glue set up overnight before starting on some cleanup sanding prior to more work on the hood. Then, I created another problem for myself. . . Yesterday, I started this particular round of work by adding in the two, triangle pieces at front edge of hood. Was able to use these pieces as wedges to bring the front edge of the grill opening back to true. I also temporarily glued in another profile piece in the middle span of the hood, so the filler pieces would better follow the slight curve in the hood, front to back The original hood plastic is 1.5mm thick - I didn't think I could get a filler piece that thick to lay along the hood curve I needed, so I used two layers of 0.75mm thick styrene, cut to shape. The lower portions glued in first and the upper sections glued down after, allowed both layers to better conform to the profile pieces and the back edge of the front grill. Glued and clamped in place, the filler pieces are, thankfully, following the line of the hood, front to back. I taped the hood down to this box so all four corners were on the same level as the filler pieces are setting up. Side shot shows how the two, 0.75 mm filler pieces had laid in nicely and are following the curve by sitting on top of the profile pieces I added. Once all this has set up overnight, I will prep and finish the top of the hood for the addition of the raised, center portion characteristic of this year's 4900FA hood. So, as mentioned earlier, this is my problem - more work maybe needed on the back, side and top, edges of the hood. If I had paid better attention to my pictures of the real truck, the 2010 hood flares up slightly at the cab, has a curved side to side profile and had indentations at the rear corners to clear part of the cab's body work. This is the top profile of the hood like the one from the real truck Also, the Constellation model's cab has a firewall that is extended further away from the cab than the truck I am modeling - I looked again at my temporarily assembled dash and cab floor pan and, given how the Constellation kit goes together, the only way I could modify the exterior cab's firewall position would require that I cut back on 'cavity' between the dashboard and the inner cab wall against the firewall, and move the doghouse inward a bit as well - Not sure I'm up for all that extra work at this point in the build. Need to think about it for the next couple days, to see if there is an acceptable way to do a reasonable job of that. Lots to think about, but need to keep moving forward - will let you know in a few days! Thanks for having a look and always appreciate your comments.

It may look 'easy' but like I said, there was lots of 'sweating bullets' while cutting apart the hood - I don't have any more left if I screw it up again! Thanks for the kind words, Jeff.

Thanks for the compliment, Gary! Hopefully, not too much more to do, but still some!

You build amazing pickups, Chuck.

Lee, I bet it feels great to have this build off your bucket list! Looks very convincing in your photographs with an actual winter background. Good looking truck - great job!

A final great add to your transporter load! Looking forward to your latest transporter build.

Welcome to the forum, Ingo! Beautiful work.

That looks so cool, Pierre; awesome detailing! I like the layout diagram, too - nothing works better than knowing in advance what it is you need to make. Pleasure to follow along.

Progress being made on the hood - thankfully, things are going back together without too much of a struggle, but a good bit to go yet. Side panels have been glued back in their new position on the fenders - started to mark out the cut line at the back edge of the hood. I also have a 2mm thick profile piece temporarily glued in place to help keep the fenders lined up while the glue sets. Thankfully, there won't be too much putty work need on the fenders - not the same for the top of the hood! Similar to previous pic, but this angle shows better an unexpected benefit from doing the widening at the back of the hood - it will allow for an inner fender very similar to a real WS hood Used hood - may have a go at the inner support brace as well Will carry on with putting the top of hood back together tomorrow!

Lee, you're moving right along - I've never heard the expression, 'grass burner' referring to the exhaust, but makes sense! Did your salt spreader spot come with the kit? Great progress, overall!

Said it awhile ago, but sure like the look of your pickup, and great colour - hope the show goes well!

Good to hear! I have a Hiab or Palfinger crane in my future as well. Is that 2 stage pump, from the Century parts manual, normally bolted to a crossmember with a connecting shaft to the PTO, to better accommodate the fittings on both sides of the pump?

Scott, I missed this post - I'm guessing the page rolled over to a new one before I looked again - your engine detailing looks awesome and decals look great! I can just see the pin in the end of your hydraulic pump waiting for a hose to be attached. Looks like the PTO/pump fit in there well.

I agree! Very good interior - like I said before, like all the detail painting you do.

Those are some crazy detailed pictures! Would need to be a mechanic like you to understand what everything is for, but sure looks awesome! Wonder who their modeller is? Imagine trying to paint all that!

Thanks, Francis, I appreciate it! Have been able to use paper templates made from my 3D model to make parts for most of the scratch built items - sure helped with keeping everything in proportion.. And yes, lots of styrene, with a well stocked hobby store about half an hour away if I run low!

Beautiful car your dad owned - this will be a great build, I’m sure.

Thanks, Jeff - coming along but it’s nerve wracking while sawing away on a good hood!

Finished making the cuts on the hood and gently bent the hood halves apart, and taped them down fairly close to their final position. A few repeat looking pics, but after all the cutting. Cuts made where fenders meet side panels, a wedge cut out of top and a relief line cut across top, front edge Fenders separated and taped down to desired width. The entire back edge of the hood will need to be cut approximately along the line defined by the blue tape Very close, not perfect, to the look/width of this year of 4900FA. It remains for me to do a decent job of gluing it all back together strong enough to put up with the puttying and sanding that will be needed to finish it off properly You can see better in this pic the need for the relief line across the top, front of the hood, to allow for the front edge of the hood halves to pull away when the back edge was spread apart. Happy with where the hood is at for now - still have to work on keeping the slight curvature of the back edge of the hood. May need to make a little styrene jig, with the needed curve, to set the hood on while filler styrene is glued in place. Hopefully, I can get this looking pretty good in the next few days. Take care!