Mack RW rebuild

Hello Railfan 233!

Thanks for your comment, now I'm west bound too, going to Germany for a business trip...

Anyhow, before I move on, I have an update for you. My next short-term goal would be painting the frame - in order to do that I have to tackle all of the mounts that attach to the frame. So I moved on to build the battery boxes. Here, let me show you the photo first:

In the the top portion of the photo you can see the old battery box pulled from the Italeri kit. It has the new style air tank molded, and it's funny shape is caused by the kit's steering gearbox, incorrectly mounted there. So I went on to build new battery boxes out of 1mm styrene sheet with the intention to use the kit's covers. You can see them in the photo on the left. On the right there are the battery box mounts which are, at the same time, cab mounts.

In the bottom of the photo there are the tranny mounts - on the left the frame mounted parts, on the right the tranny mounted parts, and they are a little science-fiction, as I had massive problems finding apropriate photos on the Web.

Still left to do are the fuel tank mounts, and they will probably be next on the bench.

In the meantime the work on the battery boxes prompted me to take a closer look at the hood, and especially the fenders - Italeri's hood has cutouts in the rear of the fenders, which weren't there, at least on the early Superliners, so I went on to fill them. I also installed the vertical plates in the insides of the fenders. Now the hood looks like this:

Hope you like it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Still looking good, Pawel. It's just a matter of time untill the MACK is ready for another run.

I'm West Bound and Down, Keep 'em rollin.

Railfan 233, good to hear from you again! I was already beginning to miss you . I hope you could sort out that computer problem.

Plus, I have another update comin', here it is:

I finally installed the water manifold, the turbocharger with the air crossover and the alternator, and all the belts and pulleys. Now the engine looks like this:

I also did some more work on the rear suspension, I reworked the Italeri inter-axle shaft and made the attachment points on the crossmember for the suspension links. Currently the rear suspension looks like this:

I also started working on the battery boxes and I did minor working on the hood - more on that to follow... Hope you liked it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Everything is looking good Pawel.

My computer died a few weeks ago, so I havn't been able to follow the build.  It looks like you are still truckin' through it.

 I like this a lot

And here I am again! I did some fitting, to see how everything comes together, here's what it looks like:

And also two photos of the brakes on the front axle:

How do you like it? Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Gennulmen,

thanks for your comments, I just can't get enough of them!

Steve - will do, it will take some time, but I'll eventually get there!

Stage_Left - thanks for your kind words, please stay tuned!

Now, back to the engine and the hood, have a nice day and keep on truckin'!

Paweł

Pawel- more outstanding work. I love watching your progress on this....

Pawel-The loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong haul trucker ,keep on it mate and get it finished!

Looks good goin' together.

Awright, truckin' on!

I fianlly assembled the front axle, with articulating front wheels!

While at it, I also tackled the front brakes:

I also put together the rear bogie. I fitted rubber tires to the eight rear wheels, and it was a good time to fit the suspension to the frame:

Here's what the rear suspension looks like now:

Still missing is the inter-axle drive shaft and the two bars preventing the axles from rotating, together with their fittings on the frame crossmember.

I also tackled this engine part

It's the cold side of the turbocharger with modified air crossover.

So whatcha think? Keep on truckin'

Paweł

And before anybody had a chance to comment on this one, another, surprise update!

I glued three crossmembersto the frame rails, put it under a book on an even surface, and after it dried a little I could do some dry-fitting:

Then I went on to work on the front suspension. Well what I wrote about the front suspension about two posts ago was a bad idea - both springs have to be fitted to the axle and to the frame simultaneously, or else the chance that everything ill fit together is only marginal. Please note the axle mounted steering box, a feature characteristic for the Mack W Cruiseliner and early RW Superliners:

Quite different than the Italeri kit, isn't it? Hope you like it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

And the next update is there!

