Jump to content

vincen47

Members
  • Content count

    295
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    19

2 Followers

About vincen47

  • Rank
    Advanced Member

Recent Profile Visitors

6,312 profile views
  1. vincen47

    AMT Autocar

    Yeah, you have a good thing started. Dark cherry will look good.
  2. vincen47

    My 3 completed trucks

    Nice builds, they look great. I like the color on the Mack and the Moebius wheels look great on the Dodge.
  3. vincen47

    Hello from Kentucky

    Welcome to the forum!
  4. vincen47

    Greetings to All!!!

    Welcome to the forum. I have you saved as a favorite seller on eBay. Nice parts.
  5. vincen47

    Peterbilt 379 RV Conversion

    To connect the charge air cooler to the turbo and engine block, I used rubber air to air connectors from Moluminum along with Plastruct elbows and aluminum tubing, cut to fit and painted with Molotow chrome. The rubber air connectors came in blue and orange, and though that’s common in real life, (orange on the hot side, blue on the cool side) I opted to paint them rubber black to better match the overall look. You can find black silicone connectors on 1:1 trucks as well.I also added the chrome rings around the connectors by using brass zip ties from CTM, painted chrome. That was one of the most tedious things I’ve done on this build, but the only option that seemed to work. Painting the recesses chrome was a failure, so CTM to the rescue. For the exhaust exiting the turbo, I needed a flex tube, just like the real thing, in order to make the awkward curvature needed to fit between the engine block and frame. Once I had the plastic tubing bent to fit, I wrapped it in wire, and added putty between to get the look. Painted in aluminum, it works well. I finished with adding the tubing clamps where the connections are with chrome bands made from strips of furnace tape.
  6. vincen47

    Ryder IH Loadstar

    Excellent job on a unique build.
  7. vincen47

    Peterbilt 379 RV Conversion

    Thanks, I appreciate that.
  8. vincen47

    Peterbilt 379 RV Conversion

    Now that we have a rolling (non-rolling) chassis, time to install the engine and add the radiator and charge air cooler. It’s a squeeze, but she fits. There’s a lot of extra parts adding to the overall engine width, like the serpentine bracket, so I made sure to measure and test fit beforehand. To connect the driveline, I made three driveshaft carrier bearings from styrene. Onto the CAC: There’s a void in the aftermarket for a proper charge air cooler/air to air aftercooler. Italeri tried in the 378 kit, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I used the Italeri kit parts as a basis for creating an aftermarket CAC in the style of a Duralite. I added photo etched radiator mesh and modified the side of the kit radiator. Then, adding putty to create the shape needed. The kit’s radiator coolant reservoir was added to the top at this point, but I will replace it later with a better version. On the front side, I added a parallel flow AC condenser unit, made with photo etched mesh. I’ll add the lines to and from it later, as well as the air intake connectors and pipes to the turbo and engine block.
  9. It would be a great model if it was fully static, but the fact that it has a functional boom and outriggers is extra impressive. What’s under the hood?
  10. vincen47

    KW T800 wrecker with rotator....

    That’ll be an awesome build.
  11. vincen47

    1960 GMC B7000 wrecker....

    Beautiful paint colors, and details. Impressive scratchbuilding. Love the subject and craftsmanship.
  12. Wow, fantastic build. 103k? She’s certainly heavy. But I suppose that adds stability. Nice scratch building. She’s a beauty.
  13. vincen47

