BK9300 Posted February 16 Author Posted February 16 Was able to finish assembling the hood hinges last night and this morning, with a little cleanup left to do. Now I need to modify existing frame brackets to make a bit of room for the hinge mounts to fit to the frame. Then will get the mounts painted and glued to the frame and get on with the rest of the hood/cab alignment. Everything assembled last night and left to set up over night. 'Bolts' going through hinge mount are just sitting in place - will CA glue them in place once the hinge mounts are glued in position on the frame, and holes drilled in frame for bolts. Getting the grille surround ready for a test positioning on truck The existing frame bracket behind the hinge mount needs to be modified a bit before the hinge mount will snug up tight to the frame - getting closer! Might need to temporarily pin hinge mount to frame, without gluing the mount, to see if the grille surround (and hood) will lay out properly when opened. Lots of plastic 'dust' to clean up, despite my efforts to keep assembled parts clean. @Steve H posted about getting a Dspiae mini vacuum for his bench - have to look into that. Have a good rest of your weekend and thanks, as always, for having a look! 4
cifenet Posted February 17 Posted February 17 I am starting to think you could actually fix the real truck by going through this build. Your hinge mounts look very detailed, there must be at least 12-15 individual parts making up each! 1
BK9300 Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 20 hours ago, cifenet said: I am starting to think you could actually fix the real truck by going through this build. Your hinge mounts look very detailed, there must be at least 12-15 individual parts making up each! Made me laugh because I've likely had the least 'hands on' mechanical experience of the people who post here! The hinge detail looks good in pics, but will probably blend into the frame once painted - thanks in any event, Steve! 2 hours ago, Scott Eriksen said: Nice job on the hinges Brian! Thanks, Scott! I really tested the eyes making them - pretty much at the edge of capabilities here! 1
BK9300 Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 Had some good success with the hinge mounts today - got them painted and glued in place, with lots of fussing (and a bit of cursing!) and baby sitting them till the solvent glue set up! Not much else to say - really happy that the hinges finally co-operated and set up in the right position - once they were set, I removed the spacer plastic from the bottom of the grille surround, taped the surround to the hood and set the hinge bolts back in the hinge mounts and took some mock up pics. . . Hood and cab are now sitting at what will be their final heights Feels good - now to get on with some cleanup on the hood, the front cab mount made and fixed in place and maybe some work started on interior. Paint is a little ways away just yet - take care! 4
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 18 Posted February 18 I'm telling you that you shouldn't be away for too long... You work so well, it's surgically precise. 👌 You're going to make me want to change categories Brian! 🤔
Steve H Posted February 18 Posted February 18 Fantastic work Brian! I bet it feels really good to have that hood sorted out. I know I’d be ecstatic….
Steve H Posted February 18 Posted February 18 On 2/16/2025 at 12:32 PM, BK9300 said: Was able to finish assembling the hood hinges last night and this morning, with a little cleanup left to do. Now I need to modify existing frame brackets to make a bit of room for the hinge mounts to fit to the frame. Then will get the mounts painted and glued to the frame and get on with the rest of the hood/cab alignment. Everything assembled last night and left to set up over night. 'Bolts' going through hinge mount are just sitting in place - will CA glue them in place once the hinge mounts are glued in position on the frame, and holes drilled in frame for bolts. Getting the grille surround ready for a test positioning on truck The existing frame bracket behind the hinge mount needs to be modified a bit before the hinge mount will snug up tight to the frame - getting closer! Might need to temporarily pin hinge mount to frame, without gluing the mount, to see if the grille surround (and hood) will lay out properly when opened. Lots of plastic 'dust' to clean up, despite my efforts to keep assembled parts clean. @Steve H posted about getting a Dspiae mini vacuum for his bench - have to look into that. Have a good rest of your weekend and thanks, as always, for having a look! The vacuum… So my wife has always been super supportive of my hobby. We built our house with a hobby room/craft room for me and my daughter. That said, my wife is not a fan of the styrene “bits” that seem to follow me out of the room. I have a mat inside the room at the door to wipe my feet, always dust myself off, but still the styrene follows… Having a small vacuum on the bench, within reach, has been a game changer for me. Also, no fear of sucking up a small scratch built part, easy to find in the small canister. I regularly give the desk a quick vacuum now, LOVE IT. Highly recommend for those that want to keep a cleaner desk.