I moved on with the rears. First I had to add yet another "gizmo" - the inter-axle differential lock. Here it is:

After that was done I went to town and sprayed the rear axles:

When I was done recovering from the shock, I moved on to work on the grille. I dechromed it with brake fluid and removed the sinkmarks from the Italeri part. Then I fitted the metal part with MACK lettering I cut out of a metal superliner grille made by a company called AITM. Now I needed a bulldog. I also got it from AITM, but it's base was incorrect for a Superliner, so I made my own base from sprue. Here's what the grille looks like now:

Hope you like it, looking forward to your comments and have a nice day

Paweł

Steve, Railfan 233 - thanks a lot boys, I knew you wouldn't let me down without your comments. It means a lot to me! Please stay tuned for more next week and have a nice weekend

Paweł

Exelent work, Pawel. That engine looks like it's ready to pull 18 tons of steel on a 6 day run already.

I'm glad to see you back in the driver's seat with this truck. I missed watching as you re-built it from the ground up.

Great work Pawel.!

And the beat goes on!

After about a month's break I have another update for you.

Chris - sorry I didn't reply so long. Thanks for your comment. I've also seen lights on the rear wall of the sleeper on Macks, so as there is still a lot of work on the sleeper to do, maybe I'll go for it. For now I'm working more on the chassis.

And here's where my update comes in. I started putting the motor together, and while I was at it I started adding the plumbing to the motor. On the photos it's still unpainted, so you can more clearly see what I added:

I also did some work on the front suspension - I finished carving the front springs, and added the U-bolts to join one of them with the front axle:

I chose not to modify the front springs too much, as they also hold the hood hinge axis, so they are critical to the hood-chasis-front axle-wheels fit.

Hope you liked it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Hi Pawel,

      As a kid I often took week long road trips with my stepdad who worked as a trucker, although he drove Kenworths. Your build is coming along nicely and really evokes memories for me.  Your work is excellent and inspiring.

      One thing I did want to mention:  on the Kenworths, on the rear outside wall of the sleeper, there were mounted two flood lights.  These were used when hooking up or releasing a trailer.  They were flush mounted into the wall.  I didn't see these on your build, but wanted to mention it in case they may be of concern.  Don't know if Macks had them or not though.

     Overall, though, this is a fantastic build and I am really enjoying following it.  Great work!!

                                                                                                                 Chris

Howdy friends! Thanks a lot for your kind words! I also think this will get done in 2011, remember what Ray from the "Ghostbustars" said - it's a nice car, you only need to do the body, chassis, engine, suspension, wiring, exhaust, paint, chrome - and it's done!

So, I'll stick around and I think we'll stay in touch. Have a nice day and 'till next time

Paweł

Wow!

I'm amazed at how everything is turning out. The brake system is looking better and better (if I didn't know better, I'd say I was viewing a factory photo of new brake parts waiting for the next truck on the production line)

I'll be looking foward to mid-2011 (The Suspence is killing me!)

Pawel Thanks for leavin' us hangin'! I look forward to seeing this DONE in the new year.

Awright, another update!

I started painting the engine:

What we got here is the power pack with the tranny painted blue and masked, you can also see some of the preshading on the engine, and also the devices that attach to the block, on their holders for painting. My favourite is the one with the pipe - that's the oil pump I scratchbuilt, together with the external oil line.

After the first layers of paint the engine looks like this:

It has to dry throughly now, so I went on to the rear axles' brakes:

On the right of the foto you can see the kit-supplied brakes. Of course I didn't like 'em, so I just cut off the brake chambers and went on to scratchbuild the linkages. I also made new backing plates, so I didn't have to clean up the Italeri ones, which also seemed a bit small in diameter. On the top of the foto you can also see the parts I made of copper sheet, they connect the brake chambers to the backing plates. I still need more parts:

Here, you can see the separated brake chambers, with linkage and lever parts, and the brake backing plates almost ready to accept the brake actuators. And the finished actuators:

I also have an announcement to make - I have to move temporarily, so the next update in this thread is to be expected mid-january 2011. Where I'm going I have an unfinished build going on for years now, so maybe I'll start another thread in the armor forum. For now thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Railfan 233, Pat - thanks for your interest in this thread and your kind words! I'm movin' on with the build and I'm gonna keep it up, because it's a lot of fun. 20 tons of fun, you might say Thanks again, and have a nice weekend

Paweł

Always love it when somebody takes one of these older kits and shows what they are capable of being built into.  You're doing a great service to this rig.  Keep up the great work Pawel!

