Blue Monday Posted February 4 Posted February 4 You have really pushed the boat out with this build. It is going to look stunning when painted and completed. There aren't too many others on the planet doing detailing work on 1/32 trucks like you are, Steve. 👍 BM. 1
Rockford Posted February 4 Author Posted February 4 On 1/25/2025 at 6:57 PM, Blue Monday said: Stunning work, Steve. Have you a count of all the scratch built parts you have crafted for your engine? BM. I've just counted 187 pieces have gone into making the engine and transmission. Still not quite finished. 2
Biggu Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Another Master Class in real modelling, incredible detailing. What a little jewel. 1
Blue Monday Posted February 4 Posted February 4 37 minutes ago, Rockford said: I've just counted 187 pieces have gone into making the engine and transmission. Still not quite finished. That is impressive. Serious commitment to this engine when you have made that many parts for it. BM. 1
cifenet Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Very complex work you have done here. The engine bay looks like a photo from a spaceship with all the custom parts. Fantastic effort so far, definitely fun watching it! 1
Rockford Posted February 9 Author Posted February 9 Looking at the 352s on the website something occurred to me. The AMT Pacemaker has no effort at replicating the cab jack details other than the pump on the chassis. That led me to searching for images of the undercab setup on the real thing. There's pretty much nothing on the web. I managed to find one image on Fotki that showed a massive lift cylinder going from the rear spring shackle to a bracket on the cab chassis. I garnered other details from various images but there was still a few educated guesses involved. I squashed the end of a piece of dismembered paperclip with Vise Grips, cleaned and drilled it to form the ram each side. Built the cylinder from plastic tube and card. Fabbed chassis brackets and added reinforcement to the front of the cab with the cab brackets mounted. Had to butcher the "damper mounts" moulded into the chassis for clearance (they're going altogether soon) and relocate the fuel filter from the frame to the intercooler. Calculating the length took some time but got it eventually. Works ok. Might add some hoses to the rams later. 6
cifenet Posted February 9 Posted February 9 Hey Steve, That damper mechanism is super sweet, I like your execution here using stuff around you. Looking at the engine bay though, you created something really cool and unique. I am almost at the point where painting these components would hide all the custom work, no one can see how much effort you have put in to fabricate everything out of nothing here. It would be a tough decision for me! 1
k100 Posted February 9 Posted February 9 Nice on the cab jack , the whole truck is just outstanding . Im thing of adding cab jacks on my K100. 1
Rockford Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 9 hours ago, k100 said: Nice on the cab jack , the whole truck is just outstanding . Im thing of adding cab jacks on my K100. I think the K100 system is far more compact. The rams are much further forward and smaller because they're more upright. Makes more sense mechanically too.
Rockford Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 10 hours ago, cifenet said: Hey Steve, That damper mechanism is super sweet, I like your execution here using stuff around you. Looking at the engine bay though, you created something really cool and unique. I am almost at the point where painting these components would hide all the custom work, no one can see how much effort you have put in to fabricate everything out of nothing here. It would be a tough decision for me! I know what you mean but I like giving there snappers some dignity. 😀
BK9300 Posted February 10 Posted February 10 (edited) Good work on the lift cylinders, Steve - overall, this is leaps and bounds above what you started with. Terrific job! Edited February 10 by BK9300 1
Jürgen M. Posted February 10 Posted February 10 Steve, that's amazing! Those dampers are so cool! Mind if I use that on one of my next builds? It's just a great idea and perfectly done! 👍 1
Rockford Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 1 hour ago, Jürgen M. said: Steve, that's amazing! Those dampers are so cool! Mind if I use that on one of my next builds? It's just a great idea and perfectly done! 👍 No need to ask mate, it'll be good to see what you come up with. There's very little information on each manufacturer's setup. YT channels dealing in restos are about the best.
Jürgen M. Posted February 10 Posted February 10 Thanks Steve! That's right, I haven't found any useful information concerning my build either. Therefore I designed the tilting mechanism so it fits in and works. Your solution really looks robust and functional. I've always had a space problem. Since cabovers have shift towers on one side and the exhaust plumbing on the other I've been having a hard time getting both under the cab!
Rockford Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 All I've done is copy the real thing. KW, IH, Freightliner etc... will all have a slightly different approach. I just noticed that the AMT 352 is lacking any cab substructure when I was looking for examples on the forum. The cab on your current truck does definitely tilt because you can see the locking pawl at the rear of the doghouse in one of the photos online. Packaging is an issue. The Pete rams seem awfully long and are at a very shallow angle. Others I've seen are shorter and more upright. The biggest obstacle is the steering box, they're often spaced away from the frame rail to position it under the steering wheel and also gives space for the ram to pass between the column and the frame. It's bad enough on full size stuff to at 1/32 it's a nightmare. I know many UK trucks only had one lift ram, usually on the passenger side because they only had little cabs. USA truck cabs were much bigger in comparison.
Jürgen M. Posted February 10 Posted February 10 Thanks you Steve! I really enjoy learning all this! 1
Rockford Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 Finally found this on the web. You can see the length of the ram, it goes all the way back to the rear hangar on the spring, massive! 3
Randy D Posted February 11 Posted February 11 Love your scratch built motor Steve, very impressive detail work. Randy 1
Rockford Posted February 12 Author Posted February 12 Jürgen asked me about some sort of cab tilt restraint. I pondered the setup over the last few days and then saw the answer staring me in the face, just do what Peterbilt did and fit a lock bar onto the passenger side ram. I cut out a blank piece of ali, scored it at the bend points and formed a C section. I drilled and filed out a locating hole and a hole at the top for clearance of the 2*1mm block I added to the ram. The locking bar shares the same pin as the top of the ram. The principle is that as I lift the cab the lock slides up until the locating hole falls over the block. The cab can the not drop back or fall over onto its face. Most surprising of all... IT WORKS!!! When I want to drop the cab I just lift the lock bar and the cab is free to sit back down. 5
Rockford Posted February 12 Author Posted February 12 13 minutes ago, Biggu said: Thats’ genius, Steve ! Peterbilt thought of it first 😃 1
BK9300 Posted February 13 Posted February 13 That's awesome, Steve - even if Peterbilt thought of it first, might be the first of its kind in 1/32! 1
cifenet Posted February 13 Posted February 13 What a great solution! It looks cool how the cab is able to hold at the open position like that. I actually didn’t even know this was how Peterbilt cab tilling was done, but you had a good thinking going to mimic it! 👍 1
Rockford Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 Did extensive research on the shift tower for the 352, there's precious few images of it on the web. Cobbled together a design using varying images and made one up from card etc... Added a shift lever from a paperclip and formed a range change switch from aluminium wire. Very fiddly. Also added strip to the top and bottom of the axle beam to make it look like an "I" beam casting, also the stubaxle bosses for the kingpins. Turned some service brake chambers, brackets and slack adjusters. Shaped two brake backplates to mount them. Still got to build front dampers and a bumper mounting. It's all getting very tight under there. 4
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