1/87 1923 Mack Aerial Ladder Truck

[paul_c]

I've been given this little oddball by a friend of mine to build for him. It's a 1/87 (HO scale) 1923 Mack Aerial Ladder Truck by American model railway company Highway Miniatures.

It looks like quite a tricky little thing to build so please bear with me, especially as this is one of my first WIPs!

The instructions are proper old school, with more of a worded description rather than exploded assembly diagrams. The plastic is a very soft styrene which I am hoping will adhere well enough with liquid poly.

Well, enough babbling on, here are the obligatory box and contents pics....... Wish me luck!

[ukmodeller]

Wow! That is an unusual build to do. Cannot wait to see how it turns out.

Good luck with it

[paul_c]

Well, I've made a start, deciding to build the tractor unit first.

The instructions explain that the tractor unit in this kit is based upon a rigid Mack flat bed that they also produce. Therefore, modifications needed to be made to the kit parts.

First off, the cab floor. this needed to be narrowed as illustrated in the instructions:

This then allowed me to get the bonnet/hood, front suspension springs and transmission/flywheel assemblies fitted:

[paul_c]

Next, I turned my attention to the chassis. This needed to be shortened down to 1.5" and the remaining centre cross member removed:

I then prepped the rear suspension and drive train components. This kit suffers greatly from flash and rough surfaces so quite a bit of clean-up was needed (my apologies for the poor picture!):

Tonight should see the chassis built up and added to the front end.

Until next time!

Edited May 19, 2016 by paul_c

[ukmodeller]

Oh, I can remember the kits of old where the flashing was really bad and half the time was spent cutting it away............

[paul_c]

Oh, I can remember the kits of old where the flashing was really bad and half the time was spent cutting it away............

Oh yes, this is a proper classic 'track side' style kit alright!

Another quick update with this afternoon's work.

I assembled the rear half of the chassis with the rest of the suspension, transmission and chain driven axle:

I then spent some time trimming the cab side panels to size before attaching them along with the very spindly looking 5th wheel.......

Next attention turned to the side fenders which needed plenty of clean up!

And the fenders are now ready to fit on my next session. I've temporarily popped the seat in place to give an idea of the look:

[Murdo]

What a fascinating little kit. I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

[ukmodeller]

It's looking good. Cleaned up nicely

[paul_c]

Just a quick update.

A coat of primer on the tractor sub assemblies before top coating and detail painting everything tomorrow prior to assembly:

[paul_c]

It has paint! Or more specifically, a coat of Hycote Post Office Van Red which is a good enough match for me to fire engine red and is really nice and quick drying straight from the can. I tend to do most of my vehicle models with aerosol cans as I don't own an airbrush.

Once dried, I detail painted the running boards, seat, cab floor, controls and exhaust before fitting them:

Wheels next and although they don't look particularly enticing on the sprue, I like to think they cleaned up well enough and will be painted next:

[ukmodeller]

Lovely paintwork. It' starting to look really good now and the colour seems fine.

I've only just started airbrushing, after 48 years and it's saved me so much money with the amount of paint used. I didn't think I could get used to it at my age but 'm glad I did as you can experiment without it costing too much. I still have a lot to learn, but it's interesting.

[paul_c]

Lovely paintwork. It' starting to look really good now and the colour seems fine.

I've only just started airbrushing, after 48 years and it's saved me so much money with the amount of paint used. I didn't think I could get used to it at my age but 'm glad I did as you can experiment without it costing too much. I still have a lot to learn, but it's interesting.

I think it's the prep and clean up time that puts me off airbrushing. I only have time for the odd 30 minutes here and there for modelling so find aerosols and the good old hairy stick to be the ones for me!

Anyway, here's the tractor unit finished with the addition of its wheels, license plates and a few bits of bling.......

Next up is the trailer, something I'm not looking forward to to be honest but it's character building if nothing else!

Edited May 23, 2016 by paul_c

[ukmodeller]

Hi Paul

Nice work and detailing - not so easy on those small kits but It's looking really good now. Any chance of putting something like a 50p piece alongside it to get an idea of the scale/size?

I know what you mean by prep work for airbrushing. I skip most of it except for the actual bodywork/shell. I've yet to master getting a really nice shine to the finished paintwork.

