My own Sundance

[Gary Chastain]

Nice work on the wheels

[Jürgen M.]

Wow! Amazing details! I'm watching! ?

[Force]

Those modified wheels looks a lot better, maybe you should do the same with the drive wheels on the truck, they look way too shallow now when the trailer wheels got a more correct depth.
These things bugs me with the Revell/Monogram snap kits, the wheels doesn't look good on them, not in this scale and not in 1:25th scale.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Force

[leafsprings]

On 12/20/2023 at 1:18 PM, Rockford said:

Watching The Rockford Files (obviously, I'm a fan) 

 

Fan also, the series unfortunately ended too soon, an excellent glimpse of Southern California in the 70's.  IMO, downhill spiral ever since. I thought for sure Richie Brockleman would get a spin off series?

Edited December 23, 2023 by leafsprings

[Rockford]

18 hours ago, Force said:

Those modified wheels looks a lot better, maybe you should do the same with the drive wheels on the truck, they look way too shallow now when the trailer wheels got a more correct depth.
These things bugs me with the Revell/Monogram snap kits, the wheels doesn't look good on them, not in this scale and not in 1:25th scale.

Thanks mate, I have considered it on the drives but I've messed around that much with them already, and they'd be a harder one to pull off cleanly.... 

[Rockford]

17 hours ago, leafsprings said:

Fan also, the series unfortunately ended too soon, an excellent glimpse of Southern California in the 70's.  IMO, downhill spiral ever since. I thought for sure Richie Brockleman would get a spin off series?

He did apparently, only one season. I thought they were asking him to impersonate Woody Allen when I watched the Rockford episode with him in. 

[Force]

23 hours ago, Rockford said:

Thanks mate, I have considered it on the drives but I've messed around that much with them already, and they'd be a harder one to pull off cleanly.... 

I would try if I were you, the wheels are much too shallow to look good.
You don't have to destroy anything, just hold a ring on the outside of the wheel and look, I promise it will look better.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Force

[Rockford]

Well Håkan I took the leap. I had a "spare" set of drives on a built truck I only paid a few quid for so I used them. I did the same as the trailer wheels but used two strips of 0.5mm plastic card, one inside the other, to create the lip on the edge of the rim.

Used BMF on them and they marry up to the kit wheels very well. Added drive hubs too. At last, a 1/32 with wheels that look right (almost). I suppose Sundance deserves the best. 

In the last picture you can also see the adjustments I had to make to the lower rail on the front bulkhead of the trailer. The is proud at one side and too short on the other so I added a strip of plastic across the front and then sanded it back. 

[Gary Chastain]

Looks way better, good adjustments 

[cifenet]

Awesome progress indeed and I can see that our hobby is all about making continuous adjustments as you make more progress.

Keep it up, the truck is already looking sweet!

[Force]

16 hours ago, Rockford said:

Well Håkan I took the leap. I had a "spare" set of drives on a built truck I only paid a few quid for so I used them. I did the same as the trailer wheels but used two strips of 0.5mm plastic card, one inside the other, to create the lip on the edge of the rim.

Used BMF on them and they marry up to the kit wheels very well. Added drive hubs too. At last, a 1/32 with wheels that look right (almost). I suppose Sundance deserves the best. 

In the last picture you can also see the adjustments I had to make to the lower rail on the front bulkhead of the trailer. The is proud at one side and too short on the other so I added a strip of plastic across the front and then sanded it back. 

See, it wasn't that hard was it, I had faith in you and thought you could pull it off when I saw what you did with the trailer wheels.?
This looks way better than the old wheels.

So you did a good job Steve

I do not like the wheels in Revell-Monogram snap kits, not in this scale nor in the 1:25th scale, they are awful representations of truck wheels that doesn't look realistic at all, they look more like wheels on a toy than on a model.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Force

[Rockford]

6 minutes ago, Force said:

See, it wasn't that hard was it, I had faith in you and thought you could pull it off when I saw what you did with the trailer wheels.?
This looks way better than the old wheels.

So you did a good job Steve

I do not like the wheels in Revell-Monogram snap kits, not in this scale nor in the 1:25th scale, they are awful representations of truck wheels that doesn't look realistic at all, they look more like wheels on a toy than on a model.

It's the old compromise of manufacturing considerations over realism, and I suppose they were starter kits aimed at younger modellers, not us old perfectionists. I do wish I had took the plunge before now, but you grow in confidence as well as frustration with successive projects. 

[Rockford]

It's been six weeks since I was able to touch any of my projects and I've been getting out of the habit so I pushed myself to do something today. 

Made an upper bulkhead for the sleeper access and fitted the sleeper cap. The bulkhead mimics the gasket between the two. I'm going to make some decals to represent the diamond buttoned interior upholstery.

Did some remedial work on the tyres and added the quarter light rubbers (in 0.75mm square strip) to the quarter lights. 

Not the most dramatic day's work but has to be done before paint and it's got me moving again. As we hit April, suitable conditions for painting are almost here. Weather in GB has been atrocious, cold, wet, windy for months. 

[cifenet]

You are doing some extensive fabrication for sure! 

