MoparWoman Jamie

Hi you all, well I been test fitting and eye balling things. I notice something about the interior zone. It appears revell made a mistake in this area with the floor board piece. You see on the 1/1 chargers the sides goes stright up and down. They don't tilt outwards at the bottom like the revell interior floor board piece does. They have the top back package tray area correct with the weight, but the floor board area is off like 1.50 maybe 2mm on each side at the bottom though.. which when you have the interior pieces all attach the tops are always tilted inwards where as the dash is held into place at with the tilt in sides. I have always notice this on all the revell charger models I have built over the years and always wondered why something didn't look quite right.. now I know why. I notice this issue this even when I looking at how I was going to make the floor area under the rear seat on the chassis tilt downwards from the sides like the real chargers does and that's when I thought I better check with the interior panels as well to see how much evergreen I would need to cut out. I have photos of the progress I have done to post.

It is an interested project, you know (laughing) you sounded just like my friend did about the lights being functional. He wondered the same things.. so did my cousin when he was at my place visiting and my friend was here as well and he was talking to my friend as well as you see my cousin was at one time a truck driver too. They both know each other anyways. Well like my cousin said as he looked at use both LOL leave it to Jim as he probably already has a idea or layed out in his mind on how to do it.. but in that scale.. will be very hard and next to near impossible. I looked at them both while getting a cup of coffee and said "it is very in fact possible and do able even at that scale, LOL you just need to know how to work it is all", Then I got them again LOL when I said I was planning on also having the headlights be functional as well off the head light switch in the model. My cousin and friend both asked how was I going to do that? I told them I will have to fabricate unites for behind the dash for all the stuff to function. My friend Mark looks at my cousin and said "That is going to have to very very very micro scale then for what he is planning on doing". Like I told them both. For a build like this, it will be built at a slower paste and has to be built in a certain way due to all the wiring that will be going into it.

I was going to post this earlier but was too tired and not filling good yet so I took a nap. My right eye is still sore yet and I kinda have a issue with keeping it opening at times. Anyways, about the project. I know a lot of you are not a ware of the whole project back ground or whats it plan or how it pose to even look once it's done. All you all know is what you see in the progress photo updates I post. So let me start off by saying I'm here tonight for a first time kinda to explain about this project and it's back ground. As some of you know I am building this semi for a friend of mine that is like a brother to me. He grew up in a family of truck drivers. His two uncles was in fact truck drivers and one was like a dad to him. 10 years ago (2003) when my dad past away not shortly in a few after my friends uncle past on as well due to cancer, it was the uncle that was like a dad to him. Then around 4 years ago (around 2010) his other uncle past away. This project was started in 2009 and didn't get underway until spring of 2010. You see this project has a paint scheme already picked out that is a good one and a very beautiful one. It's kinda and some what is 90% being base off a real semi truck that is down in Australia that my friend fell in love with back in 2009 when he seen photos of it even at night. But it's not going to be 100% replica of that one though. Now my friend wanted something special and since he's a major mack fan and dreams of some day driving truck as well and sine he didn't have the building skill for a project of what he wanted built and knew that I did though. He came to me in the fall of 2009 and again in Feb 2010 (Just over a month after my aunt had past on due to a heart attack) and ask if my offer to him was still good about building him a model and I said yes. He littery dash in the house, look at me and said "that offer you made to me about building me a semi truck still good?" and I said "Yea, why?" and his reply was this "Great! because I found the one I really like and I feel in love with it when I seen it I want you to build me my version of it for me and I'll get all the scale parts needed" and LOL he latterly dash to my computer to show me the real truck. All he could talk about was the truck, and ask what all I could do to make the model more realistic for him and he told me there was no dead line just to take my time and do my very best as he had seen my other model projects and what I could do. I told him this was a project I was always waiting for to do.. one where I could push all my skills and go all out and really bring the model to life. He asked me if there was a way I could make the semi light up, I said yea. He said he really love the models I have done in the past that had working light up lights in, and he wanted that feature in his project. We set down to talk the project over and how he wanted it to look with his mods of course. Then I looked at him and said with a model truck of this caliber.. my normal lighting up trick of models is not worth it with this one, it's worth a new version. You see most projects with lights most run 50 to 100 lights on them and they turn on all at once. We didn't want this on this project.. he wanted things to be different.. way different. Let me say this much about the project.. it has over 175 LEDS over 185 LEDS.. over 200 LEDs being powered by 3 9vs that is plan to be hidden with in the semi but easy access to though. Plus something that made the planning of this project even more special is this model has it's own wiring diagram for it for on it's wiring. All lights are plan to be functional just like on the real semi's, you push the brake pedal down and the brake lights comes on, you push up or down on the turn signal switch and depending on which way the leaver is push, that directional is plan to work. Open the door or doors and the interior doom light comes on.. stuff like that Now on the back, I have designed a panel that will carry 8 LEDs lights with buttons behind them, plus this panel will also carry a special planned designed mearl image in a 3d like design photo image in layers that will also light up. Also within the mearl, will be yet another special piece.