    Peterbilt 379 RV Conversion

    Wheels and Tires… Most 1:1 RVs of this size are running 315 (or larger) tires, especially in the steer position. The hobby market, in my opinion, is lacking in accurate big rig tire offerings - don’t get me started on the generic junk that comes in kits that look more like 1:1 all-position retreads than anything else… So, I searched for a very long time, waiting for detailed, modern tires that would be accurate for the build. A&N Resin came to the rescue when they introduced the perfect tires - Michelin X-Line Energy Z Coach 315/80r22.5 Steers and X-Works 315/80r22.5 Drive tires. Incredibly detailed. On their website they list them with more generic names like “highway tread standard width front tire” etc. At first, I was disappointed they were only available in hard resin, but that turned out to be a blessing as they’d support the weight. I now prefer hard resin tires for their detail and strength. Painted with Tamiya Rubber Black, they look the part. The wheels are real aluminum Peterbilt Oval Alcoas from Keystone Aluminum Model Miniatures. Unfortunately, he’s no longer around, but M&R offers great wheels nearly identical to these. The rims fit the M&R hubs perfectly. However, the A&N tires had to be sanded out larger to accommodate the one-piece wheels. Not a fun thing to do. I used sand paper wrapped around a broom handle, gradually adding layers of paper. 10 tires took a while, as you can imagine. I also had to add a spacer between the rims on the rear axles to accommodate the wider tires. I used simple 8mm washers from the hardware store. Because the rims now sat further out on the hub, the top hats looked a little short. So, I added 8mm hubcaps from Auslowe. They fit perfectly and even have a better rounded profile than the original M&R hub. I detailed them by adding Acorn nuts from Keystone, Alcoa decals from Model Truckin’ and scratch-made valve stems from Detail Master #1 line and fittings. Tedious, but worth it. I don’t think I took any photos of the rims before I mounted the tires. Wish I had. The outside rear wheels have inside-facing valve stems, just like they so on real trucks. The tread and sidewall detail is fantastic on these tires. They are geared towards the Euro truck market where it’s more common to run 315s in line haul service, but it’s great having the option here in the U.S. for a unique build like this one, and others that need a little more beefier tires. A&N also offers heavier tread pattern 315s, along with 385s for highway tread steer, heavy tread steer, and drive treads, for your North American fire, construction, and logging equipment needs. They also have resin wheels designed to easily fit their tires.
  14. vincen47

    Peterbilt 379 RV Conversion

    Now onto the rear axles, suspension, hubs and brakes. The main chassis color is Tamiya Semi Gloss Black. There’s a couple other shades of black, and also Tamiya Rubber Black (a very realistic color) used on the air bags. The rear axles needed a sleeve of wider tubing to fit the wheel hubs. Those beautiful real aluminum hubs are from M&R Wheels. Highly recommended, they make excellent products. I got the M&R hubs to go with the Keystone Aluminum Peterbilt Alcoa wheels, which are fantastic, but didn’t come with hubs with a socket for the axle stubs. I probably could have figured out a way to make the Keystone hubs work, but M&R provided a much simpler option. More about the wheels in a later post. I added resin Bendix Air Disc Brake assemblies from Moluminum. Drilled them out to fit over the hub axle mounts. I included air lines to the brake chambers, and ran the lines up to the frame rails. I didn’t bother running lines further than that, because, well, none of this area of the chassis will be seen on the completed model unless you turn it upside down. Not planning on that. The frame rails are mostly devoid of bolt detail for the same reason. In fact, on the rear axles, all you’ll see is the outside wheels and tires. But, I guess when the build is finished, I’ll know the brakes and lines are there and that’s what matters. But, I sometimes have to ask myself “does it matter when you won’t see it?” After all, this project has been about striking a balance between the sane and crazy, right? The front axle has disc brakes, too. I painted and decaled the shocks to represent Bilstein commercial truck and coach shocks. The front brake assemblies were also run with lines, along with the air bags. Air Bag Levelers were added using bits from the parts box. These details make more sense because they will be seen when you tilt the hood. The air lines to the bags are braided line from Detail master with their fittings connecting to the mounts and to the frame rails. The resin air bags are brush painted in Tamiya rubber black. I opted to go with solid bags rather than rubber ones because of the potential amount of weight they’ll need to support. The hubs are fixed in place, not enabling the model to roll, though the front axle steering is functional. I like rolling models, but the vast majority of the time I glue the wheels in place because they can usually be positioned better (plumb and square) that way and they won’t roll off a shelf.
  15. That’s a great build, and a set up you don’t see anyone model often. Nice. Welcome to the group!
×