Shifter Trucks Completed

LOL

Alan,

I repair all makes and models of vacuums 40 hours a week (Tech at Cape Cod Vacuum). How about trading my services for yours! Need to keep the Mrs. happy

Al,

I make sure I take out extended warranties upon warranties because she kills vacuums. I only do the simple repairs.

Alan

I just bought my wife a new one. See her smiling?

Mark

Alright! I got the vacuum fixed to the satisfaction of the boss so I can go back to building a couple of shifter trucks for Spence. Here are the pictures of the basic frame and front of the cabs. Making the cab fronts was hard on my eyes.

Alan Graziano

Yard Tractors really add to the layout. I may just commission a few UP Tractors!

Regards,

Swafford

Is that a scratch build? If so, where did you source the wheels and tires? Can you publish the plans you're using?

Trainman,

This is a scratch build except for the tires. I took them off of a die-cast crane I have.

Alan Graziano

I made some more progress on the shifter trucks. I completed the cab less some details and will start completing the rest of the frame details. When I get one truck complete, I will build the other truck all at once.

Alan Graziano

Alan, the work looks great, but you have to do something about the focus... What kind of camera are you using? If it's an iPhone, if you double tap the part of the screen you want to focus on, it will lock it there.

Spence is a lucky man! I can't wait to see the finished product! Great start! Terry

Alan, you are one clever dude. Spence made a good decision.

Alan,

They are looking very nice so far, looking forward to seeing them complete

Alex

I believe that Model Railroader did a scratchbuild article on these yard tractors. It's the same 1982 issue with the roadrailers. May I ask what are you using for wheels?

Looking good.

Thank you all for the comments.

I tried to take the pictures too close to the model because I am a rocket scientist when it comes to taking pictures. The next ones will be better.

Mark,

The wheels came off of a die-cast hydraulic crane that I had. They were just the right diameter for this o-scale model.

I did not follow the article you are talking about. Spence gave me a few photographs and I went on line to one of the real manufacturers and printed out drawings that are part of the service manual. I was able to scale dimensions off of the drawings to get the correct sizes of all parts on the truck. It has been a challenging and fun project.

Alan Graziano

Impressive!

Peter

Truck one is almost completed. Here are some pictures.

Alan Graziano

That is looking fantastic! Terry

Very nice...good to know I'm not the only one who'se used sales literature to build from...love how they give multiviews and specs!...I've been wanting to build a 1/25th yard goat/transfer truck for a while but never did...excellent work.

Add; one of the very few reasons I gave in and we got my wife her Kirby and accessories was so I didn't have to worry about it...{ouch still!}.  

Terry,

Thank you.

Bob,

I could have never built the trucks without the literature and drawings in the maintenance manuals that I found on line.

I think the Kirby and the Dyson are the only tow vacuums that my wife has not purchased yet. We probably have at least ten various types of vacuum in the house.

Alan Graziano

Alan, your workbench is way, way to neat. How can you work without piles of clutter? Maybe you cleaned up just for the pictures?

Really coming along & looks great; can't wait.

Trainman,

The workbench usually looks this way. If it gets too cluttered up, I cannot work and have to get it organized right away.

Spence,

I am glad you like what you see. I almost have the second truck built. All I have to do is add window glass and some numbers.

Alan Graziano

Alan,

Looking fantastic as always. I hope to pass by you this week to pick up a few things, and maybe I can see them in person.

Alex

Alan,

You are most certainly, by far, and with out question one of a hand full of molders I draw  inspiration, motivation, and courage from.

continue to post your works for all of us to enjoy.

thank you,

JeffJeff

Assuming you're using a point-and-shoot camera, there should be something called "macro" mode. It will let you get close-up photos without using zoom. Knowing the make and model of the camera will allow someone to find the exact directions to break down for you.

I am curious as to how you cut the front grille out of the styrene. It seems like a difficult thing to pull off correctly.

---PCJ

Alex,

Spence and Jeff Z,

Thank you for the compliments. Jeff, I feel very happy that I have inspired you. Have fun with it.

RailRide,

Thank you for the photographic tips. I will check the camera settings.

The grill was very difficult to make. It was one of the first things I did on the model. It would have been a lot easier to cut it out when I could see without glasses. I looked at some railings I had purchased from Plastruct in various sizes and thought they might work out nice for the grill. I was very happy with the result. To me, making the grill and front light section made the whole truck model look right.

Alan Graziano

So how actually did you make it?

TRainman,

I made the trucks out of sytrene sheets and strips. I used a scale maintenance manual drawing to scale the dimensions of the truck from. I cut out each section from a sheet of styrene. I added some detail parts from Grandt line rail car brake system parts I had. The tires came from a die cast crane model I had.

Alan Graziano

Sounds like the grill was a single cutout with the Plastruct railings placed across it, no?

---PCJ

RailRide,

That is exactly what it is except that piece also included the fender on the left side of the truck.

Alan Graziano

Here are the completed pictures of the shifter trucks. Spence, I hope they meet your expectation. This was a really challenging project and I had a lot of fun doing it. Thank you for having me do this Spence.

Alan Graziano

Fantastic job Alan! Very cool looking vehicles!  Terry

They look absolutely fantastic. I will contact you by email.

Alan, those look great!!