KFS Michigan Loader

[Warren D]

After a 4 month break, during which I didn't touch a model, I'm back at the bench.  I picked up this loader kit from KFS a couple of years ago, I recall it was his last one.  I'm very impressed with the quality of the castings and so far, almost everything fits very well.  I'm wading thru the assembly instructions trying to identify sub-assemblies for painting as I like to paint as  much as possible after assembly.  There's a lot of resin here and the solid rubber tires account for about 1/2 the weight.  This thing will be a beast when it's all together.

 

[yh70]

its a Beautiful model once built. the one i built the tires were solid resin & the engine housing was a solid block making it very heavy.

[Warren D]

The engine compartment on mine is hollow, instructions say you can cut the doors off and put a Cummins from any of the Italeri kits in.  Some of the driveline gear would still need to be scratched so lots of work.  The instructions reference the hydraulic lines at the pivot point but fail to show any connections/routing.

[gotnitro?]

Impressive beast ! 

[Mopar - D]

I’m going to be following you on this one Warren because I have one also to build. 

[Warren D]

Well, the first 24 hrs went well, the only issue I had was a gap at the rear of the engine hood.  I should have held it in position when I attached the radiator/rear piece as I suspect it is just slighty tilted.  A small shim might have been helpful but I was long past that point when I saw the gap.  A filled it with a piece of styrene sheet and lots of sanding/grinding later, gap is more or less closed.

When doing the interior, I would suggest you attach the pedals to the floor before attaching the dash assembly and seat; they will made it hard to get the pedals worked in.

 

Edited August 7, 2024 by Warren D

[yh70]

On 8/6/2024 at 4:25 PM, Warren D said:

The engine compartment on mine is hollow, instructions say you can cut the doors off and put a Cummins from any of the Italeri kits in.  Some of the driveline gear would still need to be scratched so lots of work.  The instructions reference the hydraulic lines at the pivot point but fail to show any connections/routing.

mine was one of the first issue but i can not remember if it showed the hydraulic line hook up or not & i could not find the instruction sheet (old age). i think they were pre drilled holes to add the lines just to simulate hyd lines. i dont know if your kit came with hand rails (front & rear) but i had to make mine.. as far as the none skid (black) instead of painting them i used a very thin matt sheeting. if you want to go that way send me your address and ill send you some..

[gotnitro?]

That would look really sharp pulled behind one of your Brockways!

Sorry its that time of year again when the Huskies come back to Cortland lol everyone around here has sled dog fever this weekend 

Edited August 9, 2024 by gotnitro?

[Warren D]

4 hours ago, gotnitro? said:

That would look really sharp pulled behind one of your Brockways!

Sorry its that time of year again when the Huskies come back to Cortland lol everyone around here has sled dog fever this weekend 

Yeah, I'll make it up there one of these days.  I'm already planning on putting it on a lowboy behind my Brockway 360 heavy hauler!

[Warren D]

Minor update, back to work now that the Convoy Duck trailer is done.  Base coat is on, now on to the railings and smaller bits before gloss coat and decals.  Bucket is done, except to attach to the body.  I'm going with the factory colors and as-new so no weathering.  This is a monster, 16" from front of bucket to rear bumper.  Photos don't show the screen over the rear grill so I'll go with just the louvers that are molded in.

 

Edited August 23, 2024 by Warren D

[Biggu]

So cool!!

[Chariots of Fire]

That is BIG!!  Nice work going on there, Warren!

[Mopar - D]

Warren glad to see more great progress on your loader. Thanks for the information on the length of this now I can place my order for my trailer. 

[Warren D]

I think you're going to need a bigger trailer!

[gotnitro?]

I curious, would this type loader be transported w wheels mounted or removed and installed at the job site ? I've seen photos of large quarry equipment hauled in pieces, got me wondering 

Either way, we know the Brockway has plenty of pulling power for it ! 

Edited August 27, 2024 by gotnitro?

[Warren D]

6 hours ago, gotnitro? said:

I curious, would this type loader be transported w wheels mounted or removed and installed at the job site ? I've seen photos of large quarry equipment hauled in pieces, got me wondering 

Either way, we know the Brockway has plenty of pulling power for it ! 

The loader is 1/24 so it's a tad larger than the hauler rig.  I doubt they'd take the wheels off when hauling, when I put it on my lowboy, about half the tires were on the deck so if the scales were the same, I think about 75% of the tires would be on the deck.   Deck outriggers would likely see the whole tire supported.  Not sure how the height be......

[Biggu]

Here in B.C. An over width permit, heavily chained down on a 9 ‘ wide low bed, wide load sign, flags and rotor lights flashing. Probably not wide enough for a pilot car. And double check the height. If a bit high, possible to let a little air out of the tires rather than pull them off. 
Jeff

[Warren D]

Some decent progress made, though there have been a few small issues.  The small c channel provided is not enough to do all the handrail mounts as described in the instructions.  Luckily, I had some Evergreen 262 (0.080 aka 2.0mm) in stock.  There is also a miss in the instructions.  My photo shows that the steering pistons bump the frame and the photo from the instructions shows that some of the interfering material has been ground off.  I hate doing things like this after paint but a very small round Dremel grinding bit did fine.

I've also noticed that the coated rod used for the railings as supplied in the kit is not enough.  I got the railings done but there isn't enough left for the headlight stalks.  I'll need to find some brass rod of the proper size, hopefully I have what I need on hand.

Decals went on fine, I was a little concerned with the kit being older but everything went very well.  The main 2 halves are sitting waiting for the final gloss coat to set up, then on to mating them.  Meanwhile, the interior is almost complete, just a few more hours there.

 

[Chariots of Fire]

What did you use for the color coat?

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Looks awesome!

[Gary Chastain]

Looking good

[Warren D]

4 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

What did you use for the color coat?

Pollyscale CSX yellow.  My stash of Pollyscale is running low.  For some reason, the Pollyscale yellows only look "right" when under natural light, ie, outdoors.  Under LED lights, they turn a little greenish.

[Chariots of Fire]

Thanks, Warren.  Having a little difficulty getting the right color for my Cat D-8.

[Warren D]

2 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

Thanks, Warren.  Having a little difficulty getting the right color for my Cat D-8.

Yeah, when I did my D8 I ended up mixing a custom yellow using a variety of yellows until I got what looked good to me.  I like the old Cat yellow which I remember from 50 years ago, much different than what they use today.  I've used white to lighten and desaturate.  It also depends on what you are shooting over, I like to use white undercoat under yellow.

[Warren D]

I've resolved the issue of the coated rod not being long enough as provided.  I made my safety railings based on photos of several loaders and when compared to the railing heights from the kit instructions, mine are noticably taller.  I think this accounts for the apparent lack of material.  I'll defend my heights as they are closer to the several machines I've seen than the kit references.

Halves are mated, hydro lines run and wheels just went on.  Will take a break the rest of the day to be sure the glue holding the wheels on sets up.