I've decided to build a model of my dad's truck--a 1995 Ford Aeromax. This truck sure isn't pretty, nor is it even a really good truck (I spent two summers and Christmases driving it to pay for college). However, it has provided 1.8 million relatively trouble-free miles for my dad, and may soon be replaced, so I thought I would commemorate the old steed for him (for Christmas, hopefully). I've included an old pic of it, taken years ago; I'll hafta spend a few hours photographing it when he next comes home.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1661.jpg

Italeri makes a kit of almost exactly the same truck, but I have to make some modifications to it to match my dad's truck.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1653.jpg

Actually, it would take an enormous amount of work to make it completely faithful, so I will pick and choose which details to leave different. First and foremost are the wheels--they're just completely different from my subject, but they will have to do. I'll still see if I can modify the drive hubs so they don't stick out so much. Furthermore, all the tires are steering tires--not one drive tire!. However, for what they are, they look pretty realistic.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1663.jpg

But the first modification I HAD to do was change the sleeper windows from the triangular pieces on the box cover to a (more common) quadrangular split vent window. What I did was tweak the kit windows so they would fit flush, and glued them in. When they're dry, I'll putty them smooth. I'll hafta make a master to the shape and size of the real windows, and cut. I'm not sure where the windows or divisions (the window is split into three for a vent) will come from. Maybe I'll scavenge some plastic packaging.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1654.jpg

The engine in the kit is an 18 liter, 460 HP Cummins, but the subject contains a 470 HP Detriot Diesel. Other than the differing colors (black vs. gray-blue, respectively), I have yet to see what work needs to be done underhood, since I would like to make it fairly detailed.

More to come as I get pics and see what's in store...

Looks like a great project. I hope that you can make this thing look really close to the 1:1.

Sounds like a great project. It's always fun to replicate something special in your life for friend or family. I'm sure your dad will love it, even if it is not an "exact" replica. Have fun with this one and I hope it comes out great...............*Ryan*

This is Great!!

nice! I'm gonna build a replica of my '04 Volvo VN670 someday...

Cool project!

Looks to be a cool project!! Keep us posted on the progress! In that kit there, does the frame come all ready together or do you have to put it together?

sweet

nice to see something different on here, i personally think it looks like a nice truck, good luck to you on this project!

Got a bit of work on this before I head off for the weekend. Mostly odds and ends, but mostly split between body and chassis (well, that just covers it all, doesn't it?) The frame rails come separately, with even some of the cross-members split into several pieces. The rails are somewhat less than straight in two axes, but they flex quite readily, so I'm hoping the joining session might remedy that common ailment.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1665.jpg

Below is a rather disappointing feature--or lack thereof.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1668.jpg

I'm guessing that the decal is supposed to fool us all? :screwy: Not impressed, though I've seen the likes of this before. Some scratchbuilding and inventive work is obviously in order.

Another effect I will have to achieve is the relative lack of shiny chrome. My dad rarely had the hours necessary to keep polished wheels, and a lot of the chrome on the truck had not been taken care of by its previous owner, so when polished, it still had a rough and semi-chrome look to it. However, this effect may look better in scale, since "too much bling makes one look like a toy." :p The look I'm going for is 'just washed the body and sprayed down the back end, but the rest has seen a few miles.'

Wowww! Cool Thread!!! Nice Start, it´s a cool kit!!!

Good Luck!

I've been slowly putting together small sub-assemblies and figuring out which parts to modify and which to leave: tedious work, but not very picture-worthy. A couple things I've worked on, tho...

First, the airbags supplied for the air suspension are way too small--here's the real thing...

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1701.jpg

And here are the kit items, along with a proposed replacement--pastels! They won't quite be thick enough, but if I use the ends from the kit items and build on a bit of putty, it may work.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1774.jpg

Second, my dad's truck has a (rare) single large exhaust stack instead of two, so I searched for a larger tube...

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1699.jpg
Here I found the ink cartridge from a pen worked fine after it was emptied (compared with kit item on left).

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1739.jpg

And I finally finished puttying and sanding the incorrect sleeper window. Now to make the new one...

