Tyson

Fanny is vagina. Thongs are flip-flops. Being an American living in Australia, quite a few things confused me to begin with. A guy once told me his buddy was pissed. I was confused, because the guy seemed to be pretty happy to me. Then I found out pissed meant drunk.

I am revisiting my 60s model White 9064 again, after hitting a wall without sufficient reference photos. I learned that the 50s models of the 9000 used the same style cab mounts, frame brackets, rad "frame" etc. The old brochure from the 60s I was using as reference had the pictures of all of this stuff as tiny thumbnails with very blurred detail. Fortunately, I found a 50s era brochure with the same pictures, but they're full page, so there's much more detail. Just wondering if either of the Bertram books show any of this kind of "behind the scenes" stuff, as the better quality pictures have led me to notice that it looks like the rad "frame" looks as if it may extend to the top of the inside of the rad housing. Just curious as to what is actually in these books other than just your vanilla "trucks at work" photos. Planning to buy them anyway, but if they have the kinda reference pics I need it'll definitely make me buy them a lot quicker. Read more: http://thetimbershop.proboards.com/thread/960/bertram-white-trucks-19xx-books#ixzz2pOugFcQO

Yeah, that's a water tank, and the trailer brakes would also be water cooled.

Ah, I though this was one of the kits Ertl inherited from AMT along with some new dressing to make it Rubber Duck.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Those old amt/Ertl kits are notorious for not fitting together correctly.

I swear this build takes a new turn and heads in an almost completely different direction every time I sit down to it. Here's where it sits right now. As you can see, I made a decision in regards to my walkways. I raised both of them so they're flush with the tops of the frame rails. On the driver's side I took a bit of inspiration from Muleskinner's Sterling and integrated a toolbox/catch all onto the underside of the walkway. For the passenger side I took the two air tanks I had hung one on top of the other and rotated them so they now sit side by side under the walkway. I previously had a standard Autocar fuel tank from the kit tacked on, but I was never really happy with it. Did a bit of spare parts diving, and came across the longer fuel tank from the Road Boss kit which was just the right length to fit the width of the cab nicely. Pretty sure it's not common practice for loggers, but I know back in the day some Kenworth's had "high mount fuel tanks." I built a rack for it, and tacked a step on the rail in the spot the old fuel tank was. With the fuel tank behind the cab I moved the kit cab guard back to make space. I then remember the old Howell and Sons tractor, and the old full cab guard they'd built for it. So, that big, unpainted L-shaped elbow hanging off the frame is the beginning of a cab guard along the lines of this: With that said, whenever I finally get the chance I'll be adding the Mack 65k rears and 12x24s from AITM and a driven front axle from KFS. I'll also be rebuilding my stinger, because I'm not too satisfied with it either, and I want to add a bit more length to the frame.

Not much has happened to this thing in over a year, but I dusted it off today to give it some attention.

Adding a bit of detail to the doors. Not entirely accurate, but I'm working with what I have on hand given that my deadline is September 8. Also, redid the seat. The seat back is now articulated.

Put in a little work on the cab tonight. Decided if I was gonna have opening doors I better do something with the inside even though I hate doing interiors. Cut out the entry for the sleeper. In doing so I decided to abandon the kit windows completely. Also, decided to get rid of the interior "bucket" from the kit. Hacked off everything except the floor and firewall. Extended the floor so it's an actual full floor. Stuck some seats in there to get a feel of where everything's gonna go. The driver seat will have a couple of rips with the fluffy bits sticking out, and some duct tape to hold it in. I'll probably redo it, because I'm not happy with how it is right now. On the outside I sanded off the molded wipers and blu-tacked on some overhead wipers that I'll get around to fixing up. Also started the process of rounding the bottom corners of the windshield. And here's a decent pic of the rear suspension in action.

Lesson learned. Undercoated with a sealed metalizer so I could show a bit of paint wear. The white paint sticks fine, but if you're gonna mask it be VERY careful when removing the mask, because the top layer of paint can hold stronger to the tape than to the sealed metalizer. It's okay though, because a few paint chips were on the agenda.

