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Crane Jane and Maz Boy


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Hey Everybody in the Vehicle section! 

 

I have never posted in the Vehicle section and really almost never visit this section.  I have noticed tho, that almost all the builds are cars.  I don't build cars.  However I do build very large trucks.  The only other large truck build I have found lately is Old John's 1/24 Italeri Dump Truck, (nice build, John).

 

This build will be a very large scratchbuild 1/25 scale ex-military truck turned civilian crane truck.             

 

SO!  ' you ever have one of those moments when the "New Model Syndrome" hit so hard you can't get anything else done.  I never had till now.  I have always finished a build before I start an other.  Something happened I can't explain with this one tho.

 

  Thanks to Sgt. Squarehead in his Feb. 7 posting  : JGSDF Convoy (placeholder),  he posted these two photos.

 

 

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ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!

 

I never recovered,       and have spent the last three months getting the references I need for this build.

 

Crane KS-6571 + Maz-543!

 

Seeing how my fascination with BIG Russian Trucks has taken over my build site, I might as well do something about this right now, and add another build to the insanity of the, "Insane Truckworks" of my build desk.

 

As it turns out, I have found a ton of references and vector drawings for Maz boy.  However, I have only found photos so far for Crane Jane.

 

  Remember the Maz-357 build?

 

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This was built at 1/20 scale and measured 32cm.

 

the Frog-7...

 

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measures 35cm at 1/25 scale.

 

A smaller scale at 1/25 than the Maz at 1/20 scale. But a larger truck model.

 

  This new beast will be the biggest model I have built.  At 1/25 scale, the naked frame alone, will measure at 46cm!! and another 15-20cm for all the overhang.  That's bigly huge for my work desk.  And I'm also hoping that Jane will reach about 90cm tall when fully extended.

 

I'm really excited to start this scratch build, giant Work Truck.  I'll build the most tedious parts first.   Starting with... TIRES!!!

 

I hope I get some interest, being new to Vehicles, and maybe some of you guys will like a large truck amongst your cars.

 

 

Thanks for letting me hang out here for a bit.    I'll be back shortly with tires.

 

Rich

 

 

 

 

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Rich! I'm with you all the way, once again my friend. Excited about a build is the best way to start. I'm looking forward to my next two!

It's about time your scratchbuilding genius got a showing on the vehicle forum. Go for it! I'll cover your six!*

 

* I have a large scale snap together Arnie style Minigun. :shoot:

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You just hang on to that thing, Pete!  As crazy as my builds are, this one just may run over me, in which case you will need it for a mercy killing.

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@RichO, well, I'm a bit of a truck nut myself 😁 - tho currently spending time working on F1 cars, and should I ever finish, I've got a couple of truck builds lined up. 

 

I'm glad to see you posting and am really looking forward to this build!  Nice to see more trucks! 

 

About a year ago, I built a Peterbilt service truck, it's 1/24 scale - the cab came from a kit, front axle and tires/wheels from KFS, and the rest scratch built.  The radiator, hood, and fenders were a nightmare to build, and make "tiltable".  Turns out the fender design is conical (looks obvious enough now) - but not concentric to the axle centerline.  I mention it because it took me a good while to figure that fairly important design feature out - haha! good times.   No weather for this one -

 

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The CAT is a D7R is mostly scratch built.  The tracks and blade came from a kit of an old D8, the rest is a mix and match of styrene and where possible kit parts.  The old D8 doesn't look or operate much like this version, so it was a good challenge.  At the time I built these, I was new to the site, so my build blog's WIPs, a bit of a mess! though they are here somewhere.  

 

In the mean time, I'm looking forward to watching this build!  I recall seeing your Frog build in armor - and as I recall, your detail was remarkable - specifically on the wheel drives - lots of short torsion bars, drive motors and so on.  

 

Cheers,

Nick 

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Hey Nick, 

       glad to see a truck fan.  This also has a "tiltable" cab, that I don't want to think about just now.  And I want to build the crane fully workable.  We'll see about that tho.

Nice scratch built truck and dozer. Always nice to see some good scratching, and thanks for stopping by the Frog build.

 

Rich

 

 

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OK, Here We Go!

 

First up are tires.  Literally, building this from the ground up.

 

I have had to hand make the tires for each one of my projects.  I can purchase any number of after market parts at 1/25 scale, but not Maz tires.  And each time, I have gone about it in slightly different ways.  Now, I have a good working method at this point, and building a tire only takes a couple days of part time work.

 

I start with cutting the parts out of thick card.

 

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 I have always used card to build the large tires I use.  Using card is much easier to bend, cut, and glue.  I arrange these card "doughnuts" stacking each together to create the shape of the tire.

 

While I was beginning to add the individual treads, I decided to "weight" the tires.  I'm guessing this big truck weighs a pound or two, so a weight bulge was in order.

 

  I water/white glued separate strips of thin paper to build up the sides of the tires to create the bulge.

 

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When everything was dry, I sanded the tire flat on the side of the bulge.

 

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Here you can see how I arranged the card "doughnuts" and spaced everything to get the tire shape.

 

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Now it's a matter of adding the individual treads.

 

 

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The treads are a lazar cut package I have had for a while, just for this kind of situation. I got these from a Polish maker some years ago.

 

With all the treads applied, I painted the master tire and sealed it for casting.  Remember that I need eight of these, and one new extra for the spare.  I'll hand build the spare tire for the top rack because I only need one new spare, with no bulge.  The rest of these will get resin cast.  I'll have eight new tires in an afternoon.

 

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The weight bulge is a little hard to see here, but looks good in person, and will show better as the build progresses.

 

In this photo you can see the size difference between the tires of the Frog-7 build in the front, and the Maz boy tires.  Both are 1/25 scale.

