Western Star 4900 FA plow truck

[BK9300]

1 hour ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Your air cleaner canister looks fantastic Brian, I remember trying to use an old Braun screen for a front grille but the glue won't stick on it.  In your context, being encased inside the Styrene tubes, the result is perfect once again!  Who is surprised? 😉

I won't discount that I had some luck on my side with this - thanks, Francis!

[BK9300]

Doing what I can to carry on, while waiting to do chrome paint test - might get to do that tomorrow, weather permitting.  Not making big progress anywhere at the moment - efforts at the bench feel quite fragmented - so close and still lots of little stuff to do.  Carried on with the air cleaner, which forced me to think about the intake air tubing and fittings, which landed me on needing to do the charge air cooler lines, to make sure there would be clearance for the tubing to inlet of the intake turbo.  All things I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about, way back when, and now causing me a bit of grief.

The 'tube in tube' solution for the air cleaner worked well for the grating, but the tradeoff is that extra work will be needed to hide the outlines of the tubing on the top and bottom of the cannister.  I masked off the body of the cannister, to concentrate on the ends, and at this point, I have primed, sanded and primed again, hoping the primer would be enough cover the outlines on the ends.  Not happening yet!  Let this coat cure, sand it and then apply some Tamiya white putty to see if that helps -

 

A resin motor, with a modified intake manifold and a modified radiator, means no kit parts will work for the charge air piping.  Started with a parts box exhaust that already had a few curves in it and started making pieces to line things up -

 

The driver's side piping is just sitting in place, after positioning the two pieces and CA gluing them together.  The piping will line up better with the intake, once both ends of the piping are glued in place -

 

Similarly for passenger side piping - pieces resting in place after gluing -

 

Today's fiddling around reminded me again of more things to pay attention to in the next build, as well as the need for a better order of building.  All of the engine components should have been finished long ago.  Even now, I'm not 100% certain the hood will clear the charge air piping on the turbo side - I did a quick test, and there was a bit of a rub, but the piping still needs to be glued in, so, maybe I can adjust that clearance while the glue is drying.  Need to clean up the charge air piping, get the two sections painted and glued in place so I can carry on with the intake piping from the air cleaner.

 

Edited November 19 by BK9300

[Jürgen M.]

I could repeat what I just commented in Gary's C500 thread but I don't want you to think that I'm just copying to save time.

I'm speachless seeing the accuracy and tidyness of your build and it's still hard to believe that this is not a real truck. 

Edited November 19 by Jürgen M.

[Straightliner59]

Brian, you've done an excellent job with overcoming previous obstacles. I've no doubt you'll handle these, as well! I love this project. Carry on with the great work, sir!

[Biggu]

Incredible attention to the finest of details and engineering. The execution of a scratch built ‘problem’ fix is nothing short of, for the want of a better term, amazing. !

[BK9300]

Jurgen - thanks a lot.  Just trying to get as much into this as I can.

 

Daniel - always problems to overcome when scratch building, as you well know!  Thanks.

 

Much appreciated, Jeff, as always.  Lots of those 'problems' are of my own making!

 

Made some more progress with air cleaner.   Got some straps attached and trimmed up a silicone air pipe connector, from Moluminum, to begin the air intake piping.  And, had to fuss with a couple mock up pics. . .

 

Started attaching 0.25mm x 2 mm strap to cannister mounts -

 

Added four, photo etch bolt heads; pinned the trimmed silicone connector to match the angle coming from the air cleaner outlet -

 

I now have everything lined up, to continue the under hood intake piping, once cannister (and other cab parts!) are chromed and attached.  The gap between the cannister and the side of the cab fairing should, hopefully, allow the hood to close ok.  I must have checked how far down the cannister could go, and not obstruct the hood, many times - I will have to check a couple more before the CA glue comes out! -

 

I chickened out on the strap attachment on this side of the cannister - on the full size truck, the straps attach to the vertical edge of the cab.  I just continued my straps around to the mount - I didn't want to risk a screw up after all this. . .

 

Going to spend the next hour, or so, spraying some chrome paint tests - finally have some decent enough weather!  Will let you know what happens. 

 

Edited November 19 by BK9300
typo

[BK9300]

I did do some chrome testing yesterday - at the moment, I don't know what to think.  My testing was hardly rigorous, and right now, not sure which product I'll use.  I apparently have to wait a few cure days, before checking out hardness of finish, or if clear coat is needed, etc.  I have one more product to test later this afternoon, more cure time for that, and see how it all turns out.  Nothing really 'doing it' for me at the moment!

More work today, though, on the little stuff.  Yesterday, had to repair a small bit on the air cleaner, that the primer showed up glaringly.  Did second coats of primer on some parts, including the cleaner, earlier this afternoon.  But the most work today, apart from a trip to the hobby store, went into attempting those cab mirrors I mentioned awhile back.

