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Peterbilt 6x6 truck 1/24


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Hello gents - all the good eating!  all of it!! 😄

 

As some of you might have been able to gather, I work from home - so, one hand it's great - obvious enough why, but on the other - being at home always can get a bit old!  Thankfully I do lots of zoom meetings, and my clients are far away, so every now and then I'll fly off to Texas or New York to project sites, and once a month drive up to Sacramento for a client meeting - they insist on in person - not sure why, it's a long drive (about 2hrs each way) and it's obvious enough that zoom works.  But, when not doing that, I make it a point to go out for a walk every day - sometimes for lunch, other times, just to get out and move.  And, as you have seen in various posts, I often see relevant material for a quick picture, like this:

 

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This glorious photo on the left is of a Kenworth concrete mixer, featuring the Hendrickson rear end.  This doesn't say too much about it's flexibility, but it does suggest they can carry some weight!  I did some research and found one cubic yard of concrete weighs about 4,050 pounds, and mixers carry 8-10 yards, so the load weight is between about 32,400 and 40,500 lbs or about 14,700kg to 18,400kg.  As I am not a big truck expert, I can't say if that is a lot of weight or not, but, I can say that in my colorful youth I worked in construction, and have shoveled, wheel barrowed, and pumped lots of concrete, and can say with clarity - it is heavy!!    

 

And, the other photo is of a Paccar engine in a Peterbilt tractor, likely a 348.  Unhappily for my, the model kit includes a big CAT engine - which is indeed a mighty beast, but not right for what I'm doing - so I can report there are several differences between the two.  For my purposes I am focusing on getting the turbo routing correct, and changing from two external air filters, to one interior.  In addition, because I cut up the hood/bonnet, and grill, I needed to cut up the radiator and fan to make them smaller, build a new fan shroud and reroute the radiator and turbo intercooler plumbing.  This was not difficult per se, but it was slow going, and required lots of dry fitting and reworking:

 

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I'm sorry about the lack of contrast in these images.  The glossy black kit parts just merge into a black mass.  The model engine is nice enough, but a bit light on detail, which might be fine - I'll add some tubes and wires eventually, but for now the goal was to get it all to fit together.  By this, I'm referring to getting the hood to tilt, locating the cab so it's a moderately close fit, locating the transfer case - and so on.   Like noted already, this was not a strictly complicated series of tasks - but, did require numerous dry-fits, adapting kit parts and building new ones to tie this mess together!! 

 

So far so good.  I decided to post now, because next on the list is routing the exhaust pipes - which now must be located above the front driveshaft (as someone, decided it would be a good idea to make this a 6x6), and under the shaft connecting the transmission to the transfer case.  Hmmmm.  Making this more of a challenge, I am considering making this a winch truck with gin poles.  To make the winches work, a secondary driveshaft is run from the front tandem axle forward toward the cab where the winches are mounted.  It's a PTO (power takeoff) that powers the winches, via chain drive!  how's that for crazy?  

 

I debated making some sort of a load for the bed - a drill rig? crane? anything, but concluded that if this were my truck, I might like the flexibility that comes with a flat bed.  This of course raises other problems, a guy should have mounted the tandems further back on the chassis, and it seems that gin pole trucks have conventional walking beams or giant springs packs....yeah, I going to go ahead and pretend not to notice those subtle points, and carry on! 😄

 

On with some progress:

 

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The foam sanding block proved useful for this little test - you can see the rear suspension doing it's thing!  the walking beams pivot as hoped 😓😄

 

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And, the other way too!  Just like a real vehicle, the long driveshafts have slip joints (fake splined yokes) and those sassy U-joints!  I'm glad to report no binding, and easy movement - whew!!

 

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I'll add the steering gear up front, which will have a pitman arm and drag link, tying to a bracket I need to install on the knuckle right next to the ball joint on the left front wheel - from there a drag link across to the other side.  I'm not looking forward to this. 

 

I'm sorry I forgot to take a pic of the bracket that the transfer case hangs from.  It took some time to make, and has a good and connection to the chassis. 

 

I also figured out the aforementioned torsion rods, don't have extra arms - apparently they are just controlled in the bushings - ok then.

 

I'm still pondering where to glue the motor in place right now or not.  I don't mind painting while in-frame (heck in real life, guys rebuild engines in frame!) so I might just glue it in - this will allow me to get that exhaust resolved a bit more easily - maybe I'll take it out one last time to string some hoses and wires?  Not sure yet.

 

 Ok, that's my report - thanks for having a look

Cheers

Nick 

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Great work again Nick, I love that you're able to get this stuff to work too! On the sequence, I think: run some wires etc on the engine while it's out, then glue it in so you can add the exhaust system. Then paint the whole thing in situ. I struggled a lot to get the customized exhaust on the Scania build in place because the engine was only dry fitted and of course everything changed just so when I finally glued it in. 

