Movie Optimus Prime build

[dabears]

Originally Posted by kingbob

What im really dreading, is bolting together the front end, having to reach in all the way from the back!

Yea that will suck! is there a way to glue the nuts in place so you don't have to reach in and tighten?

[kingbob]

Superglue wont have much resistance to shearing forces, so screwing in a screw would likely loosen them.

Im thinking I might have to cut a large hole in the front panel to get my fingers through, and cover it with the reefer unit. Of coure then I have to find a way to bolt the reefer on lol.

[dabears]

well It was worth a shot anyways lol

[1985 kenworth]

ok stretch armstrong...nice work so far yet again my friend

[kingbob]

Woot!
I got december build of the month! Thanks all

[dabears]

Very well deserved!!

[kingbob]

Right, life has been stupid busy lately. I work for the Fire and Emergency Services here in Western Australia, and being summer its fire season, so we've been a bit busy! Far too many on call callouts recently so have barely done any work at all on my builds.

BUT, i have a little bit of time now, so am back at it!

I'd been contemplating building a new leg setup for the trailer, so it can fold like the real thing, but being time poor I decided to just use the trailer kit legs. But because i lowered the trailer by about 12mm i needed to shorten the legs. Not wanting to hack them up, i had a play with them and found an easy way.

On the inside where the spring attached to the lower part of the leg, there is a screw holding a plastic ring in place to keep the spring from slipping. I noticed that the release lever would brush against this screw when extending/retracting the legs. So i replaced the screw with a larger socket head one, put it on a couple of spacers, and now the lever will catch on it and rest quite happily on the screw instead. This lowers the trailer when the legs are extended by just about the right amount.
I do need to add a little bit of styrene to the feet to make it just right, but was a nice simple, low effort fix!

Next up are mounting the trailer sides. I've found that the plastic side panels I painted have curled slightly as the paint has cured. So i've got some aluminium sheet which i'll cut to size, and mount the styrene to it with double sided tape. Should keep it flat.

Aiming to have the side on this weekend!

[flatdeck]

Bob Can you post some pictures of the leg mod...


Wayne

[kingbob]

Originally Posted by flatdeck

Bob Can you post some pictures of the leg mod...


Wayne

Basically i just replaced this screw:

With a larger cap head screw, on a couple of washers so it sticks out further.

The release arm can then use the screw as its catch.


Make sense?

[flatdeck]

Originally Posted by kingbob

Basically i just replaced this screw:

With a larger cap head screw, on a couple of washers so it sticks out further.

The release arm can then use the screw as its catch.


Make sense?

Yes it dose...

Wayne

[thebat]

im a huge optimus prime fan i can't wait to see this whole thing done truck and trailer the truck looks amazing and if i didn't know it was a king hauler modded id of swore it was optimus prime good work dude.

[kingbob]

Originally Posted by thebat

im a huge optimus prime fan i can't wait to see this whole thing done truck and trailer the truck looks amazing and if i didn't know it was a king hauler modded id of swore it was optimus prime good work dude.

I cant wait either! But the trailer sides are giving me some grief. The plastic sheet can curled somewhat after painting. I used double sided tape to put it on a sheet of aluminium to hold it flat, but it comes off the tape and still curls.

I considered using a hair dryer to soften the plastic so it will flatten, but thats likely to damage the chrome paint.

[kingbob]

Right, lets get this sucker finished!

So the plastic sheet for the trailer side panels didnt really work out. Even after being taped to a sheet of ali, it came loose, curled, and just looked all wrong. Plus the bloody great big seam where i had to join 2 sheets was annoying me.

I decided to go looking for a metal solution, either ali or stainless. I knew it existed, and even the company who makes it, but no-one had any locally. So after countless emails, phone calls, and web searches, one of the companies actually suggested a place to try. And lo and behold, they had some! They do elevator interiors! Not the type of place i'd even remotely thought of, but they use the stuff i was after, and even had offcuts that were the right size, finish, pattern, everything! And they were actually nice to deal with!

Picked the sheets up yesterday, and have begun drilling the many, many, many holes to mount them to the frame and put LEDs through.

I specifically checked that they had more just in case i balls it up

So fingers crossed, wont be long until the trailer is done, especially with the easter long weekend, hopefully i can get it done! Woot!

[kingbob]

Quick snap under bad lights...

The side panels are attached to the roof, but not the base of the trailer yet. need to wire up the LEDs first.

[kingbob]

Hey all, i'm back!

Been a hectic few months for me work-wise and just havent had time to do anything to the truck. But i've actually had some free time this week, and given how close the trailer is to being finished, i'm on a roll getting bits done so I can finish it off and declare the whole project done!

The trailer in the pic above is still like that, buit actually screwed together now, basically just the front and rear to do. Last weekend i made up the wiring for the rear end (brakes, reversing, indicators), and ran it through to the front panel. I then took the truck apart because i needed to wire in some cables to pass the signals to the trailer. Only using 6 wires, ground, brake, reverse, left, right, and one for the running lights, so its easy to hookup.

Or so i thought. Checked it all, went over the wiring, all correct, but the **** thing wouldnt work! Then i realised i used a 4 pole plug in a 3 pole socket, they werent connecting properly! Relaced the plug, and re-tested, still nothing!

Went back to basics, got the multimeter out, and started testing from the lighting unit... and it turns out the **** thing is common positive, not common ground. Darn thing is a$$ backwards! Will re-wire it tomorrow, and put it all back together.

With a little luck, i can have the trailer done before the end of trhe weekend! Thats my aim anyway!

[kingbob]

OK, well i blew my target of having the trailer done by the end of today. Mostly because i need to dismantle the trailer to cut 5mm off the front of each of the side panels. I forgot to account for the rounded front corners so they're in the way.

Wired in the hookups between the truck and trailer. Stainless base panel with an aluminium support for the cables. I found some small 2.5mm 4 pole headphone style plugs so using them to hookup to the trailer.

Also got the rear end mostly done, just needs doors now. Though of all the things to misplace i've lost one of the plastic pieces that the 2 door bolts slot into. Put one at the top, but cant find the other one!

The reefer is done too, the pic makes it look more sparkly/glittery than it is. Just lighting.

[thebat]

looking good bud she'll be done soon i wish i had the talent u do so i could build an optimuse prime.

[kingbob]

He's getting there. I think i've finally found a way to do the rear doors to my satisfaction too.

[kingbob]

OK, the rear end is done! I embossed some aluminium sheet to get the quilted look. Its not exactly the same sort of quilted texture as the real thing, but its a passable facsimile i think. About as good as i can get any way.



Had to make a new front end sheet. The one i had was sized for when i was using plastic side panels, and ended up being about 3-4mm too short now its all together. Test fitted with reefer, now i just need to make and paint a couple of blue strips for top and bottom.



Then its just the side strips to go!

[PaulNZ]

That trailer look great! should suit the Semi well