BK9300

Beautiful looking interior finishing!

Thanks, Håkan - it’s getting much closer to being finished.

Thanks, Lee - appreciate you having a look!

Progress seems to come in small batches these days, but that's ok, its not a race! A little bit for the front plow and some work on the hood underway. Needed to make two, lift chain brackets to add to the clevis on the front plow's lift arm After the chain brackets are painted, I will need to cut the top through, on an angle, slip them onto the clevis, glue the cuts and repair the paint. Can't separate the clevis like I did earlier for the clevises on the push frame, so this is the only way I know to get the brackets onto/into the clevis. Ready to cut the brackets and put on the lift arm clevis Have sanded away the raised rib on top of the fenders as well as the decorative feature on the side panels Filler pieces glued and clamped in position - will still need to redo a cutout on the driver's side, but for now, I needed the extra material because of how the back edge of the hood will change when I make the cuts to widen it. All will be trimmed and squared up once the final front to back measurement on the hood has been set. Once the filler pieces are well set and sanded smooth, then I can make the cuts along the fender/side panels and on the top of the hood. Tomorrow, might be able to temporarily hook up the lift chains to the clevis brackets to see how it looks. Thanks for dropping by!

Lots on the go, Ron - I've liked going through your trailer builds in the past - very detailed scratch building.

Have to figure one out for my dash, too - going to try a printed dash panel insert that has the shifter gate in it.

Console fits in there well - and great job on the paint detailing! Did you make your own decals for the console and dash?

Steve, what a magnificent job - the sun makes all the details pop even more - well done! I am still amazed at your 'parking lot', too - its perfect for your 'glamour shots'.

I agree - going to look even better than it does now, once the cab is painted - this red is a great colour!

Terrific progress on your engine, Steve - all 4 cm worth - amazing work!

The Alclad looks great on your diamond plate - where did you get the plate from?

Lots of work good work going on here, Lee - looking forward to seeing your frame up on its wheels and tires!

You tell wonderful stories - your models are pretty awesome, too.

Going to be fine looking colour for your truck! You've maybe mentioned it in other builds, but what air brush do you use?

Really coming along nicely, Dan. Great start to all the builds you'll have going on in this project!

Looking good, Scott - getting more and more complex! Going to look great.

It is a marvel to look at your work on the trestle, and, well, all the rest of this diorama and think about all the hours of enjoyment (maybe frustration, too) that have gone into its construction - wonderful job!

I agree with Dom - lots of patience - and good eyesight, getting all the small valves hooked up!

Maybe your inspiration truck didn’t have a stock engine colour either, so, pretty much up to you!

I’ll say it again - you’re a brute for punishment! So many parts in a very small space - great job.

Found Scalemates a few months ago - great site for kit release history and copies of instruction sheets

Off to a good start, Lee - that colour reminds me of the old Ministry of Transportation fleet colours up here. Lots of orange trucks back then!

Yes, the colour is bright - coming along great!

Thanks, Scott - here's hoping! I don't have any experience with the AMT kit - I just happen to prefer the overall quality of the Italeri kits

Spent some time this afternoon, thinking about what I need to accomplish with my cab and hood modifications. For the cab, I'm using Italeri's Western Star 5964SS Constellation kit, which is fairly close to what I need for the Western Star 4900FA cab. The hood is from Italeri's Western Star 4964 kit, which has the fender shape I need, but is too narrow where it meets the cab. Have it mostly figured out, just need to execute it properly! The cab and hood configuration I'm striving for - only one air cleaner - one on the other side might suck in too much snow when plowing! I need to create this curved indent and sidewall projection on both sides of the Constellation cab The Constellation cab - in addition to making the curve in to the firewall, and projections, will need to have the lower edge profile of cab extended forward on both sides; the Constellation kit had a sleeper opening in back of cab - I'll convert it to a day cab with the WS back panel from Auslowe The 4964 hood has the fender profile I need but I need to remove slight flare on sides of hood and fill in cutouts for the air cleaner clearance at the back edges of hood Light blue tape edge closely defines how much I need to widen the hood at the back edge; also need to remove the raised portion on top of the hood - the 4900 hood has a wider, raised element, and I need to remove the raised ribs on top of the fenders. The hood will be widened by cutting along each side of hood where the fenders meet the hood, and make a cut back to front on the top, center of the hood and all across the front edge of the hood, to allow the hood to be spread at the back. Then glue sides of hood back down on top of fenders, fill in the gaps with styrene, add back a wider raised portion on top of the hood and do the finish work. Sounds straight forward enough, but I screwed up an earlier attempt, about 8 months ago! I didn't make the hood wide enough at back, and messed up the curved profile of the top, back edge of hood. Anyway, you can get the general idea of what I hope to do better this time around. Not going to get it perfect but closer than last attempt. Could use a little luck! As always, I appreciate you having a look and your comments are welcomed! Thanks.