Western Star 4900 FA plow truck

[Steve H]

Amazing work Brian! Exceptional attention to detail throughout this entire project, truly impressive sir. There is a thread somewhere on the board here about “hidden details” the stuff we add to our builds that no one else will likely ever see. You could add a bunch of entries to that thread. 

[cifenet]

The new floor looks so good.  Good thinking to go with this route.  
 

And that flexible tube (from Wave?) which wraps around the stand is just the right detail here.  

[Gary Chastain]

Any thought about opening doors, that would allow very good site into all that detail?

[BK9300]

17 hours ago, Steve H said:

Amazing work Brian! Exceptional attention to detail throughout this entire project, truly impressive sir. There is a thread somewhere on the board here about “hidden details” the stuff we add to our builds that no one else will likely ever see. You could add a bunch of entries to that thread. 

Thanks a lot, Steve - it’s nearing the end and the list of details to add is getting much smaller!  I had a look for the thread you mentioned but haven’t located it yet - bet there’s a lot of good viewing in there!

 

15 hours ago, cifenet said:

The new floor looks so good.  Good thinking to go with this route.  
 

And that flexible tube (from Wave?) which wraps around the stand is just the right detail here.  

The tube is a 2.5 mm spring and is from Wave - I have quite a selection of sizes I found a couple years ago while first thinking about this model.  Works very well for wire looms!  Thanks, Steve.
 

 

4 hours ago, Gary Chastain said:

Any thought about opening doors, that would allow very good site into all that detail?

I have gone back and forth about opening the driver’s door, but decided not to do it.  If I scaled the actual opening of the driver’s door, the dash would certainly be more visible, but it still wouldn’t open wide enough to view the control tower, past the front seat, any better than by looking through the windshield or either of the side windows.  A job for a future build, for sure.  Thanks, Gary!

Edited March 6 by BK9300
typo

[Randy D]

Well my friend,  so much awesome modeling to take in here.  Love the shot from underneath showing all the detail you built up with the hood and floor framing. The dash is looking like you shrunk the real thing!!   The mast and control tower , with the monitors and levers is really shaping up.   Great idea using those RB Motion boots.  What have you found for a glue that works with the silicone?

Randy

[BK9300]

2 hours ago, Randy D said:

Well my friend,  so much awesome modeling to take in here.  Love the shot from underneath showing all the detail you built up with the hood and floor framing. The dash is looking like you shrunk the real thing!!   The mast and control tower , with the monitors and levers is really shaping up.   Great idea using those RB Motion boots.  What have you found for a glue that works with the silicone?

Randy

Thanks, Randy - lots that won't show very easily, but I feel the need to add the details in!  The silicone boots are very flexible, but fragile.  So, if I'm careful, I can slide the boot over the bends in the wire and only need to CA glue the wire into the brass tube 'fitting'.  The 90 degree bends in the wire/air line hold the boots in place without glue.  Appreciate your comments!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

The wonder and demonstration of your great talent continues inside the cabin, there is not a part of this project that is safe from your expert hands, a pleasure to follow!

[BK9300]

On 3/6/2025 at 2:00 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

The wonder and demonstration of your great talent continues inside the cabin, there is not a part of this project that is safe from your expert hands, a pleasure to follow!

Thanks very much, Francis and I appreciate you following the progress!

[BK9300]

Found these links to a model truck museum in Leduc, Alberta.   Some very interesting builds in these videos

 

 

 

 

[Rockford]

This is an extraordinary build. You have demonstrated tremendous ingenuity in adding details to the build. You don't have to explain yourself, you do it because you want to and no one can criticise you because we're all as daft! 

[BK9300]

9 hours ago, Rockford said:

This is an extraordinary build. You have demonstrated tremendous ingenuity in adding details to the build. You don't have to explain yourself, you do it because you want to and no one can criticise you because we're all as daft! 

Thanks a lot, Steve - I think ‘daft’ sums it up perfectly, but sure is a great activity to spend time at!

