Trucks
Scale truck modeling topics.
OTR Australian Army Diamond Reo
md72
#439
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Washington, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 - 12:51 PM UTC
Wow, what a project. Looks like you're making good progress.
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Saturday, August 07, 2010 - 09:06 PM UTC
The original unit has a frame added at the rear of the cab mount to hold some jerry cans and and the suzies. Here's the frame and jerrycan racks scratched up.


The Auslowe water cans left something to be desired, so I applied drill, file and knife to get a more appropriate shape, and replaced the moulded-on filler cap with the end cap from a 1:48 TOW missile tube, I think!


Next op was some plumbing for the back brakes. Here are the air hoses. Pipes and wiring harness yet to come.


old-dragon
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Illinois, United States
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Posted: Sunday, August 08, 2010 - 12:28 PM UTC
Nice...what are you using for the air hoses?
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Sunday, August 08, 2010 - 11:55 PM UTC
Hi Bob,

The air hoses are a fine electrical wire that has a really good memory.

Graeme.

animal
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Posted: Monday, August 09, 2010 - 03:41 AM UTC
Your attention to details is great. This is going to be a beautiful example when finished.
okdoky
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Scotland, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, August 09, 2010 - 04:19 AM UTC
Hi Graeme

Loving this one. Nice clean scratch work too. Have you had any more joy with your hunt for a load yet. I would go on the basis that if it could fit on a truck they would possibly have carried it.

Going by the fact that they hauled the helo by road it would not be far off the mark to think that they would have hauled a Huey at some time in the conflict too.

I have seen lots of the 1/24 Hueys on Evil bay at various times.

Looking forward to seeing what you decide on.

Nige
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Monday, August 09, 2010 - 11:09 AM UTC
Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Nige, I picked up two of these yesterday, so I'll backdate one as a MkII LWB and toss that on the back with general cargo up front.

Graeme.

grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Friday, August 20, 2010 - 12:11 AM UTC

I cracked open the trailer kit and pulled out the one-piece tray and the Land Rover body and popped it on the back to see how it will all look together. It's been so long since I've done a big rig that I am really surprised how big the model is going to be.


Quite a bit more detail was added to the tanks, including metal mesh steps and plumbing. They were fitted and the fifth wheel dropped in place temporarily. I am starting to get a feel of how chunky this truck is. A short wheelbase and dual drive will do that.


Hre it is with the cab off so you can see a bit more detail.
AussieReg
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
AUTOMODELER
#007
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Friday, August 20, 2010 - 12:51 AM UTC
Looking awesome Graeme, I'm really loving watching this come together for you.

Cheers, D
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Friday, August 20, 2010 - 01:04 AM UTC
Thanks, Damien.

I'm getting a big kick out of it too. that is evidenced by how fast the build is progressing ... I'm well on the way to improving my one-model-per-year usual rate.

Grubby.
jimb
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New York, United States
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Posted: Friday, August 20, 2010 - 01:45 AM UTC
Very nice! You have good attention to detail. Don't usually see the fuel tanks plumbed. I really like this build.

Jim
old-dragon
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Illinois, United States
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Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 02:30 AM UTC
...going for two a year?........
Very nice so far...is that trailer the sliding type?
What did you use for the tank steps...I like that mesh.
VonCuda
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North Carolina, United States
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Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 03:45 AM UTC
Not only are the fuel tanks plumbed, but the starter is wired....and are those oil lines coming from the turbo? Man, I"m picking up some good ideas and tips here. Great work Graeme.



Hermon
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 11:58 AM UTC
Thanks, Guys. Glad you're liking it.

The trailer is the re-release AMT fruehauf with the sliding bogie, but not the expanding deck unit.

The mesh is aluminium expanded mesh from the local hobby shop. It may even be K&S, I forget. It is readily available though.

Graeme
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 02:37 PM UTC

With the Aussie truck being RHD, the steering box and linkages needed to be transferred to the other side of the chassis. This involved cutting the uni-joint off one end of the box and glueing it on the other end. The box was then glued updside-down on the other chassis rail. There was also a gaping hole in the back of the box that I blanked off with some card. All the attachment lugs on the LH chassis rail were pared off as they weren't needed any more. They were also set up for a forward set axle, so they were in the wrong spot for this truck.

The linkages themselves needed some re-arranging and shortening to look feasible on the RHD set up.

Three air tanks were added and then these, the front brakes and the power steering had some plumbing added.



The museum example I got most of my pics from had plastic rear guards fitted but shots of the trucks in Vietnam show a square fabricated treadplate rear mudguard arrangement. I drew up a template in Illustrator and ran out a print as a test.


When trimmed and folded they fitted quite well. Now I just have to do the same thing with some styrene treadplate!

jimb
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New York, United States
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Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 03:14 PM UTC
Those guards look really nice. Good job on the steering linkage.