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17 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

I've long fancied all wheel drive trucks, & this ticks all the right boxes. It'd  look great with a camper body on the back, it could be my happy place, anywhere I liked. :)

 

Funny you should say that Steve, I found this last night and said to my daughter it's gone top of my lottery win wish list - with a nice camper conversion in the back!!
 

https://www.haflingertechnik.com/product/pinzgauer-718t/

 

And it wouldn't get repainted either!!

 

Keith

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Well guys, Billy big rig here again -

 

Joroen, well, you were absolutely right - I did go ahead and glue the engine in - and then, embark upon a remarkably unpleasant task - the exhaust.   For whatever reason, I concluded that this should be built in what amounts to a reasonably convincing fashion - which means, parts shouldn't touch where they shouldn't, such as exhaust pipes and drivelines - seems fair enough.  Unhappily this was much easier said than done.  Just one big, hot, tedious mess!! Adding to this, rather than just scratching a new exhaust, I unwisely concluded that it would be a better idea to "just" adapt the kit parts.....but as you will see, it's done:

 

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And here you have one sassy looking big rig!  piece of cake....no - it wasn't.  I added and removed both sides of the exhaust and those stacks several times.  Inside the red circle, you can just see some light between the driveline and the pipes!  

 

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Above you can sort of see how this works out.  The reason this was such a headache?  As this is a straight six engine, the exhaust comes out of the engine with a single pipe, then transfers via crossover to the two stacks - en route, it is strikingly close to my front axle driveshaft, which means in the center, there is now a "U" shaped crossover pipe, made from old sprue material.  Next, the routing from under the truck to the stacks, which is, of course, not a  straight shot - it is off-set to allow room for fuel and DEF tanks, and a battery box....perfect.  In any event it's done.

 

Next, of course I had to go back on my earlier thinking - and concluded that while pretty cool looking, the "shorty" bed wouldn't cut it.  So, a guy went ahead and cut the rear of the frame off, removed the rear driveshaft, and extended the chassis rails and made a new driveshaft:

 

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Ahh - a real winch truck!  The two vertical pencil marks on the chassis show the two sides of my original cut and fill!  Back to Billy really-big rig!

 

In the mean time, I added to the engine, which I'll show later.  It turns out that aside from being six cylinders and turbo charged, the likely a Cummins engine, not a Caterpillar, that comes with the kit is not at all like the newer Paccar engine...great.  I can live with that.  But, also worked on the front steering, which went relatively smoothly:

 

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Above, you can see I went ahead and added a pitman arm (not sure if it's called that on a big truck?) to the steering gear, then added what looks like a short drag link to the knuckle, and then, a drag link connecting both front wheels - and it works remarkably well 😀

 

Then - back to the bed.  It seemed like adding a big oil field winch was the right thing to do.  I purchased a big single and a smaller dual winch from KFS when they were closing the old site - as the song goes "it's now or never" so, in the big one has been dry fit:

 

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In the spirit of the rest of this, another wise conclusion - If a winch is going in, why not build a chain drive PTO?? another easy task - lol.  It turns out many oil field trucks run these big Tulsa winches, which are run off of a PTO(power takeoff), from the transmission to a chain drive.  So, in went a PTO connection at the transfer case and a small, operable U-joint.  I haven't added the same to the rear yet.  For now, the plan is to use a 1/12 scale motorcycle chain to connect them.  I order one from Spotmodel.  Funny thing, it could arrive next week or next month!  I eyeballed a resin part - and guessed it might work, and if not, well, I'll make it work - fingers crossed!

 

Thanks for having a look

 

Cheers

Nick 

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Nice work on those stacks. It's a pain! The rig looks super nice with this huge wheelbase!

 

I did the same just before the old KFS went out, bought a "truck load" of mainly rims, hubs and some other stuff. I had a heavy shopping basket going on. Then, got hit twice because I hadn't realized at that point that the UK was really out of EU and the import fees where just a tad higher. Man, that set me back. Not buying there again, although the new site is looking very good. 

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Thanks guys, we are making some progress - for today's adventure, the front bumper, winch, and PTO.  

 

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So, as I always liked these PTO winches and bumpers - the way they stick out looks tough to me.  And, as this project has shifted into the realm of adding cool things I like, well, a big bumper with a PTO driven winch we added!

 

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How many U-joints???  all the U-joints!!!!   Nothing electronic or hydraulic on this rig!  Thankfully the junk box is deep  😀

 

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So, what is going on here? - well, as you can see, in went a bumper, chassis rails, winch, and PTO shaft!  good.  The bumper needs to step down from the chassis, so the hood can tilt forward, which is fine.  Then, make up a winch - using left over resin wheel hubs - fine.  Then using a cut up driveshaft from a 1/35 MRAP, make the drive shaft for the PTO.  Still going fine!  Then, install on chassis - keeping it level, and keeping the holes for the hood hinge pins open, while keeping the PTO drive shaft above the front axle - as seen in the lower right.  Not easy, but worked out as well as could be hoped.  

