Depiction of a true workhorse--Ford Aeromax

[blackf40]

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:



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.



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)



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!



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?).



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).



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.

[Wheelin75r]

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

[blackf40]

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:



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.



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



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.



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



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!



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



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...



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.



So I cut them to size and glued afterward.



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.



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...

[Fastphil]

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

[quadzero]

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.

[Wheelin75r]

Nice progress.
Your scratchbuild skills are verry

[DasWiesel]

Originally Posted by blackf40

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.

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/

[GvEman]

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

[klutz_100]

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

Thanks for sharing

[SAABPOWER]

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!!

[1986Z28]

looks good

[kicker1_solo]

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!

[blackf40]

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:



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...



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.



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.



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.

[blackf40]

Well, after getting married and moving several steps up in my career, I'm back at it again. I'm skipping my "Red rental Corvette in Red Rock Canyon" diorama to finish this.

After doing a ton of research into the engine, I finally figured out that it was a Detroit Series 60--that's how dirty, rusted, and obscured this sucker was! Even though I want a clean cab, I'm aiming to capture the craziness and use/age of this installation!





Italeri's Pete 378 has the correct engine and a rear suspension resembling the Hendrickson units on the 1:1. Of course, I had done so much work on the Aeromax kit's supplied block that I had to transfer some of the scratched details, especially since the 1:1's engine differed from every other reference pic I could find.



Another detail: no supplied electric horn! Since this was going to be front and centre on the top of the firewall, I had to steal and modify one from a Revell car kit.



It took me a few tries to find/adapt an accurate looking A/C compressor and mount.





A test fit revealed some ride height issues. It sits slightly too high in both front and back, and the front axle is too far back.





I've planned to simply cut down the spring mounts in front. Adjusting the rear was simple: filing down the underside of the part of the spring where the axles mount.

[stainlesssteel]

Looking good! It's nice to have this project back! Hopefully you'll finish it by New year! Keep it up!