dodgefever Posted January 1, 2024 Posted January 1, 2024 (edited) I have a pile of the Revell kits, so figured one would be a good candidate for a 1-ton conversion. I'm thinking about making a wrecker body for it. ? Not much to show yet, but I've got a new rear chassis section, leaf springs, HO72 axle and 17.5" wheels to assemble. The kit chassis will be cut off near the front of the cab and this new section grafted on. Front suspension stock, but with the new 1-ton brakes/ hubs. Edited January 1, 2024 by dodgefever 6
leafsprings Posted January 1, 2024 Posted January 1, 2024 Great project, will be watching this one! Looks like all the correct parts for a mid 60's 1 ton build. Are the conversion pieces your own making?
Oldriginal86 Posted January 1, 2024 Posted January 1, 2024 Have a ‘60 Chevy C30 on the back burner. Need to make a flatbed. I’m watching with interest.
dodgefever Posted January 2, 2024 Author Posted January 2, 2024 17 hours ago, leafsprings said: Great project, will be watching this one! Looks like all the correct parts for a mid 60's 1 ton build. Are the conversion pieces your own making? Yes, I drew them in FreeCAD and printed them. Doing some research on the wrecker... might end up badged as a '66, because a Holmes 440 looks a lot easier to build than a 400.
dodgefever Posted January 4, 2024 Author Posted January 4, 2024 Grafted in the chassis and assembled the rear end. The wheels and tyres are just dry fitted to see how it sits. I'll get some better photos in the daylight tomorrow. 5
dodgefever Posted January 5, 2024 Author Posted January 5, 2024 (edited) No real progress, after reading @TheBEAUMONTGURU's thread I've been staring at the grille and thinking about how to improve it. Better photos of the mock up anyway... Wheel/tyre fit might look sloppy, but they're only loosely put together here; can't glue them until they're painted. CAD drawing. The sharp eyed will notice the missing U bolts. I couldn't see a way to print them without them breaking, so figured I'd use wire. Edited January 5, 2024 by dodgefever 3
leafsprings Posted January 6, 2024 Posted January 6, 2024 Looks great! The chassis cab is coming together nicely.
TheBEAUMONTGURU Posted January 7, 2024 Posted January 7, 2024 this is shaping up to be an epic build! super cool!
dodgefever Posted January 18, 2024 Author Posted January 18, 2024 I decided to tackle the 400, so I've made some progress on the mast and winch. Test print of the bed, which broke, but at least I know it fits... 5
Bainford Posted January 18, 2024 Posted January 18, 2024 This is looking great. The chassis parts you printed appear spot on. Nice work so far. 2
dodgefever Posted February 29, 2024 Author Posted February 29, 2024 (edited) Still working on the wrecker body, but I got some paint on the chassis. Edited February 29, 2024 by dodgefever 3
bobss396 Posted March 1, 2024 Posted March 1, 2024 Very cool, I had a '65 C30 years ago. I have a stalled '60 Chevy wrecker in the works, used the Revell Midnite Cowboy wrecker back. I'm looking for a 3D printed source, most are sold out quickly.
dodgefever Posted June 24, 2024 Author Posted June 24, 2024 This has been stalled while I tried to figure out what to do about the grille. This is the first iteration... needs some tweaks but even as it is, I think it's an improvement. 2
dodgefever Posted July 28, 2024 Author Posted July 28, 2024 More tweaking... I think the headlight rings will be less obvious when they're painted and the lenses are fitted, so I'm calling this done. With the kit part: 3
bobss396 Posted July 31, 2024 Posted July 31, 2024 On the '60 I'm using, I opened up the grille from the back, looks more better. VCG Resins makes a '66 GMC conversion as well.
dodgefever Posted January 7 Author Posted January 7 Progress - push bumper and boom done. Still undecided on colours. 5 1
bobss396 Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Exceptional work on the bed and boom. I like the bumper guard too. I made mine from a scratch. Might have 4 hours into that effort. 1
BK9300 Posted January 8 Posted January 8 (edited) Really like your CAD work on your build. I’ve not heard of Freecad - how would you rate its ease of use? The wrecker bed and boom looks great! Edited January 8 by BK9300 1 1
dodgefever Posted January 8 Author Posted January 8 (edited) 3 hours ago, BK9300 said: Really like your CAD work on your build. I’ve not heard of Freecad - how would you rate its ease of use? The wrecker bed and boom looks great! Thanks. FreeCAD isn't too hard to get started with. You draw 2D sketches and extrude, rotate, pocket etc. those sketches to create 3D shapes. It's arguably more suited to "engineering" type work than it is to organic shapes. It can still be done, but requires more thought. Blender might be better for that kind of thing. I use it for previewing meshes and joining STL files that I've drawn as separate parts, but drawing anything from scratch in Blender feels like hard work. As an example, this MEL engine started with a 2D sketch of the block's cross section: Extruded to length: Then it's just a matter of adding and taking away bits. Edited January 8 by dodgefever 1
BK9300 Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Thanks for this - I've been using Sketchup, but I don't have a lot of success with organic shapes either! 1
Nazz Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Great looking truck Stu! I will be following for sure! Jerry 1
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