1981 Volvo N-10 Septic Tank Truck

[Cornbinder]

I've had the idea of a septic truck rattling around in my head for a while, and recently decided to take a shot at it.

I paid the princely sum of 20 bucks for this thing. It had some engine assembly done and was missing the steering column and one cab clearance light, but those were easy enough to work around. Not even the diecast chassis parts could scare me off. 

 

The idea was for a truck that was originally painted white then repainted in green later on in life. To that end, the "factory" white was left visible on the firewall and inside. That green, by the way, was purchased specifically for this project. I bought it just because I liked the color, APWA Safety Green from Ace Hardware. But I found out later that color is used by APWA to denote sewer lines. Perfect! You can also see the beginning stages of the weathering with Valejo rust washes. I also used a spare AMT lens to replace the missing cab light.

Here the firewall doodads have been added. The maple leaf is from AK Interactive. They're 1:35 scale but they'll work in 1:25 too... not like there's a "standard" leaf size, right? Here some weathering powders and AK weathering pencil action has taken place, along with a few washes. 

The headlight bezels have been weathered a bit, and more weathering will come later on- mostly some grime and maybe some chipping. 

I omitted the passenger side seat and filled the void with an extinguisher, tool box, and a hazard reflector. 2mm strips of Bare Metal Foil were used to simulate duct tape on the seat. Vallejo mud cakes the floor, and the entire thing was dirtied up with powders and washes before being sealed with dull coat. Note the white strips on the side panels, again representing the painted metal in white of the truck's "original" finish.

That's it for this time. After a few mockups and seeing where things sit I'll get started on the tank and such. 

 

[vincen47]

Neat that the choice in paint worked out in more ways than just looking good. Anything similar to a “municipal green” always looks great on an ol’ dirty commercial truck.

It’s very cool that you’re leaving hints of the original factory color. I love it when there’s a visible sense of “history” on the vehicle. Neat project.

Leaves are a great example of “scale fluidity”. There are many 1/35 items, especially diorama-based scenery items that work well in our 1/24-1/25 scale world. 

Great treatment of the interior. I like the fact you deleted the passenger seat.

[Johnny M]

NIce ! Great detailing. Comin' along great.

Johnny

[Carrol Jo Bummer]

Looks incredible!  I love the little “story” behind all the weathering.  Excited to see how it turns out.

[Cornbinder]

Very minor update, but here we go.  

The engine is assembled and installed. I just went with primer gray and an oily wash, with Tamiya Linoleum Deck Brown on the exhaust manifold and turbo inlet to simulate rust. As you can see the engine is more or less completely hidden once the cab and everything is on, so I didn't go crazy with the details there. Add steering box to the list of missing parts. If I can't find anything suitable in the spares pile it shouldn't be much of a chore to fabricate something. For now the chassis is just flat black. It will be weathered as the project inches along. 

The grille needed a broken hinge repaired. Once that was done foil was added and the whole thing was coated in Tamiya Rubber Black. Once dry, the paint was scraped off the foil with a toothpick. The lettering was done with brushed Tamiya acrylic. 

[vincen47]

Nice update. I like the work you did with the grille. Clever technique.

[Cornbinder]

Well... After the hood hinge snapped off (again), and the die cast chassis more or less exploded after being elbowed off the workbench, a slight change of course. It'll be curbside and set up on a spare White Western Star chassis. 

The kit battery boxes were glued together side by side and fitted with step plates from a GMC General. 

Still trying out ideas for the tank. Not sure what wheels and tires I will use in the end, but the Moebius front floats are likely to stay. May go with the matching super singles in back. We'll see. 

Just a quick mockup shot. 

[vincen47]

Sorry to hear of your workbench woes, but it looks like you pushed through it and the build will look good in the end. Front floats look good. 

[Cornbinder]

Went with the entire Moebius front floats/super singles set. The battery boxes are in place and I went with the optional roo-bar front bumper. 

[Johnny M]

Lookin' good! Nice fat front rubber.

Also, roobars roole!

Johnny