The truck looks great Paul. Very believable. To make templates I use yellow frog masking tape. It is translucent enough to make sure you are following the pattern. Take the tape and just place it on your clear styrene or acetate sheet. You can buy that thin enough to cut with small scissors or a steady handy and #11 blade. With a carefully cut piece, it can be secured with canopy cement. Once secured more canopy cement can be used over top to make it more secure. Canopy cement does not look as good as glass but for the side windows it could be used alone to make those windows. The surface tension allows it to bridge open areas and make windows.
As for the Floquil issues I cannot help there Paul. With my apologies to the model railroad gods, I never liked it and rarely used it. Too many better choices for me. Especially now days that shelf life should be considered when buying Floquil. Any other paint I would suggest thinning or adding retarder and some type of flow enhancer.
This will give you a little idea how canopy cement can bridge gaps Paul. I am building some of these HO scale phone booths for a customer and using canopy cement to assemble them and then using it to make up the windows.
Thanks Steve. Canopy cement is what I use for windows and several other things. The side windows will be open, so I will not even use any. Maybe the tape idea will work. Tom Holley said that Floquil takes a couple of days to dry, and it did. It is fine now.
That looks really good Paul, very convincing. As far as the windows, I have made dozens of the things. Do not over think it. Evergreen makes clear sheet styrene. Cut a piece that is close but still too big, sand the edges and corners down until they fit. Then use some thinned canopy glue around the edges to glue in place. You will be surprised how quick it will go, and how well they will turn out. The attached image shows the cab glazing for an old GP30 Lifelike model I made some years ago using this method.
If that GP30 was DRGW 3006 I would try to talk you out of it! Rio Grande 3006 was the Colorado Springs, CO switcher most of the time we lived there.
Working on a second oilfield truck between more important projects, like remodeling a bathroom. This one started with a Sheepscot cast resin 1950s Autocar. The kits I bought from a guy were all missing parts, but he sold them to me at half price. So I can buy stuff I cannot make like wheels and tires, then scratch build the rest. This one will have a 270" wheelbase similar to the oilfield gin pole trucks. The gin poles, bed, heavy-duty bumper, headlights, fuel tanks, under bed toolbox, etc., were scratch built. The model came with one headlight. There was a tear in the parts bag, so who knows when the other headlight was lost. I made a pair out of two 1949 Chevrolet pickup mirrors. Got a long way to go, but it should be done before 2023.
I grew up in an oil patch town in the early 1950s. I saw that kind of truck every day but never paid any attention. Not many people model oil fields, coal mines are much more popular. I would like to do it but no space, an oil dealer is the best I can do.
Skyraider: Looks like you have another good looking oilfield truck in the makes! Patrick said: "Not many people model oil fields, coal mines are much more popular. I’d like to do it but no space, an oil dealer is the best I can do." And you just nailed the reason why, too much sprawl. Oil fields or tank farms can be vast, and to model it effectively is a tall order. The backdrop could possibly be incorporated to give the illusion of vastness perhaps. With coal, the loading facility is all that needs to be modeled if it is an underground mine, which is where the sprawl would be. Conversely, a strip pit operation faces the same challenge as a tank farm, lots of sprawl. Some industries lend themselves better to modeling than others.
Looking good Paul. I know this has been, and is going to be a challenging modeling project, what with the parts and all the scratch building you have had to do. It is going be a great and unique model when you get done.
We live in oil country, as well. Last week a gin pole truck went up our street to service a well or drilling site. We see oilfield stuff daily. It has been fun modeling some of the things we see regularly.
With an around the wall 32" wide shelf layout, there is obviously no way to do justice to the vast areas of West Texas or it is agriculture or oilfield industries. But you can do a small industry siding, an oilfield related pipe sales yard, and a couple of pumpjacks to represent the pumping locations. That is enough to create the impression of oil country. Attached are a couple of photographs of the oilfield related stuff on our layout. It is not vast, but it is representative.
Finally got to spend a little time on the truck. I had to completely sand and refinish the back door of the house yesterday, but that is done. Long way to go on this truck, but it is coming along. The body and chassis are just resting on the wheels and suspension. The bumper is not glued on yet. The gin poles are a little too long, so they will have to be shortened a tad. They also need the cable and tackle made for the end of the poles. Lots of details, hooks and chains, cables, winch details, spare tire and weathering still to go. The white dust on the truck is just that, sanding dust that I forgot to dust off before taking pictures.
Thanks for the comments. Oilfield trucks had larger than normal wheels and tires, but these seem a little too large to me. Most oilfield trucks have and had even back in the 1950s, 12' x 24" rear and 13" or 14" x 24" front. These were advertised as 12" x 24", but they seemed a little large when I measured them and look a little too big. Oh well. The Sheepscot cab casting is actually really nice. Like in some resin castings, the detail is excellent. There is no warpage, even though this is an old model. All in all, it is a nice model. Painting the cab roof marker lights has me scratching my head. I may paint them silver with a toothpick, and then paint the amber lenses with a touch of the toothpick on the front over the silver.
For small cab lights like that I put a drop of white glue where I want them, let it dry a day, the chrome paint, then yellow or clear amber. Pretty easy and quick. Plus with that little nub on there it is easy to paint the right spot.