[BK9300]

Last few times at the bench, I've been getting some smaller items ready for priming.  I can't see it when I look at the pieces with just my glasses, but taking pics of everything shows lots of fuzz that needed to be smoothed away.  So, lots of time spent doing that and finally, was able to get some primer on some pieces yesterday and today.  Because I've been waiting for parts and more paint, and while waiting in between primer coats, I built something I hadn't expected to do for this build - one of those 'out of sight, but I know it's there' things!

 

Little bits primed with second coat; prior to priming I had added base plates to the control tower, that the valve handle boots would mount onto in the real truck; I added two electrical sockets to the back of the monitor - each socket has been drilled for some .012 wire that will feed into the wire looms

 

Found my self a bit idle the last couple days, between coats of primer, and, decided to fabricate the windshield washer fluid reservoir that mounts under the floor pan, below the driver's seat.  The lengths of the pieces of tubing/wiring will likely need to be changed up a bit once the reservoir is painted and in place.  The 'washer fluid' in the clear filler tube is a piece of Gopher, ignition wire - the wire will be painted the same colour as the 'full' reservoir - because it will be full, I won't need to slant the level of fluid in the filler tube!

 

The reservoir is upside down at the moment and the bits on the bottom are the low fluid level sensor/sending unit and the outlet hose to the washer pump

 

Mocked up in place.  The wire loom for the sending unit will be fed into the drilled hole in the front cross member.  If I move the reservoir back slightly, I might be able to feed the filler tube through the cross member as well, without kinking the tube

This wasn't on the list of outstanding things to do, but I'm glad I did it.  Actually might be able to just see it when looking at the back corner of the cab. I think I better stick to the list from now on, instead of adding new things to it - take care and thanks for having a look!

Edited March 12 by BK9300
Typo

[Jürgen M.]

Incredible!!!

[Gary Chastain]

Now ya gotta add spray nozzles to the cowl.  I thought you would eventually run out of ideas for detailing, oooohhh silly me. 😂🤣

[BK9300]

56 minutes ago, Gary Chastain said:

Now ya gotta add spray nozzles to the cowl.  I thought you would eventually run out of ideas for detailing, oooohhh silly me. 😂🤣

Too funny!  I really do want to stick to the ‘list’,  but wanted to do something while waiting for stuff - thanks, Gary.

[BK9300]

I'm sticking to the model's 'punch' list for the time being but still waiting on some fasteners from Model Motor cars (Scale Hardware).  A while back, I broke the center windshield brace - and in keeping with the list, I have to do work on the firewall, so, to minimize handling the cab, I reproduced the shape of the firewall on a piece of similar thickness styrene and began making the parts I want to add to the firewall.  I am going to be pinning the items I add and drilling holes for some others, so the temporary firewall will also allow me to use it as a template for drilling the holes into the cab's firewall.  I then won't have to handle the cab very much, once it's painted (and repaired!) when I add the pieces to the cab's firewall.

 

Temporary firewall - looks distorted a bit, but think that's just the two different angles of the firewalls

 

Modified an air tank to be a smaller, rad overflow tank - two 0.5mm brass pins were added to the brackets on the back side

 

 

This is the cover for what a Western Star Body Builder bulletin calls the MEGA fuse box - I'm also going to see if I can add the Power Distribution box that feeds this fuse box

Holes for the tank mount pins and the fuse box flange bolts have been drilled into temp firewall

 

Temp firewall mocked up in place - I know I said the temp firewall was so I didn't handle the cab as much, so this mockup really won't happen often anymore!

 

Going to have a go at using some more of the Wave springs, different sizes, to make a highly simplified version of the harnesses between the power distribution box, the fuse box, and also make the harnesses to the three connectors that are on the driver's side of the firewall.  If this actually turns out, in theory I should be able to move the tank and fuse box, and 'unplug' the harnesses and connectors  from the temporary firewall and 'plug' them into the cab's firewall.  Or, it might end up as a 'maybe next time' project!  More slow going, but still getting further along - take care!

