Pierce Arrow AA Truck 1/35 Scratchbuild

[Model Mate]

The white drybrush did help to tone down my oil washes as hoped, but also at the same time really helped the rivet heads “pop”, so I’m pretty pleased with it.

 

I added a black oil wash to the ammo boxes and drybrushed them with a lighter green and then a buff colour to help them stand out in what will be the gloom at the back of the ‘car.

 

I also painted the dash a buff colour and then some undiluted brown oil using a stiff brush to get some woodgrain effect. I added a dial from a spare decal, applied a little black oil wash and picked out details in grey acrylic and gold sharpie pen for the bezel.

 

I was keen to get the interior done and the body fixed together, so glued the wall panels together and started on the external detail. Firstly, the extensive handrails that run around the sides of the car.

 

Followed by a few handles and hinges.

 

I gave the seat and controls a lick of brown and washes/drybrush and started to make up a steering wheel. I’d tried using plastic rod for this, but it just wouldn’t hold the circular shape, so I’ll try using copper or lead. This needs to be in place before the floor can be fixed on.

 

I made up the bonnet/nose section and this allowed me to pull it all together for an overall mockup – getting there!

 

[Longbow]

This is pretty awe-inspiring work !!

Love the use of the coffee stirrers for wood paneling, and the neatness of the interior details and card work.

 

Wonderful job !!

[Model Mate]

thanks Longbow - the coffee habit has proved really beneficial for my builds!

[Model Mate]

Nearly there with the internals....

 

I used a piece of aluminium wire wrapped round a paintbrush handle to form the steering wheel and glued it onto the plastic cross I’d already made up.

 

This was painted with enamels and given a black oil wash.

 

With that done, it was time to button up the body by fixing the floor in place. Unfortunately, with the addition of the coffee stick floorboards, it failed to either click inside the walls or sit neatly under them, as the boards clashed with the internal rivets. I resorted to trimming down the base, including the floorboards, and popped it inside. Not a terribly great fit, with gaps evident all round, so I glued the whole lot down onto a piece of 0.5mm plastic card (left overnight under a pile of books) which was trimmed down afterwards.

 

I wish I’d had some black card for this to help the gaps disappear into shadow, but hopefully the white gaps won’t be too evident in the end.

 

Here’s how the front and back now look, including the steering wheel.

 

I did a bit more work on the bonnet; scribing the side access panels (should really have done this before I glued it together) and adding various hinges, louvres and catches. The whole thing also got glued onto the front of the main body.

 

Back to the rivet pot now!

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

That looks awesome! 👍👍👍

[Model Mate]

 

Only a little update – I’ve been busy with the diorama for this build; great fun with the coffee stirrers and so on!

The rivets are done at last, and the body prepped for primer and paint. For those who didn't see my previous scratchbuild, the rivets are "nail caviar" - intended for blinging up your talons, but they're a convenient (and cheap) source of very small and reasonably consistent balls which I glue into slightly undersized holes drilled into the plastic.

 

[Model Mate]

Another very brief update I’m afraid – things are progressing very slowly at the moment.

 

I started tackling the suspension with the front axle. The basic shape for the leaf springs was cut from 0.75mm plasticard and then alternating layers of relatively wide and narrow microstrip were glued on to give the impression of springs. I cut some thick aluminium(?) wine bottle foil (the screw-top type) to make the straps and formed a rather oversized I-beam front axle which had to be cut into to allow the springs to sit at the correct height. This has been glued onto the front of the chassis.

 

[Muchmirth]

This is truly, absolutely incredible to think you are scratch building this. Honestly loads of respect. In fact is go far enough to say...actually jaw-droppingly good. If I could do this I'd be a very happy modeller. The detail, the ammo boxes, the gun, even the painting of the black on the floor boards. Amazing. Going to follow this one and good luck with rest and Dio. 

[Model Mate]

23 hours ago, Muchmirth said:

This is truly, absolutely incredible to think you are scratch building this. Honestly loads of respect. In fact is go far enough to say...actually jaw-droppingly good. If I could do this I'd be a very happy modeller. The detail, the ammo boxes, the gun, even the painting of the black on the floor boards. Amazing. Going to follow this one and good luck with rest and Dio. 

