Mercedes-Benz Actros Wrecker Truck

[suicidehummer]

Great! Thanks very much!

[mike@af]

Great work Chris! I saw your signature and I was intrigued by what looked like a great scratch build, what an understatement that was. Fantastic work. You have engineered the project very well and given great thought to every detail. I look forward to seeing more.

Now is this 1/24 or 1/12? As mentioned it looks huge.

[2.2 Straight six]

it's a 1/24, but yes, it is very big and allows great detail to be put into it.

that said, i'm actually considering making a total scratchbuild 1/12 in mostly steel and aluminium. the next rpogects to go with this are a flatbed truck, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van (Dodge Sprinter in the US) made entirely from scratch. and i've been working on blueprints for a 1/5 car, totally of my own design.

i'm doing a model engineering class in my new college and will be machining various parts for this and my next projects, the first items being some aluminium hyraulic rams.

i'm also in the proccess of making measurements and plans to machine a Cummins 5.9 engine to make a couple of resin ones. (this will not be sold, and only a couple will be given to others. this is due to licencing reasons.)

i'm working on the truck at the moment, doing reseach into parts, gathering blueprints and doing various bits of design for the crane to go on it, and the bodywork.

hopefully updates will be up later.

thanks for the kind comments everyone.

[porschenut]

Woah thats an epic build. the detailing on the chassis and the amount of time your putting in. hope it all pays off with a great finished product.
Euan

[willimo]

Just as a side note, because I'm a semantic jerk, you are making "plans" of a 1/5 car, and looking for "plans" of a Cummins engine.

"Blueprints" are copies of plans. Back in the day, before computer, plans were originally drawn, by hand, on thin, transluscent paper in either pencil or pencil and ink. Then when copies were needed, they placed these originals over special paper, which was then exposed to light through the original, and then the paper was exposed to ammonia which "developed" the copy, by darkening the paper that was exposed to light, leaving a negative of white lines, which made up the plan.

Eventually, technology reversed it, so that blue lines remained on white paper, and these were called "bluelines." These days, both these methods are completely obsolete, as they aren't the most accurate ways to reproduce copies. We just print another copy on our plotters if we need them now.

Print copies of our "plans."

[2.2 Straight six]

i know how it works, but i've always refered to "plans" as blueprints, i know it's not technically correct, but that's a me thing.

if you want to be totally technical many of my measurement i use are from "specification sheets" provided by the truck's manufacturers, so they're not called "plans" or "blueprints" by the manufacturer, that's me calling them "blueprints".

i know a man by the name of Ken Grange, a designer who's designed numberous thing for all different areas, he's worked on everything from ice-cream scoops to what was the world's fastest commuter trian (France's SNCF) and he refers to his "plans" as "blueprints". that's not where i got it from, but it goes to show even those who working in the design field still refer to "plans" as "blueprints".

[suicidehummer]

If you're going to be doing scratchbiulding, you should make
a model of the new retro Challenger!
Well I would...If I could!

[2.2 Straight six]

Originally Posted by suicidehummer

If you're going to be doing scratchbiulding, you should make
a model of the new retro Challenger!
Well I would...If I could!

sure, i'll give it a shot sometime.

[willimo]

Originally Posted by 2.2 Straight six

... but it goes to show even those who working in the design field still refer to "plans" as "blueprints".

And I'm still a semantic jerk

So... when're you gonna get some more done on this rad project?

[2.2 Straight six]

i've been doing little things here and there, i stopped for a few days while i sorted out college. (which is now done, and in my new college i get a 5-day weekend!)

i'm going to re-make the bumper tonight. i'm working on converting the cab from high-roof sleeper to low-roof day cab, which is harder than i thought it would be.

the rams will not be plastic in the final version, they will be machined aluminium/steel and will consist of 3 main parts, with 6 bolts per ram.

i will post my blueprints later.

[WickedNYCowboy]

Originally Posted by 2.2 Straight six

The inspiration for ...
...
Thanks for looking,
Chris.

*Wipes Drool* That is a NICE Looking rig the real one. You have great craftsmenship and paitence! Also you should have left the sleeper then go threw the trouble and make a sister version with a day cab! Also, keep me posted by PMing me when you make an update to the thread since I usually don't post in here.
Thanks.
Evan

[Enzoenvy1]

Holy Geez, I want the free time you have!!!! I need to move away from my girlfriend and I too could attempt this stuff!!! Hear that Nicole (my Nicole), I am moving to Modena to do my Ferrari models finally!!!!

Ok, glad I go that out. Absolutely astounding attempt at a scratchbuild! I know this will take a while but I cannot wait to follow it all. You have much patience, yesssss.

[Raceman]

got here by mistake but this is awesome,looking really good so far,will keep an eye on this truck.GREAT WORK.