So, are the ladders nice and straight? Or are they bent in an arc - which used to be the problem with old kits? I used to get the hump when building car kits (Airfix) and the chassis were always bent.

[paul_c]

Hi Paul

Nice work and detailing - not so easy on those small kits but It's looking really good now. Any chance of putting something like a 50p piece alongside it to get an idea of the scale/size?

I know what you mean by prep work for airbrushing. I skip most of it except for the actual bodywork/shell. I've yet to master getting a really nice shine to the finished paintwork.

So, are the ladders nice and straight? Or are they bent in an arc - which used to be the problem with old kits? I used to get the hump when building car kits (Airfix) and the chassis were always bent.

Typically, I couldn't lay my hands on a 50p so here's a paint tin for comparison!

The ladders are actually very straight, and nicely moulded. And there's enough of them........

[ukmodeller]

Wow! I didn't realise it was that small. You must have small fingers and good eyesight and a lot of patience. I can just about handle 1:24 scale.

Those ladders look like they are well moulded too. No flashing or anything. Cannot wait to see it finished.

[paul_c]

Well, a start has been made on the trailer (or tiller to be more precise).

The tiller is split into 4 separate sub-assemblies, the chassis frame, the fender and running boards, the turn table base and the ladder assembly.

First up was to clean up the fender and running board piece and attach what the instructions call the 'fences' around the centre.

The chassis frame was also tidied up at the same time, with the rear suspension, cable supports and turn table base added. The rear steering tie rod disintegrated on the sprue so I replaced this with wire:

Once all this was dry, I attached the ladder support frames and assembled the turn table:

[paul_c]

Well, the tiller has come together quicker than I thought it would. The next step was to make the steering column and seat mount out of the provided wire. The seat mount had to be hinged to allow it to swing away to give room for the ladder to raise. So the frame was made from 2 pieces of wire, one fixed and one drilled into the mount and left to pivot. I added some smaller pieces of wire to the fixed side to act as a 'latch' when the seat is in position:

I have also assembled the main ladder unit:

Time for some primer:

As well as the pivoting seat, the tiller steering wheel also has to be removable to allow the ladder to raise. To do this, I drilled a 0.4mm hole into the base of the wheel:

Well, that's it for now, next up some more red paint and sorting out the wooden ladders. Anyone got a recommendation of a good wood paint for those?

[ukmodeller]

Now I am more impressed than ever. The level of detail being put into this build is amazing and your friend is going to be so pleased with it.

Keep up the great work.

For the wooden handles on the tools for my fire truck build I used Ocre Brown (matt). It's a little light but could be darkened for the appearance of old wood, which would probably suit your kit better.

[paul_c]

Now I am more impressed than ever. The level of detail being put into this build is amazing and your friend is going to be so pleased with it.

Keep up the great work.

For the wooden handles on the tools for my fire truck build I used Ocre Brown (matt). It's a little light but could be darkened for the appearance of old wood, which would probably suit your kit better.

Thanks Kevin, really appreciate your kind words mate.

What is even more amazing is that apart from a few little mods like drilling the tiller wheel to make the build easier, this is completely OOB. Not bad for a little track side kit with a $4.95 price tag!

I'll look into Ocre Brown, thanks for that.

[Bengalensis]

Very nice work, it's looking great!

[paul_c]

Very nice work, it's looking great!

Thank you, appreciate it!

Well, today has seen the main assemblies painted red along with the very tip of the main ladder being white. Lots of detail painting to follow now!

[ukmodeller]

Love the look of those ladders. Nice and straight.

[paul_c]

Thanks Kevin. I think the straightness of the ladders is helped by the fact they are attached to the sprue along their entire length, almost similar to a resin mould. Very well thought out for a non-mainstream kit.

[paul_c]

Just a small update today.....

All non-slip steps and running boards painted flat black:

And the ladder and chassis grab rails added using the wire supplied in the kit. More like rigging a ship!

[ukmodeller]

Thanks Kevin. I think the straightness of the ladders is helped by the fact they are attached to the sprue along their entire length, almost similar to a resin mould. Very well thought out for a non-mainstream kit.

I agree. By the looks of the detail in this kit, it would put some of the mainstream companies to shame. What also makes this build look so good is the brilliant paint job you've done.