Scaleart - assembling an Arocs 8x8 roll on roll off kipper

[apfubar]

Stephan,

Isn't it amazing how many hours get sucked up just on the core of the chassis...

Great idea with the dental tools... You are doing a brilliant job with the photos!

Cheers,
Ap

[Rakthi]

Hi Ap,

Yup so right about how time consuming it all is, time flies if one is having fun! Been "making" too much time for it actually ... have to catch up on some house maintenance first.

On a side note, just noticed that I put this right fender support on the left side of the frame and the left one on the right side ... of course it has to be the one that was such a pain to install.



Cheers,

Stephan

[Rakthi]

Swapped those two supports and it was a ***** of a job as expected.



Need to assemble a few more bits and then the frame is ready for painting. Although, might skip the painting, am not too good at that.

[Rakthi]

Raining here, so got some time to add some more.

Installed a small part of the steering linkage as mentioned in the instructions.

Because it has wide holes and can be slid left - right, I installed the actual parts that will connect to it, to make sure I got it in the right spot. (Largest screw goes in top hole)



With the parts in place, and the 2 screws inserted.



Installed and loctite applied.



That part done, on to the side underrun protection (a legal requirement in Europe) that needs to be painted as well. However can not be bolted on frame as of yet.

This seems a simple small assembly unit, so I give you a full rundown on how it comes.

Nicely packaged





Some extra nuts and bolts included, however the ones in the red box are on the parts list, but do not appear on the assembly list ??? Odd.



How it goes together. (another one where one needs be careful as it needs 2 left and 2 right ones)



The holes in the aluminium support bracket were a tad tight. So reamed them out a bit. Not really needed, but easier to insert the little bolts.



One right one assembled ...



Since I wanted to know how the actually bars go on, I looked at the instructions ...



So I am to put a bolt through that hole? The bolt head of the other one is blocking access.





So looks like after paint, the little support will have to come off and the bar bolted on first, then the whole thing can be bolted back to the support bracket ... I tried it, and it does work that way -- if you have 3 hands

Cheers,

Stephan

[Rakthi]

Been thinking about the above "problem" with the bolts blocking one another.



So did a search on the German forums, where there is more than one thread detailing how these trucks go together, and found the solution in one the older threads from Christian (aka Newcomer_2). Just file the head of one of the bolts down.



And problem solved ... just have to file down 7 more. (Dremel to the rescue)

[Rakthi]

Originally Posted by Rakthi

Some extra nuts and bolts included, however the ones in the red box are on the parts list, but do not appear on the assembly list ??? Odd.

Well, turns out not odd at all ... those screws are for a different model truck.

===========================

Now bolting on the last parts to the frame to get into "paint ready" mode.

These are the parts from the locking/swivel mechanism that will hold the cabin to the frame. I will picture them in the order they went on. The locations on the frame is self evident due to the placing of the holes. Just very confusing as all parts have different sizes of bolts.

Here M2x4





Here M2x5





M2x6 and M2x10



The longer screw will hold a spring of the swivel mechanism of the cabin.



This part will hold the front bumper. M2x8





One side done, other is mirror image.



The last part is the cross connector. (M2x6 on the left and M2x5 on the right)





The bolts on this picture are M2x8 to give you an idea of the detail of the parts. The little hook will hold the spring of the locking mechanism







All in all not too difficult to assemble, but gave me some eyestrain figuring out what goes where. Too much information in the technical drawings.

Now we wait for decent weather so I can paint, or I just skip the painting all together, too worried I mess it up. Will see. Meanwhile I look and see what other things can be done.

Cheers!
Stephan

[Rakthi]

Realised I also need to paint the air tanks. So did a quick assembly on that small unit. Good thing too, because doing so pointed out an error I made in the previous post.

Here a pic of the unit;

Screws are M2x4 and M2x8 and M2 nuts. One extra of each fastener.



The little stainless spacer is to make up for the stainless holder to which the fender support is attached.





And here the error I made before. I bolted the fender support to the wrong side of the stainless holder! Aluminum piece supposed to go in front, not behind!



Corrected ... And now easy to see why the little spacer is needed.



And this is how the air tanks will attach later on.



Side note - on the front support for the cab are 2 pieces. The left side on has an attachment for the steering linkage, the right side one doesn't.





That's it for now.

Cheers - Stephan

[ricm]

thanks for taking the time to put up this build thread....really interesting to see, I now understand why Tamiya is just $ but ScaleArt is $$$$$

wierd that you have to cut off all the bolts to get them down to the right length...