Project: Huffer - Transformers Yard Tractor

[spencer1984]

As some of you may know, one of my ongoing projects is realizing all of the original 1984 Autobots from Transformers figures as 1/24(ish) scale models. One of the last few remaining is Huffer, the orange truck that was either a superdeformed semi or a yard tractor:

I decided to consider it the latter, and am making a yard mule using Lindberg's Dodge L-700 as a base. I cut the chassis at the ends of the spring shackles to reduce the overhang, but otherwise built the frame box stock:

Nothing really close to the cab design exists, so I' scratch building that from styrene

It's a bit of a weird project, but this little hobgoblin of a truck has been fun to work on so far. I'm hoping to get the final details on the cab and get some paint on it this weekend. Any comments/criticisms are welcome!

[clayton]

Cool!

[1930fordpickup]

Wow that is  cool. 

[towman1271]

 I like your idea.. Great imagination! Looks god so far

[gotnitro?]

Now that's cool !!!

 

[spencer1984]

Thanks, guys! Got some more detailing done on the cab today, so I decided to throw some paint on it:

[bobthehobbyguy]

Very cool. Nice fab work. Looking forward to seeing more.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Interesting project! Looking good!

[spencer1984]

Thanks, guys! Got a bit more done, with the inside of the cab now painted and some door handles added from Don Mills Models:

[am73grand]

Cool project!!! I've always wanted to build an Optimus Prime cab over. May have to do it now!

[spencer1984]

Thanks! Go for it, AMT's Freightliner is a near-perfect base for Optimus!

[gotnitro?]

Oh yeah that brings back memories !!

[Fat Brian]

This is really cool, there are a few Transformers builds I want to do too. I'm looking at doing a Prime like the one above and using the Revell K100 to do a Motormaster like this show truck.

[spencer1984]

That'd be awesome, I'd love to see a scale model version of Motormaster.

[spencer1984]

Interior is done! I made some door panels and the floor from sheet styrene,  then used some parts box seats cut down to look appropriate...

The dashboard and steering wheel were taken from an AMT Freightliner (my first attempt at Optimus Prime about 20 years ago). I cut the dash flat across the front, then sanded the bottom so it would sit on my custom engine  tunnel.

Dash & tunnel went in first, followed by the door panels. Then the floors with the seats already mounted finished things off.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Coming along nicely.

[tbill]

that is pretty neat! looking great!

[spencer1984]

Thanks, guys! next up is the bumper:

The main part of it is half an I beam, sanded flat to get rid of the inevitable curve that comes with parts like this. The wings are 0.040" sheet styrene, cut to follow the line of the wheel opening on each side.

Turns out I shouldn't have cut off the forward frame rails: Huffer's nose is a lot longer than I had guessed up front. Since I'll be gluing the cab in place, I decided to cheat a bit and I made the standoff from another piece of I beam. While it lacks accuracy, it did make adjusting the tilt and spacing to the cab a breeze.

And with everything closed up, you'll never see it!

[SpreadAxle]

Cool project idea.

[spencer1984]

With my distraction for NNL East now finished, it's time to get back to work on Hiffer!

One of the Minibot's most distinctive features was his exhaust pipe hands, and I wanted to homage that here. The mufflers are from an Italeri truck detail kit, with toppers from an badly beaten Huffer toy.

Once painted with some Molotow Liquid Chrome, I mounted them on a custom rack. The X brace is something I first did on my Prime build to guarantee parallel pipes, and seemed like a good idea here as well. The diamondplate is more of the material I used for the decking, and the crossbean is notched to clear the transmission.

Here it is mounted and drying, with the cab and a fuel tank set in place to give me an idea of how it'll all go together.

So far so good!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

You've really got a way of capturing these subjects! Looks great!!

[spencer1984]

Thanks! I've just wrapped him up, pics and text will be posted to the "Under Glass" shortly! In the meantime, here's a preview:

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Very nice work!

[spencer1984]

Thanks!