 

Always fun to poke around the hobby store - something always turns up that section that doesn't have high turnover, sometimes a bit of dust on things, and that I never get completely through on any one visit.  Found some mesh that is smaller than the Braun screen, and would have been a better scale fit for the air cleaner, but good to go for the next project! -

 

Air cleaner ready for chrome -

 

Dug out some of that Tamiya Mirror Finish film, and a leather punch that worked for making the round mirror backs out of 0.25mm styrene -

 

Laid the mirror backs on the film, which is sitting sticky side up -

 

The film picks up every little imperfection in the underlying surface, but still looks better than the chrome paint alone would have, in my opinion!

 

Better shot of the film reflectivity -

Still undecided about the chrome, but this indecision can't continue.  Like I said before, I've never used chrome paints before, so there is a high probability that I'm not using/applying them correctly.   Regardless, will have to pick my poison and go with it, and soon.  Hoping the test this afternoon turns out better.

Edited November 21 by BK9300
typo

[Gary Chastain]

2 hours ago, BK9300 said:

I did do some chrome testing yesterday - at the moment, I don't know what to think.  My testing was hardly rigorous, and right now, not sure which product I'll use.  I apparently have to wait a few cure days, before checking out hardness of finish, or if clear coat is needed, etc.  I have one more product to test later this afternoon, more cure time for that, and see how it all turns out.  Nothing really 'doing it' for me at the moment!

More work today, though, on the little stuff.  Yesterday, had to repair a small bit on the air cleaner, that the primer showed up glaringly.  Did second coats of primer on some parts, including the cleaner, earlier this afternoon.  But the most work today, apart from a trip to the hobby store, went into attempting those cab mirrors I mentioned awhile back.

 

Always fun to poke around the hobby store - something always turns up that section that doesn't have high turnover, sometimes a bit of dust on things, and that I never get completely through on any one visit.  Found some mesh that is smaller than the Braun screen, and would have been a better scale fit for the air cleaner, but good to go for the next project! -

 

Air cleaner ready for chrome -

 

Dug out some of that Tamiya Mirror Finish film, and a leather punch that worked for making the round mirror backs out of 0.25mm styrene -

 

Laid the mirror backs on the film, which is sitting sticky side up -

 

The film picks up every little imperfection in the underlying surface, but still looks better than the chrome paint alone would have, in my opinion!

 

Better shot of the film reflectivity -

Still undecided about the chrome, but this indecision can't continue.  Like I said before, I've never used chrome paints before, so there is a high probability that I'm not using/applying them correctly.   Regardless, will have to pick my poison and go with it, and soon.  Hoping the test this afternoon turns out better.

Good read on your post. The mirrors on my KW925 caused me stress as well, I sprayed painted Revell for the shiny side and it shows every imperfection as well, but I was undecided on using chrome tape of some sort. I think your tape/film looks better. 

[Wolf]

Hi Brian,

Absolutely gobsmacked at the level of detail and the finesse with which it’s constructed. I wholeheartedly agree with Gary, it’s mesmerizing! Pure joy to read through this thread.

Cheers,   
Wolf

[Biggu]

If it were me and it certainly isn’t, I wouldn’t fret too terribly much about ‘chrome’ on the mirror brackets as all of ours here in Nelson were at beat just brushed aluminum, and jt never really did look like real chrome. I know its not me and I know the level of perfection you are striving for and , Brian , you are so close to perfection. Keep going but if the mirror brackets don’t come out 110% perfect you are still dead on near perfection. I really love this build. Very close to my heart. 

[BK9300]

40 minutes ago, Gary Chastain said:

Good read on your post. The mirrors on my KW925 caused me stress as well, I sprayed painted Revell for the shiny side and it shows every imperfection as well, but I was undecided on using chrome tape of some sort. I think your tape/film looks better. 

I think the only reason I did the mirrors this way, is because the Western Star mirrors have borders or raised edges, if you will, where the mirrors are.  It seemed to me that some very thin styrene with the film could work better than the paint.  Maybe that could work for you as well!  Thanks, Gary.

 

35 minutes ago, Wolf said:

Hi Brian,

Absolutely gobsmacked at the level of detail and the finesse with which it’s constructed. I wholeheartedly agree with Gary, it’s mesmerizing! Pure joy to read through this thread.

Cheers,   
Wolf

Thanks very much, Wolf - I appreciate the terrific compliment!

 

26 minutes ago, Biggu said:

If it were me and it certainly isn’t, I wouldn’t fret too terribly much about ‘chrome’ on the mirror brackets as all of ours here in Nelson were at beat just brushed aluminum, and jt never really did look like real chrome. I know its not me and I know the level of perfection you are striving for and , Brian , you are so close to perfection. Keep going but if the mirror brackets don’t come out 110% perfect you are still dead on near perfection. I really love this build. Very close to my heart. 

