Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I'll attempt posting pics from a shared Google folder.
If this works, I'll share more of this trailer.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

So - need 1 person to confirm as successful.
I can see the pic, but that's inconclusive...

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I can see the picture. I'd like to see the drywall skids

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I see it too.

Don't you just hate it when you post something and nobody can see it but you? I use Google Photos too, you've just got to be sure that whatever album you are linking to is a shared album.

Don

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Yep I see it.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Your how-to for Google pics is the one that guided me, Don. (thanks!)

Photos of the rest of the trailer and the drywall skids will be in the next few days. The trailer is near complete, and the drywall is really close.

I still need to make some cargo straps, and figure out how to hang the Bruder forklift off the back. I did it with the ICC bumper on a different trailer, but this Hercules doesn't have one.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Oh - and thanks to you guys that confirmed the picture was active.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

One of the hurdles I've had is to devise a well-engineered lighting system that can be universal across anythign I might build, to work with any tractor. I'm not sure I have 100% compatibility yet, but I think I have something with potential to reconfigure as needed. As an example - this trailer has separate stop and turn lights, and also backing lights. Not sure I'll be doing backing lights on any future trailers. I can predict doing a separate marker light circuit, and with S/T on a separate common LED.

I dislike the bulky connectors that Tamiya uses, and I found some USB-C stuff I like better. As with most things, it's really easy in the mind, reality is a bit tougher. The USB board had to be located correctly to fit it in a narrow band between the bottom edge of the bulkhead and beneath the floor slats. And I still had to shim it due to my errors. But I got the slot CNC'd perfectly on the first try, so that's something. All of the wiring is 22 or 24 ga from a spool for RGB LED light strips, with 2 extra solid-conductor wires from another spool I scored somewhere.

The 2 white blocks are cross-drilling to hold the bulkhead and trailer bedplate together.

Looking back, I wish I had done lightning connectors instead. But realistically, it won't get plugged/unplugged all that often.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Wiring the LEDs and fitting them in the module was a PITA. Putting the resistors upstream would've helped, I'll improve that on the next trailer I build.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0


Wiring runs nicely down the middle of the Hercules floor supports. And my wooden ones.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Here's the junction I used.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Snaking all the wires out of the modules wasn't easy, and there was a little Dremeling required to make a bigger path.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

The Hercules wood slats are intended to be held down by double-sided tape on top of the gray cross-pieces. The sizes of the slats do not allow them to fit in nicely, at least one needs to be cut into a narrow sliver to make the last gap. And that tape surely would've failed eventually. The overall width is 7.9" - and I found no standard type of trim, molding, or craft sticks that would work out correctly.

Eventually I found this lath material, and it wasn't perfect either, but it was cheap and kinda rustic-looking. It doesn't have a scale appearance, but so be it. With some edge-sanding of 2 pieces I was able to fit two 1/2"-wide x1/4" aluminum runners in the spacing.

So I made the wooden cross-pieces for gluing/screwing the lath onto. Like most things, it wasn't so simple. I had to review the spacing on the cross-pieces vs the gray ones, vs screws coming up thru the bed plate, and vs the screws for the cargo rail I added. But fortunately, I quickly got a reasonable result and put the slats down, piece-by-piece, over several days of glue-drying. And each one needed a wiring slot, of course.

The lath was bending upward at the rear, so there's an extra row of screws there.
The lath was also a benefit as narrower wood would've required even smaller screws, and would've been tough to drive in a structural use like this. (these screws are #2)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

The cargo rail was made with these small machined spacers and some 1/16" x 1/4" aluminum strip. The ends were bent by hand and all of it was screwed on. Naturally, all the spacer block locations required thoughtful layout beforehand.

I would've loved to use countersunk screws for this rail, but when using #1 and #0 screws, some length and head configurations simply aren't available, or they are $1+ per screw. I'm a $4 per 100 kinda guy. And the smaller sizes pretty-much guarantee that you're gonna destroy 1/2 of them during installation. Amazingly, I was able to drive all the #2 slat screws in with a DeWalt impact driver and a good/sharp #1 Phillips. (the trigger has really good feel)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

These small brass flats will hold 1/4" elastic for cargo straps, and will be bent into a J-shape for the cargo rail. They won't be quire realistic to a real strap, but shall be deemed good enough for me.

