Re: Old tired wrecker
 

Fantastic Dennis. :eek:

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I loved this build the moment I seen the thread for it. Looks good sir. If/when you're ready to sell it, may I have first dibs on it?

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Thanks guys!

You have dibs skeeter, but don't expect a pm any time soon.
Somebody has to tow Frizzen around. LOL!!!

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LOL! :lol:
I figured it's along shot that it would be parted with, but it never hurts to inquire :D

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Thats looking amazing already! Can't wait to see all the rigging.

Hahaha, yeah i shouldn't have gotten such an old cop car for the department. I just wasn't sure a crown vic or a caprice would be weird enough for my town.

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I think a Matador was the perfect choice! AMC's, VW's and a Fiero, how could you explain something as tame as a Ford or a Chevy?

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Frizzen,
I'm thinking about something different for the left side winch that will raise and lower the sling. Most all of the crawler winches are just too big to fit in the available space and look somewhat correct. I'm going to experiment with a micro 360 deg servo with a custom machined drum similar to what I made for the manual boom winches. It will be interesting to see how well it will lift.

Re: Old tired wrecker
 

LOL... first dibs?!!! :eek: Only us Hoosiers and those that have actually met the man get that honor. :rolleyes:

Seriously, I just can't wait to see it up close this January (if Dennis is still going) after just now running across the thread full of pics from the September meet. http://rctruckandconstruction.com/sh...ad.php?t=12536 Amazing trucks to drool over... plus, COE's have always caught my attention first.

And also that is if I have something to bring too.

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Thanks Jeff.
Unless Mother Nature really plays a trick on us, I'll be there in January as a newly retired "official old fart." I'm looking forward to seeing you, been quite a while!
Don't worry about having something to bring with you, I've got plenty of things you can drive around.

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Yes, it certainly is a work to drool over

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I figured some 360 servo winches tucked under the bed would probably be the way to go. I've seen some with the bolt-on drum like my dragline, or some that have the drum inside the windowed servo case to save space.

Panther, come to the meet even if you don't have a vehicle yet. If you ask i'm sure a lot of us will let you drive some stuff around. It might just be rusty junk though...

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The old rc4wd winch has 11 pounds of pull but no brake
And will spool out on you

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Oh, I know that and even Lynn has made that clear but trust me... you don't want me driving any of your stuff around. Even if it is rusty junk. :D

I thought it would be easy to replace a gear on this truck in time and have an instant RC available but I am soon discovering that we all know it doesn't work that way. Too much time has gone by, you start seeing too many things to change or modify.

I should have just bought a Semi kit (which I will) afterall. :confused:


Dennis: Will there be any additional color or commercial advertising on the side? Is this following a theme of one you've seen?

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Jeff,
It's roughly following the prototype photos at the beginning of the thread, but any signs on the doors will be for my fictional towing company. I'm working on those now but still haven't come up with one I like. Once I get those done I can start the weathering process.

The material for the sling arrived today so I hope to get the new sling done and mounted over the 4 day weekend.

If anybody has a large black trailer mud flap they don't know what to do with please pm me. I'm looking for some material for the sling straps. I've got a pair cut, but I'm thinking they may be a bit short. I'm looking for something about 50mm long.

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You might try your local tire shop. The one near me, they'll let you take home an entire semi truck tire tube, it it's deemed repairable by them. I get the old ones to use for cutting patch material. Works well for fixing the wheelbarrow inner tube as well as the niece & nephews bike tubes. I should swing by there tomorrow, & see if I can acquire more of it.

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Thanks to Frizzen, here's the latest progress shot on the rear of the wrecker. Hooks added, backup lights added and the sling 85% done. I have to get some inner tube material to make the straps longer and need to add two hooks to the ends of the draw bar. I also got the mirrors added and swapped out the straight stack top for a turn out. I picked up a rotary beacon but am not going to use it. The China made ones I've found are just not a large enough diameter to look "right" on an old wrecker.

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That looks so cool with the bed details!

Is there anything special you think it will need to hook something beyond 'a bumper that hangs down below the chassis'

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Thanks! She is starting to look like a wrecker, just a really clean one still! LOL!!!

Excellent question! Two "J" hooks are required to connect the dead vehicle to the tow bar. Those are steel hooks shaped like a J with chains attached. The hooks loop around the axle, hole in the frame rails, suspension arms or whatever can be gotten to. The chains then hook into the grab hooks that I need to put on the ends of the tow bar. Once tightened up the tow bar actually is under the bumper and the vehicle is supported on the rubber straps so the bumper isn't damaged. This is why as cars became more plastic on the front or rear sling wreckers went away and the wheel lift started to appear then followed by roll backs.
Making the J hooks won't be hard, I just need to find the right size (or close enough) chain and grab hooks and she'll be ready to tow a VW bus! Hopefully the model ship building guys will have something that will work. Going to start looking this weekend.

