Revell 1/25 Mercedes-Benz 1628s #2: Artic Tractor and Low Loader Trailer - FINISHED

[JeroenS]

6 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

Good work on the wedge tip, that's sometimes hard to get nice.

Thanks, I actually drew a template this time, for the side pieces. It seems to have worked. I'm hoping to get another ramp just like this one. 

[JeroenS]

I am working today but needed a bit of a break for sorting some stuff out in my head. Always magically happens when I'm doing something else entirely!

 

I thought I'd document the process of building the second ramp. It looks to have turned out more or less identical to the first, so that's a bonus. 

 

Starting with the cutting of the pieces. Well, that piece on the right was used as it was, lying around doing nothing. 

 

 

This was all cut from .5 mm card which is what I use mostly. Note to self: you're running out! Turns out I still have 3 untouched packs of .25 mm card, which I don't use all that much. I think I may have grabbed the wrong pack last time I was at the LHS. 

 

Anyway, here's the template I mentioned earlier. 

 

 

Works well. 

 

 

 

Glue the first side piece. I only use the quick setting extra thin glue so it all goes together quite quickly. I hate having to wait for glue to dry. 

 

 

Cut the small bottom piece from the strip which will go on top of the side pieces, it's too long anyway. 

 

 

Glue that in. 

 

 

Second side piece. 

 

 

Then the top piece, making sure the inside connection is straight and doesn't overlap (much). The inner sides are less easy to sand. 

 

 

Rinse and repeat for the other side. By the way, I use that plastic triangle a lot more now for scratchbuilding then I ever did in school!

 

 

Then the large piece for the wedge. Push that on there using lots of TET. I'll cut that to size when the glue has fully set. 

 

 

 

Finally, some slivers of .25 mm card, laid across the (tiny, in this case) gaps, doused in TET and mashed in there using the flat side of the knife. The excess will be sanded off, but you need some spare plastic there to get a nice curve. 

 

 

Now I can finish my real work for the day, then sand all the edges flat. I'll start adding details after that, some crossbars and of course the hydraulic rams, hoses etc. Should be fun! 

 

Looking at the timestamps of the picture files, this took me 40 minutes from beginning to end. The first ramp must have taken a little longer. Not too bad. 

 

[busnproplinerfan]

Great example of scratchbuilding.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Interesting approach and Thank you for sharing ? I had assumed it was square tubing you used. 

[JeroenS]

Both ramps sanded nice and smooth. 

 

 

Some detail added. 

 

 

Now, for the hinges I was thinking along these lines. 

 

 

It should come out like so. 

 

 

They will be static items, but I will use the rod to attach them to the trailer after painting so the gussets (?) will have to be drilled out for the rod to go through. 

 

[JeroenS]

51 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Interesting approach and Thank you for sharing ? I had assumed it was square tubing you used. 

Thanks Dennis. I have square tubing in 4.8 x 4.8 mm, which I thought wasn't beefy enough. Next size up I have is 9.5 x 9.5 mm which is way too large, they're meant for the 1/16 Peterbilt project. The ramps have 5 x 7 mm "tube". 

[JeroenS]

Got a little work done this morning, this will be it for today as I have stuff to do, places to be. 

 

I glued in the tube for the ramps yesterday, let that set during the night and sanded the gussets to shape. 

 

 

Then drilled out the card to hold the rod. 

 

 

I can now start on the trailer side of things, after which I can make and fit the hydraulic rams. 

 

In the meantime, I put landing legs on the trailer so it can stand freely on its own 🙂 

 

 

The brass rod is temporary until I can think of something nicer. I have something in mind but it will take some careful bending. 

[stevej60]

Absolute master class in model engineering Jeroen.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very Impressive, do you have a 1/35 Tank jack in your spares. If you cut it into 1/3-2/3 halves you could mount it on each leg. Run a shaft between the two and add the handle to the larger of the two. Then you have a crank down assembly for the legs

Edited September 17, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[busnproplinerfan]

Now you'll for sure want to play with it. Who doesn't want to play with the landing gear.