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1741.jpg

Verry interessting thread. Keep it commin'!

oh wow, i love rigs. cant wait to see this one completed. as for references, you sure cant beat the real thing! are you gonna make a trailer for it, black? keep up the good work.

glad to see other truck builders here, i have a few kits sitting around that need to be built, im planning a bit wrecker project, but dont have the time.

nice work an keep it up.

Work's been slow, so I've been at this for not a few hours. Yet somehow, progress seems slow--must be the Law of Diminishing Return. Oh, and no, quadzero, there will be no trailer: I've never heard of a 53-foot trailer kit, especially one with flat aluminum siding. So it would be another $70 and tons of work, delaying this already how-the-heck-am-I-gonna-finish-this-before Christmas gift. Anyway, some updates:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1779.jpg

The frame rails came to me slightly warped (why am i not surprised?), so I had to figure out how to straighten them. My first tack was to complete the subassembly, then tie it to something straight and submerge it in hot water. No go.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1781.jpg

I then attempted the more effective but potentially deadly art of bending over a flame. Yes, it is finally somewhat straight. But my lack of patience bit me, as one part of the right rail got a bit too limp and now looks rather funny. Oh well, more work with spare plastic and putty, if need be. (Hopefully the tanks will hide this)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1829.jpg

Next it was on to finishing the sleeper windows. The old ones should disappear with some paint, so I took upon myself the daunting task of cutting new holes (how I will fill them, or make new window trim, I have yet to determine). Above are my tools. My new favorites are from the $10 set of needle files I picked up from the hardware store!

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1827.jpg

And one of the results. Not too bad, I guess. Perhaps I can get the trim to set it off nicely (small strips of plastic bent to shape? Any ideas?).

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1830.jpg

More plastic needs cutting before I can prime and paint. The opening for the sleeper-cab pass-through is smaller than what my dad's truck has, so out come the rotary tool (Yay!). The cab back is here mounted on the front face of the sleeper, as both will be cut. I will have to cook up some more plastic to fill the new gap (more old parts--I haven't yet ponied up $ for plastic card, but I may have to yet).

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1831.jpg

And one more 'project' I came upon when I took some more ref pics on the weekend. The oil pan reservoir sits forward of the front axle beam, the opposite of what's depicted in the kit. So, out came the X-acto, and the twain were separated with nary a bloody finger. Note also the removed engine accessory: it is one of at least three which are located elsewhere on the real thing. At least the air compressor can stay put! I've already got a water pump, oil pump, a/c compressor, alternator, and steering pump to relocate! My fault, I guess.

Nice modifications. Your dad will be proud I guess!!

A long time has passed, and I haven't updated for a long time, so here it is: it's definitely not getting finished for Christmas, but I'm still working feverishly on it. The problem has been that during my work on the engine, new mini-projects have popped up along the way, so I've done a lot more than anticipated. And of course, it's taking a lot longer to do stuff than I thought. However, my dad's birthday is in the beginning of January, so I might get it done for then. Anyways, here's what's up:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1832.jpg

I enlarged the opening between the cabin and sleeper, and consequently, I had to build a new passageway--it isn't very wide, but it required some creative work with an open flame.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1833.jpg

Here's what it looks like on the other side.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1834.jpg

Remember that hole in the block, resulting from the removal of some random and unnecessary engine accessory? Well, the opening up of the bottom of the engine (when I cut the oil pan off 'cuz it was backwards) allowed me to put some plastic card in behind, and then I cut some more card to fit the hole. Here it is before being puttied over.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1836.jpg

And for the primer--I figured I should start with gray to cover the red plastic.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1838.jpg

And then white primer to cover the gray.
I don't have pictures of it, but I started to spray with TS-7 Racing White (which I had gotten a deal on from eBay), but discovered that this white had WAY too much yellow in it--my dad's truck is painted a more neutral or bluish white. So, I decided that since I had two cans of TS-7, I would use that to build up the paint and then apply some TS-26 Pure White to correct the hue at the end. So far, I think it has worked, but I'm nearing the end of my TS-26! Damn huge models!