LOL like they always say, curious killed the cat. Okay all kidding a side now and down to what you ask, you also ask a few good questions. The bars or belive it or the same size as what the kit ones are. I too thought they was too big after I started assembling them and so I got the plastic frame out to check, and are the same size. I know the size in the photos makes them look huge. The glue I use for all my projects is super glue with the red cap on. This frame I do belive will work out a lot better then other did. I'm good at working with steel and metal. Stuff I wanted to do before with the other I couldn't do, now since I'm using steel I can do that stuff and not worry about the solder melting in the wrong areas. I do have a lot of time in this project. My friend had me start this project for him in 2009 and told me to take my time on it. Like I told him a few weeks back when he was here the a few weeks ago and seen what happen with his own two eyes. My wife came out and asked us if we was both okay, we said yes and after looking at the brass frame damage and it being twisted and slightly bowed from the stuff and it hitting the driveway, he even told me he thinks in the darkness he might have also step on the frame not knowing where it was at, I told him this chassis is on me and so is the trailer metal.

You asked a very good question. I will answer best as I can as well with an answer. I'm not going with styrene because of the weight of the aftermarket items that my friend has bought over the last few years. They out weigh the styrene in a heart beat. I had last year mock up the original kit frame with some of his stuff on. The frame started to bow and kapt braking here and there and was to weak even to weak with the glue I use. My friend then after seeing it mention to me if I could go a metal route due to how much he has invested in all the parts as he was unaware at the time how thin the Italeri kit plastic was. I mean I would glue afew pieces to gather.. then even a weeks later those areas would brake apart around the areas the small amounts of glue was used in. I went with a brass chassis idea last fall, the only thing is this project has so many pieces to be made and soldering them in would be a mess. I won't say your wrong or anything about going brass way as your correct, but with how much weigh will be on this project when done I fill brass will not hold up unlike steel would. Now if it was say 200 light weight pieces going on it I say yea a brass chassis would be best. Plus in the end my friend wants the chassis to be painted. Oh yea I almost for got one other question you asked me, which is about the slots, The center area where they are ate, will be cut down the center taking out the slots area. You see I'm doing two rails at one time in the photos above.. I just having not gotten to the point to where I need to cut the frame down the center which would give me two frame rails at one.

I hope you all like or enjoyed the progress update, comments are welcome towards the project

Okay started to cut the other area Tacking it down now

Button up Sanding down the metal

The other cut area

More photos from a few weeks ago I marked out afew more cut line areas

They might be relevant to someone else though looking for info like you once was for something.

Seeing how long and where to cut the steel c channel at

Okay, now I have something to say here, after the other photos was taken the other night on a few projects.. later that night. I decided I would weld or try to spot weld on another project even though my wife ask me nicely not to and to wait to the next day.. well I thought why wait. So I got my welder out and started to weld.. well towards the end on the other project I took a small brake and soon as I went to flip my shield down my welding shield glass broke.. so I thought I could easy finish the weld up by closing my eyes during the welds with my face shield on.. let me just say later that night I had a good welder flash.. and still have a sore right eye ball as well yet!.. On top of that with having the face shield on that night and working out in the driveway area. I a bout knock over the work stand behind me when a few wild sparks burn my hand and I jump back. The other work stand had the semi trunk project on it.. The frame got bent as a few pieces of wood landed on it as things fell.. so I'm in the process of working on a metal frame for this project as well. I am using this time around instead of brass for the semi truck chassis as brass bends to easy.. I am going with store bought steel c channel for shevls that I am doubling up on to make a right size c channel.

Thanks man, I was shock to hear myself about her going.. but your right at least now shes in a better place. Thanks also for checking out my work on the front and also on the chassis, I'll have photos by probably this weekend.

Had to notch the area just at the tunnel bend and push the lower part of the floor panel forward and super glue it in location The tail end cross member is in the correct resting spot, the rear end frail rail area at the bend over the rear end is in the correct resting spot and the rail meets the front floor board area is in the correct spot as well.. I just need to button up the other areas up front now and work at making the correct version of the trunk pan and wheel wells LOL I hope you all enjoyed the update of photos on the project. All comments about the project is welcome.

I'm not saying the kit if bad or anything, just a little incorrect in spots is all. Some more test fitting, things looks about right with the chassis and the new prototype rear rails and pieces I also had to add a strip of evergreen and extend the hub area behind the rear seat location out 1mm and also move the floor pan that attaches to that area out as well from the molded in area and super glue it to the evergreen piece, I also nicely removed the molded in shock cross member too.. I can use that later on down the road

Okay, so I moved to the rear seat area of the chassis Now in this photo.. look at the space of the trunk floor area, that is how far off and incorrect trunk area is on the kit with the moulded in kit rails LOL

The mock up fitting has began Filled in some areas, and removed what was left of the other rail, and super glued the seam shut Another test fit.. I know I still have to remove the rear cross member off the chassis yet before it will set flush in place right

Okay.. here is the bad chassis that I was talking about earlier. I thought it would be good to start working with it. I had last fall removed the gas tank from it for on another project. I got this chassis from Floyd the owner of my local hobby shop out in town in his one chassis parts bin that he has in the shop out there. You can say at one point this was being used as donor chassis for on a few builds. So I thought this would make a great prototype chassis and floor board for on this project. I already marked out a few line up locations I'll need these for later on with this project.

Here you can see these rails I made out of evergreen has the correct curves to them

Here I trim off the sides and also angled them inwards like the real parts does Here is the trunk pan floor brace in the works, plus notice the detail that I am working on with the rear cross member

Now look close in this photo.. you will notice at the tail end of the rails they curves up and then straight out wards.. just like the real chargers does on there frame rails. Revell miss that point of detail on there tooling it looks like

Closer look at the one location The shell belongs to another project I'm working on.