2021 Pierce Ascendent Tower

[Chariots of Fire]

This project is proceeding very slowly.  A couple of things have slowed it down including the windshield.  To make a long story short, I'm waiting on some PETG 0.020 clear sheets to do some vacuforming of the windshield pieces.  The buck is done after several failed attempts to make some good pieces to insert in the  windshield area.  The ones shown are only temporary and are not clean.  The second was how to make up the interior to look like the real rig while using some of the ALF Trumpeter parts.  the interior tub has been cut up in various ways to fit and to allow for additional sheet stock to be added where appropriate.  The photos I have of the interior don't give me enough info to do things without a lot of checking.  But we will get there all in good time!

I can see that the surround I made for the driver's gauges sits too high so there will be some additional sanding to get it right!😏

I used some fine solder wire for around the windshield opening.  It is just enough to provide a lip for the "glass" to sit against and makes a nice trim look around the outside.

[Gary Chastain]

Love the progress

[gotnitro?]

Fantastic work, its really taking shape

You know once you scratchbuild it, someone will make a kit ...

 

[Chariots of Fire]

1 hour ago, gotnitro? said:

Fantastic work, its really taking shape

You know once you scratchbuild it, someone will make a kit ...

 

Well, I can't wait for that to happen.  Got too much to do on it!😆  Besides, I'm not getting any younger!

[hct728(Bob)]

Windshield looks like a nice precise fit with that trim! A very important detail on the cab and hard to get right but you did it well and should be quite clear with the right plastic you've ordered. My compliments!

[Chariots of Fire]

Been working on the interior of the cab with modifications to the Trumpeter tub.  There has been a lot of cutting and re-working to get a semblance of the Pierce interior.  Working with a different venue results in some minor differences but once all is done they won't be noticeable, (hopefully!)  The cab doors have been roughed out, leaving material to be shaved away to get to straight and smooth surfaces.  There will be some additional bracing for the inside as well to give the cab sides some depth.  Doors will be similarly made thicker allowing for hinges, door latches, etc. as well as the window glass.  The seats came directly from the Trumpeter ALF.  Generic perhaps but with some "Pierce" logos and some paint they will be ok.  There are some temporary stiffeners inside the wheel wells that will be trimmed after everything is fit. Those and additional pieces inside the cab help to locate the interior tub in the same place each time it is removed.

Here's the interior tub sans cab.  There are still some changes to make but the majority of the work is done and only needs some finishing.  Seats will be glued down once they and the interior are painted.  The section of dash board in front of the steering wheel will go in separate and will be glued in after it is painted.

[hct728(Bob)]

Wow, the cab is a lot stronger than I thought it would be with the cutouts in it! Nice it fits so well over the interior, just like the kit piece

[Chariots of Fire]

27 minutes ago, hct728(Bob) said:

Wow, the cab is a lot stronger than I thought it would be with the cutouts in it! Nice it fits so well over the interior, just like the kit piece

Some 80x100 strip stock was used to stiffen up the interior.  It will also be the way to attach the interior panels so it is quite strong.

[Chariots of Fire]

The interior tub is nearing completion of the basic build.  Shimming was done to get it into final position.  There will be some minor cleaning up of some of the vacant areas that should be filled in.  Seats from the Trumpeter kit have been set up.  The two rear ones were slightly modified to fit on the center back platform.  The front grill has been done over and milled out from behind for the honeycomb style mesh that will be behind it.  In the photo it is misaligned as there is no way to keep it from slipping.  That will change once the grill is painted and chromed.  Slight modifications were made to the front of the frame to accommodate the cab.  Door openings have all be smoothed up, ready for doors.  Each one has been made rigid with some strip stock surrounds.  Interior panels for the cab will sit on the strips.  Doors will be made of similar thickness with interior panels and places for the glass to drop in.

That's it for now.  More will come as the cab work moves ahead.

[Gary Chastain]

Nice progress

[hct728(Bob)]

Nice work! Love how the strips thicken the cab walls realistically, stiffen the whole assembly and make later interior panel (and window) installs easier too!  Something learned, LOL

[Chariots of Fire]

Found out I have some adjustments to do to the openings for the front doors.  The rear edge needs to be made about 1/8" wider.  I thought the doors front and rear were the same width but they are not.  Glad the front doors have not been made yet!  Will be using 0.015" brass sheet for the outer panels.  That way I can solder a section of small tubing to the edge to act as a hinge.

[Chariots of Fire]

Been a few days since the last posting.  It has taken some time to refine the fit of the interior tub, to temporarily lock the side and front in position for doing the doors and get things lined up.  The doors have been cut from 0.016" brass sheet stock.  The hinged part is 0.018" diameter brass tubing with a stainless steel pin that sits inside.  At each end of the hinge, a small piece of receiving stock is inserted in the cab sides.  Each small piece has a drilled out hole the same as the hinge tube.  The steel pin slides into position with the receiving pieces glued in place after the door placement is set.  For the rear doors a hole was drilled in the bottom of the fender and a similar brass tube was inserted and glued in place.  The steel pin is inserted up through the bottom of the fender into the door and then up into the small receiver at the top of the cab.  There is a bit of finishing work that needs to be done now with pieces added to thicken up the doors and provide for a small rare earth magnet that will help keep the doors closed.