BK9300 Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 (edited) 14 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: I'm telling you that you shouldn't be away for too long... You work so well, it's surgically precise. 👌 You're going to make me want to change categories Brian! 🤔 Francis, thanks for your always generous comments, and I’d certainly sign up to watch you build a truck (I’ve seen the rear ends you make for your quarter mile beauties - I’m imagining something similar in a tandem version!) 14 hours ago, cifenet said: The operating hood is simply magnificent! Appreciate that, Steve - sometimes a little luck is needed to get things to work as hoped and I think I got a bit lucky with the hinges! 14 hours ago, Steve H said: Fantastic work Brian! I bet it feels really good to have that hood sorted out. I know I’d be ecstatic…. It does feel really good, Steve - was definitely some ‘agony’ for a time, though, waiting for everything to set in place! And I’m definitely getting one of those mini-vacs. 11 hours ago, slusher said: Great work so far and clean work! Carl, I’m really glad you had a look - you’re such a positive supporter of builders in every forum - thanks again for stopping by! 1 hour ago, Gary Chastain said: Wow, Brian, this just keeps getting better. Thanks, Gary - very glad to hear from you and looking forward to seeing you back at your bench in due course! Edited February 18 by BK9300 Typos 1
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 19 Posted February 19 8 hours ago, BK9300 said: Francis, thanks for your always generous comments, and I’d certainly sign up to watch you build a truck (I’ve seen the rear ends you make for your quarter mile beauties - I’m imagining something similar in a tandem version!) Rest assured that you deserve all the compliments you receive Brian, your precision and your knowledge on your subject are impressive. If one day I embark on a heavy truck project, I will need your help and advice, the solidarity of the members of this category is obvious, you are a bunch of enthusiasts, it's great to see! 👍 There are certainly several other beautiful projects around here, I just don't have enough time to visit them all. 😢 1
BK9300 Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 (edited) On 2/18/2025 at 5:32 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said: Rest assured that you deserve all the compliments you receive Brian, your precision and your knowledge on your subject are impressive. If one day I embark on a heavy truck project, I will need your help and advice, the solidarity of the members of this category is obvious, you are a bunch of enthusiasts, it's great to see! 👍 There are certainly several other beautiful projects around here, I just don't have enough time to visit them all. 😢 Well, if such a project ever came to be, and, to the extent you think I could help, I certainly would. I do think, though, that there are lots of builders here who have far more technical experience from their days as operators or mechanics. These plow trucks have always been a favorite of mine; I have a thumb drive full of reference pics and several pages of hand drawings with measurements, plus my 3D model, to guide the build. My next project will need just a much research to fill the many gaps in my limited, first hand knowledge! Edited February 21 by BK9300 2
BK9300 Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 (edited) Got some time back at the bench after a couple days away. I soon had myself going in circles, trying to figure out a way to mount the cab/hood in place, temporarily, so that I could place, remove, and then replace them, consistently, while adding on other details prior to final assembly. I did settle on a plan for doing that, and figuring that out had me going back and forth between pics of real truck and the model. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but sure seems like there are a lot of differences between the two. Made me think about how to do things differently for my next build - I have an example of that below. What little I got done today all began with me starting on the final portion of the hood supports and then figured I couldn't do that until the cab and hood were set reliably in position. And along the way, while positioning the cab/hood, I also just had to do a few more mock up pics of the truck with sander on! An example of the differences I was talking about - the subject truck, and.. some things I noticed when looking at pics of the model with the hood open, compared to the pic of the real truck - first chance I've had to do that! model's rad is too small - front to back and top to bottom - never paid close enough attention to proportions all those months ago engine is too big, or sits too high, or a bit of both model's fan pulley bracket is too low - raising it and the fan, adjusting the fan opening in the shroud and making the tank above the fan opening bigger might have gone a ways to filling up some of the space at the front of engine compartment next build, will need to do a few more checks along the way! I have a spacer block between the back of the cab and the air bag suspension - this will eventually be replaced with a floor pan crossmember that sits on top of the cab suspension The cab cross member is now just sitting in place - needs to be pinned for temporary placement Bottom of cab is now sitting parallel to frame rails - once I have all the under cab supports in place with pin locators, hood can tilt freely, and both cab and hood can be removed/replaced for the remainder of their detailing The cab and the sander body are reasonably aligned - might need a thin shim on driver's side front of sander frame (or not?); I can also see that I made the bumper assembly a bit out of level as well. To correct that, well, it's going to need to stay that way! A final three-quarter shot before taking it back apart again I'm also working on a plan for some better pics once it's ready for 'Under Glass' (a ways off yet!). The lighting on the bench is not great but works OK to show the progress. Need to go finish the rear cab floor pan crossmember, and a few others underneath there. Lots of fiddly little items going on, and I never did get to finishing the hood support. That will have to be tomorrow - take care! Edited February 21 by BK9300 typo 4
Scott Eriksen Posted February 21 Posted February 21 (edited) She looks dead nuts on Brian,,,, my hats off to ya ,,,sweating the small stuff will drive ya looney ! lol! Edited February 21 by Scott Eriksen
Scott Eriksen Posted February 21 Posted February 21 ...........actually you coulda put the Western Star logo's on the spring hangers,,,but I'll let ya slide .... "wink" awesome work pal 2
Biggu Posted February 21 Posted February 21 Another stunning update. The little bits that aren’t perfectly level are more realistic than you think. All of our trucks were bent and twisted after a few rounds of heavy pushing. She looks perfect to my eyes, Brian. A little twist and misalignment is dead on ! Very realistic. 1
cifenet Posted February 21 Posted February 21 This one is looking better than the real one, your dedication is shown throughout the build. All the details do add up nicely which makes this truck to be an amazing art!