Still plan to finish this, guys. I haven't abandoned it. Just thought I'd put it away for a while and re-evaluate it later. It will definitely be finished.

Finally worked a bit more on this. Got the frame painted up. Still needs a bit of weathering. Raised the fenders. Built new mounting brackets for them. Cut the doors and hood. Both will be articulated. Trimmed down the sleeper about two scale inches. Makes for a much more uniform look. The sleeper was for a Pete cab which is way taller than the Autocar's Driver Cab. I doubt I'll be hinging the sleeper door, because there's gonna be nothing in there. Not real big on doing interiors. I'll probably cut a full size opening in the back of the cab to make the sleeper a walk in, and just hide the inside with a curtain. It'll have straight pipes. Not sure if I'm gonna go straight with a mitre or curved. Here's a pic with everything just sitting in place. You can see a bit of the rear suspension in action rolling over the pair of pliers. When it's all finished I'll take pictures where you can actually see details, but at this point it's just too easy and convenient to snap a quick pic with the iPad.

Even when I set out to build a model straight from the box I always end up adding one or two little details. Than I think, "I'll just do this one other little thing too." Then I end up doing a ton of mods and end up so far from the box it's ridiculous. But in the end I think all of the little mods are what makes building enjoyable to me. I've seen a few Autocars with that mod. Can't say I like it a lot, but then I don't really care for it a whole lot on Petes either. I'm more a fan of single rounds. Although I do like the double rounds more than the squares. Well, I finished the building portion of the chassis. Had a few minor setbacks. The first being I royally screwed up some measurements. I measured where to mount the steps and fuel tanks so the stacks would come out between the steps and tanks right in front of the sleeper. Had everything glued down when I had the feeling something was off. Sat the cab and sleeper in their spot, and noticed I'd made my measurements for both too far back. The stacks would have come up right under the sleeper. Fixed the situation by moving the steps forward a bit. Filled the bigger gap between the tanks with a rack for a jerry can on the driver side and will hang a hook on the underside of the sleeper on the passenger side for a chain. Second mistake was due to a mind lapse. I modified the steering assembly to link up with the forward axle, but the fact that the steering assembly mounting position would interfere with the forward fenders didn't cross my mind until the glue had set. Since I had already modified it to fit the axle position properly I remedied the problem by simply giving the fenders an ever so slightly higher mounting position. Aside from those problems, I went ahead and added the shutters to my grill. Decided against the articulated shutters simply because I would probably never use them. After all of that I finally did get to slapping some paint on the frame. Got the base laid down, and started to add some detail tonight, but my heart just wasn't into it. Instead of pushing forward and being unhappy with the result I decided to just stop for tonight. Here's a tease of where I'm at. Again, sorry for the low quality iPad pic. " />

Started this a few weeks ago. Wanted to build something without being restricted by reference photos. Snapped a couple of iPad pics tonight. I'll get more when the chassis is painted. You obviously can't see it all in the pictures, but I've done a bit. Extended the frame by two scale feet. Scratch built fifth wheel ramps. Articulated and detailed the fifth wheel. Fully articulated Hendrickson rear suspension. Scratch built seventy-two inch walking beams. Scratch built, articulated drive shafts, traction bars, etc. Modified Revell wheels to fit AMT Uniroyals for the rears. Added Revell Michelins and slightly modified Revell Kenworth wheels to steers. Added articulated steering to the front axle and gave it a wider stance. Moved front suspension/axle/wheels forward. Added battery box step from AMT Road Boss kit. Added and modified fuel tanks from Revell Kenworth kit. Added sixty-four inch sleeper from Revell Peterbilt kit after cutting it down to thirty-two inches. Added cab skirting from AMT Road Boss kit. Made step toolbox by combining two AMT Autocar battery boxes. (Not pictured). Added front and rear air brake chambers from Revell Peterbilt kit. Added rear mudguard from AMT Peerless logging trailer. Detailed the Cummins 350 (Not finished). Added air and fuel lines. I want to add a lightbar to the roof, but not sure if I'm going to go for a full bar or keep the aircon unit and have lights either side.

