Western Star 4900 FA plow truck

[Biggu]

Fabulous !!!!

[Gary Chastain]

OMG, the detail….you just can’t see all the details

[BK9300]

On 10/14/2025 at 6:49 PM, Biggu said:

Fabulous !!!!

 

21 hours ago, Gary Chastain said:

OMG, the detail….you just can’t see all the details

Thanks a lot, Guys - this is ponderously slow from the outside, I'm sure, but getting so much closer to finishing!

[BK9300]

Just been 'mentally' working on the finishing steps.  No actual work done, but down to three pages on the punch list and all of that is to do with the cab/hood/engine!

As an aside, when installing the chain hangers, I was scraping some paint off the frame to glue the hanger on the passenger side, and while applying some resistance on the underside of the frame, I managed to pop off the step box - think I had a heart murmur because I thought I had broken the box!  Turns out the glue just gave way, so was able to glue it back on ok.   I took a pic of the frame while glue was setting up.  Point of all this is that Jeff found my method for supporting the truck on its side interesting and thought others might be interested, too.

 

I've been using a couple of cinnamon, spice bottle lids to set the tires on their sidewalls, with a bottle of water in behind for support to keep the frame from tipping backwards - work well for me!

 

Edited October 16 by BK9300

[Gary Chastain]

Clever idea

[Biggu]

5 minutes ago, Gary Chastain said:

Clever idea

I totally agree, it kooks to support the truck well and holds it steady with a weight behind. It is nice to have a solid support so a guy can use two hands and not fumbling with holding it in one hand and trying to work on it with the other. This is a good simple hack that seems to work well.  I’m going to have to give this a go.

[Pete68]

Brian catching up and liked all the details added since I left. I like those chains another nice touch. 

[BK9300]

5 hours ago, Pete68 said:

Brian catching up and liked all the details added since I left. I like those chains another nice touch. 

Good that you're back, Pete, and thanks for having a look in!

[Pete68]

1 hour ago, BK9300 said:

Pete

It’s Lee 😂 

[BK9300]

50 minutes ago, Pete68 said:

It’s Lee 😂 

See - you shouldn't be away soon long - apologies, I seem to do that too often!

Edited October 17 by BK9300

[Pete68]

2 hours ago, BK9300 said:

See - you shouldn't be away soon long - apologies, I seem to do that too often!

Yes my fault and I forgot some names too every time. You model is looking so good like the details as always just amazing build. 

Edited October 18 by Pete68

[BK9300]

On 10/17/2025 at 6:48 PM, Pete68 said:

Yes my fault and I forgot some names too every time. You model is looking so good like the details as always just amazing build. 

Thanks again, Lee, and I appreciate the kind comments!

[BK9300]

Got back at it late yesterday and today.  I needed to make the support plate for trailer electrical/air connections that sits on a cross member between the cab and the hydraulic tank.  Doing double duty - plow truck in winter and dump/pup or tractor application in the summer, this truck has trailer connections for electrical, ABS and air runs to the rear drop cross member for dump and pup setups.  This truck also has trailer wiring and ABS wiring runs coming back to this plate behind the cab, should the truck be set up with a fifth wheel for the summer.  On many of the trucks, this plate also provides the electrical connection to power the sander's roto, signal and brake lights.  I don't have first hand knowledge of all this - was given lots of info by Craig and Jeff.

 

Made up the mounting plate and bracket, made up the power supply for the sander lights, and the runs for trailer wiring and ABS wiring.  The pinned item, the four nuts and the lengths of tubing are going to be my effort at a tractor protection valve, which will attach to the yellow plate as well -

 

Connectors glued in place - finally have a spot for the sander power line to plug into! -

 

The 'electrical' tape is Tamiya film, Flat Black Finish, cut into thin strips -

 

I changed materials for the tractor protection valve - thinner air lines and a bit thicker valve body -  

 

Truck protection valve bolted in place - not correct to real one, but works for my little setup!

 

 

All of these lines will disappear along either frame rail.  Going to be a chore to get them where they need to go, temporarily, so I can glue black bracket to the cross member behind the cab and not bust any connectors off.  Hope to get that done in the morning!

 

Edited Thursday at 09:47 PM by BK9300
typo

[Straightliner59]

Excellent detail work, Brian! The tape wrap is very nice. I'll have to look into the Tamiya film. 

[BK9300]

11 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Excellent detail work, Brian! The tape wrap is very nice. I'll have to look into the Tamiya film. 

Thanks, Daniel.  That Tamiya film works well for electrical tape, but sure is fussy to work with in thin strips, though!

[Pete68]

17 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Got back at it late yesterday and today.  I needed to make the support plate for trailer electrical/air connections that sits on a cross member between the cab and the hydraulic tank.  Doing double duty - plow truck in winter and dump/pup or tractor application in the summer, this truck has trailer connections for electrical, ABS and air runs to the rear drop cross member for dump and pup setups.  This truck also has trailer wiring and ABS wiring runs coming back to this plate behind the cab, should the truck be set up with a fifth wheel for the summer.  On many of the trucks, this plate also provides the electrical connection to power the sander's roto, signal and brake lights.  I don't have first hand knowledge of all this - was given lots of info by Craig and Jeff.

 

Made up the mounting plate and bracket, made up the power supply for the sander lights, and the runs for trailer wiring and ABS wiring.  The pinned item, the four nuts and the lengths of tubing are going to be my effort at a tractor protection valve, which will attach to the yellow plate as well -

 

Connectors glued in place - finally have a spot for the sander power line to plug into! -

 

The 'electrical' tape is Tamiya film, Flat Black Finish, cut into thin strips -

 

I changed materials for the tractor protection valve - thinner air lines and a bit thicker valve body -  

 

Truck protection valve bolted in place - not correct in real life, but works for my little setup!

 

 

All of these lines will disappear along either frame rail.  Going to be a chore to get them where they need to go, temporarily, so I can glue black bracket to the cross member behind the cab and not bust any connectors off.  Hope to get that done in the morning!

 

Very nice 

[BK9300]

After a couple trial runs, threading the tubing where they needed to go, and positioning the connections plate on the cross member, I got the plate assembly CA glued to the cross member, and didn't break anything!

 

Yellow plate glued in place - had to make up two battery cable ends for the sander connection and attach them to the wires before gluing plate in place.  Then, fed them into battery box and bolted them in place -

 

I just ran the trailer wiring, ABS wiring and trailer air line runs along the frame and ended them 'out of sight'.  They can be partially seen from above and that's what matters most -

 

Will be a tight fit, using tweezers, to get sander cable glued into the top connector, without making a mess -

 

Showing the tractor protection valve a bit better.  I took some liberties while fabricating it, but it looks the part -

 

Still don't have my last order of chrome paint to test with.  Next, finally, I need to make the air cleaner and then chrome it and all the other cab/hood bits when I decide which chrome paint to use.  Hope to get the rest of the paint soon!

 

[BK9300]

15 minutes ago, Pete68 said:

Very nice 

Thank you, Lee!

[Straightliner59]

There's just so much cool stuff to look at, here! I especially love the batteeries. Great modelling, sir!

[Rockford]

It's so complete it's painful to look at 😵‍💫

[BK9300]

On 10/23/2025 at 11:48 PM, Straightliner59 said:

There's just so much cool stuff to look at, here! I especially love the batteeries. Great modelling, sir!

Thanks, Daniel - there’s a lot going on here, for sure!

[BK9300]

7 hours ago, Rockford said:

It's so complete it's painful to look at 😵‍💫

Thanks, Steve - not much further to go; only a bit more pain coming!