The brass pieces need deburring, and I need to figure out a small jig for bending them.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Overall, I'm not 100% impressed with the Hercules trailer.

It seems to be a Tamiya clone, which means it has terribly-unrealistic framerails.
The provided bulkhead is just a flat piece of metal. Mine isn't very realistic either, with its big screwheads, but at least it has some structure.
And it has no ICC bar.

But it assembles pretty well (aside from the wooden slats) and it's a good base for customizing.

So for the price ($160-ish), I would not hesitate to buy another if the need arose.

The drywall skids will be coming soon.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I've thought about these trailers for the exact reasons you stated, for $160 you might have to forgo a little detail but with a little work you can kit-bash them with good results, nicely done..
Looking forward to how you do the cargo straps and cargo itself

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I can see pictures. Is the drawer with Anchors like drywall or boat? How much speed does 1 package of "Xtra Speed" add?

Great looking trailer!
I'm digging the usb-header and terminal strip for lighting, i may need to borrow that idea for some overly complicated light systems

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

You think wiring is a pain in this scale, check this out:
https://www.motor1.com/news/623984/t...-truck-rc-car/

What gage wire are you using? When using LED's, they have a small enough load that 30AWG is more than heavy enough, probably with about a safety factor of 4X.

Dupont plugs will handle the amp load, are fairly small, only require a crimp connection, and are available in a variety of pin numbers.

JST connectors are another good choice, they'll handle even more amps than a Dupont plug. I think Dupont plugs are rated for a couple of amps.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

The USB C connector is neat.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Cargo first, straps need some more time to figure out bending the hooks.

Drywall, none, borrow away.

I cannot imagine making something as small as that little RC truck. But I do like the steering, I like the idea of a nut running along a threaded rod to make a linear servo.

I'm using around 24 ga for the wiring. I had 2 spools of it already. I'm using it for its mechanical strength, and there's plenty of room to route it. I looked at JST and Dupont-type connectors also. I don't want to spend that much time crimping such small wires. The green connectors are a simple screw-in after the wiring is stripped.

Thanks. I looked at a bunch of options until I stumbled across that idea and I was smitten with it.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

And here are some skids of 'drywall'.

These are 2x4 blocks CNC'd down a bit smaller (about 3" wide) to give some gaps across the trailer width. Also very shallow grooves for locating the 1/4" square dowels. Then some very-slightly-gray paint.

The end decals were photoshopped from an internet picture and printed on standard paper, then fastened with double-sided tape.

These 'skids' were very cheap to make but definitely time-consuming. Would take 3-4 hours to make a full set of 12 to fill a trailer.

The grain of the wood and some of the splinters bothered me at first, as it was a clue that these were just wood. But they add a bit of texture that is growing on me. Besides, sometimes it's simply impossible to scale every detail, and I haven't seen any RC cargo like this before, so we must accept the results.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

IDK... I kind of agree, the texture kind of works for me....I guess you could get down in the weeds with some wood filler and a lot of sanding etc but not sure it would be worth the trouble. You could try using a plastic wrap ( like cling wrap)that would hide the wood grain..

Like Frizzen I might steal this idea that really is a great idea for a trailer load and pretty simple to do...

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Oh yeah DDmckee, using Magnet Wire for leds is "FUN". Surface mount leds do let you put lights anywhere, if you can tolerate working with them. (Masking tape helps). Those tabletop trucking guys are next level.

I really like those drywall skids!
The grain doesn't really bother me, but a white primer would have more solids to help smooth that. If ya wanted to define sheet edges you could run a stack of Utility Knife blades along the 2 sides.

While you're set up for cargo pallets, it might be worth trying to find spraypaint logos to make some skids of Plywood, OSB, and Dimentional Lumber. (Georgia-Pacific, Hunt, Inland)

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Over on RC Groups a guy built a stand-off scale model of a JU-52, the German Tri-motor from the 30's with the corrugated skin. He used an inkjet printer and printed the corrugations on his covering - it actually looked pretty good. I bet you could do the same thing for your drywall stacks. You're already printing the ends, just print the sides too. Then you could just wrap that around your block in one or two pieces, hiding the wood grain. That might even be easier than putting a separate piece on each end.