BK9300 Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 (edited) 6 hours ago, Scott Eriksen said: She looks dead nuts on Brian,,,, my hats off to ya ,,,sweating the small stuff will drive ya looney ! lol! Thanks a lot, Scott - closer I get to being done, seems more small stuff to sweat instead of less! Edited February 21 by BK9300 1
BK9300 Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 3 hours ago, Biggu said: Another stunning update. The little bits that aren’t perfectly level are more realistic than you think. All of our trucks were bent and twisted after a few rounds of heavy pushing. She looks perfect to my eyes, Brian. A little twist and misalignment is dead on ! Very realistic. Thanks for that, Jeff - didn’t notice the bumper until looking at the pics later, and it hasn’t done any heavy pushing yet! 1
BK9300 Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 2 hours ago, cifenet said: This one is looking better than the real one, your dedication is shown throughout the build. All the details do add up nicely which makes this truck to be an amazing art! I appreciate that, Steve! Sometimes the little details sure take a long time, but making headway overall.
Rockford Posted February 21 Posted February 21 (edited) Stop beating yourself up! This is a remarkable project. You've achieved impossible levels of detail on this job. You're always going to find slight discrepancies between the real thing and a model or, as this is, a replica. In your defence, looking at the radiator, it has rubber baffles down the side which make it look thicker, and I know from experience that I miss glaring mistakes I've made way too far into a build. This whole truck just looks perfect, you can be suitably proud of yourself. Edited February 21 by Rockford 1
BK9300 Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 8 hours ago, Rockford said: Stop beating yourself up! This is a remarkable project. You've achieved impossible levels of detail on this job. You're always going to find slight discrepancies between the real thing and a model or, as this is, a replica. In your defence, looking at the radiator, it has rubber baffles down the side which make it look thicker, and I know from experience that I miss glaring mistakes I've made way too far into a build. This whole truck just looks perfect, you can be suitably proud of yourself. Thanks, Steve - reality check is always good! I’m my worst critic, but I am very pleased with the build. My comment about the real pics vs the model pics was not about being dis-satisfied, but an out loud, note to self about some things to be aware of for next truck. Thanks again, always appreciate your comments.
Bren Posted February 21 Posted February 21 (edited) At risk of waxing too philosophical Brian, my submission would be that you are highlighting the difference between an artist and a draftsman. I have always contended that what we do when we build models is create “constrained art”. We decide to accentuate certain things, and omit or modify others. How each of us choose to interpret the raw materials of a kit or scratch built replica is what marks us an artist - and why we love looking at someone else’s work. How did they represent this or that - not whether they succeeded in slavishly reducing the size of a 1:1 object. Your entire project is art, in my view- you have interpreted the real object in a very creative way - I LOVE looking at your updates. Yup - the bumper isn’t dead square - gives the subject character and, as Biggu points out, it can distort that way if stressed in the real beast. My Diamond Reo hood wasn’t quite square to the bumper - which drove me crazy, until I noticed a lot of 1:1 Diamond had exactly that happen over time. So - don’t let it drive you crazy - I think if we could perfectionistically eliminate the least little variation in our work it would render it paradoxically very boring! Keep trucking brother! Edited February 21 by Bren 3 1
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