Thanks muchmirth, that really means a lot.  I’m glad you’re enjoying the build. Scratching this sort of thing is great fun and really not that tricky - my miniart M3 is more of a challenge in many ways.

[Bullbasket]

4 hours ago, Model Mate said:

Scratching this sort of thing is great fun and really not that tricky - my miniart M3 is more of a challenge in many ways.

I know exactly what you mean. This side of modelling gives me the most satisfaction. But you've taken it to a whole new level. Keep it up, it makes fascinating viewing.

 

John.

[Maginot]

Very, very nice fabrication. The vehicle is coming up a treat.

[Model Mate]

My other projects have taken centre stage recently, so it’s been a while since this one got any attention, but I found a bit of time to get some work done on the undercarriage.

 

I finished off the rear springs and got them fitted, with the start of some round notches to hold the rear axle. I measured some ABS tube the correct length and glued the wheels to each end….

 

…which was a mistake, as this thing is chain driven, so a large cog needs fitting to the axle – damn!

 

Nevermind. I cut a circle out of 0.5mm card and cut teeth into half of it. I drilled a hole in the middle and then sliced it on the plain half to allow it to clip onto the axle without having to remove a wheel. Once this was fixed, I twisted some fine silver wire to make a rudimentary chain and superglued it in place. It’s not great, but I’m not sure how visible it will be in the end, so it may get upgraded in due course.

 

And to the front… The beefy axle looks like this; and here’s the wheel I need to fix to it – concentric plastic tubes and sturdy metal wire are the answer I think.

 

My massive I beam axle is possibly a little low, and I eyeballed the centre of the wheels as being level with the top surface of it, so to mount them, I superglued a length of iron wire across the top of it.

 

A bit crude, but hopefully it’ll look ok.

 

I mocked it up with the body and wheels in place to check the overall sit. For me on this model, this is more important than the finesse of the details (which as you have just seen are pretty basic!). Of the photos I have of this vehicle, my favourite shows it with a pretty aggressive stance, so I fettled the rear axle notches until it appeared to be about right. Quite a hot rod!

 

I had a quick look at the lights. These are old fashioned brass carriage lamps. As I did with the big bun barrel, these will be much better if I can make them from actual brass rather than plastic – could be a challenge!.

 

I ordered some 2,3,4,5 &6mm brass tube online, and while I wait for them to arrive, thought I’d have a cack at shaping some scrap pieces of brass and plastic to see if I think I can make it work. The front lenses have a flared brass horn, so I tried chucking a piece of scrap brass tube in my electric drill as a basic lathe, and used a file to taper the end. A razor saw and then a scalpel were pushed onto it to cut off the very end. Not too bad. I also had a go with some plastic pieces in the same way, and the brass was no more difficult than the plastic to be honest.

 

[vytautas]

Looks awesome, just incredible detailing!

 

Vytautas

[Maginot]

Quote

Quite a hot rod!

0 to 18mph in one minute? Nice work with the brass. Going to look a treat when finished.

[Model Mate]

thanks Chaps - haha!, yes it looks racy but probably not that fast in reality!

[Bullbasket]

Excellent work there MM. As you will understand, I really like some good old fashioned scratch building.

 

John.

[Carius]

Superb job so far mate

[Bandsaw Steve]

Good to see this back at the top of the pile!

Looking great!

[Model Mate]

Its all been a bit slow of late, but I managed to find a little bench time to get this project moving forward.

 

I drilled a series of holes in the chassis to mount some nail caviar bolts/rivets. Unfortunately, I accidentally used a 0.7mm (I think) bit as opposed to the 0.5mm I should have. As a result (and before I noticed my mistake), it was a bit of a cock up. These small black balls vary in size quite a bit, so the larger ones sat ok, but the smaller balls mostly popped right through – grr.

I picked out most of them and replaced them with larger champagne-gold balls that look much better.

 

While I had the balls out, I also added them to the wheel hubs.