[JeroenS]

Thanks for the comments people! 

 

More work on the ramps. I'd like to paint them separately so I made something that I can glue to the back of the trailer when painting is done. 

 

 

 

Like so. 

 

 

The whole thing still moves. 

 

 

I'm working on the ram now, but I don't know if it will still move after I've attached that. It's tricky to get the angles right. It's probably going to end up glued in upright position. 

[busnproplinerfan]

I just know when I make a part that shouldn't work, it ends up working because you make it like the actual part. Just paint sometimes jams it up.

[JeroenS]

2 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

I just know when I make a part that shouldn't work, it ends up working because you make it like the actual part.

True! Luckily, I had some experience with fabricating rams from when I built the HIAB crane last year. This came in really handy today! 

 

So let's see what I did. The top bracket first. I notched a piece of tube first, then glued in a horizontal piece of rod which I drilled so brass rod can go through. Then I made the bracket around it, making sure it can't move in any direction. 

 

 

I cut it to size and glued on end plates over the rod. 

 

 

As long as it's moved carefully this will do. 

 

Creating the bottom piece of the ram. 

 

 

Then starting the brackets for them. 

 

 

Shaped and drilled. 

 

 

After I took the above photo I realized these pieces look kind of funny 🙂 

 

 

Anyway, this is what I had in mind. 

 

 

That works!

 

 

 

Here they are, the both of them. The clamps are so that they don't fall off, as I said the ramps will be painted separately. 

 

 

And they can be lowered as well. 

 

 

It's nice to have some options, maybe for photographic purposes. 

 

Now they need some hydraulic details and a way to connect them to the trailer so they don't accidently fall down. 

 

I'm happy with the progress I made this weekend. I really need to clean the bench and surrounding area now though, there's pieces of styrene everywhere and it's a mess. 

 

 

[jean]

Hi Jeroen,

 

impressive does not come even close!

Absolutely brilliant!

 

JR.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very impressive work on the whole thing. 

[JeroenS]

Thanks gents! This part was a little more challenging than the trailer itself which is pretty straightforward. 

[busnproplinerfan]

To hold these up I figure the rams would do the work, I guess you can always make a door hook type thing. You know the kind that holds outhouse doors closed. I saw something like that on trailers with no rams, saw those about a foot long and along the outside edge of the trailers.

[JeroenS]

Right, that's what's on some of my references as well, also with rams. For extra safety I guess.

[busnproplinerfan]

My memory hamster came to work today so I had a brain wave.

[JeroenS]

3 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

My memory hamster came to work today so I had a brain wave.

It does help to have stuff moving around in there every now and then. 

[JeroenS]

I didn't have the chance to work on the trailer during the week, but today I've made toolboxes. 

 

 

They'll be mounted between the wheels. 

 

 

I've made some kind of rack, or construction, for safety purposes as well, as you can see. 

 

Brackets for the toolboxes. 

 

 

I'll just glue the boxes on after painting them, nothing fancy. 

 

 

You'll not be seeing much of the trailer's underside anyway. 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

More good work in those boxes. To be honest though it doesn't leave a lot of room for the tires and ground clearance ? 

[busnproplinerfan]

Wonder if you put the boxes on with the latches at the top so the doors don't hit you in the head when your crouched down reaching for stuff.

[JeroenS]

3 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

Wonder if you put the boxes on with the latches at the top so the doors don't hit you in the head when your crouched down reaching for stuff.

I did put them the wrong way around! I had the trailer on its wheels, then on its back and it got mixed up. They're supposed to be like this, but I put the handle on upside down so that needs fixing. 

 

 

I think they're OK, with regard to size and fit, but I've also been wondering about the big empty space at the back. 

 

 

So I think I'll move the boxes back. 

 

 

I'll make mudflaps for the wheels so it's a little busier down there. Maybe the boxes are a little small now, I don't know. I don't really feel like making bigger ones at this point. I'll see how it looks with the mudflaps on. 

[JeroenS]

I think it looks OK like this. 

 

 

Now, let's see if I can get that latch flipped over without damaging everything.