Tyrone Malone

[Gldknght7]

I'm working on the rear axle suspension parts.  If Amt was to pick the very worst spot for a bad fit in this kit, these parts would be the spot. There are four of these.   I'm not certain yet how visible they will be, but these areas have some bad seams and divots to fill, and in very hard to get to areas:

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by Gldknght7

[Mr mopar]

Here is the PaPa truck rear suspension looks like ! it never ran air bags it was torsion bar suspension , But the hideout truck ran air bags .

Edited December 24, 2018 by Mr mopar

[Force]

That's right, the Papa Truck had torsion bar suspension and the picture above is of the real truck when it was for sale after Malone passed...I'm not that sure about the Hideout Truck tho', I have never seen it under and the torsion bar suspension was still available 1978 when the Hideout Truck was new, so I don't know for sure what type of suspension it has, Air Glide 100 or torsion bars.

[Gldknght7]

That's all well and good, but doesn't really help with the fit problems.  I'm building these trucks as straight out of the box as possible, since I have neither the time or the resources to scratch build a whole new suspension.

 

 

Merry Christmas everyone.  I'm having shoulder surgery on the 26th, so will see you all next year!

[Yahshu]

On 25/12/2018 at 3:57 AM, Mr mopar said:

Here is the PaPa truck rear suspension looks like ! it never ran air bags it was torsion bar suspension , But the hideout truck ran air bags .

If that's the Auslowe suspension, what a PITA to put together. 

It puts the rims out past the wheel housings on this kit.

I had to fill the back of the rims with resin, then grind them down to bring the rims back inside their housings. 

Wasn't easy to get it lined up on the frame either. 

Happy it's all out of the way. Now to get the body in paint. 

[Force]

That doesn't look like the Auslowe suspension, the axles on the Auslowe set has no pins at the ends and wire that goes trough the axles to attach the wheels, I have resin torsion bar suspensions from three different resin casters, P&P Resin Works (I don't know if they still are in business), Auslowe and the defunct Aussie Resinmodels and all are copys of the old AMT set as AMT is the only one who has done it, the resin sets are more or less modified from the original.
But the torsion bar suspension IS a PITA to put together and has allways been, so it takes a lot of patience to do, it's probably the main reason why AMT replaced it with a Walking Beam instead early in the runs for both the K125 and W925.
The rear wheels also sticks out slightly with the kit supplied Air Glide 100 suspension, so one have to do some modifications even if you go straight out of box.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Force

[Gldknght7]

Hey everyone.  Just a quick update, this project has taken a temporary pause due to a rotator cuff tendon repair on my right shoulder, but will resume when I have the use of my right arm again.

In the meantime, Please try not to de-rail my thread too much, lol.  After all, this is a "BUILD" thread, not an "accuracy of the kit"  thread!

Edited January 31, 2019 by Gldknght7

[Bennyg]

14 hours ago, Gldknght7 said:

Hey everyone.  Just a quick update, this project has taken a temporary pause due to a rotator cuff tendon repair on my right shoulder, but will resume when I have the use of my right arm again.

In the meantime, Please try not to de-rail my thread too much, lol.  After all, this is a "BUILD" thread, not an "accuracy of the kit"  thread!

Fair enough mate. I’m looking forward to your work when your shoulder is better.

Ben

[Gldknght7]

Greetings, all.

My shoulder is healing slowly according to my doctor.  At least it's well enough to work on some plastic now and then.

Here are a couple photos of my progress this weekend:

[Gldknght7]

I'm not certain yet if I'm going to detail the battery.  There is a cover that goes over the top, making the battery invisible, but even if I leave the cover off, I'm not sure if any of it will be visible after the side fairings are installed.