 

With the chassis mostly done, it was time to fix it onto the body and add a few boxes (gearbox etc. to the underside along with a basic representation of the steering linkage. I also fitted some wire handles to the engine access panels using silver coated 0.6mm jewellery wire – nice stuff, and cheap – ordered from ebay in a variety of thicknesses from 0.2mm to 0.8mm. I’m tired of scrabbling around for scraps of packaging and electrical wire I have in a rather shabby bag, so these shiny coils are a god-send.

 

So I’ll shortly be ready to get some paint on this, and here lies my next dilemma….what colour were these vehicles? My favourite reference picture (on the left below) seems to show a very dark tone – the mud splatters thrown up by the wheels are clearly contrasting, making me think it was a dark green or blue/grey. Alternatively, the picture on the right seems lighter, though the wheels are still dark. It’s also got camouflage blobs, which could add a bit of interest – green blobs on brown? Or vice versa? Anyone out there have any ideas?

 

 

[edjbartos]

I’ve missed a lot of this since I last looked in, it really is beautiful work, it shows how much you enjoy this kind of work by the fabulous quality that you are producing. It really is tremendous...👍

 

Ed

[Model Mate]

thanks Ed - that's high priase coming from a master of the art!

[APA]

Just brilliant 😳👌

 

Andrew 

[diablo rsv]

On 24/08/2021 at 10:49, Model Mate said:

the rivets are "nail caviar"

 

Excellent work and it's been enlightening reading through your WIP, especially the 'nail caviar' for round bolt head/rivets. I shall definitely be pinching that one.

 

Wayne

[Maginot]

Quote

Anyone out there have any ideas?

 

It really is notoriously difficult to interpret colours or even shades from old B&W photos.

 

The pic of CI on the left, the nearside of the vehicle is in full shadow. Look at the shadow under the vehicle and that cast by the open driver's visor. The light source (the sun) is above and behind the vehicle. This is called backlighting and usually pushes the majority of the subject's tones (i.e. those facing the camera) towards the darker end of the tonal range regardless of colour or shade.

 

RMAAAB on the right shows sunlight falling on some armour plates (highlights) while others are in shadow (lowlights). Due to the angular nature of the plates, the sun catches them at different angles producing different tones while the colour and shade remain the same. The light source is high and to the left, slightly in front of the nearside of the vehicle (look at the standing soldier's shadow).

 

I don't suppose this helps much at all in terms of colour choice, but might inform your interpretation of light or dark shades.

 

Oooh! And just look at those lovely petrol tins. Lots of 'em. I'm attempting to fabricate some at the moment.

 

Great work, by the way.

[Model Mate]

I’m on a mini-roll; working from my boat which is my best model-making time.

 

The wheels got even more nail caviar added for the rivets/bolts around the rims. Photos often show perforated circular plates mounted over these. I’m not sure what they’re for, but they look pretty cool. Unfortunately they also look rather difficult to manufacture, so they may not make it onto this vehicle.

 

Back to the chassis, and I bent up some 1mm silver wire to make crude towing hooks which were superglued onto the front and back. I’d noticed that the chassis was a little short – there should be a slight shelf at the back, but I guess that due to my failure to allow for the card thickness as the body was built up, the overall body length stretched by a couple of millimetres. I’ve not seen any photos of the rear so it’s all speculation anyway. Consequently I decided to add a shelf onto which the hooks were fixed.

 

On the sides, I made up a couple of storage boxes(?) and fitted them to the chassis rails along with a front sprocket for the chain drive.

 

Behind the boxes there will be steps for the entrance and then suspended shelves which will hold the multitude of petrol cans that these cars carried – I can’t help feeling that a lighted match flung under the car would have been enough to destroy it – not very comforting for the crew!

 

I have a POW can supplied in the Vickers gun kit I bought, which (along with the gun itself) needs cloning. I tried earlier using blue stuff and milliput. They turned out ok-ish, but I’ve invested in a fresh batch of moulding latex and resin, so I’ll have a crack at some two-part moulding to copy these soon.