Jim
old-dragon
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Illinois, United States
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Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 03:56 PM UTC
Wow...this blows my builds totally out of the water with all that detail work. Excellent job...shoot, you could stop right there and be good - but don't, I want to see what it looks like when she's done!!!!!!!!

animal
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Posted: Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 07:21 AM UTC
Your attention to detail is very commendable indeed, Graeme. I am enjoying this in progress build very much. I am also learning a lot about the air lines and wiring and I really like the mud guards and the tank steps. Everything is spot on. Thanks for sharing you work with us!!
okdoky
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Scotland, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 08:22 AM UTC
Looking great Graeme

I am watching your work closely cause I have so much to do on mine in these areas and no clear photos of under the chassis to see how mine works. You making yours look so neat too.

Nige
ltb073
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New York, United States
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Posted: Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 04:16 PM UTC
Hi Graeme,
Your truck is looking great, I think I built that flatbed 30 years ago as a kid, long gone now But fantastic job all around you don't see to often a commercial build turn into a military one. looking forward to seeing it completed.
casper
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Nelson, New Zealand
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Posted: Monday, August 23, 2010 - 10:20 PM UTC
,
Looking darn fine there Graeme.
Always nice to view a clean build in progress.

Roger.
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Sunday, September 05, 2010 - 02:40 AM UTC
I printed out another copy of the mudguard plan to use as a template for cutting and forming the plastic sheet.

I had one of those surprising coincidences that comes along from time to time. After posting my previous progress on a couple of forums and in my own newsletter, one of my fellow aviation historical society members contacted me. It turned out he actually designed these very mudguards in the 1970s for the local distributor of Diamond Reo trucks and the Australian Army. How's that for it being a small world!

I gave the printed paper a light spray of spray adhesive and tacked it onto the back of the styrene treadplate. Using a glass-head pin, I transferred all corners and fold intersections onto the styrene as pinpricks.


Having done that, I used a dental tool as a scribe and creased the fold lines.


The guards were then trimmed out.


They styrene treadplate has quite a bit of spring in it. In order for it to keep its shape on the bends, I knew it would need some bracing of some sort. I cut out one master to test the fit. This looked like it was going to work, so I stuck 4 squares of styrene together with double sided tape so I could shape them all at once.


I then sawed and filed the sandwiched sheets to the final shape.


Here they are still stuck together.


The braces were then separated with a scalpel and the tape and residue cleaned off with Dissolve-It cleaner.


The braces were then glued to the folded styrene treadplate.


The rest of the guard end was then glued to the brace, giving the guard the correct shape.


Two problems arse at this stage. The first was that the edges of the styrene were cracking where they folded. I tried many different ways of folding, depths of crease, heating etc. None of these produced a satisfactory result. The second problem was that I ended up with a guard that was 10mm too long. Back to the drawing board!


Second attempt at the guards. I have decided to sacrifice the nice folded edge of treadplate and just fabricate them. The right angles were maintained with angled styrene strip. This makes lining things up much easier and adds quite a bit of strength. Using this system will also eliminate any tendency of the styrene to unfold.


Another unusual feature of the Australian Army trucks was the addition of a sump-guard. This may have been partly due to the sump now sitting in front of the set-back front axle. I fabricated this out of some sheet styrene.


I'm making a start on the interior now. The kit seats had that horrible open-back look to them. Seeing as these rigs had day-cabs, the backs of the seats would be readily visible through the cab glass. I've glued some styrene sheet to the backs of the seats to give them a bit more dimension and realism.


old-dragon
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Illinois, United States
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Posted: Sunday, September 05, 2010 - 09:10 AM UTC
Hey Graeme, she's lookin great, but if you have any liquid{brush on} cement, try loading up the inner and outer folds of the fenders with that to soften it....maybe it'll help. That's how I do my weld seems by taking .020 rod and gueing it in, then hitting it hard with liquid glue and tooling the seems with a knife or screwdriver to give it that welded look...might work just as well for softening the corners...
grubbyfingers
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Sunday, September 05, 2010 - 10:15 AM UTC
Hi Bob,

I did try that, it just split more easily! The glue softened the plastic and it simly tore at the fold. Thanks anyway!

Graeme

okdoky
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Scotland, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, September 05, 2010 - 12:02 PM UTC
Hi Graeme

I had the very same bother with my first attempts on my DAF DROPS using plastic and I could not get the subtle angles to stay in shape or equaly for both sets.

How about reinforcing the plastic with aluminium sheet cut to shape and pre folded as in inner skin to your accurately sized tread plate outer skin.









I made mine completely out of aluminium and only need to put a sand like texture on the top for the anti slip coating.

The ali foil is very strong and sticks well with superglue to the plastic and to itself. Mine have not budged out of shape despite a lot of handling.

You would only need to reduce the sizes a fraction all round to compensate for the tread plate over layer.

Nige