 

Woo hoo!  good to go!  😀  Then - just to be sure, take another quick glance at the prototypes....and...realize - uhhh, this is not good - it's ok, but not good.  As I scratch built the winch, well, shoot - I made the opening in the bumper for it too deep - which meant the front bumper stepped down a bit dramatically (as shown in the lower left pic, with the dashed red oval).  Still ok - looked pretty good while making it - even with those fancy pants tapers headed toward the fenders! equal and level!  Then - actually look at it - and well, that deep bumper, fancy or not - just looked wrong.  I didn't realize exactly how bad this looked until this morning when I looked again - nope - I can't go for that 😄 

 

So, out came the razor saw - and to cutting we went.  The good news is that this model, for the most part, isn't particularly fragile, so, held the chassis firmly in one hand and the razor saw in the other and off came the lower portion of the front bumper, winch and winch mount. 

 

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And now, a better bumper!  Still a brute, but a bit more convincing!

 

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Despite my hacking away, the bumper and the parts I wanted to stay put did so.  Inside the red dashed oval you can see the PTO driveshaft.  I added some shackles and mounting points.  In the pic on the right, you can see how the frame rails step down .  This was done to allow some clearance for the hood to functionally hinge, and to rest on the frame rails, and to clear the winch.

 

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Above, you can see the hood tilts and rests on the chassis rails as I want it to.  You also see some of the bits I added to the engine.  Speaking of the engine, the hood covers it with some clearance, which is good - but, for the longest time, it would not rest flush against the cab when tilted back.  I eventually figured out that maybe like an MFH kit, the slightest bit of misalignment seems to get amplified with moving parts.  So, out came the file, sanding sticks, and some more evergreen and glue.  Good times.  The upside is that after several tries I got it to line up.

 

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Oh, and how many bolts and rivets??  All the bolts and rivets!! Tediously, not all of them just yet!  I can't mount the bed winches yet, as I'm still waiting for that 1/12 scale motorcycle chain to arrive, which will hopefully serve as my chain drive. 

 

I might do the cab interior next, and then on to the bed, or at least as much as I can do without mounting the winches.  I think I can do this because the gin pole truck beds I've looked at have two parts - one with winches and hardware, and the other the gin poles, roller and so on.

 

Ok gents, 

 

Happy model building, cheers,

  

Nick 

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Man, you're on a roll with this thing! Excellent work, love that bumper, it fits in nicely with the rig. I don't envy you those bolts, still have to do some myself, it's tedious but they do make a guy's chassis look way better. 

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Hi @JeroenS and @keefr22, thanks, guys.  Yes, that's one heavy bumper!  I had to do it.  And, Jeroen, those bolts, and more bolts - you're right - a guy can't pretend they will just show up!  nope, just keep cutting them off, and gluing them down 😄

 

I've spent the last few days working on the winches.  The plan is to make this a gin pole truck with three PTO, chain driven bed winches, with the goal of the truck looking more or less like this:

 

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I have no idea why the chain drive winch is used, versus hydraulic You can see the chain drive in the two pictures on the right - both front and rear winches.  I do recognize that some of this is likely defined by era specific technology, but have seen that chain driven parts are still used.  So, rather than adding hydraulic pumps and hoses, I'm going with gears and chains.  This has been very interesting to make, and to scrounge parts for:

 

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Like the real thing, I made up a cage for the winches.  I'm not altogether sure why these are used, but they seem to be pretty universal.  On some level I suspect they are used to act as a shield from snapped winch lines, provide a rack to rest gin poles on, and to provide the operator with storage for rigging and a place to stand when assembling - and the good stuff:

 

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Good times....This is constructed in several modules - there is the PTO drive shaft, front and rear winches and cage.  None are glued together yet.  The small gears are 1:20 scale, model railroad gear locks.  I drilled them out and slid the PTO shaft through - not glued yet - waiting for the 1/12 scale motorcycle chain.  Making a leap of faith here that the scale will be about right, and that I'll be able to adapt it, so fingers crossed.  The cage is made up of several pieces of sprue material, KFS winches, segments of the kit chassis, and evergreen, and of course, bolt heads!  And, like so much of the model building we all do, I'm not sure any of this will be clearly visible! when it's done 😁

 

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I'm pretty pleased with how this is shaping up.  Some geometry is a bit awry, but with the tolerance of demonstrating convincing realism (a term I came across years ago while doing design review! 😁)

 

As the motorcycle chain is not here, there are plenty of other things I can start - the bed, interior of the cab, fuel tanks, battery boxes and so on.

