RichO

HEY ALL, This was a good build week. Altho it may not look like it, much has been done. The cab is just about finished, but with a bit to go. I finished the interior of the cab........ The outside wall has also been worked on, and is in place........... It looks like it will fit into place, OK Always test fitting........ Still a ways to go, but it looks good so far. I have started considering how the next part of the build will interact with the cabs, but actually building anything for the next section is a long ways off yet. I have the next cab already cut and shaped so the build for the other cab should be a lot quicker. I have been working on a OOB kit with not much improvements, but it still takes time from this build. Altho a nice change of pace feels good sometimes. Until next time, stay tuned.

Hey Guys, Still working on the cab interior. I have only a few more items to be built and installed befor the cab is finished. I built up various small fittings for this space. This is the gauge panel for the dash.... and some wiring under.......the dashboard is simple paper printout of some dials, glued into place. I also built the steering column, E-brake, and such....... test fitting the outside panel. making sure that everything fits inside. No outside panel....... I still have a bit of work to do on this side, befor I start on "the other side". That's about for this week. Until next time. Thanks All.

Hey, It's been a bit since last posting. Only a little work done, but steady progress. The interior has a lot of items to build and install. These are just a few... The Driver seat...... It lives here with, seat pads later.......... I also worked more on the doors........ and a lot of do-dads for the interior of the driver cab.... It's taken some time, with everything else going on, but the driver cab is just about done. More next posting. That's it. Thanks everyone.

Hey All, This is getting fun now. The geometry of the cab area is a bit more than I thought it was. (Wacky Russians). Everything seems to be slanted a bit and one of the windows is twisted. I'll get it all sorted. This is the engine cover air vents........ Engine cover........ Another cab........ This is were the engine cover lives........ Two cabs Jackson........... Everything is just sitting here......... Now that the cabs are roughed out, it's time to finish and detail. This may take a bit of time. See you next time All............

2022!! I hope everyone has had a great time so far!! I managed to get some work done on the project this holiday. Mostly because we got snowed in for a few days. View out the model room window. I concentrated on the driver cab this week. Not as much done as I'd like. Front end of driver side... Side door openings........ Cab construction......... Now that I have the outside shell for the drivers cab, it's off to the launch cab. I'll be back..........

Happy Holidays All!!

Hey Altogether, Todays report is in the middle of a mess with the cabs. I say "cabs" with an "s" because I have two to build simultaneously. Both the same, but not the same. I am attempting to build these a bit the same way as the frog-7 cab. That is, an outside shell and slipping the interior build into the outside shell. The wall structure is a bit different than I have worked with before. Two of the cab walls are also the engine fire walls. These appear to be a single wall, where as the front and outside walls are shell and interior. More structural research needed there. starting with cutting the parts........ Always test fitting......... Drivers cab............ Missile launch cab. Altho no more missile. I believe that I have seen a cage around the engine to help support the engine cover. More to come on that......... Nose job........... I will continue to research the innards........ That's it for now, the build continues. Thanks All

Thanks Guys, I needed to post today before things get to far ahead. I have built the front bumper, and the cabin heater core, along with more steering elements. Short and sweet report today. the front bumper under construction........ test fit........ painting the bumper........... Bottom's up............. painted the cabin heater core............ the under side......... it lives here, under the cabin floor............... this view shows the build up of items under the cabin. the cabin floor comes next. Thanks All............

Hey, This will be the last posting of the open frame. I have everything I want to accomplish at this point and I'm ready to move along. These photos are of the last remaining components to be added to the frame along with making sure that everything holds together for the future body work. I believe that this is the compressor for the air tanks. and this is where it lives. I believe this is the main fill/bleed pump for the brakes. it's located here............ and these are the fan parts........ in the groove........ thank you fans............ mounted into place....... I'll add more dirt and grease as I go along, but this is now a rolling frame,100% done. the body work starts with the front bumper. I'll be back.

