Rockford

Excellent looking machine.

I don't know what to say, just too much!

Oh dear, easy mistake, just be glad it wasn't a kayak you were building!

Good set of long range tanks there, well done.

I think 8 years must be some sort of record for a paused build. Well done on getting it going again. Looking good.

Great seeing this back on the bench. Nice job mate, you'll have room to buy more kits soon!

Amazing stuff. It's really taking shape now. My dad drove mobile cranes most of his working life.

Watch screws! Incredible stuff. Excellent paint job.

Those are some knobbly tyres! Doing a good job there mate. Will you resist the urge to print?

Haven't had the time I usually get this weekend so didn't get very far. Used scraps and sprue to make the rocker covers, breather and oil filler cap. Then took about 4 attempts to shape the rocker boxes underneath them. They are a nightmare of conflicting angles. I found success by gluing the two together and filing the basic profile, then separating them and filing a taper into them at 90°. It's not factree but close enough. The ruler shows the size I'm working with. Next I'll do the top of the intercooler then start dressing the block.

It's probably available now, Jurgen kindly offered, it's just so alien to me and out of my price range. Using the Caterpillar spares website I got dimensions for the cylinder head, and the oil pan, I had to project the other dimensions from that. The sump was too small in the kit, so I extended that with some offcuts. I got a photo of the timing cover from eBay and cut that out of an old piece of van trailer. Made the charge air cooler from square rod and added 0.75mm strip for the ribs.

I've done it again. I can't seem to help myself. Spent half an hour cutting the sump out of the chassis. Obviously took the transmission with it which means the driveshaft will require reworking. Kit of tidying up to be done. Fortunately the cab still sits perfectly in relation to the grille.

I'm not sure Jürgen, I'm considering that issue. I did consider a restraint from some sort of thread or wire buf it's stopping the thing getting wrapped around the detail of the chassis and snapping things off when you raise the cab. It's an ongoing thing I suppose, it'll have to get in the queue.

Great to see it finally finished. Great looking rig. You've done a great job on this Lee. I like the wheels you used too.

Great colour choice, should look great.

Very clever stuff. Well done!

I'm really looking forward to seeing this one finished. I do love exterior post vans.

Thanks lads, very kind comments from you all. Thanks for the offer Jürgen but I think I'll do it the painful way. Cut the front mount off the frame and the cab stayed aligned. First fear unfounded. Then cut the grille mount off the front of the doghouse. Rigged up the grille in position and checked the clearance through the arc of of the tilt, the interior clashed at the driver's footwell. You can see the problem in this picture. Looks like Monogram used a bit of artistic licence on the interior. I had to cut a section out of the driver's footwell, slide it across and piece the gap it created at the top. Altered the floor to suit. Scratch built a radiator and attached the grille mounting plate to it. Put the cab back on and adjusted the fit while the glue was still wet. Perfect fit! Great the way I can see daylight around the doghouse and grille. Can't believe I've managed to pull it off!

I've either had a moment of brilliance or been true to my 'stupid' genes. I was thinking about more underhood stuff when i was overtaken by an incredible desire. Whether it's jealousy over 1/25th AMT kits or just modelling masochism i don't know but I decided that I could 'easily' make the cab tilt. If I eyed it correctly the hinge would slot right into place without disturbing the grille and work perfectly. I could even use the original cab mount to keep it in position while it set. I added two brackets to the cab, drilled as required. Then cut a piece of tube to mount to the chassis. Just a little groove filed into the front crossmember put it in the Goldilocks position. It's even hidden behind the grille! The pivot point is just right, so right that I could leave the grille attached to the cab and just make a mount for the bumper. I could, but that wouldn't be right, the grille should stay on the radiator, so I'll have to cut the mounting plate out and build a radiator, which will create a clearance issue with the interior tub. Then I've got to finagle a shift island. My wooden Caterpillar won't cut the mustard now either so that will need restarting. I now have to decide whether I should cut the whole oil pan and transmission out of the chassis so I can build the engine properly and position it at the right angle, sloping backwards to improve the driveshaft angle. Why did I do it?

The void under the cab just irks me, even though I can't see under there. I decided to add some detail under the cab. I want to leave the doghouse open at the back so decided to build another wooden engine. The sump is a Caterpillar so I built a facsimile of a 3406A with a water pump, fuel pump, compress, exhaust and turbo, intercooler. Looks ok once the cab is in place. Scratch built a luberfiner and mounting bracket. Wired it on and added feed and return lines. Added a fuel filter on the chassis. Built the trunking from the intake stack to the air cleaner. Made a 90° elbow by slicing 6.5mm tube at 45° and rotating one half 180° so it's a right angle. Glued together then rounded off. Looks ok. Did a cab floor assembly too so that there's sides to the doghouse when you look in.

Your bravey has been rewarded. Looking good.

Very nice buzzin dozen. Looking forward to the hood mods. I suppose if you have twin air cleaners you could plumb one into each supercharger.

Good rebuild! That's a no bling truck.

That's a smart little flatbed. Well done.

Great workaday trucks combo. Gasoline engine too!