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Rick of PMD had chains, AND hooks available. You can get them as a package, or separately. I ordered the chain with hooks. I WASN'T happy with how the hook grabbed the chain. I ordered the separate hooks by themselves & they seem to work pretty good to grab hold of the chain. The scale binders are pretty cool too. I've ordered & received EVERYTHING I mentioned, to use with the logging truck build I will eventually be doing.

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I knew that J hooks or coyote hooks were used to chain the car to the lift. i just wasn't sure if it'd be possible with your lift to go pick something repo-style and slow drive without the chains, so you don't have to fiddle with it everytime.

For the chains, hit up a craft store that's got a jewelery making section. Buy several that looks scale, then pull test to see what's structural vs decoration.

My dragline buckets use strong necklace chain, it's enough for pulling scoops of dirt and ground rubber.

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What about the chain from tamiya pole trailer

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This build is bad@ss. Cant wait to see it weathered!

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4551/...ca928ca4_b.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4540/...2d9cb68e_b.jpg

The second 360 servo is now mounted and working so she's a true twin boom. I found some grab hooks and got them mounted on the tow bar, I made a pair of oversize J hooks so I can grab most anything until I get a better idea of how much I can scale them back. I also added the operator handles for the twin winches, old school mechanical linkage here, no electrical control back in the day. And I got started weathering on the wrecker bed. The cab will take a bit more research as it was aluminum and I can't go crazy with the rust on it.

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it look seven more beautiful, now that there's a hint of weathering on it

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That's killer! Now it's really looking like a working rig.

Aluminum corrosion is generally white or grey. It can do the flakey/bubbly paint thing.

Awesome truck

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The only thing I would dare suggest is to blacken the chains & cables.

Other than that... wow Dennis. :D

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"Aluminum corrosion is generally white or grey. It can do the flakey/bubbly paint thing."

Yes, am making a hobby shop run next week to see what will work best for weathered aluminum. I'll probably go with a chipped and scuffed edge look as I have never been too good at doing the bubbly thing. BUT, I do have lots of left over styrene to try on????

"blacken the chains & cables"

Yup, gotta do the chains in a rusty dark metal look with the J hooks a worn red. There will also be wooden 4x4's and other "cribbing" and clutter thrown up on the deck.

If I can find 4 small diameter tires and wheels (12-15mm) with the right look, there will be a set of "knock down" dollies up there too! Am open for suggestions!

I really have to take a minute to thank everyone that has commented on this build so far. Your overwhelmingly positive comments and encouragement have so very much helped push me to go far beyond what I had thought were my limits of building!
Thank You All!!!!!

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Maybe look into the salt method to fake bubbly corrosion?
On scrap plastic to test, paint, sprinkle some salt where you want bubbly, paint again. Maybe lightly brush to knock it loose if paint ruptured. Maybe weather it more.

I wonder if the 'patina' chemicals would be able to hit your chains, or if a paint wash would do better?

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Perhaps look at PMD. Rick had the Weideco rims/tires that are pretty small. IDk what size they are, for sure, but I know they are way smaller then the Tamiya tires/rims are.

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I checked PMD and Rick's smaller tires are still too big. The dolly I'm copying had tires the size of a small utility trailer. I'm thinking older 1/32 or 1/43 slot car wheels may be the ticket. I did find that 1/24 are still too big. Kind of like finding a bigger rotary beacon. There's one out there, just going to take a bit to find it.

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Bummer, sorry to hear that those weren't small enough fir the project.

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Are you going to paint the booms and lift frame? Truck looks great so far!!

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Thanks Lynn

Yes, I plan to paint the booms and sling mount, just not sure what color I want yet.
Am thinking of white and applied by brush so it doesn't cover completely and then a rusty steel color dabbed into the thin areas to add to the weathered look.

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Hey Dennis, how about some of the 1/32 scale “snap-tite” truck wheel/tires I think Monogram makes them and you can get them at any hobby shop or Hobby Lobby.

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Found another picture of your wrecker:

https://s17.postimg.org/lbqq5d9qn/27...6_E99_F1_C.jpg

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1/24 car model tires might be about right? i know some of the skinny 1970s and earlier models had the right profile and should be little under 1" tall.

Nice find on that truck, the boom rigging makes more sence

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Good photo Kent! Maybe I'll go blue on the booms and sling, I'm just not sure yet. Was leaning toward white for a bit of contrast. Now I'm torn.

I have to make a paint run Friday either way so I'll probably pick up both if they have it in stock. The shop I'm going to also sells a lot of slot car stuff so I'll be looking at wheels. 1" is going to be too big compared to what I remember from the set I horsed around. May need to be more like .500" - .625" to look right. Hope to have new photos this weekend.

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My grandson just got a little LEGO airplane it has really nice 1/2 inch wheels . Wish I could post a pic but .......

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Wow that turned out awesome, great work.