Thanks for watching guys. This posting is a progression of the hoses and wiring, but not everything just yet. I started with a purpose in mind with the hoses and wiring, but quickly lost my way, to the point where I'm now just laying lines because they look cool. In the real world, all of these lines are black hoses and wires that you can't tell what the heck they are. I chose to run my lines as hard lines instead of soft hoses. My thoughts at the time were to make the different lines different colors and to be a bit more organized with the layout of things. That's all out the window at this point. Air Lines...... I laid some pipe to where ever else I could think of, and then some..... It was at this point that I received some new reference photos, and started with the soft lines. Thanks Ivan. Hydraulic Pumps, one on each side. I sprayed the tires with black satin. A little to shinny for me. I'll over spray everything with a dull coat before the body work starts. It's now time to start with hooking up the Transmission to the engine, with all those hoses and wires. I'm also finishing off the engine build with the radiator fans. Until next time.........

Hey Guys, a quick post today. I have constructed the linkage for the steering, and built the main hydraulic pumps to put on the breaks. steer linkage...... These are the hydraulic pumps. These live outside the frame between the suspension components. I used a heavy duty plastic striped straw to make the main body parts. Most of this lives under the engine, along with an amount of plumbing that is just stupid for the size of spot it is to fit into. All this needs to be mounted into place and all the plumbing in this spot needs to be in place to get the engine into it's proper place I'll be back, with filling the space. Thanks All

Hey All, I'm on the other side of the home improvements, and now in the twenty first century. I managed to finish with the suspension system, with wheels. A big achievement for this build. more steering parts............ I got everything mounted and in place. This is a big milestone with this build, Up on all eights. That's it for the suspension. I have plumbing to the wheel hubs to finish, but all done. Now back to the engine build. Thanks all for watching.

Hey Guys, Work continues with the suspension system. Boring repetitive building. These are the shock absorber anchor posts. Closeup test fitting the rear wheel hub.... everything fits good........ You can see how the shock anchors mount on the side of the frame.... Cup cakes are finally filled with the rear wheel hubs and ready to mount..... These got to be a pain in the wheel to mount. Once I had everything to this point was fine, but when I swing up the hub, I had very small amount of room to pin this together. Tight work, but everything fits and is ready for tires. You can see how I just slip the tires onto the rear wheel hubs. Back tires mounted, test fitting feels good........ I still have some work to do for the front mountings. The front hub assembly is a bit more complex due to steering elements. I'll be back a bit later this time with the next update. I have power contractors coming to re-wire the house for the next 4-5 days or so. I'll keep working when I can, post when I can soon. Thanks all.

Hey All, A small posting today. I have the casting finished and ready for install. These are some of the parts needed for the suspension system. very thin flashing on my parts, but easily cleaned. Wheels........ I have parts for each wheel set for install. I now need to get these together and installed for the wrap up of the suspension system. Next time All...........

Hey All, the build continues. A small post this week again. I have started with the casting of the suspension parts. The molds are set......... the pours have started........ and the parts are being cast........... it's all going slow but getting done. I will soon have all the parts to wrap up the suspension system and get the wheels mounted. I'll be back with more parts, Thanks All. till next time.........

Hey All, The build continues, but at a reduces rate lately, but steady. A couple of hours a night. I have built the components for the rest of the suspension system. These are some of the craziest shapes I think I have ever built. I now have to make copies of these for each wheel. I'll be back with molds and casts next. A brief posting for now, more later. Thanks All.

Slowly starting again while getting the house in order. I have worked only a little this week or so. I did do the fuel injector lines on the engine.... I also finally started with the wheel hubs and steering, this was a tricky piece to get a grip on the geometry, and I may have to trim this a bit to fit properly. This lives about here or so........... The house has a million things to work on, so only an hour or so of work here, in the evenings for now. I believe that this steering arm is the hardest thing to build for the rest of the suspension system. We'll see. I have four of these to build. which means that I'll cast this for the set. Gettin' back into the build again. Thanks All.

Hey Harv, I have eleven wingies............. You didn't think I'd forget the air guys did you?

Thanks Guys for the best wishes. Hey All, The move went well and I am now on the other side. I have established a temporary build station, and have noted the travel damage. The only thing that got damaged was the tail hook. Easily repaired. The temporary setup......... And the new model stash room. Just a closet....... This makes my stash look really small. I'll have to work on that. I'll be back in between un-boxing the house. Thanks all for the wait.