 

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That's the first report for this build.

 

I'll build molds for next posting and get wheels started.

 

Thanks for tagging along, Rich.

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This is very interesting - thanks for posting.  I've wondered about how these tires/wheels are made.  I hope this isn't a ridiculous question, but what is the black material (above) you are using with the styrene?

 

cheers

Nick 

 

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Hey Nick,  No styrene in the tire build.  This is made totally from card and paper.  Then I superglue the tire to make everything very hard and then paint.

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Wow! sorry that I missed that subtle point - really nice work.  FYI, you might be able to find more info on the crane by looking up "Panzer Shop" who makes a 1/35 conversion set for a (Trumpeter) MAZ 543 and MAZ 537 - both are big cranes, but I'm not sure if either is the same as the version you will be building.  In any, case you can find pics of the resin version at various angles that might be useful during your build.  Sorry - I don't know how to embed links! 

 

Cheers

Nick 

 

 

 

 

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Nice looking conversion kits there, Nick.  I'm sure I can steal something from these photos.  BTW, you are like I am about operating this thing. It took me ten minutes to type this.

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Hey Guys,

 

The tire production is now finished.  I still have a spare to build, but I'll build that a year or so from now.

 

Once I had the master tire built and sealed, it was ready to cast.  I had to build the box for the mold and make a fill plug for the tire.  The box is Lego's, and the fill plug is a 3/4 inch dowel.

 

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I glued the plug into place and then flipped the tire right side up, plug side down.  I glued all this to my base and got ready to pour rubber.

 

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  I poured the rubber for the mold and let it all set over night.  I found this in the morning....

 

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A big dimple, and the level of the rubber had lowered.  My tire had sprung a leak and sucked in the rubber, or my box had a leak.  It was the box, and it wasn't to bad.

 

When I removed the master tire from the rubber mold, I lost a few treads....

 

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I had to remove all of these from the mold, to get it all ready for casting.  

Production started, and about ten minutes for each tire.

 

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Eight new tires, and a couple of extras, to empty the resin bottles.

 

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I have a job cleaning all these and getting ready for paint.  I'll remove the fill plugs and sand the treads to wear everything old and used.  This will take a bit while I'm building wheels.

 

I'll be back with more rubber shenanigans in a while.  Thanks All............

 

 

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Awesome. I love big stuff too so will be following this. And pick up a lot of pointers on how you go about building something like this. I like your tyre construction. 

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I admire you folks who give it a go with resin.  It is a good idea, and I imagine a great cost saver on something like this (that is if someone made 1/25 scale MAZ tires! 😁, they would not be cheap!).  A friend of mine sent me over several bags of 1/35 resin bits he made - essentially his test parts! thanks a lot lol!  While the detail was generally crisp, some never seemed to cure, others were fragile, and there were lots of air bubble etc, whereas, yours look the part!

 

Cheers

Nick 

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Thanks Nick and Jeroen for checking out the build.  You can see in the photo above, that the top tire on the far right has a big flat spot with no fill plug.  I miss judged the amount of resin on the first pour and got a really flat tire.  I'm thinking I can use this later for a tire change.

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Hey All,

 

A quick post for today.  This is my secondary build after the Frog Prince, so postings will be slow at first. 

 

I have finished with the tires.  I have all the tires I need painted and ready for install. ..... When I get that far.

 

Cleaned and painted.........

 

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I have also started cutting the frame and getting frame components built.  This took a couple weeks of part time work in the evenings.

 

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I'll start with getting the frame in order and then........ Suspension Parts.  I want to have a rolling frame ASAP.

 

My suspension parts patterns are somewhat simplified.  I'll work on that, to add some detail, and I need eight copies of everything to start with.  More resin excitement to follow.

 

I'll be back with wheels and the start of building the frame.

 

Thanks everyone for hanging with me on a slow start to a monster truck build.

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5 minutes ago, RichO said:

Thanks everyone for hanging with me on a slow start to a monster truck build.

I've got time 🙂 

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Hey Guys,

 

The work on maz boy has progressed a bit.  I have been working on the frame, trying to get the solid feel, and stiffness, that I need for the weight of the crane assembly.  The main frame sides are 2mm thick styrene.

 

Fresh back from the Paint Dept..........

 

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Trying to get the frame cross braces squared up and true.........

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All my marks seem to have lined up just right, and now ready to join the frame sides........

 

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Cross frame stiffener heads.........

 

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I have the frame together and starting the cross frame construction.

 

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Test fitting these was a bit much.  I had to trim the rod several times to get the length just right.

 

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More paint........

 

 

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The size of the frame next to the Frog.  This new frame is touching the fenders of the frog.  I need a bigger desk.

 

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The first wet wash.........

 

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I have added more frame supports under the bottom side.  You can see these under the main frame, through the stiffeners.  Here is the first wet wash.  I'll be back with more of the frame and weathering, and whatever.............

 

Thanks for checking in.

 

 

 

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Nicely done! Always a bit of a pain to get a chassis straight and true but this one is at an angle as well! Looks great. 

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The work on the tapered chassis is really nice - looks great.  That is clearly a lot of precision, production model building - It must have taken quite a while to make and assemble - wow - Looking forward to your next update -

 

Cheers

Nick

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Hey Guys,

 

 A quick update.      I have weathered the frame, about as much as I'd like for now.  I will keep adding layers of stain as I build and add components to the frame.  All to make this really dirty...

 

Start of the rust and weather wear.....

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Not much to say.  Just a dirty mess, and things will get messier as I build.

 

It's time to start hanging items on the frame.  I'll see what looks easy to start and work from there.

 

Thank All.............

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