While it looks like there is a lot of glass area in the rear doors, there is a divider in the upper half that sits inside the opening.  That will be provided once the door thickness is finished.  The door glass will be slipped into position after the doors have been painted.  Slots will be kept open at the bottom of each door to allow the glass to slide in.  There will be steps at the bottom of each door that will enclose the body and that has to be worked out ahead of time.  The pencil line below the windshield gives a hint as to where the black over red paint separation line will be.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Chariots of Fire

[hct728(Bob)]

Love the precise cut and fit of the doors, and those simulated piano-style hinges are so fine, much finer tubing than can be done in styrene, looks so realistic! Neat solution to the cab parts of the hinges, again very fine work, well done

[Chariots of Fire]

1 minute ago, hct728(Bob) said:

Love the precise cut and fit of the doors, and those simulated piano-style hinges are so fine, much finer tubing than can be done in styrene, looks so realistic! Neat solution to the cab parts of the hinges, again very fine work, well done

The trick on those hinges, Bob is that they are supposed to be chromed!  Not quite sure how that will get done.  Nickel plating is one option.  Painting with a Molotow Pen is another.  Will see how things go.

[hct728(Bob)]

14 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

The trick on those hinges, Bob is that they are supposed to be chromed!  Not quite sure how that will get done.  Nickel plating is one option.  Painting with a Molotow Pen is another.  Will see how things go.

Bare Metal Foil used to be our go-to, now it's fallen out of favour, not sure why though. it sure is easy to apply on a straight edged surface

[Chariots of Fire]

7 minutes ago, hct728(Bob) said:

Bare Metal Foil used to be our go-to, now it's fallen out of favour, not sure why though. it sure is easy to apply on a straight edged surface

The one concern I have with BMF in this case is that it would be very narrow and subject to tearing with the movement of the tubing it would be covering.  The tubing sits flush with the cab surface as it is.

[peteski]

Couldn't you use hypodermic tubing for the hinges, instead of brass?  Tubing is stainless steel and it is nice and shiny. It can also be easily polished to give it more chrome-like look.  It is available in a wide range of ODs and wall thickness.  I used to get mine from Small Parts Inc. but since amazon absorbed them I have been using http://www.componentsupplycompany.com/ .

[Chariots of Fire]

11 hours ago, peteski said:

Couldn't you use hypodermic tubing for the hinges, instead of brass?  Tubing is stainless steel and it is nice and shiny. It can also be easily polished to give it more chrome-like look.  It is available in a wide range of ODs and wall thickness.  I used to get mine from Small Parts Inc. but since amazon absorbed them I have been using http://www.componentsupplycompany.com/ .

Not sure about soldering them to the brass doors, Peter.  Have never done that.  Will surely look into the information you included  though!  Thanks!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Superb scratch building Sir, an amazing, impressive and very complex project you have invest your self with!

Have you ever consider nickel silver tubes available from Albion Alloys, they are more on the silver color than aluminum and you can weld them to brass.  However, I don't know if the size you need is available.

https://www.albionalloys.com/en/copper-tube/nickel-silver-tube/

[Chariots of Fire]

46 minutes ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Superb scratch building Sir, an amazing, impressive and very complex project you have invest your self with!

Have you ever consider nickel silver tubes available from Albion Alloys, they are more on the silver color than aluminum and you can weld them to brass.  However, I don't know if the size you need is available.

https://www.albionalloys.com/en/copper-tube/nickel-silver-tube/

No, Sir.  Haven't thought of that.  I'll catalog the info for the next build, though!  Many thanks.

[peteski]

Another alternative would be to simply tin the brass tube.  Solder tin/lead alloy has silver color and can be polished.

I would take a length of brass tube plug up one end (so the solder does nto get into it., then generously coat it with flux (paste), and pull it almost vertically through a blob of melted solder on a large tip of a soldering iron. The flux should assure good coverage and that only thin layer of solder remains on the tube.

As far as soldering hypodermic (stainless) tubing, I have done it in the past.  It is not as easy as soldering brass, but with some acid-based flux should be possible.  I seem to recall that I dialed the iron's temperature down form the usual 700 deg .F I normally use.

Edited November 29, 2023 by peteski

[Chariots of Fire]

Going to have to put all of these great suggestions in my file for the next time.  The brass tubing is already soldered to the edges of each door so it's either nickel plate the edges of the door or do the Molotow thing after the doors are painted.  Will keep all posted with the results.  I just put some primer on the inner tub and finished up the cab interior sheeting.  The rest is now painting and adding decals and touchup to all of the gages and switches.

[peteski]

Glad to offer ideas.

If you can nickel plate it, that sounds like an excellent solution.

[tomsheehy]

Quite impressive Mr. Rowley.  I'll be following along.