Hey Guys, Just a set of water pipes this week. Moving day is here......... I'll post again from the other side. Muhaha RichO

Hey All, A little more work done on this build before the move. I am working all over on the build at the moment. Several things going on at once. Plus some corrections. I erroneously reported on a couple of facts that are not true. #1, I reported last posting that the inside piping from the heads were water intake manifolds. Not true, these are in fact exhaust manifolds. This is a twelve cylinder engine. the exhaust is vented on each side of the heads and have three exhaust ports on each side. #2, I rote that I had built 6 of 8 drive shafts from the engine. This is also not true. I found two more drive shafts from the engine, making ten different drive shafts in total from the engine. BUT, that's not all, and this is a big but, like the lady in the third row of the church quire be havin'. I have eight more drive shafts to build for the connections between the differentials and the wheel hubs. So I have ten more drive shafts in total to still build. errr. I worked some more on the suspension system, getting things painted and installed. Once I had everything cleaned for install, the assembly went smoothly enough. I also worked on the Valve covers.......... these are painted and installed.......... All to get grimy, later on. I also started the large Radiator, that sits right up front on this build........ Fan shrouds....... I'm actually building what I think I can finish while I have the build desk still available. I might get to make one more posting before it all hits the fan for me. Thanks All. Until next time..........

Hey Guys, A small report this fine evening. I have been working on the suspension system "A" arms, doing the final sizing for install. Everything still lines up good, and, once again, I have multiples to finish for install. I also have the engine block painted and ready for install. Once the engine was painted, I now have to build and install all the separate items that are attached to the block. I used some sprues to build the water intake manifolds..... I also built a distributor, and the exhaust manifolds. I don't always get to work on this for very long with all that's happening, but I manage to get a little done. Until next time.....Thanks Guys.

Hey Guys, A short report tonight. I have gotten some more work done on the build. The postings are going to start stretching out here for a while. My rental is stacked with boxes and the furniture is bare. We are boxed up for the move and the paperwork should close in the next week or so. Meanwhile, at the scale of this build, the engine is large. I had a bit of a time finding something to build the engine block out of. I found a thick card tube to use as the main build element, and attached everything to it. Turning a round tube into an engine....... I had another drive line to build. Believe it or don't, I still have two more to build. This is #6, out of 8. I'm adding the details as I proceeded............. As of tonight I have the basic block ready for details.......... I should get more hours to build with the house boxed up. But still slow for now. Until next time, sometime..............

Hey Guys, A really busy week here. I had to go to the new house to work a bit, the inspector wanted me to fix a few things. A two hour drive there and two hours back. About 115 km/70 miles or so. Also, in between boxes, I got some good progress made with the build. I did get the "A" arms built, but grudgingly. The suspension system is so boring to work on with all the repeat patterns to deal with. I also have some "pain in the butt" geometry for the back wheel hubs that I can't seem to get a grip on just yet. More on that later. To break up the boredom, I started working more on the drive train. The transmission and drive lines did the job. We control the transmission........ This, painted and installed........ The transmission has a ridiculous amount of plumbing to install, when attached to the engine. I also built a large body support for the upper body panels. Altho not installed, this what it looks like..... It lives about here........ The red lines with the blue fittings are not weathered in just yet, so they stand out a bit for now. As of this evening I have started with the Engine build. This is the far aft of the engine that connects to the transmission via another drive shaft.. That's it for now. I have no clue what this next week will bring for build time, or moving time. Until next week All.............

Hey All, I have managed to get a little more done on the build. I have painted the suspension system anchors, and have them bolted to the side of the frame. Here you can see that all these anchor items still line up good enough. I even succeeded in getting the torsion bars to avoid blocking the axel shaft passthroughs. I feel better about everything matching now and the axel shafts should match the A arms and join at the hubs. I'd rather be boxing for a move than building all these A arm components, but I got through building these in just a week. 32 of these. 16, top and bottom each side. I now have to find some material to build the hubs to the wheel connections out of. I'm in for a time with the wheel hubs. The four back hubs are all the same, just four copies. The four front hubs are all different. each of the hubs has a different steering component attached, so the hub is mirrored front to back and then mirrored to each side. Fun times. That's it for this week. I'll keep building between packing. Thanks All.