Heller 1/24 Ferguson tractor

[JeroenS]

It was a busy weekend so I didn't get bench time in at all. Tonight I started on the front suspension. I'd already been pondering instructions vs. reality for quite some time. In typical Heller fashion the instructions don't match up with the actual parts. 

 

In this step you'll note the pins, the arrows and the holes where the pins should end up. 

 

 

No way. This is as far as they'll go. 

 

 

In a later step the upright part is drawn as very close to the horizontal part. That's not happening. However, the position of the stabilizer (I think it is) on the horizontal part matches the real world pretty well. 

 

 

Jörgen already made a comment about the track width for the front wheels. That probably has something to do with this situation. 

 

Looking at my Steyr tractor, it has a pretty wide track width at the front so this is actually not a problem for me. But I had to try it out with a little dry-fitting. 

 

I made the wheels. They look nice. 

 

And using a bit of tape I was able to (more or less) judge the position of the front wheels in relation to the rear wheels. This is not so bad, and I realized that this is even one "notch" too wide so the front wheels will end up just a little bit inside of the rear ones. Works for me. I've been looking at this for too long already so I'm going to go ahead and apply glue. 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by JeroenS
Forgot the last picture

[JeroenS]

Glue applied. 

 

 

 

[helios16v]

Another cracking build.  

[JeroenS]

Didn't do much today, but did get the steering linkage on. 

 

 

Not many parts left. 

 

Meanwhile, I'm working on the rear wheels. The tyres fit the rims nicely, but... 

 

 

huge mould line straight down the middle. 

 

I've been working on the other one for half an hour and it's becoming acceptable. 

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

I got in a little time before work this morning. I had put off sanding the rest of the tyre because... well because I don't really like sanding rubber tyres! 

 

You just get a load of little squigly pieces, and when you have sanded one off, another one will take its place.... 

 

 

You just can't win 🙂 

 

But, I have one acceptable rear tyre. Still need to do the other one!

 

 

 

Really, I'll take a nicely cast resin tyre over rubber any day. Just for fun, I've put the Fergie's rear wheel next to one of my ABI GB Kirovets K700 wheels... 

 

 

Mind, the Kirovets is 1/35 scale. The diameter is the same but the K700's wheels are over twice the width. And I'm building one with twin wheels!

 

Anyway, back to Fergie. A couple of more parts were added, like the steering column and the manual throttle which I used a lot on the Steyr. Which was also not a very big tractor and I've been 6 4" for a while now so I was always a bit awkward on the foot pedals. 

 

 

The seat is dry fitted for now to make painting easier. For the same reason I'll add the steering wheel later. 

 

 

Heller gives you 2 options for the seat mount and seat combo but I chose one from both. I seem to remember the Steyr's seat had holes in it but there was always a cushion and a plastic bag over it so it could have been different. I like the look of this one. 

 

 

[reini]

I've never worked with rubber tyres but I already dislike them  

 

You're really close to start painting this one?

[wimbledon99]

I have to say the rubber tyre looks so much better; your time spent on it is not wasted

 

Just one more to go. Hopefully the front tyres won’t be so bad

[JeroenS]

1 hour ago, reini said:

You're really close to start painting this one?

Pretty close! It's just the 1:1 work is still stealing my bench time 🙂 

 

And, I don't have a paint setup yet. For my birthday last month I tickled myself with a brand new spray booth, a Benchvent. 

 

https://benchvent.com/shop/bv300s-d-a3-extraction-unit/

 

Man, that thing displaces some serious air! I put it back in the box after trying it, and it's still there. But it's quite easy to set it up, I just don't know where yet. I want to start painting very much!

[JeroenS]

46 minutes ago, wimbledon99 said:

I have to say the rubber tyre looks so much better; your time spent on it is not wasted

 

Just one more to go. Hopefully the front tyres won’t be so bad

I spent about an hour on the rear tyre, so one more is doable. The front tyres are ok, they don't need much work. So it's really just a couple of parts left on the sprues. 

[Jonners]

This is looking great, Jeroen! I think you've got just the right balance in terms of detail vs practicality.

 

I'm not really a tractor fan, but I love the Fergies as they're something of an agricultural icon. I can definitely see myself getting hold of one if these kits and giving it a go myself, suitably assisted by referring back to this build.

 

Under normal circumstances (remember those?) I volunteer at a folk museum which has two TE-20s, one petrol and one diesel, and I've seen one or two preserved Fergies working for a living around where I live. 