Did a bit more work. Still focused on the left side, so the rest is still pretty rough. Ear and teeth are placeholders. Attacked the nose a bit tonight. I've also marked a couple of places that will be taken out on the jaw. Also threw on a quick bit of colour in photoshop to give a better idea of what it's looking like.

Yeah. When I made my aluminum foil base I was a bit too generous in the jaw. You can see a bit of blue tac on the hood in the second pic. That was actually there to hold on a bumper I was using for reference. I'll definitely be addressing the jaw a bit later, because I know exactly what's wrong and exactly how to fix it, but I'm focused on the topside for now. Critiques are more than welcome, but be assured I'm not accepting anything less than 100% replication of the source. I've seen this movie, I would wager, more than anyone. I really wish I would have kept count, but I never thought after twenty six years I'd still be watching this movie religiously. Not too long ago I watched it back to back three times. I'm well versed in how this thing should look. As a child I dreamed of owning a truck just like it. This is truly a labor of love for me. I could, more likely than not, reproduce this thing from memory, but to make absolutely sure I'm using plenty of reference material. Movie stills, promo shots, behind the scenes pictures, etc.. If there's ever an area I'm not 100% satisfied with I know exactly what scene to go to to confirm my suspicions. For a perfect profile shot of the face in full view the best scene is where Camp and Brett arrive at the truck stop and the truck tries to run them down for the first time. No need to worry, guys. That jaw will be fixed, and that unflattering picture makes the jaw look way longer than it is even when it's already longer than it needs to be. Thanks for all the feedback.

Worked a bit more on the left side. Want to get the proportions just right before I start working on the other side. Still not satisfied with the length and shape of the lower jaw. I know for a fact it's not right, but I think some of that is due to the aluminum foil underneath. While I'm working I've been contemplating how exactly to cast it up when it's done. I was thinking once I cast it initially I'll sand it smooth and dremel out the inside so it's hollow like the real deal so if someone wants to add lights to the eyes (I will be) they can. I'm thinking on the final product I may cast the ears and tongue (and maybe the teeth) as separate pieces. Also, thinking of maybe offering just the head for people that have a WWS kit and a single piece head/hood for people that just want to use a donor kit if I can manage to pull decent casts.

This has always been my goal in this hobby. To create the lead truck from Maximum Overdrive. I've seen quite a few people try their hand at it, but almost always use a Kenworth or just stick some random Green Goblin figure head or something on the front. No one that I've seen has ever tried making the truck as accurate as possible. That said, I got a bit bored so I bought some plasticine to have a preliminary go at sculpting the head as accurately as possible to get the overall size and dimensions right before I have a go at a more permanent clay version. Last thing I sculpted was a terrible slab in an art class over a decade ago, and with that in mind I think I'm off to an alright start. I don't know how interested people would be, but once I get the thing done I may be able to make a mold and cast a few others so like minded people can build it.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjE9R2Nn You still see a few later model 9000s running the roads in Oz, but you don't see many gems like this. As soon as I saw him I had to get a photo-op. Owner said he was originally a road tractor, but he was converted for home removal. A lot of the old heritage houses here are sliced in halves and transported to places better suited for preservation purposes. My previous house was. Typically they strap a half to a truck and hit the accelerator. Quickest way is easiest. This guy had his rears replaced for the duties, and an NH-6-B tucked under his hood, which wouldn't fit properly. A hammer, a crowbar and a couple of dirty words later and they got it in there, but, as you can see, the completed job wasn't the prettiest even when the old man was a bit younger. I wanted to open the hood and get some more pictures of the engine, but since the owner wasn't around and the hood looked fragile as it was I didn't want to have to break any bad news to him, so I let it be.

I'm just using standard Lifecolour acrylic. Batteries are pretty much done.

Your scratch built excavator is one of the best things I've ever seen. It amazes me every time I see it.

I wouldn't feel right if it was clean. Pretty much done with the engine for now.

Added Plumbing to the Cat.