Given 1/32 in scale, I am sure everything is going to be smaller and less tolerant when it comes to customizing and fabricating parts to fit.

Looking at the photos, things are fitting quite well and I think you got everything going well! 

 

 

[Rockford]

Force and I were talking about trailer colours for Sonny Pruitt's rig (the van is bare aluminium but my query is the chassis: silver or grey?) and he reminded me of something that's been nagging at me for a while. The trailer had a side door, the Monogram one doesn't. 

I'd considered laying one out in plastic strip but I wasn't happy about making a handle, the lock bar, the hinges etc ... The Fruehauf doors are too tall because the side doors are smaller and couldn't be cut down tidily. Then I realised that, of the two AMT Trailmobile doors I'd saved recently, I only need the LH one, the RH would be perfect for the job. 

I marked the van where the door opening is and then gently scribed the lines with a knife. Took a hobby saw and gently dug into the cut until it went through, then took the cut to the limits. 

The opening was purposefully too small so I could use the door as a GO-NO-GO guage until it fitted all round. 

Two pieces of card stock behind for support and plopped the door in. Still needs the reinforcing piece under the lower rail but looks good to me! 

[Jürgen M.]

Wow! Rockford, that's a beautiful build! Can't wait to see it finished!

I used to build the 1/32 snap kits too but not one of them survived!

I had a Freightliner COE with a reefer and a conventional with a tanker trailer.

As they were gone I had comitted myself to 1/25 kits. No space for more!

? 

Keep going. I always loved "Movin' on"!

Maybe I'll take a chance on that one in 1/25 some day! 

[The Brush]

Hi Steve, Sterling work on this, Wheels are much better & nice to see you back at the bench.

Graham.

[Jürgen M.]

On 3/30/2024 at 6:13 PM, Rockford said:

It's been six weeks since I was able to touch any of my projects and I've been getting out of the habit so I pushed myself to do something today. 

Made an upper bulkhead for the sleeper access and fitted the sleeper cap. The bulkhead mimics the gasket between the two. I'm going to make some decals to represent the diamond buttoned interior upholstery.

Did some remedial work on the tyres and added the quarter light rubbers (in 0.75mm square strip) to the quarter lights. 

Not the most dramatic day's work but has to be done before paint and it's got me moving again. As we hit April, suitable conditions for painting are almost here. Weather in GB has been atrocious, cold, wet, windy for months. 

Wow! How did you manage to make such an exact sun visor?

[Rockford]

Jürgen, I honestly don't know how I managed it. I did use the AMT 1/25 version as a pattern for my angles etc... and reduced the size accordingly for 1/32. It took a full day though. 

[cifenet]

I can see you are increasing your productivity mow that we see several progress updates!   

It’s fun watching your build, you always seem to tackle different type of challenges!  

[JerseeJerry55]

As much as I loved the freight oriented tractors 4070, White Freightliner, Titan/Astro. Mack, Ford W series, anything White Motors etc back as a kid in the mid 1970’s. The W Series from KW also was a favorite. KW’s, Pete’s were nice but seemed to be West of the Hudson River as far as I thought. However when you saw them on the NYS Thruway or on the pages of Owner Operator Magazine your heart skipped a beat. Want to see more of this model. Well done.

[Rockford]

On 4/16/2024 at 3:40 AM, cifenet said:

I can see you are increasing your productivity mow that we see several progress updates!   

It’s fun watching your build, you always seem to tackle different type of challenges! 

I'm hoping to get some painting done as the weather improves. I've got quite a queue waiting for the paint shop.

[Rockford]

4 hours ago, JerseeJerry55 said:

As much as I loved the freight oriented tractors 4070, White Freightliner, Titan/Astro. Mack, Ford W series, anything White Motors etc back as a kid in the mid 1970’s. The W Series from KW also was a favorite. KW’s, Pete’s were nice but seemed to be West of the Hudson River as far as I thought. However when you saw them on the NYS Thruway or on the pages of Owner Operator Magazine your heart skipped a beat. Want to see more of this model. Well done.

Nice little memory there mate. Here in UK mine wouldn't be quite so romantic, mine would be full of ERFs, Leylands, Fodens etc... I hope you are pleased with the end result. I've longed to build Sonny's truck for so many years and I just hope I feel satisfied with it. W900s were just like something from another world to a 10year old on the UK when Movin' On came on the TV, and I've loved them ever since. I want to do Will & Sonny justice, how daft is that! Daft means innocently silly/stupid by the way. ?

[Rockford]

Besides nearly ruining my Trailmobile last week I also managed to get Sonny's trailer painted. Left it all to harden for a week and boxed it all together this afternoon. Looks good to me. I like the F2 lightweight suspension and the deeper wheel rims. I'd have loved to have painted Sundance but I need to get some grey primer, I don't want to take a risk with that rubbish I bought for the Trailmobile. 

[Jürgen M.]

Looking great, Rockford! I'm sure it'll turn out perfectly since your dedication to this rig is so huge!

I can understand that too. It's always been one of my favorite TV series. Can't wait to see it finished!