Thanks, Jeff, and I do know these trucks in real life were a big part in your life!  And I also know that any kind of painted chrome is unlikely to come near to the plated chrome in many kits.  Good thing about the chrome paint is that all the glue joints and seams can be minimized or eliminated!  Just for the hell of it, I took a pic of the test this afternoon - the Alsa Easy Chrome.  It turned out ok, better than a couple of others, but not quite as reflective, believe it or not, as the Revell chrome!  The big plus for the Easy Chrome is it is supposed to stand up to handling without clear coat.  Don't think the Revell is going to pass that test, without some clear, and the clear will dull it a bit, apparently.  Need to test that as well.  For now, this may be where I'm leaning - 

test panel was one side of the Constellation sleeper -  didn't spend a lot of time 'smoothing' the surface underneath, as I won't be able to do any smoothing on the mirror struts, or grille, or cab lights, etc! -

 

 

Edited November 21 by BK9300

[Biggu]

Brian, from where I sit , this is the MOST spectacularly accurate, detailed plow truck model I have ever had the pleasure to witness come together. This build is nothing short of magnificent. No matter what you decide on the chrome it will be stunning. As everyone here knows that I was on the front line with these trucks for many years, I can confirm , that you have missed nothing, and this is as close to perfect as one can possibly get. A true museum quality build. 

[Jürgen M.]

This is really magnificent work. I can only agree with Jeff!

If anyone's interested, I have found out that using a 0.5 or even 0.25mm transparent foil works well too. 

I paint one side with chrome, let it cure completely and then I glue it with the chrome painted side to the mirror shell.

Then you have a smooth and shiny chrome appearance through the foil.

Worked quite well on the Pete:

Edited November 21 by Jürgen M.

[BK9300]

14 hours ago, Biggu said:

Brian, from where I sit , this is the MOST spectacularly accurate, detailed plow truck model I have ever had the pleasure to witness come together. This build is nothing short of magnificent. No matter what you decide on the chrome it will be stunning. As everyone here knows that I was on the front line with these trucks for many years, I can confirm , that you have missed nothing, and this is as close to perfect as one can possibly get. A true museum quality build. 

Thanks for that, Jeff.  The chrome issue has really been dogging me - need to get past it!
 

10 hours ago, Jürgen M. said:

This is really magnificent work. I can only agree with Jeff!

If anyone's interested, I have found out that using a 0.5 or even 0.25mm transparent foil works well too. 

I paint one side with chrome, let it cure completely and then I glue it with the chrome painted side to the mirror shell.

Then you have a smooth and shiny chrome appearance through the foil.

Worked quite well on the Pete:

 

Thanks for this tip, Jürgen - you’ve given me an idea for something similar to yours, that I will try next time!

[Pete68]

Cab looks great Brian I like the little silver heat insulation where the dog house is on the firewall nice touch

[BK9300]

On 11/22/2025 at 7:03 AM, Pete68 said:

Cab looks great Brian I like the little silver heat insulation where the dog house is on the firewall nice touch

Thanks, Lee.  The insulation was another detail that really stood in pics of the real truck - glad I was able to find some tape to simulate it.

[BK9300]

I'm not getting much satisfaction from my chrome paint testing - due, in no small part, to my impatience and partly due to one paint conflict with an under coat I was using.  The impatience factor is me not allowing enough time for the test panel(s) to cure before me handling them to see how they stand up.  Going to do another test with two paints - Revell Chrome and Fusionfirm's Liquid Chrome.  The Revell will need be left to cure for a month before I touch or clear it.  The Fusionfirm chrome initial test panel is not drying, applied over a clear lacquer under coat.  I'm going to try the Fusionfirm directly on top of my test hood that had been painted yellow with Tamiya lacquer (no clear coat), as well as directly on a used parts tree that has been primed with Tamiya grey primer.  All my cab parts have been primed grey already, and don't want to strip them, so need to find something that works with the primer as well as the colour top coat I have in place.  I will leave the new Fusionfirm test to cure the same amount of time as the new Revell test.

Fusionfirm Liquid Chrome brush applied to front edge of test hood.  Will also do another test with the air brush.  This is after one day - no handling! - it's definitely bright and reflective enough -

 

This is the initial, Revell test panel - now almost two weeks old and still marking when finger tip pressed along edge (bottom of test panel in pic).  It's also quite reflective, more than I would have thought -

 

 

Have to keep at other things in the meantime.  Worked this morning on some of the additional air lines coming out of the firewall side of the footwall, on the driver's side.  I felt compelled to attempt these because of a particular detail photo I want to do, once I get this to Under Glass - otherwise, likely not to be noticed by many! -

 

 

 