Edit: Actually, you could do something like that to make most of wrapped loads that you see on the road these days. Just did a little back of the napkin figuring. You wouldn't be able to print a 48"x96"x36" load at 1/14 scale in one piece on a letter sized printer, that's 8.5"x11". If your printer could handle 11"x17" you could do it, you could even do scale 12' sheets on an 11"x17" printer.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

@frizzen -
That's a good idea for making a stack of utility knife blades for scoring. 5/8" drywall at 1/14 gives about .045", which is in the realm of thickness for machine-screw washers.

I went nuts building skids of cargo for the cancelled Lebanon show.
The small and large tubing were scraps from work (I wish I had grabbed more of it).
The green tubing was from some crafting PVC-pipe-frame thing of unknown origin. The color emulates sewer piping pretty well. White PVC could serve the same with the appropriate spray paint.
The others are square dowels, cut-down paint stir-sticks, and bamboo slats (all from amazon).
Then most of the skids underneath are homemade.

I am contemplating some type of tarped covers for wood blocks.
But otherwise, I think I'm done with cargo for now. (unless a really cool idea hits me)
I have too much truck building work waiting on me.

@ddmckee54 -
I had looked at some gray film wrapping to save painting time, but didn't find any colors light enough, and wrapping the blocks brings its own challenges.

I think a small-wattage laser might work well to make sheet lines, but would need some pretty accurate location of the block, so that the lines are parallel along the length of the block.

You are correct, creative use of a printer opens new doors.


And for anyone contemplating making skids of stuff, zipties make a nice emulation of cargo straps, and I highly recommend a ziptie tool like this to put a good cinch on them (although care must be exercised not to snap the zipties).

Zipties come in a variety of lengths, sometimes it's easy enough to daisy-chain them, but I have bought 2 bags of really long ones, and 1 set in yellow.



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I like that cargo!!!
I know you already mentioned hanging a forklift off the truck, but i was thinking working with that much long stuff may be a good excuse to consider a Side-Forklift for your operation

On your pipe skids, some big pipe loads get wood cribbing slats placed between layers so there's less outward pressure on the bottom rows. Also the small ones sometimes may get a couple wood flat top pieces milled for strapping to help it hold shape so they can be stacked.

Some tyvek from some mailing envelopes or a 'bunny-suit' could probably scale about right thickness, flexibility for some tarps.

Hopefully we can get a winter Lebanon meet this time. I've heard rumors there's supposedly a group around Danville that does rc construction stuff, but i still can't find them?

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

IDK ....might need a crane for some of those longer loads of pipe :D

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Yeah, no side forklift for me.
I have 2 Bruder forklifts, 1 for hanging off the back of a flatbed, and a 2nd really-big Linde.
Good enough for static display work at a show.

And too many other projects in queue:
I have Nylint roller, 2 Doepke road graders, a King Hauler and ZIL130 to finish up, and more flatbeds to make for al this cargo. Want to make that car hauler we discussed awhile back - I now have 3 Corvettes waiting for it.

The biggest problem I have with the pipe loads is them falling out the end. When I got that ziptie tightener, that helped a lot.

Tyvek mailing envelopes are an idea worth exploring when I get one in the mail.
I have a yard of dark-olive cloth that I think will work well too.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

To be fair, I think we all have too many projects in line.

Some glue toward middle of pallet might help keep your pipe loads together, unless you're planning to unload and use them at destination.

That carhauler style you were thinking about should look great with a load of vettes. I can't wait to see what you have in mind for those Graders

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

For the Doepke grader, I was simply planning some modern 1/10-size tires that look somewhat correct (I was very selective on the tread/sidewall pattern) and adding a cab to it, some exhaust-pipe detail + maybe a set of lights. No RC action, too much engineering required at this time. And new paint.

The Nylint roller will get a muffler and air intake setup, the cab is done, and a new paintjob. No RC here either.

So I got around to making a pair of straps, and they confirmed what I was planning to do anyway. To make them pulled slightly tight, it caused the skids to move. I was planning the next design of drywall skids to be glued together into a solid block of 4 skids, so the straps merely confirmed that. In the picture here, the skids were re-adjusted into a good position.

