Kenworth 850 Off Highway

[ihbuilder]

It's not the 990 , something smaller that I'm throwing bits and pieces together somewhat welding practice . I had issues seeing the puddle with my old helmet , bit since I got the miller autodark . my next issue is feeding the filler with gloves on ( can't feel it ) . I'm self taught to , look at pro welds and try to copy

[RCP57]

Do you have proper TIG gloves Steve? If you don't they are much thinner and provide a lot better feel. I understand what you're going through though. I rarely ever wore gloves before while MIG welding steel so when I started trying this I had a hard time too. I learned the hard way though that even a tiny weld will give you a major sun burn with TIG. Probably the most frustrating thing for me is when I touch the tungsten on the work and contaminate it! I say some bad words every time I do that for sure. Sometimes I try to keep welding afterward and it's almost always a mistake with this thin stuff. I'm getting better about doing the right thing and regrinding the tungsten now though...too many wasted pieces that were time consuming to make!

Reg

Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing another IH Builder thread!

[ihbuilder]

No just my heavy welding gloves from stick and mig welding . I've got burned pretty bad with the mig . specially the face when getting in a tight spot on body work when the old helmet use to tick me off . just put my dark wraps on my eyes and have at it . That hood is .07" sheet the edge welding was fun gotta move the filler fast . Another build thread not sure I'll do 1 of that . It's going together too fast I need to get the dozer going before anything else .

[RCP57]

I finally bit the bullet on the tires this morning. I ordered up all 16 that I need to finish the log trailer and build the lowbed as well. Shipping was the same for 8 as it was for 16 so I went for it.

On the fabrication side of things I finally got some material to build the mirror posts so I got them done today. I'm starting to narrow down my to do list and its almost time for paint....








Thanks for looking!

[Espeefan]

Man, that's a beautiful model. I'm glad you're putting in the efforts on the details. The mirror posts look great. It's all the little stuff that will make this model come to life! So I guess this Kenworth is going to be yellow and green?

[RCP57]

Originally Posted by Espeefan

Man, that's a beautiful model. I'm glad you're putting in the efforts on the details. The mirror posts look great. It's all the little stuff that will make this model come to life! So I guess this Kenworth is going to be yellow and green?

Thanks Nate, I'm not sure if I'm spending the time adding the details to make the truck look more finished or just to avoid painting!lol I really hate painting... Yes the truck will be yellow, green and white. I'm going to try and see if I can get the original owners company logos made for the doors. I think that will really make it appealing to some of the old timers around here(and to me too).

Reg

[JAMMER]

Your looking real good Reg it is really taken shape now your on a down hill slide now. Ed

[RCP57]

Small update....details, details....
Made some brass caps for the tanks...

some studs for the front wheels....

some hold downs for the hood...not very scale other than their location but they will do....


and finally started to splash some paint on the front wheels....I greatly dislike painting


Thanks for peepin!

[Supermario]

Hey Reg, I'm lovin the details keep this up and we are looking at build of the year for sure! She's a masterpiece without a doubt.

Mario

[RCP57]

That's a pretty bold statement Mario! I think there are a few other builds going on that best it for build of the year(Like that guy from Finland building the excavator) but I guess you're allowed to be bias because you contributed to the project! I'm actually enjoying some of the detail work on this. There are a few things that I should do that I'm having trouble finding the motivation for but I will try to keep pushing forward and not get impatient...

Reg

[D8R]

Hi Reg,
got possibility to copy some KW broschures (doing a story about KW 90 year for a magazine) on loan. Might be a little late into this fantastic build now but want to share it anyhow! Both KW 850 and little brother 849 shown.













/Dan

[RCP57]

Hey Dan, very cool! I had never seen the pre-loader brochure before! Thanks for posting that. Do you have much history on the plant in Burnaby BC? I think they stopped building trucks there in the 80's but I'm not positive what year. I think the last 850's were built in 1988 so I'm guessing it was around then. If you have any info feel free to share it on here. I think it is cool that all the off-highway logging trucks(no matter the brand) were built right here in BC for the local forest industry. The fact that so many of these trucks are still operating today is a testament of their build quality!

Thanks, Reg

[Supermario]

Originally Posted by RCP57

That's a pretty bold statement Mario! I think there are a few other builds going on that best it for build of the year(Like that guy from Finland building the excavator) but I guess you're allowed to be bias because you contributed to the project! I'm actually enjoying some of the detail work on this. There are a few things that I should do that I'm having trouble finding the motivation for but I will try to keep pushing forward and not get impatient...

Reg

Ok, I got a little carried away and you are absolutely right about the other amazing builds going on right now......There's just something bout those old K Dubs I just love.
How about build of the year nominee??

Mario

[RCP57]

Originally Posted by Supermario

Ok, I got a little carried away and you are absolutely right about the other amazing builds going on right now......There's just something bout those old K Dubs I just love.
How about build of the year nominee??

Mario

Haha, Fair enough Mario! Nominee sounds good enough to me. Don't get me wrong I would love to win build of the year and I'd like to think it's a worthy candidate, but there always is some stiff competition!

A few more tweaks to the truck today... and some big chunks seen some paint!

I made up a little fake drain pipe and ball valve for the water tank. The piece that "T"s off to the front will have a hose pushed on it and the one pointing down is meant to look like the ball valve. I will paint the handle red later....



I wasn't happy with the look of the water tank on top so I added a guard to each side of the "V" notch. I can't tell from the pictures I have if it is correct but this is how my Dad remembers it so I will blame him if it is wrong.



Next up I did some mud work on some of the seems and began the application of School Bus Yellow!...Oh and some more white on the rims....







Reg

[D8R]

Sorry Reg, did not have anything more about those trucks.
Yes, the logging truck up at your place looks real cool, A Hayes wouldn't be to bad to have sitting around the corner.
Dan

850 looks good in paint too!

[Espeefan]

I hate painting too, Reg, but so far it looks like you are getting some great results!

[RCP57]

Some more paint....



With a little primer, I think the wire I used to make it look like door frames turned out well.



The front fenders should have a triangular piece welded in at the front where they're bent instead of the way I built them so I machined a step in the sides of them to make it look like it is multiple pieces.



a couple extra colors too...starting to look like the real deal!





Thanks for following along...Reg

[Supermario]

Nice work on the door trim Reg it looks great!
We could all tell your metal skills when it was in raw form but like the old saying, paint shows all imperfections and yet, the cab and front end looks nice and clean with paint on them. Awesome job!
Have the tires you ordered arrived yet?

Mario

[doodlebug]

Hey Reg, on those hood latch orings, have you considered sticking them in a vise with wax paper, then fill the centers in with black silicone????
Just an idea?
Looks better every day!
Cheers, Neil.

[RCP57]

Originally Posted by Supermario

Nice work on the door trim Reg it looks great!
We could all tell your metal skills when it was in raw form but like the old saying, paint shows all imperfections and yet, the cab and front end looks nice and clean with paint on them. Awesome job!
Have the tires you ordered arrived yet?

Mario

Thanks Mario,

I spent a little more time on the roof(filing and sanding) before priming so that the only place there is any mud in the whole cab is where the windshield meets the firewall cowl. I really want to make the metal do what I want and not have to use filler! Some places though it is better to cheat and use it rather than trying to weld and entire seem.

The tires shipped out on Monday afternoon and I see that they cleared customs this morning so I should get them soon.

Neil, I switched to a lot thinner O rings and it looks much better but I may have to give your idea a try!

Reg