Chariots of Fire Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 Now that the 1929 Coleman is nearly completed (I'm in a slump about building the hydraulics and dump body) there is a new project on the board. This big 1957 Diamond T M-52 military tractor was turned into a brush rig for an adjoining town. I've been asked to build a model of it for someone who was instrumental in getting the chassis and seeing the construction completed. This has just been started after taking a number of photos and some basic measurements to come up with a side view of the cab and chassis. The axles were taken from an Ertl ALF kit and modified for the military style differential. The transfer case I made up some time ago for the Type O-5 Crash Truck. The tires were 3D printed by Shapeways based on a photo and dimensions I provided. They are quite well done and I was able to simply snap in the resin wheels with only very little sanding. Lots to do on this scratch building project including a Continental R6202 gas engine. I can see myself making several trips to see the real rig to get more info in the coming weeks!
explorer2770 Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 Looks good Charlie. I finally figured out how you get these trucks done so fast, you have successfully broken the space-time continuum
Chariots of Fire Posted December 19, 2015 Author Posted December 19, 2015 Hmmmm! Didn't realize I was that quick! Also helps to be retired from full time work!
RAT-T Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 HI CHARLIE, COULD YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON GETTING PARTS PRINTED. THANKS, TOM
explorer2770 Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 Hmmmm! Didn't realize I was that quick! Also helps to be retired from full time work! I noticed the difference in your time stamps in your pictures and thought I'd try to be funny about it. I enjoy watching your builds and learn a lot from your techniques, so I'll be following this build.
Tesla Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 Another masterpiece in the making...looking forward to this build Charles!
Chariots of Fire Posted December 19, 2015 Author Posted December 19, 2015 I noticed the difference in your time stamps in your pictures and thought I'd try to be funny about it. I enjoy watching your builds and learn a lot from your techniques, so I'll be following this build.Hah! Didn't even notice that! Must have been when I put new batteries in the camera.
Chariots of Fire Posted December 19, 2015 Author Posted December 19, 2015 HI CHARLIE, COULD YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON GETTING PARTS PRINTED. THANKS, TOMOn the Scale Firehouse forum site there is a section called the Parts Bin. Look for Shapeways Store. Matt is a CAD guy who has been doing up detailing pieces for fire apparatus models. I sent him a photo of the tire tread I wanted and the dimensions of the tire for 1/25 scale. He took it from there, made the 3D drawing and shipped to Shapeways. He let me know that it was ready and gave me the link. I simply purchased the finished tire from Shapeways. He gets a small amount of the purchase price for doing the 3D workup. Kind of a neat thing.
gatorincebu Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 Cool project! Which I will be following closely. Be Well Gator
PlowKing Posted December 20, 2015 Posted December 20, 2015 On the Scale Firehouse forum site there is a section called the Parts Bin. Look for Shapeways Store. Matt is a CAD guy who has been doing up detailing pieces for fire apparatus models. I sent him a photo of the tire tread I wanted and the dimensions of the tire for 1/25 scale. He took it from there, made the 3D drawing and shipped to Shapeways. He let me know that it was ready and gave me the link. I simply purchased the finished tire from Shapeways. He gets a small amount of the purchase price for doing the 3D workup. Kind of a neat thing.We need more of this kind of forward thinking!!