[72 Charger]

Was the real truck chassis painted two tone blue like that. I only ask as I have both these kits in storage

[Force]

No the Papa Truck transporter was originally a 1976 Bicentennial Edition so the chassis was gold as the Bicentennials was that color.
The chassis on the Hideout Truck transporter was white and both the Super Boss and Bandag Bandit race trucks has light blue chassis.
That's if you want to do correct replicas, but as these are models you can do whatever you like to them.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Force

[Gldknght7]

On 6/1/2019 at 8:13 PM, 72 Charger said:

Was the real truck chassis painted two tone blue like that. I only ask as I have both these kits in storage

I could find no reference photos of the frame on the Papa truck.  The instructions called for gold paint, which I did not like.  Gold and aluminum (silver) paints are my kryptonite, so I decided to match this frame color to the frame color of the Super Boss.  I don't think much of the frame on this will be visible anyway.  Also, I'm using the dark blue on some parts for contrast.  I initially intended for the blues to be closer in color, but at the time, this is what the store had for blue paint, and I'm too far into the project to repaint.  I think it looks pretty good as is.   For me, all one color has no depth.

I'm probably the only one who will ever see these models in real life, and for those "know-it-all" purists and "correct replicas" snobs out there, I don't give a ..... !

Edited June 5, 2019 by Gldknght7

[Force]

As I said, it's only a model and it's up to the builder to do whatever he likes with it.
Even the new owner of the real Papa Truck hasn't been true to what it looked like when Malone had it.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Force

[Gldknght7]

I made some more progress yesterday in between catching up on house-hold chores.  Accurate or not, this has to be one of the most complex suspension systems I've ever built on a model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gldknght7]

"There be wheels here!"

 

 

When dry fitting the rear axles, there is quite a bit of forward and backward "slop", so I glued in the motor and drive shaft, then used that as a guide to position both rear axles. Next, I will tackle the fuel tanks.  At first i was just going to paint them light blue to match the frame, but now i think I will try out the Alclad aluminum paints I bought recently.  I've never used Alclad before, so this could be interesting.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Gldknght7

[72 Charger]

Looking great on its wheels. watch out you dont touch the tanks once you Alclad the tanks you will mark them

[Gldknght7]

4 hours ago, 72 Charger said:

Looking great on its wheels. watch out you dont touch the tanks once you Alclad the tanks you will mark them

I know.  It's the same with all of the metalizer type paints.

[Force]

8 hours ago, Gldknght7 said:

I made some more progress yesterday in between catching up on house-hold chores.  Accurate or not, this has to be one of the most complex suspension systems I've ever built on a model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This AG 100 suspension is a bit intricate but not as bad as the torsion bars from the early versions of the KW K123 and W925 kits wich needs a lot of patience, but it looks like you got it right...looks good. 

[gatorincebu]

The work you've done on the frame and motor looks good !

 

Be Well

 Gator

[misterNNL]

On 11/4/2018 at 12:52 AM, Force said:

As I said in my earlier post, there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to Kenworth and Peterbilt engine colors, they were white from aproximately 1950 up to 1975 in Kenworths and up to 1985 in Perterbilts and Caterpillar was the last engine manufacturer to paint engines white for PACCAR...But... you can find white engines in KW and Pete trucks after said dates and engine manufacturer colors before said dates, so 1975 is not a definitive date when Kenworth stopped completely.
The Papa Truck transporter is a 1976 VIT-200 Bicentennial Edition first unveiled at the International Truck Show March 24th 1976 and Papa Truck came into service with Malone in June 1976...so the engine is most likely silver.

I have done lots of research on the Malone trucks over the years and collected everything I have found so far, I'm in contact now and then with Ken Harris who owns the tyronemalone.net website and Tyrone Malone and the Bandag diesel racing team facebook group, Ken worked for Malone and drove the Papa Truck transporter on the European Tour in 1989.
The "fan card" for the Papa Truck on the Malone websites is a bit exaggerated, the engine doesn't have twin turbos as the card says, only one.
Here is a picture of the engine in the Hideout Truck transporter wich is a regular 1978 Aerodyne specified similar to the Papa Truck but not a Bicentennial,  otherwise they are pretty much the same.
The "fan card" for the Hideout truck also says "8V-92T Twin Turbocharged 430 hp"...but I only see one turbo. 
As you can see the engine is silver in this truck.

That snake pit of hoses and wiring is scary complicated.

[Gldknght7]

On 6/22/2019 at 8:08 PM, gatorincebu said:

The work you've done on the frame and motor looks good !

 

Be Well

 Gator

Thank you, sir.