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1857.jpg

One of my projects with the engine was constructing a correct front end. This is my template for cutting plastic.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1859.jpg

Here are the two pieces of scrap which were cemented together and later cut around the template. I've still managed to get away with not buying sheet styrene! Gotta love the remains of a long modelling career...

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1860.jpg

The resultant piece, which I have started to detail with joining bolts, simulated with pieces of wire cut and pasted. My hope was to shave them to size after gluing and then putty them to shape. This was not to be: the glue simply was not strong enough to withstand an assault with the rotary tool.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1862.jpg

So I cut them to size and glued afterward.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1870.jpg

Here is the almost-finished front end, rebuilt oil pan, and scratchbuilt valve cover attached to the block. I also included my scratchbuilt crank pulley and alternator. Note the LT1 for size comparison.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1867.jpg

Another pic of my scratchbuilt alternator, and another from a Corvette ZR-1 kit for comparison. The wires will be puttied and smoothed to resemble joining bolts (or whatever they're called). More updates soon...

neato... keep up the good work, I'm enjoying the progress.

i was wondering if you would have this complete for christmas. cant wait to see that huge engine painted and sitting in the frame. this is gonna be really cool when its done. at least some of the pressure is off now that you have some extra time to work on it. keep up the good work.

Nice progress.
Your scratchbuild skills are verry :bigthumb:

Furthermore, all the tires are steering tires--not one drive tire!.
I´ve built quite a few trucks until today, but i´ve never thought, American trucks would make a difference in this. :eek:

Very nice work!

By the way: You´ll find the air suspension you need in Revell´s 359-kit.
And for the engine and other parts, take a look at these pages:

http://www.rnkconversions.com/prod02.htm

http://www.stsmodeltrucks.com/cart.html

Always worth a look:

http://www.plasticcowboy.com/

Nice! But it looks like you have to sand the sleeper again because you can see the old windows. Keep it up!

Really intersting subject, great build and really interesting to see you creative solutions! :bigthumb:

Thanks for sharing

Nice work!! I build trucks too. My next project will be a Scania R144 530 "Millenium Truck". 18 litres with 460 hp?? Is it a V8 or a Straight 6?
Keep the good work up!!

looks good

wow man, that's crazy. It's awesome that you are doing all of this, I hope your dad sees and enjoys all of the tiny details that you have put hours into. I'm impressed!

One more update (right) before Christmas. I've decided to at least prime the engine, wrap the box, and update the thread so I can show him all three in the morning. He'll probably be pleased that I've already started.

-"Is it a V8 or a Straight 6?" --are you asking about the engine in my kit, your kit, or my dad's truck...sorry, wasn't completely sure. The kit engine and my dad's Detriot are both inline/straight 6's, but if you're doing a Scania, it's most likely a cabover, so that's probably a V8.

I've been spending countless hours chipping away at tiny (and not-so-tiny) details, so here's a few:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1903.jpg

I've scrounged up an old turbo from a RoG KW twin-sequential turbo setup ('cuz it was bigger) and added some plastic card and putty 'cuz it still wasn't big enough--the exhaust compressor housing must be able to fill the tires on a Geo! -Plus more various modifications to resemble the real thing...

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1905.jpg

One more detail was the filter (dryer?) mount for the air compressor. Small, but important as this side of the engine only has the intake manifold, starter, and a/c compressor to clutter the block.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1904.jpg

One last peek at the multi-coloured engine before it hits the airbrush booth. Notice the new fan pulley on the front, which (on top) will secure the alternator mount. If I can find some old floppies or other sources of thin metal, I'll bend myself a mount instead of trying to scratch it out of too-thick plastic bits. Also new is a water pump (I believe) on the side.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/chorister/IMG_1906.jpg

And viola! Looks cool in monotone, but strangely disappointing since every single flaw jumps out at you. Oh well, I can putty and sand later, and I'm sure I'll leave quite a bit of the texture since the real thing is a tad worn and beat up. That's all for now---Merry Christmas.