                                                                                              Pat.

The engine looks closer and closer  to being able to haul 20 tons every time I see it. The frame and rear axles are also looking up to the job of doing their fare share in the haul, too.

Keep the hammer down, and keep on truckin'

                                        -Railfan out.

Breaker, breaker, we've got another update just around the bend!

So I kept on bothering the engine block, this time the slightly forgotten right side. I changed it's shape slightly with sheet styrene, and added come cast features and the alternator mount. Here's what it looks like, ready for the first coat of paint, after many years, that is:

I also primed the real axles and added a small hanger for suspension arms on top of each one:

It's also high time to do something about the frame. I started by smoothing the insides of the rails with surfacer 500:

I also made the motor mount crossmember:

And then I dry fitted the frame:

I hope you liked it, please stay tuned and have a nice day!

Paweł

Gennulmen, thanks a lot for your comments! Nice to know I don't write it only for myself!

Stage_Left - good you surfaced! Welcome aboard! The AMT kits are cool, they had many cool trucks in program, pity you almost don't see them any more. I managed to get a hold of a dual drive Freightliner cabover last time they reissued it and I feel lucky. I also recommend to try Petes and Kens from Italeri, the detail on them is even nicer than on AMT kits, other trucks can be tricky sometimes, lots of factual errors if you're unlucky, like my Mack which hadly is a Mack at all.

Railfan 233 - please don't make me blush Thanks for your continued interest, I'll try my best to keep this WIP good!

Please stay tuned and have a nice day

Paweł

Man, the suspension is looking great.  I don't even know how to describe it no more.

Keep up the good work Pawel, and Keep on truckin'

Pawel,

I've been lurking here for a while now, but you're doing a fantastic job on this rebuild. I love the big rigs; I built a few of the AMT kits when I was a kid, and currently have a few in the stash. Fond memories........

Thanks mate, appreciate it!

Hello everybody! It's been some time, but I didn't want to bore you all with fotos showing puttying and sanding.

Steve - thanks a lot, I appreciate it!

holdenmaniac - welcome aboard! Well, to be true, it was more my fault than my merit... I just used tube glue many years ago on some places and then I didn't scrape the paint away in other places... So these joints can be pried apart pretty clean, as long as you use some "feeling" doing it. Having assembly instructions at hand is helpful, to know exactly where the part joints are. Where the glue holds like it should, a razor saw is most helpful. I made mine myself, by filing an old razor blade (you can hardly find one nowadays). Other than the "feeling" you also need luck, and then it can be done.

But I also have a bit of an update for you! This time I put some more work in the engine and the rear suspension. I added yet another casting details on the motor block and I also depicted the motor mounts taken off the flywheel housing - on Macks the power pack hangs by the tranny, by the clutch housing to be exact. This way the torque is carried better by the pack and by the frame too. Here's a picture

I also worked on parts mounted on the front of the block - the chain cover, the motor mount, which I scratchbuilt, and the upper part containing the water pump and the radiator fan bearing:

Moving over to the rear suspension, here are the gears as I got them:

Instead of cleaning them up intensively, I decided to build a portion of the gears myself, using turned aluminium parts I fabricated myself. After it was done, I finally had all the parts for the rear suspension:

I still need to do the brakes, but I hope to have a complete rear bogie soon, so please stay tuned and have a nice day

Paweł

Small question for a novice at rebuilding old models, How did you dismantle the project so neatly without much damage?