2× Chevy Bison

[Rockford]

Moved the front fenders forward about 16th of an inch, which centers the wheel in the well much better. Fabbed some inner fenders as on the real thing. Surprising how these little things make a difference. 

Had to try and do something with the awful Luberfiner or just delete it altogether. The mounting is just pathetic and the unit is poorly executed overall. I added some securing straps and shaped backing pieces that imitate the four mounting points to the cab. Looks ok. 

Added the two small airtanks in front of the battery box and mudflaps to the front axle.

 

[Jim B]

You're putting a lot of work into these, and it really shows.

[Rockford]

The kit fuel tanks are pretty poor and were all the wrong sizes for these trucks anyway. The passenger side front needed to be shorter and on the double sleeper I wanted them to run the entire length of the sleeper. 

I took some 20mm electrical conduit and cut my sizes, then cut six slots in the rear. I then cut plastic card profiles which slotted into the cuts and the exposed part resembles a tank bracket. This way I get some adjustability and strength in the mounting. I also fabbed some tank straps that just slide over the tank and are held in place by the brackets. 

I also added cab steps to the front tanks. 

Spent a while making a visor out of aluminium sheet. About 4 had to go in the bin because it's just such a complex shape with two curves in opposite axes. I ended up roughing it up and then filing and trimming as I offered it up to the cab. Still needs trimming at the front edge I think, but getting there. 

[Rockford]

One of the biggest failings of these kits is the wheels and tyres. The aftermarket is out for me due to cost and the AMT tyres are just too small and the wheels no better. Whatever I do it's a compromise. One thing I decided that I could do is alter the appearance of the duals. Usually when you look down on them you see the skinny, toylike boss at the centre when really you should be seeing a wheel dish. I cut 6mm lengths of 20mm conduit and glued them to each outer wheel then quickly coloured them black. Not perfect but better. 

The interiors are dire too but you really can't see them in the likes of a Pete 352 so I haven't really bothered so far. These Bisons have big windows so I thought I'd do a little enhancing on the tub. I cut a few mm off the base so that I can add a proper, flat cab floor. But then I started thinking what else I could do. I hate the way the dash goes all the way to the floor and that stupid boss that the shift lever sits on. So I cut the "firewall" across at the bottom edge of the dash leaving the mount for the steering wheel. Then I cut the seat bases off too so the seats float on the door panels. Cut the back out too to make a walkway through to the sleeper. Then added a new firewall under the dash so it looks like the dash is floating too. Looks a lot better, and will look a lot more realistic when I add a full, flat floor. I'm pleased with the result. I didn't get that far with the daycab, just cut the base off and made a floor panel so I'll have to revisit that.

Used various diameters of plastic tube to make stacks for the daycab. Made brackets out of copper wire and drilled the cab. The stacks are not fixed into the mufflers yet so I can adjust them. 

[Rockford]

Reworked the daycab interior this afternoon. Cut the floor away and the dash. Built a new firewall and flat floor. Cut the shift lever up and added the gaiter and the knob to a new one made from 0.9mm copper wire. As this interior will be more visible than the double sleeper I added clutch, brake and throttle pedals too. 

[DRIPTROIT 71]

You really have a way with these trucks! Looking great!

[Mopar - D]

Nice progress Steve. 

[Rockford]

Just to prove to myself that these haven't stalled I thought I'd post what little I've been able to get done in the last few weeks. 

Made a trailer brake valve and lever from some sprue and a straight pin out of the wife's sewing box. Also an indicator stalk. 

Also did the usual filling-in job on the rear leaf springs and the one diff that's visible. Obviously I haven't rubbed it down yet. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Rockford
Text corrected

[Rockford]

Rubbed the putty down on the rear axles, quite pleased with it. Added some rudimentary brake chambers. 

Used some spring steel wire and hollow tube to knock up a pogo stick, drilled the deck plate and looks ok to me. 

Also removed the hard plastic quarter fender flaps and made new ones out of electrical tape. 

[Dutzie]

You are doing great work on this. 

[Rockford]

Now that the flatbed is on hold I decided to deal with something that's been bothering me. The daycab Bison looked good with the long chassis but that wouldn't be the usual thing for a workaday truck, which is what I build, I'm not a showtruck builder. 

I looked on the interwebs at GMC Generals for sale and looked at the wheelbases. Converting them to 1/32 scale gave a smallest figure of 4.9 inches:-

I decided that was too small even for me. I tried 6inches:-

Too long, I settled for 5.5 inches which was the Goldilocks figure for me:- 

This meant cutting 36mm out of the chassis, (Forgive me for switching between imperial and metric) and losing my beautiful hand built driveshaft. I decided to use the driveshaft on my GMC General which has only ever had most of one because it was a used kit off eBay, so it didn't go to waste. I made the cut and fitted some fillets for strength. Added quarter fenders. 

Looks a proper little chunky monkey now. 

Still a lot of work to do here but I'm so glad I did this, it looks just right. before I went any further. 

