A&N KW W990

[RoninUtah]

I've been putting off this build since April, but after seeing more and more W990s on the road, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. After completing A&N's Freightliner Argosy last year, I knew what I was in for- LOTS of parts, a lot of bending PE brass pieces, and a precision kit so tightly engineered that there is almost no wiggle-room.

I generally don't do build photos, but this one is different and challenging enough to be interesting. So, here are some pics from last week:

Sunday: Chassis started. 

Also, X-15 engine almost done, Belts are electrical tape, sliced thin.

I also did the paint on the outside of the cab, hood and related parts. I like to complete the painting early in the build, so it has plenty of time to cure before I start messing with it.

I've been making steady progress, I'll keep y'all posted... stay tuned!

[yh70]

off to a great start..

[vincen47]

I’ll be watching this one!

[Bennyg]

Very nice. I’ve got the Mack Titan in my collection.

Ben

[gotnitro?]

Keep it going !! 

[RoninUtah]

Thanks, all, for your encouragement!  More progress on the chassis last night- completed the rear suspension and axles:

This comes with very detailed brakes and hubs, but I'm leaving them off so the Revell wheels I'm planning to use will fit.

    

Front suspension and steering. They recommend using bolts to attach the springs, but the little resin bolts that came with the kit were too small and brittle to work, so I cut little pieces of wire instead. The steering works just fine, if a bit sluggishly. 

After a momentary panic at a misplaced bag of small resin parts, I'm continuing on the chassis by adding the cab mount assembly. I'm going out of order; I'll paint the chassis before assemble the battery/tool boxes and fuel tanks, since those will be chromed.

More to come!

[Randy D]

Really cool to see this one being built Ron!!!

Randy

[RoninUtah]

Thanks, Randy!

More progress over the last couple of days- got the chassis painted and the engine and radiator installed and hooked up. Everything is fitting together nicely so far.

Chassis ready for paint

Chassis painted, engine and radiator installed

Detail shots of the Cummins X-15 engine installed.

Now on to the interior- I hope to get a lot done this weekend.

Thanks for following!

[gotnitro?]

Awesome details 

[RoninUtah]

More progress: The interior is done:

The seatbelt strap is a bit of cloth ribbon, threaded through little brass eyelets and then threaded through slots in the resin piece...

So, I put the cab aside for the time being while I'm working on the chassis accessories-

Battery/tool boxes and steps are PE brass, folded in to shape and cemented together. For some reason, the PE sheet with the fuel tanks seems to have vanished. To be honest, I wasn't too crazy about trying to bend sheets of flat brass into cylinders for the tanks- I tried that with the Argosy build and it didn't turn out very well. I have plenty of older style KW tanks of the right size in the parts box, but that left me with a dilemma- the straps on the W990 tanks are much wider and flatter than the old style tanks, and I was wondering how to deal with that. A light-bulb moment happened when I was about to toss an old prescription bottle and I realized that it was just the right diameter- so I sliced it into strips (after cleaning off the label goo). I ground down the straps on the kit tanks, cut the medicine-bottle strips to size and they slipped right on! We'll see how they look when they are chromed. BTW, the fuel tanks and the wheels will be to only styrene parts on this build.

Next is chrome- the bumper, grille, headlight assemblies and hood vents all need to be chromed, as well as the exhaust stacks and shields and of course, all these chassis accessories. I hope I have enough Motlow left in the bottle to do it all; if not I have another bottle on order. Fingers crossed! 

 

 

[RoninUtah]

When I get into a build, I don’t eat or sleep and the cat goes hungry… but I get a lot done! Just kidding, but I’ve been putting some time into this one. The chassis is ready to go on wheels

and the cab and hood are almost ready for installation.

With a little luck I should be wrapping this up in a couple days!

[Bennyg]

Very nice progress.

Ben

[Gary Chastain]

Lovin the progress

[kwt950]

Nice work!  I’ve had my eye on this kit for sometime.  I have the chassis and engine, just waiting to buy the full conversion.  Glad to see your progress, I like it. 

[RoninUtah]

2 hours ago, kwt950 said:

 I have the chassis and engine, just waiting to buy the full conversion.  

Just make sure that when you make the frame rails, bend the PE brass strips in the correct direction. I did it backwards, and it cause no end of problems in lining up the accessories in the correct locations. Bend them in the direction of the printing, not away and everything will fit perfectly.

[RoninUtah]

Actually,no, I think that’s backwards… wait, I’ve confused myself now!

[RoninUtah]

The W990 is done! Posting it to Under Glass. Thanks to all who have followed this build!

[youngtiger1]

Glad you started this. I have visited their website few time to see their complete kits. One of these days I just need to get over the sticker shock and purchase one of their kits. From what they show on their website and what your wip clearly is showing is that these kits are worth every penny. 

So, I’ll sure to follow along. Keep up the good work!

[kwt950]

On 9/25/2024 at 7:07 PM, RoninUtah said:

Just make sure that when you make the frame rails, bend the PE brass strips in the correct direction. I did it backwards, and it cause no end of problems in lining up the accessories in the correct locations. Bend them in the direction of the printing, not away and everything will fit perfectly.

Thanks for the advice ?

[RoninUtah]

57 minutes ago, kwt950 said:

Thanks for the advice ?

Glad to help. Not sure if I didn’t get that backwards, but the point is to print out the instructions and look at them very carefully to make sure the holes are in the correct orientation before you bend the frame rails. After that, everything should fall into place if you work slowly and methodically. Good luck!

[Jürgen M.]

On 9/22/2024 at 7:07 PM, RoninUtah said:

More progress: The interior is done:

The seatbelt strap is a bit of cloth ribbon, threaded through little brass eyelets and then threaded through slots in the resin piece...

So, I put the cab aside for the time being while I'm working on the chassis accessories-

Battery/tool boxes and steps are PE brass, folded in to shape and cemented together. For some reason, the PE sheet with the fuel tanks seems to have vanished. To be honest, I wasn't too crazy about trying to bend sheets of flat brass into cylinders for the tanks- I tried that with the Argosy build and it didn't turn out very well. I have plenty of older style KW tanks of the right size in the parts box, but that left me with a dilemma- the straps on the W990 tanks are much wider and flatter than the old style tanks, and I was wondering how to deal with that. A light-bulb moment happened when I was about to toss an old prescription bottle and I realized that it was just the right diameter- so I sliced it into strips (after cleaning off the label goo). I ground down the straps on the kit tanks, cut the medicine-bottle strips to size and they slipped right on! We'll see how they look when they are chromed. BTW, the fuel tanks and the wheels will be to only styrene parts on this build.

Next is chrome- the bumper, grille, headlight assemblies and hood vents all need to be chromed, as well as the exhaust stacks and shields and of course, all these chassis accessories. I hope I have enough Motlow left in the bottle to do it all; if not I have another bottle on order. Fingers crossed! 

 

 

Nice Idea for the tank straps! I switched to cable ties! They're available in several sizes!

I really enjoy seeing what innovative ideas you guys have! 

[Chariots of Fire]

Interesting that the frame rails are photoetched brass.  I've made them from strip brass and channel sections before but never PE.  How were the cross members attached?

[RoninUtah]

They’re also PE brass, with little tabs bent to fit with those tiny resin bolts. I just glued them into place.