BK9300

I second that - very nice finish!

Thanks, Randy - no shortage of fabricating required here!

Great prep work, as always - block sanding just like on a 1:1. Looks so smooth in primer!

Looks good either way, Gary! If you wanted to keep the look of the center piece, any chance of using the piece you cut off as a pattern for one from styrene?

‘So much to do, and so little time’ - that hits home with me, too. Good you have a plan for the rest of this terrific build!

Looks good, Jeff and great job on the axle shifter! Those little details really add to your build.

I did have a look around at what's available for cable carriers that might work. The searches quickly led to several kinds of carriers, or drag chains, for CNC routers and 3D printers, but the smallest turned out to be too big. I may be leaning towards 4 mm, Wave springs as a possible solution. An unsolved problem at the moment! Paint booth still down for a day or two, so, until I'm back at the plow truck, more puttering with ideas about how to start in some of the Snooper's fabrication. Like for the plow truck sander, I did an 'exploded' view of the main tower's upper section. Exploded view - counter weight assembly, tower support frame, slew drive motor, Boom 1, parallel levelling arms for tower 2 and the upper portion of tower 2, at the end of Boom 1 - Can't say enough about how much help the 3D model will be to me, for figuring out a path forward. Itching to get started!

More progress, Dom! You'd think those chevrons, on a real truck, would make it impossible for another vehicle to run into the pumper. I read a story the other day about a driver who hit the back of a unit like this - go figure!

Appreciate that, Scott - I will check it out. Did see some interesting, scale appropriate, RC hydraulic cylinders out there, too, but way too much money and too heavy for this truck!

Thanks, Scott! Been hard to tell when enough is enough - looked too green(ish) to me, on top of the grey, but might be ok.

I just got some from Paul, about a month ago, and still have some of Jamie's, which are just amazing tires. I hope he gets back, and well, too.

Looks good, Scott. Where are you getting your drive tires from these days? Looks like rubber (silicone?)

Stunning work, Jason - beautiful!

Very sure this couldn't be any more realistic - superb work, Charles!

Keeping me thinking, for sure, Ron! That sounds like a good idea - I just wonder if thin, aluminum rod would stand up to handling of posing. I bent one shaft on the plow truck after just a couple of poses, so, not sure what the final solution for rams will be. I appreciate the suggestion!

Was doing some 'wandering' around in the Sketchup model today and there are a few things that are unresolved in my mind as to how to do them. A couple standout more than others. Firstly, I need to make four different sizes of hydraulic cylinders, for tilting and extending boom sections, and lowering/raising the stabilizer arms(legs?!) I'm hoping to find a solution that allows me to manually pose the booms in different orientations, or extended positions, and have the cylinders hold the posed position. Secondly, two of the three booms that extend have a 'Catrac' cable and hose carrier that I am unlikely to be able to make functional at scale. This rendering shows portions of three of the boom cylinders and the two, Catrac carrier systems (at 1/24th scale the boom section that the top, Catrac system is part of, would be approx. 3/4 inch in height) - For the cylinders, I been thinking about making pistons from a suitably sized O-rings, sandwiched between two styrene discs, with a ram made from aluminum or brass tubing. The piston/O-ring would need to fit snuggly enough into a cylinder of styrene tubing, to hopefully hold a pose, but not so stiff as to prevent the posing in the first place. Then still need to figure out a packing gland of some sort, that would keep the ram aligned in the cylinder. I thought the sections of the Catrac carrier that are visible in the render above could be fashioned as fixed units, from thin styrene. Then, instead of rolling and unrolling with a boom extension/retraction, the fixed unit would simply slide into the carrier housing when the boom extended, and reappear when the boom was retracted. Might work ok, but won't know until I get there. Lots of ideas floating around!

Not to worry, Jürgen - lots of seats to go around! I've got more than a few things to learn about this truck, and I hope it's as interesting a model as these trucks are in real life!

Thanks, Victor - unique for sure, and hoping to do it justice!

Thanks, Jeff - glad you’re checking in on this!

Getting my head around what this build is going to look like, I printed out some top and side, projection views of the Sketchup model. Those printouts also allowed me to compare the plow truck to the Snooper truck, just for the heck of it. It's going to be a tick over 22" long when finished - I thought this was an interesting comparison, but Jeff reminded me if I was going to do any comparisons of the Snooper to the plow truck, I had to have the plow and sander in the pic, too. All in, the plow truck will be bit longer - Too much time on my hands, with my paint booth not available for a few more days yet!

Thanks, Ron, and saved! I appreciate your interest in this, and I'm excited to get started, soon as I can.

Thanks, Dom! The boom(s) do look overwhelming at first, but they're starting to look doable after looking at them closely. I'm learning along the way, so hope all this helps you, too.

Hi again, Carl - thought a couple different views would show the counterweight and stabilizer arm/foot assembly better - Back side of main tower, showing counterweight(s) - Stabilizer arm and rolling 'foot' assembly down in working position - there is a limit switch (not shown) on the stabilizer arm that I believe is activated when the arm's locking brace is in position. In an Youtube video of an older model of Snooper, the operator says the stabilizer must be down and brace in place, before the electrical system to operate the boom(s) can be activated.

Glad to have you aboard for this one, too, Jeff! I know it will take a bit of time before I start, but have lots of ideas brewing for what to do first - more decisions to make! Happy that you’ll be following, Gary, and looking forward to you getting back into your builds later this summer, too! Thanks for having a look, Don!

Thanks, Jeff! Itching to get on with the last of the paint and start assembling. I appreciate that, Jürgen!