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Volvo F12-20 and (absolutely no) logging trailer in 1/32


JeroenS

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29 minutes ago, reini said:

Nice! That must be quite rewarding. Looking good already. I never though truck models can be so exciting :)

Haha, yes very exciting, and it takes forever to build one too! Imagine how much fun you'd be having 😉 

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I'm quite pleased with how the chassis has turned out so far. It's straight and true and it matches my drawing. Couldn't ask for more!

 

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The small pieces of .25 mm strip on the top and sides are there to help set the curves. They will easily sand away, the whole thing needs a bit of putty here and there anyway. I can now start figuring out where all the rest of the stuff goes. I'll start with the leaf springs as they are important for the positioning of the axles. 

 

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Not a whole lot to show for an evening's worth of hard work, but still, progress is progress. The chassis is filled (I use bits of styrene and Tamiya Extra Thin Quick Set for that whenever I can because it's fast), sanded and then wet-sanded smooth. I added some holes in the front and back crossmembers to make things a little more interesting. Later on I'll add some wiring and nuts and bolts but only after I've figured out where everything goes. As I said yesterday, leaf springs first. Then, not necessarily in that order, engine mounts, cab mounts, fifth wheel, fuel tank, air tanks, spare wheel mount, battery box, mudguards, phew... Enough still to do! 

 

Still one crossmember to add by the way, but it goes under the chassis near the transmission. I'll have to test fit the engine first to see where it should be mounted. It's not on the original chassis. 

 

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I'm going to make the leaf springs now, should be fun. For once, no seam lines on the damn things!

 

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14 minutes ago, srkirad said:

it seems you will have more scratchbuilt parts than kit ones?

You have a point there, but I don't think it will be that bad. There's still quite a lot to be re-used. 

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Just in time (it's either that or too late, never way in advance 😉) I realized that I had to make the frame for the fifth wheel before I could add mounts for the leaf springs to the chassis. 

 

Here we have it: 

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Then a (seemingly random) thought struck me, now that I've cut off the Globetrotter roof, how about my air intake? Will it need work? 

 

The answer appears to be "yes, it does actually".

 

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This may look kind of silly on a lumber truck. Or any truck really. 

 

Ok so NOW I'm going to make leaf springs. 

 

 

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Well, the rear leaf springs are done, I'm happy that I managed to make two identical ones. The "tie downs" are 0.2 mm lead wire flattened with a roller. Very easy to work with, the lead wire. It's flexible and it doesn't break easily.

 

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I wanted to check the ride height of the original chassis before I started cutting into the rear axle contraption to salvage the axle. So I assembled the wheels, they're not too bad. No rubber tyres, just hard plastic but they'll be quite alright after some work. Together with the cab, I think the wheels are the most presentable of this kit. 

 

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Then I set about removing the rear axle, and this is what I got out of it, along with half of a small airtank (the other half is still on the sprue). 

 

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Some cleanup and the top half glued on and it starts to look like something, but oh my look at those gaps and the way the two halves not really match up. Filling and sanding I'm afraid!

 

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Now my main concerns are 1) to get the correct ride height with the new leaf springs, and 2) to match that ride height at the front!

 

 

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Maybe some simple rig to hold the chassis at right height?

 

Good looking leaf springs! Say what you will - but to me it is exciting to see these new parts (and even the whole chassis) been made. :clap2:

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I redrew my chassis plan on a sheet of 2mm styrene (which I hardly ever use anyway, this stuff is actually too tough) and I've created a little jig for the rear axle. It is at exactly the right height. 

 

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Springs are just dry fitted for the photo 🙂 

 

I must now first scratch the front axle because the one supplied with the kit is unuseable plus it looks like crap anyway. Then I can make another jig for the front axle. Lastly, a jig for the chassis itself, to place it at the correct height. A good method of making sure the finished truck is level and all wheels touch the ground. Why am I so concerned about the correct height anyway? Well, I'm assuming that truck and trailer match in height. I know, it's an assumption but while the parts of this kit are crude the measurements are so far pretty accurate. I don't want to end up modifying the trailer as well. But who knows🙂 

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That's good work on the springs and jig but best of good luck making something out of that random pile of bits prentending to be a rear axle. Sure you will do it in fine style based on what you've created so far though :) 

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Some more work on the jig, it's almost finished. Just the supports for the front axle still to do (but I have to complete that axle first). I've put stops at both ends and two guiding/levelling/centering supports in the middle. Well, to guide, level and center the chassis 😉 

 

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All this took quite a bit of time and as I was working on the jig just now, I realized what @reini has been doing. I walked into a carefully set trap! He wanted me to spend all this time on the jig so he could quickly finish two more aircraft and stay ahead of the competition! 😀

 

Luckily I was able to spend a little time on the front axle, I think it's coming along already. 

 

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More later!

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3 hours ago, JeroenS said:

All this took quite a bit of time and as I was working on the jig just now, I realized what @reini has been doing. I walked into a carefully set trap! He wanted me to spend all this time on the jig so he could quickly finish two more aircraft and stay ahead of the competition! 😀

Blasted! I've been caught... *crawls back to the hobby cave*

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The jig is finished, I've been fiddling a little with the front axle to get the wheels on right. I want to display them with a bit of an angle to make it a bit more interesting. I'm not yet happy with the joins where the wheels meet the axle, they should be reinforced but I'm not yet sure how. 

 

Anyway, it was a nice little exercise and the time spent is a good investment. 

 

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I'm a little fed up with the chassis for now so I think I'm going to take a look at that engine. 

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4 minutes ago, JeroenS said:

The jig is finished, I've been fiddling a little with the front axle to get the wheels on right. I want to display them with a bit of an angle to make it a bit more interesting. I'm not yet happy with the joins where the wheels meet the axle, they should be reinforced but I'm not yet sure how. 

 

Anyway, it was a nice little exercise and the time spent is a good investment. 

 

If I've understood what you're trying to do correctly could you make up some short metal stub axles to attach the wheel hubs to the axle ?

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23 hours ago, Richard E said:

 

If I've understood what you're trying to do correctly could you make up some short metal stub axles to attach the wheel hubs to the axle ?

Hi Richard, thanks for thinking along here. The end of the axle is H-shaped and as you can see here I've just glued it to the wheel hub as is.

 

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Normally there would be some kind of vertical pin to connect to the hub, for steering purposes. The steering part is not essential for me. I have to say, the join is pretty good and will certainly hold with normal handling. But we all know how that goes, in the course of a build. I'm thinking to add a piece of angled strip.

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