 

Jon

[JeroenS]

1 hour ago, Jonners said:

This is looking great, Jeroen! I think you've got just the right balance in terms of detail vs practicality.

 

I'm not really a tractor fan, but I love the Fergies as they're something of an agricultural icon. I can definitely see myself getting hold of one if these kits and giving it a go myself, suitably assisted by referring back to this build.

 

Under normal circumstances (remember those?) I volunteer at a folk museum which has two TE-20s, one petrol and one diesel, and I've seen one or two preserved Fergies working for a living around where I live. 

 

Jon

Thanks Jon. To be honest, I would normally spend more time on it, particularly on painting different sub-assemblies. I just don't have the time now. I'll put together as much as I can and paint it as a whole, detailing later wherever possible. Some detail will suffer but I'll see it when I get there. I'd really like to have a go at the milk trailer so for now this is the best approach for me. 

 

I came across a nice looking Fergie in a museum in Norway when we were on holiday (remember those? 😉) there a couple of years ago. I took some good pics and bought the kit later. 

 

There are some really nice Fergie builds on this forum by the way, my favourite has to be this one, it's not even looking like a model kit. 

 

 

[PattheCat]

Hi Jeroen. Well done with these tyres. Eager to see this one painted.

Have a nice day.

Pat.

[JeroenS]

46 minutes ago, PattheCat said:

Eager to see this one painted

Same here!

 

Have a nice day yourself 🙂 

[JeroenS]

According to my wife I have a uncanny ability to jinx stuff... I guess she's right. I was cruising along with the build, working it to the finish line, thinking "well this kit is really nice, no pin marks at all". We all hate pin marks in weird places don't we. 

 

At that moment I cut the rear fenders off the sprues... 

 

 

Dammit! Pin marks, lots of 'm! 

 

So these were filled. Well, the outer ones were filled, the other ones I'll hide in mud 

 

Anyway, the build itself is now done. There's two options for the exhaust, one low and one high. I chose the high one, but cut it short at the top and also drilled it out. I had to "finesse"  (aka cut) the exhaust parts because the bottom curve would interfere with the steering linkage. 

 

The final parts were the patented Ferguson system, the three point linkage to attach all sorts of equipment. I remember this thing swinging about happily when nothing was attached. 

 

 

I assembled it, and glued it, but left it removable. 

 

 

I will paint this separately and (hopefully) glue it to the painted tractor still in one piece. 

 

So this is it, ready for paint. 

 

 

Oh right, that one rear tyre still to do... 

 

[wimbledon99]

Can't wait for the paint!!

[JeroenS]

11 minutes ago, wimbledon99 said:

Can't wait for the paint!!

I think it'll have to wait until the Kirovets is largely ready for primer. 

 

And I just noticed I'm almost out of Mr Surfacer black! Oh noooo

[Andy Moore]

The build's looking great Jeroen. Looking forward to the paint.

 

Andy

[Thom216]

A very well detailed lil model. Can't wait to see it all colored up!

[JeroenS]

Ahhh... there, that's better!

 

 

My favourite primer... a little hard to get this time actually, so you know what, I ordered 3 pots. 

[JeroenS]

So, remember that primer? Well, I finally got some on the model tonight. I set up my new spray booth yesterday and had my first spraying session in our new place just now. It's now in my room instead of in the shed which is relaxing. Before, I always had to make several trips from second floor to shed with all the stuff I thought I was going to need, and then several more to get everything I forgot to take with me. This could be anything from paint to cups to my airbrush or parts of the model, or any random combination of the above. 

 

 

Always looks purdy in black. 

 

 

[wimbledon99]

Wow. Can see why you like that primer!! Lovely job

[Thom216]

Looking super smooth!

[JeroenS]

A base coat of Tamiya's red brown (XF-64) has been applied. 

 

 

It's always a good base colour, I'll use the tiniest bit of salt on the wheels when painting them yellow. The Steyr still looked pretty good paint wise so I'll not do much on the bonnet and mudguards, just paint and a little bit of weathering, dust and dirt mostly.

 

I can't remember what colour the chassis was and the photo doesn't show it very well. I think it was some sort of grey but "just plain dirty and oily" could also have been the main colour. I'll add a touch of grey and let oils, pigments and some random metal colours do the rest. 

[JeroenS]

A tricolore... 

 

 

 

[Thom216]

Oohh, you could go for a Clown Tractor!🤡