 

As an unrelated side note - I ran by a local model rr shop to looks for some parts, which resulted in me finding the gear locks, good.   But the shop has changed owners.  It was quite the scene.  The once tidy shop is now a mess (physically that is - inventory everywhere in apparent disarray).  There were several old guys loudly speaking politics while watching the trains run, and the new owner let me know that I didn't need the parts and tools I wanted, and that his alternative was "the same"....perfect.  I'll stick with the internet. 

 

Thanks for having a look - now off to a zoom call!

 

Cheers

Nick

 

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5 hours ago, Stickframe said:

I have no idea why the chain drive winch is used, versus hydraulic You can see the chain drive in the two pictures on the right - both front and rear winches.  I do recognize that some of this is likely defined by era specific technology, but have seen that chain driven parts are still used.

 

Like the real thing, I made up a cage for the winches.  I'm not altogether sure why these are used, but they seem to be pretty universal.

 

 

Chain drive because 1. it's not complicated and it works, 2. it's easy to fix at 2am in the rain and 3 feet of mud and 3. it was what they had laying around when they built the truck in the site workshop! Hydraulics, while wonderful, are also dangerous - look up what happens due to hydraulic injection injuries. It'll give you nightmares. 

 

Also, putting a cage around anything that moves is a Very Good Idea. Especially if said thing can grab your glove or sleeve and pull you in - heavy machinery doesn't care about your all too fragile flesh, and at 2am in the rain, it's easy to make mistakes that will last a lifetime (which can be very short if things go awry). Safety is sexy.

 

1 hour ago, keefr22 said:

Nick, I'm going to show my ignorance, and I should have asked before, what's a 'gin pole truck' ?

 

Keith

 

Come on Keith, it's a truck for a gin pole. Not that difficult, surely? :D (Yes, I'm TTP) 

 

A gin pole is a simple (and ancient) way of making a crane. One or two sheer legs, braced with ropes and used to move loads via ropes and tackle. While limited in mobility and capacity, they're simple to erect and pretty rugged - no complex engineering to go wrong (which is exactly what you want at 2am in the rain...).

 

This may be of interest. https://www.pinterest.com.au/Ftruckn/gin-pole-truck/

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Well guys, lots of good question and points made!  

 

@Rob G  thanks very much!  all of your points make plenty of sense to me 😀  Regarding hydraulics - aha!  Yes - that is true!

 

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As noted above, these trucks use winches, pulleys, and "poles" for lifting heavy machinery and parts.   Speaking of dangerous - or apparently dangerous, how about the pic in the lower left?  that looks like all the safety!  These trucks certainly appear to be versatile. 

 

As to the origin of the term "gin" - I was curious too!

 

The gin pole is derived from a gyn, and considered a form of derrick, called a standing derrick or pole derrick, distinguished from sheers (or shear legs) by having a single boom rather than a two-legged one.

 

Gin pole - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Gin_pole

 

 

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Well guys, have a good update for today.  It turns out, I received the chain drive from Spotmodel yesterday - which was quite a surprise.  While waiting for it though, made some progress:

 

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Went ahead and made up the bed and added a variety of details

 

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Among the tasks was making the base for the gin poles.  This took a while to figure out.  I wanted something that works and isn't too flimsy.  The approach turned out to be fairly close to the way the actual looks and works.  As you can see, I notched a couple of pieces of alu tubing, inserted a piece of alu flat bar, then slid a brass sleeve over to make a fairly tight compression fitting.  Then, added a second "blade" to add to the width, mostly for looks, but it's also more stout.  The pic in the upper left shows the single blade, while you can barely see in the lower right that these are now thicker and the gap between the deck bracket is tight. 

 

And, on to the winch drive chains:

 

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This worked out as well as I could have hoped.  The chain is supposed to be used for a 1/12 scale motorcycle, but works out for this too!  It turns out the part (chain and sprockets) was 3d printed - only mention this because the material did not like being cut (fractured) or glued....perfect.  Assembling and adapting this became a bit of an exercise in patience.  but, when all said and done, I like it.

 

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Among the "waiting for the chain" tasks, I detailed up the winch area and added tanks and battery boxes.  I scraped off the kit chrome and added PE details - straps and fuel cap on the tanks, and some really nice steps on on the boxes.  These (tanks and boxes) are only held on with metal pins, so I can remove them for painting - the pins also make firm attachments all around.  Finally, the bed:

 

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On one hand, this looks relatively simple - but, it's not that simple - there is a roller on the back - which is integral with the bed, and supported from beneath in the bed.  Like the rest of this build, just figuring out how it is supposed to work took some time.  And, the overall shape is fairly unique - and as always, with not plans, spent  fair amount of time looking at photos to figure it out.  Almost there - still need to add a few bits. 

 

So that's where we stand - happy model building, and thanks for having a look,

 

Nick 

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