At 0.5mm, these are the smallest 'hoses' I have left - they are a bit big for scale, but any of the smaller wire I could have used did not lay naturally enough.  Used more Tamiya flat black film tape to bundle the air lines together -

I used the next hose size up I had, to simulate the connectors evident in the pics of real truck.  Representative at best! -

The air lines feed into a short length of loom, before splitting off to either frame rail.  Again, will just terminate the ends along a frame rail -

 

Air lines mocked up in place, coming out of foot well from inside cab

 

I think I will need to lay this bundle of lines in place, much like it is, before gluing cab in place.  Otherwise, doubt the other end of air lines could be threaded through to frame rail -

 

This afternoon, I am going to carry on with the remaining amber work lights.  Still need to prep and paint two more clear backup lights to be mounted on battery and passenger step boxes -

 

Apart from the work lights, and maybe some decaling on the cab and hood, there are very few things left for me to work on, while waiting on the chrome paint.  Possibly, if I don't touch the cab door handles, I may be able to paint them with Fusion Firm, wait a couple weeks, and get the cab mounted and firewall wiring set in place.  I will definitely finish the lights and decaling, then endure a self imposed wait for about a month for this second chrome test to cure. Then paint the cab chrome parts with whichever test paint has stood up the best, wait another month, then get the last of the final assembly underway.  At this rate, won't be finished till January 2026!

Edited November 25 by BK9300
typo

[Gary Chastain]

Incredible work, I may have to purchase Fusion chrome to try out, I like the brush idea. 

[BK9300]

14 minutes ago, Gary Chastain said:

Incredible work, I may have to purchase Fusion chrome to try out, I like the brush idea. 

FusionFirm advertises two 'chrome' products, that I know of.  One is Ultra Shining, Fluid Silver Foil and is advertised as 'Fast Drying' - I was unable to order this product on Amazon and have it shipped to Canada.  The other, which I bought, is 'Liquid Chrome' and is supposed to be completely dry in 72 hours.  I don't know if they are the same product, packaged differently, or not.

 

 

What I ended up purchasing

 

[Gary Chastain]

Thanks, will look for it

[BK9300]

Hit and miss time at the bench, the past few days, but have managed a bit of effort on the remaining work lights.   Also got a bunch of little parts set up for some non chrome painting and got inspired to finish one last little item on the driver's side battery box step!
 

I CA glued some .5 mm ID brass in the locations where a few of the work lights need to go -

 

The two lights wired together will go on top of the hydraulic oil filter housing, on a plate that is waiting to be painted;  the other light is for the driver's side, shining down on the leading edge of the underbody plow -

 

While I was waiting for a bit of paint to dry on the light housings, I started in on small, boot brush, that is attached to the driver's side top step.  Crimped the end of the brush even more than it was, rough trimmed it with an X-acto knife and spread some thin CA glue on the cut edge to set the brush hairs -

 

I added a couple 0.5 mm brass pins, for strength, then taped the brush end down so I could make a clean cut with a new knife blade -

 

Carefully painted the brush hairs - weird, but brush hairs look much darker to my naked eye...-

 

Got the work light that shines on under body intake mounted in place.  I'm really hoping I'll have enough room for tweezers to fit in between the drive shaft and the frame, from underneath, to tuck these work light wires into one of the pass through pipes in the bottom of the cab! -

 

Off to do a bit of painting in the shed - should be warm, by now!

Edited Sunday at 12:23 AM by BK9300

[Straightliner59]

All these little details are so wonderful! The boot brush is a chef's kiss, man!

[BK9300]

20 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

All these little details are so wonderful! The boot brush is a chef's kiss, man!

Thanks, Daniel - yes, lots of detail, and a bit more to come yet!

[Steve H]

Hi Brian, I see the magic continues! I can’t believe how much detail you are putting on this truck, it’s mind boggling. Very, very impressive. Things like the boot brush… love it!! Those kind of details make me smile. I need to go back a few pages to get further up to date, but your progress is impressive. I will be interested in the results of your chrome test. I am going to be “chroming” some parts on my Beaumont build with Revell spray. Hoping I can learn a thing or 2 from your experience.

Keep up the truly amazing work.

Cheers, Steve

[BK9300]

22 hours ago, Steve H said:

Hi Brian, I see the magic continues! I can’t believe how much detail you are putting on this truck, it’s mind boggling. Very, very impressive. Things like the boot brush… love it!! Those kind of details make me smile. I need to go back a few pages to get further up to date, but your progress is impressive. I will be interested in the results of your chrome test. I am going to be “chroming” some parts on my Beaumont build with Revell spray. Hoping I can learn a thing or 2 from your experience.

Keep up the truly amazing work.

Cheers, Steve

Good to hear from you again, Steve, and thanks!  I keep saying I'm about at the end of the detailing, but more gets added.  Hope to have more info about chrome stuff, soon - getting a bit cold to paint now.