Making tractor seats

[gnichols]

Gang,
  For those of you who model commercial vehicles in the larger scales, I'm in dire need of some tractor seats in 1/8 (or perhaps 1/10, or 1/12, even?), particularly copies of the stamped metal type.  Diecast models in 1/8 are just too expensive for me to buy and then chop up for parts.  If you know of an inexpensive source, perhaps toys?  I'd welcome help in tracking them down, too.
  So, by any chance have you cast these in resin in the past and would make repops available?  I've got no idea how to make one from scratch, given the compound curves.
  Thanx, Gary

[Ken Hamilton]

Gary, Here's the seat I made for the Lumber Stacker.



Unfortunately, I don't have a SBS for this piece, but the technique is the same as
forming the grill shell on the lumber carrier:



I made a wooden buck, heated a sheet of styrene and pulled it down over the buck:



The formed plastic was then trimmed and finished:




You can do a buck for the seat, taking into account that you're carving the buck in reverse.
When you pull the heated plastic over the buck, you're looking at the underside of the seat.



Hope that makes sense..........

[gnichols]

Ken,
  Many thanx for the tip.  As a crazy aside, I also posted my resin seat request on the SE Lounge and after annealing / forming sheet metal was proposed there (I've never worked in metal), I second guessed myself into a technique very much like this.  Except I was just going to use heavy gloves and form the seat in my hands / thumbs!  Your way takes longer a little longer but is probably safer!  When I get some free time I'll give this a try.  Thanx, Gary

[Ken Hamilton]

Hand-forming hot plastic sounds WAY too painful, Gary.

The seat buck doesn't take much time to carve.  I did my little one in about 10-minutes.
Helpful Hint: To check your progress, stick the buck into a wad of modeling clay. 
That'll show you what the seat looks like. I'm anxious to see how it works for you..........

[eTraxx]

This is some good info. I have one of the Tamyia 1:48 Komatsu Bulldozer with the intention of reverse-engineering it to a crawler tractor (what it originally was before the IJN asked them to build a bulldozer). I want THAT kinda seat .. so thanks!