RAT-T Posted December 20, 2015 Posted December 20, 2015 On the Scale Firehouse forum site there is a section called the Parts Bin. Look for Shapeways Store. Matt is a CAD guy who has been doing up detailing pieces for fire apparatus models. I sent him a photo of the tire tread I wanted and the dimensions of the tire for 1/25 scale. He took it from there, made the 3D drawing and shipped to Shapeways. He let me know that it was ready and gave me the link. I simply purchased the finished tire from Shapeways. He gets a small amount of the purchase price for doing the 3D workup. Kind of a neat thing.THANKS FOR THE INFO CHARLIE, I HAD AN ACCOUNT ON THAT BOARD A FEW YEARS AGO, BUT FOR SOME REASON IT WON'T LET ME LOG IN. WAITING TO HEAR FROM THE ADMIN
Chariots of Fire Posted December 20, 2015 Author Posted December 20, 2015 (edited) After a bad start on making a mold for the tires, a new one was made up and 10 tires and wheels are now ready for the build. I was concerned that the deep tread might cause some problems for the mold tearing away when I separated it from the master but it held up fine. The secret was really swashing on the mold release so the small parts of the mold would not stick. Two part resin was made and poured in. Very little clean up was needed although on some of the castings there was a air pocket that needed filling afterward. Nothing in the tread area which was good. Next is to clean up the wheel pieces and begin on the frame so I can locate the springs. In this one the base of the mold has been completed. Next up is to pour the top of the mold. The mold box is complete and has the first resin pour in place. After the resin sets the mold will be separated. And here are all of the tires and wheels awaiting setup and final painting. JeffH is working on a 1919 Federal and needed some 8 spoke rims. The Mack AC kit has 5 spoke wheels in the front and 7 spoke wheels for the rear. What to do? He broke apart two 5 spoke wheels and drew up a circle with 8 segments. He trimmed the 5 spoke sections until they came together into a configuration of 8 spokes. He asked if I would make up a mold and voila! 8 spoke wheels for the Federal! In this photo, the resin has set and the mold has been separated to reveal the new casting. The original 8 spoke master is to the right. The resin casting is out of the mold. This was an easy mold to make but it took 4 steps to complete. 1. Build a box and fill the bottom 1/3 with RTV. Let set. 2. Make up more RTV and pour in just enough so that when the master is set in, the wheel is sitting on the first pour and the new RTV is even with the middle of the spokes of the wheel. Let set. The master is now secure in the mold. 3. Make up a third batch of RTV and pour it on the outside of the wheel only up to the top of the rim. Let set. 4. Coat the entire mold and wheel master with mold release and pour the last of the RTV over the wheel and up and over the wood plugs in the corners. The plugs will help allign the two mold halves so that the casting will be centered. Edited December 20, 2015 by Chariots of Fire added information
gotnitro? Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 Outstanding work! I have a question about the process. I've dabbled in one piece molds, but never a 2 part. I understandthe layering steps, but where do you pour the resin into the mold ? I don't see the typical pour cavity. Thanks for any help Jeff
Chariots of Fire Posted December 23, 2015 Author Posted December 23, 2015 I don't consider myself an expert in casting so what I explain probably goes against every proper way to do it. That having been said if you look at the last mold of the small 8 spoke rim the mold have next to the master is quite deep and includes most of the casting details. Resin is poured into this half of the mold and brought to overflowing. Then the top is put on squeezing out all but what makes up the mold cavity with the top on. Sometimes air bubbles do get trapped. (Maddening!) But most times they do not. After the resin sets the two pieces are broken apart. Same method was used for the tires for the brush truck project. If I had a pressure pot to introduce about a 10 lb. vacuum it probably would help a lot in expelling the air.
gotnitro? Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Perfectly explained, thanks!! Much simpler than I was making it.Looking forward to the updates
Old Albion Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Those wheels and tyres look great. Your work really is impressive and very inspirational. Excellent start to the project. Good Luck!!
Chariots of Fire Posted December 24, 2015 Author Posted December 24, 2015 Been working on some basic drawings for the truck. In previous projects I depended too much on the way some kit pieces come out of the box. For instance the rear axles that are in the above photos are simply too wide (not the brass inserts, they are just temporary length). So by knowing from actual measurements the track width of the rear tires, I drew out a plan view of the frame and tires. Having had the tires cast to a predetermined width, they had to fit within a certain parameter. That meant that the distance that is between the two inner tires had to be enough for the frame width and the springs. So far so good. One rear axle has been adjusted and the tires and wheels checked for overall width. Now to do the same thing to the second axle. More photos soon.
Pim Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 this is gonna be awesome love these old industrial trucks
Arnd Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 hallo charlesgrate project you have picked up here. Verry interesting. By the way what is the size of the tires you are useing for this truck?so longarnd
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