The straps are a PITA to make. De-burring the brass flats, bending into a hook, threading the elastic, folding it and putting 2 pieces of heatshrink on it. 1 strap is burned a little from the little micro-torch, the other one has an imprint from where I flattened the heatshrink while it was still hot. Better methods are needed. They seem semi-durable, at least. I need a better option for the brass hook, one with less CNC and debur time. I am thinking of making them from brass flat and making the whole hook the same width, and then just CNC-ing the slot for the elastic.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

A fabric glue such as Aleene's Tacky glue might an option for the straps. It won't be as fast since it takes a while to dry, but it also won't try to curl up like the heat shrink does. You could always use a small drop of CA glue with the Aleene's. The CA is used to tack the straps together while the Aleene's dries.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Thanks for the tips on gluing, I'll put that on the to-get list.

And I just found an off-shelf item that is almost identical to the brass hooks and it only needs to be bent to shape. And very economical, too.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Well do tell.... what is it...:bounce:

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

It's a male blade/stud connector terminal thingy.
It is almost exactly the same dimensions as the brass things I CNC'd.
Approx $10 for qty 50+ shipping.
I like my oval slot better, but at $10/50, I'll get over it quickly.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://www.mcmaster.com/8015K51/

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Have you tried securing the strap ends together with a dot of CA glue, then clamping / smashing it flat and square with pliers while curing? Worked ok with these.
https://www.rctruckandconstruction.c...=Ratchet+strap

Nice, those found parts some 1/4" electrical blade termials? At that price its worth the time to file the slot and figure out a bending jig

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I would definitely need a jig... no way I'd get them all bent true. LOL

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

My bending jig #1 did not work well with the CNC'd parts. It was an 8-cavity jig, and only a few cavities worked well due to variation in the parts.

As often happens, failure drives improvement.

I've conceptualized a new bender that is much simpler. Will do only 1 part at a time, but I believe it will be significantly faster. We shall see.

I have not tried CA glue, my straps are elastic and my gut says glue won't work well. But I have a bottle of Aleene's that I will try.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

You're just using the CA to tack things while the Aleene's dries, the Aleene's is flexible.

Are you annealing the CNC'd parts before you try bending them? Copper and brass will work harden, that could be part of the problem. Of course if you want them hard after that you either need to work them (Bend or hammer them.) or you need to artificially harden them. Other than hammering or bending, not sure how that's accomplished. Maybe throwing the parts in a vibratory cleaner for a couple of hours and letting them rattle around?

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

I've not annealed the brass, the bending isn't the problem. The problem is parts and the jig were precisely machined, and the variation in the parts causes a lot of them to not fit in the jig for bending. I'm using a .070 endmill and I'm surely getting some flex in it. The parts that do fit are easily bent around with pliers, though.

I thought about a vibe machine for deburring, but this would be the only item I've made (so far) that would need it. Micro-machining always works better in my mind vs the parts that come off my machine, so I try to avoid really small things.

I've only got a 6 more hooks to debur (3 straps) + need to CNC 2 more hooks so that all the straps on this trailer match.

After that, I'll see how well the electrical terminals work out.

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

So:
Haven't made much priority to finish these straps, even though they are the final parts to this entire trailer and cargo. I guess my my natural inclination to "hit 80% complete and start another project" has now stalled me at 99%. (!!!) Anyway...

Here is the one strap I've made with the new electrical terminals. They work quite well, I just wish the hole was smaller. They bend nicely with pliers, it takes 2-3 secs to get them eyeballed into the pliers. I may not even bother with a bending fixture.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-gm?authuser=0

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

LOL... I was just thinking the same thing.. I get about 80% done and starting getting restless to start another project....
But those straps look great....

Re: Hercules flatbed trailer with skids of drywall
 

Fury Fan:

The terminal that you got from McMaster-Carr is called a PCB Terminal Tab. It's a rivet mount, that's why it's got the big hole. If you just Google "pcb terminal tab" you'll probably get a couple thousand hits.

Try one of the electronics suppliers like RS-online or Digi-Key. You'll probably find a wider variety of these tabs than McMaster-Carr had, probably cheaper too. When I looked on Digi-Key they had 58 different flavors of tabs, and RS-online had a couple hundred. Those tabs come in a couple of different widths, 0.110", 0.187" and 0.250" if I remember correctly.

Don