[Jim B]

Your Bison is looking great.  The flatbed looks just right behind the daycab.  Planning on some sort of headache rack for it?

I must say that your 1/32 Bison is coming along a whole heck of a lot better than my 1/25 Bison.

[Rockford]

Thank Jim

Don't beat yourself up mate, I've been working on these two since February! 

Headache rack? Not sure yet. Long in the distance at the moment. 

[Rockford]

To take my mind off the Peterbilt Winslow stripes failure I did some work on the Bison. 

I built a driveshaft to accommodate the shorter wheelbase. I used various diameter plastic tube over an aluminium tube core.

I also decided to make the rear wheels two-hole Budd wheels instead of ten-hole aluminium pieces. I used my motor tool to run two holes into one. I cleaned the shape up with a small half-round file. In the photo the top hole is the raw version, the bottom one is after dressing.

Then I filled the remaining six holes from the back of the wheel and just flattened the filler down at the front. I'll rub it down once it's set. 

[Jim B]

Nice scratch work.  That drive shaft looks great.

[Mopar - D]

Nice progress Steve. 

[Rockford]

Carried on with the wheels today. I used my motor tool with a round stone on to rub the filler down, then gave them about three coats of Tamiya white gloss. Overall result is acceptable. I much prefer the look of the two-hole wheels. Just got to try and find the front bumper now. Can't for the life of me remember what I did with it. 

The Bison is pictured with the AMT dry van. I added Monogram wheels to this because I got sick of the AMT wheels being so out of scale small. It looks much meatier with proper sized wheels and tyres. The AMT tyres are really well formed and meticulously detailed but they're just too small. They make the trailer look like a roller skate. Moving the axles closer together would sort the look with the original wheels but I'm not taking the risk of trying to separate axles from running gear now. 

[Bennyg]

Very nice! It’s great to see what can be done to 1/32 truck kits.

Ben

[Jim B]

Bison looks nice with the AMT van.

[Rockford]

Been doing little fiddly bits on the Bison daycab lately. Did my usual rectification to the hollow rear diffs and added brake chambers. 

Bent up some exhaust pipes up to the mufflers and stacks. Used hollow plastic tube and a candle. 

Sat the interior tub in methylated spirit to remove the black paint. Then added a rim across the top of the dashboard. Made some can mounts. 

On the real truck there's the little amber and red parking/direction light. I was thinking of just gluing a square piece on the fender but it just wouldn't look right. The real thing sits on a little podium. I used a similar method to that I used on the Pete 352 only using square rod. I cut a shallow groove around it, wrapped wire around it and made a pigtail for attachment. Once cut from the length I just thinned it down with a sanding stick. Painted it chrome silver then used clear orange and red accordingly. Drilled a hole in the fender. Once fitted, they look ok and are fairly robust. 

 

[Bennyg]

Good to see progress. I’m looking forward to getting one when they’re rereleased.

Ben

[Rockford]

I looked at the photo of the exhaust pipes I bent up and I wasn't happy. They're all over the place, mainly because of the fuel tank, it's too far rearward and that's because I left the kit brackets in place because I'm lazy and it was just in the wrong place. 

So I made myself a shorter one of my electric conduit tanks and brackets.

Added steps and made a fuel cap out my old friend chubby sprue. I ribbed the edge of the cap by squeezing it gently in a pair of pliers so the teeth marked it. Looks ok. 

 

So after a week's worth of work I'm further behind than was when I started. But now I can route the exhaust straight under the cab with a simple elbow. 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Rockford
Photo change

[Rockford]

Not a lot achieved today, but pleased with what I've done. I reduced the air filter, cutting it below the lower band and shortening the bottom piece. Modified the luberfiner brackets because the way I had them they would have been bolted through the hood and the cab, wouldn't work, and I don't know why I didn't notice when I first did it. I'm most pleased with the exhaust piping now. I moved the battery box forwards as well as the fuel tank which allowed me to put simple pipes in that go below the chassis rail to some imaginary Y-pipe. Looks so much better.  Piping is sprue bent up over a candle. Looks good. Tried forming a new visor out of aluminium, NIGHTMARE!!!!!! Still filing and fillting the pig after an hour. Such a complex shape its almost impossible to get something that will fit. 

[Bennyg]

Very nice work on the fuel tanks. I notice that you also don’t like the wheels/tyres from monogram or AMT. Aoshima does some pretty nice wheel/tyre sets in 1/32. The biggest issue is the price. I plan on using a set on my 1/32 Mack SuperLiner rebuild.
 

Ben

[Rockford]

Ben thanks for that, I'm quite pleased with my tank method. 

No I can't settle fully with either of the 1/32 wheels, though the Monogram look better from a distance due to their bigger size. Such a shame about the AMT pieces, if only they'd used their calculator properly. 

I have seen the Aoshima pieces on eBay but I can't justify the prices they're commanding. I've managed to make what I'm stuck with look acceptable to myself so I'll just carry on with them. I'll use the AMT ones on trailers I think. I suppose if you're doing your flagship kit then they might be worth it though. Look forward to seeing your Superliner finished.