 

 

 

Edited March 15 by BK9300

[BK9300]

double post !?

Edited March 16 by BK9300

[BK9300]

On 3/12/2025 at 12:48 AM, Jürgen M. said:

Incredible!!!

Apologies, Jürgen - I shouldn’t have missed this - thanks for your comment!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

More great details you've added Brian, your long to-do list keeps our fun going! 😊

[cifenet]

Love the fine details and focusing for accuracy on the subject you are building, Brian!

I see that windshield divider is a clean break which is a good thing.  I have seen badly crushed/warped pillars, not an easy repair.

 

[BK9300]

5 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

More great details you've added Brian, your long to-do list keeps our fun going! 😊

Thanks, Francis - hardly made a 'dent' in the list - at the moment, for everything I get done on the list, I seem to add two more!

[BK9300]

3 hours ago, cifenet said:

Love the fine details and focusing for accuracy on the subject you are building, Brian!

I see that windshield divider is a clean break which is a good thing.  I have seen badly crushed/warped pillars, not an easy repair.

 

I appreciate that, Steve!  I've tried to repair the windshield support brace once, but very quickly broke it again, thankfully in the same spot.  Hence the tape and I'll leave the final repair till very near the end!

[BK9300]

Got started on a sketch for my attempt at some level of wiring for the firewall (it's a bit of a messy thing so not going to bore you with it), and started thinking about all the 'how to' things I need to overcome.  While thinking about that, I decided it was time to see how the single air cleaner, on the driver's side, might impact the planned firewall detailing, given the limited space available.  I started by modifying an air cleaner body from the Alaskan Hauler kit - it appeared to be of the shorter kind that was on the real truck.  I drilled a couple mounting holes for it and mocked it in place, and topped it off with a machined air cleaner from 'Off the Sprue'.  I set the cab on the truck and discovered I had another problem to deal with!

 

I removed the molded in straps on the air cleaner because I need to make an outlet lower, closer to the middle of the air cleaner body to line up with the hole through the skirt I will also need to do.  I will add straps back once the air cleaner is all one unit and ready for chrome paint

 

I put cab and hood on the truck and discovered that the back edge of the fender won't clear the bottom of the air cleaner body.  The red arrow is pointing to the hinge bolt, not yet glued of course, but in its final position, so no relief there.  This pic also shows no room left for me to move the air cleaner back towards the driver's door.

 

When I compared the real truck's air cleaner set up with the model, I can see that I may not have started the cut into the front of cab close enough to the leading edge of the driver's door frame...

 

and, in the pic below, the body width of the kit air cleaner appears to be slightly thicker than the real truck as well.  So, I'm not going to re-do the cut-in, but I could make a slightly narrower diameter replacement cannister/body, mount it that much further back towards the cab and perhaps raise it a 1 - 2 millimeters, and failing all that, maybe remove 1 - 1.5 mm from the bottom edge of the fenders (and there are mud flaps to make allowance for?!).  I'm hoping all that will work and I can carry on with working on the wiring!

 

Just like the list, this has been one of those 'one step forward, two steps backward' days.  Such is, I guess and it needs to be dealt with.  Next time at the bench, right?!  Take care.

 

 

Edited March 16 by BK9300
double pics

[Rockford]

When you get into fabbing stuff to the degree you have on this job you see how much work the kit makers have to put into each kit. It's a wonder anything can be built. 

Persevere, you'll sort it I'm sure. You can see the filter housing is too big from the kit. 

[BK9300]

12 minutes ago, Rockford said:

When you get into fabbing stuff to the degree you have on this job you see how much work the kit makers have to put into each kit. It's a wonder anything can be built. 

Persevere, you'll sort it I'm sure. You can see the filter housing is too big from the kit. 

I agree with you about the kit manufacturers - making master molds for parts that fit well must be very difficult!   Thanks for the encouragement, Steve - it will get sorted, for sure.

Edited March 16 by BK9300