Orso Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 (edited) It all started with me buying a Volvo B11 fire truck from Editions Atlas. It is from a 1/72 fire truck collection they had. It has a die cast cab while the rest is plastic. I had an idea that I could convert it in to a LV94 truck so I let the saw loose. First the cab was shortened. I had problems getting the new rear wall of plastic car to sticking to the metal. Next was to cut the chassis and add some plastic to get it longer. It doesn't look pretty. A cargo bed had to be scratch built. A wooden gasifier from an ACE model Renault was donated by a fellow modeller. It will be a civilian truck that was pressed in to military service so it will be more colourful than the usual military vehicles. I had to move the steering wheel to the left in the cab. While planning for this build I noticed the First To Fight had a Fiat 621 truck and I was curious if they were present in Sweden. While looking into that I just got a feeling that I was looking at an old Scania Vabis. Comparing data of the Fiat and Scania showed them to be very close in size so I thought that I should try to convert it. But when I got the kits and started to look into the Scania I became confused. The nose looked shorter on most of the pictures but reading more I found that there were a four and six cylinder truck so that was why some pictures were off. So I started on the six cylinder Scania Vabis 324 as the nose in the kit looked as it had the right length. I found a picture of a truck with a slightly larger cab so I moved the rear wall back further. The door will be smaller so the rear line was filled. I looked at some of the surviving trucks and most of them had a 3700 or 3800 mm wheel base and I opted on the longer one for this build, the front axle had to be moved so I rebuilt the front of the chassis. This will not be an exact model, more of a "look a like" I find the FTF plastic to be very soft and since there is no top of the window frame one door had been bent. The other kit will be a Scania Vabis 325. It was the four cylinder truck so I had to shorten the nose. I choose a different way to alter the chassis in the front. The front axle had to be moved on this one as well. I will keep the cab without any big changes. As I will build this with the shorter chassis I can use the cargo bed as well.¨ When I looked closer to the trucks I realized that the front fenders needed to be converted. I got the basic shape on the front fenders done. I thought that it would be a minor job turning a Fiat in to a Scania Vabis but it was more work than expected. I needed to see if any more putty was needed so some painting was done, as expected more putty are needed. Some wood gasifier parts has been scratch built. While in a truck spree I decided to to do another one. I wanted an Opel Blitz with a wood gasifier so I opted for a kit from MAC. It will also be a civilian truck pressed in to military service, so I needed another cab for it. An old Esci wreck will be stripped of paint ad adapted to this kit. This one will be green. Some debris got stuck in the paint so I need to repaint the cab. I think I will paint the wheels black instead. Edited September 8, 2021 by Orso 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted July 30, 2021 Author Share Posted July 30, 2021 I was looking at the Scania Vabis 324 and thought that the cargo bed looked wrong split just in two so I decided to change it in to three instead. The Volvo got the cab in place. So has the Opel so they are starting to look as trucks. I am happy with the colours that I decided on for them. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig of the Week Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 Great trucks there ! Interesting to see a model with a gasifier, you seldom see this feature in models, and certainly (with the Germans anyway) it was quite common as fuel was in short supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 14, 2021 Author Share Posted August 14, 2021 (edited) I'm finishing the cabs by adding louvers to the hood. The H0 (1/87) sheet didn't work as I had hoped so I went for O-scale (1/43) instead. It has louvers in the heights of 4, 5, 6, 7 an 8 mm. I think that 4,5 mm would have been better. They are a little wide so I had to opt for 12 louvres instead of 13 but I think that I can live with that. The trucks are just "look a likes" anyway. I think that I need to get me a third Fiat truck, I noticed that there was a Scania Fire truck that was almost identical to the Volvo that I cut down. I can see another conversion coming. Edited August 15, 2021 by Orso 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 With some paint on I think the louvers came out rather nice. Started on a coal gasifier that I will use instead of the wood gasifier I built. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 I've been dreading the thought of mounting the front fenders but finally had a go at them. Now only headlights are needed before I can finish the paint job. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 I wasn't happy with the front being so low, the truck had an Hot Rod look. Some work on the springs for the front axle fixed this. The same work was done to the 324 but I need to move the front axle forward. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 The second truck is also ready for some paint. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 28, 2021 Author Share Posted August 28, 2021 Painting of the Scania Vabis 325 didn't work. To much over spray. I think that I need a new nozzle for the airbrush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 (edited) The Scania Vabis 324 is finished. Five month later I managed to finish the Scania Vabis 325- More of them here: Edited March 1, 2022 by Orso 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted December 24, 2022 Author Share Posted December 24, 2022 The Opel is finally finished. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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