1/2"-scale Lumber Buggy

[Ray Dunakin]

Very interesting... the foil should make it quite sturdy. Is that aluminum?

[Ken Hamilton]

Very interesting... the foil should make it quite sturdy. Is that aluminum?

It DOES make the unit more sturdy, Ray.  The material doesn't have that "crisp"
aluminum feel - it's more like Verlinden lead foil, but thinner and easier to shape.
I'll have to start drinking more wine from bottle with corks.  Screw caps won't work.

[TRAINS1941]

Ken

Looking good.  I always knew there was a reason they put foil on those bottles.  I hope the wine was as good as the job your doing here.

Jerry

[MrBrownstone]

Hello Ken'

That was a really clever Idea...

It only suites the patern of fine craftsmanship you have displayed this entire thread..

Simply Supurb!

I'm still watching this one..   

Mike

[Ken Hamilton]

UPDATE:
Here are a few of the details completed over the past few weeks:

Hydraulic oil tank & gas tank.........


Valve bank for hydraulic cylinders......


Shifter & linkage and a hydraulic pump (mounted under the generator).........


and a dipstick....


Oops - looks like we're a quart low:


Plus, the top's been painted and most everything has been hit with the first coat of primer......







None of the stuff (except the firewall) is glued to the deck yet. 
That'll come after most of the painting is finished

Thanks for looking.................

[finescalerr]

This model is going to be something special. I really enjoy watching it come together.

Apparently the usual construction materials are no longer a challenge for you. Perhaps you should consider building the next project from potatoes or tritium. -- Russ

[MrBrownstone]

I just don't know what to say Ken,

I am still trying to figure it out. (I dont even know what or where to start in choosing a subject to model. I work on my stone carving alot and I have gotten pretty good at it; but it is not satisfying my desires for modeling .. I am drawn in so many different directions here in this forum.)

And that lumber buggy is truly an amazing creation.

Mike

[lab-dad]

looking goooooood!
-Marty

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi Ken,
Let me say first, simply, outstanding work!!!!   I love the subject, I admire your workmanship, and appreciate the time involved to document it as you go along. 

I have a few questions and comments that came to me as I read the thread this evening.

Half inch scale, why?  is this a scale you normally or traditionally model in?  Do you also model trains in this scale?  For sure there is a good stock pile of parts out there for scratching and I envy that.

I really agree with your comments about using locating pins.  They are a great help in sub assembly mounting and in final assembly, as you said. 

The buggy top is excellent, that takes a lot of patience.
They made a very similar top for the Cat 60's but I opted out when it came to the models, figured they wouldn't hold up in the woods anyway.  I gotta say that the oil level on the removable dipstick is just plain, over the top, But I love it.  That's the kind of thing that puts frosting on the cake. Just great.

Straddle carrier's were the mainstay of the mill yards back in the 40's-50's, at least in Humboldt County they were. I can remember them running up and down city streets and county roads delivering loads to other yards and shipping points.  I'm sure they weren't licensed for the roads but
the lumber industry was the dominant force in that time and I think they did pretty much as they wanted.

Here is a picture of a carrier and some lumber stackers that I found in a junk shop a few years ago.  It is at the Cobb-Mitchell Co. in Valsetz, OR.  Sorry about the poor quality of the scan but the original is 11 X 14 and doesn't fit the scanner to well.




Thanks for sharing your work.
Rick Marty

[Ken Hamilton]

Thanks for all the comments, gentlemen.

Russ: I'm looking into a source for Upsidasium for my next project.

Marty: After many years doing HO trains, I got pretty heavily involved in 1/24th sale model cars,
which I still build.  The large size lends itself nicely to detailing. When I got back into model railroading,
the stuff being done in 1/2" scale really knocked me out.  Since I had many of the required parts on
hand for this project (motor, trans, tires, seat, etc.), doing the Lumber Buggy in 1/2" scale seemed only right.

PS:  Thanks for the great photo. Looks like I could've used Mack wheels afterall.

[Chuck Doan]

Really looking good, Ken! I like the primer stage when it all comes together.

Russ, all the Tritium was eaten by the Tribbles, remember?

[finescalerr]

Chuck, go stand in the corner. And no peeking! -- Russ

[MikeC]

Ken as Russ said, this is going to be something special. I've been away from home the last few weeks and am just getting caught up with your latest photo updates. The realism of the engine and transmission just blew me away when I saw the photos a couple of minutes ago. Simply excellent!

[Ray Dunakin]

Awesome! The dipstick is a really nice touch!

[Ken Hamilton]

Time to bite the bullet and start painting the components that are done so far....

Chuck's techniques are top notch (...understatement...) so I tried the "hairspray
base coat" method - with disasterous results. I guess that's why "Chuck" is "Chuck".
Playing on that theme, though, I tried this next:

After spraying the pieces with Plastikote T-235 sandable automotive primer, I dusted
on a coat of Rustoleum "Terra Cotta" to give the surface a fine texture.  That was
followed by a rough, stipled application of Jo Sonja "Brown Earth" acrylic paint........



When that dried, I decided to play with Crackle Medium.  I applied a coat of "Folk Art"
medium from the craft store; let it dry; then brushed on a moderately thinned coat of Jo Sonja
"Turners Yellow".  It has to go on with one stroke or you start to pull off the water-based
crackle layer.  It's supposed to crackle as it dries, but there are so many variables that the results
as really inconsistent, depending on the thickness of the paint and the crackle layer, drying
time of the base coat, etc.  It's almost impossible to get consistent results.  Plus, with the
textured sub-base, the "crackle" (if any) isn't all that obvious......



However, between the Terra Cotta and the (minimal) crackle, there IS a little texture.
The next step, per Chuck's method, is the pick off the top layer to expose the rust base coat.
Here, I brushed on a quick coat of clear water to loosen the surface, then scraped a stiff brush
bristles-first across the surface to pick off the paint in spots.  If you look closely at some of the
spokes, you can see some of the "rust bumps" created by the Terra Cotta layer.....



Here are the results so far.  Still a long way to go, and nowhere near the finesse and realism
of Chuck's results, but the "picking-off-with-a-stiff-brush" idea has potential.



Thanks for all the inspiration, Chuck.  Hope you Doan't mind the rest of us stealing your ideas.