RELIANCE MERCURY 8001

[dadandlad]

Well i joined the forum a couple of days back and thought i would share my project with you.
I worked for a company in England for six years building Aircraft and Dock service vehicles until it closed down a few years ago.
I had always wanted to build a working scale model of my favourite vehicle the 8001 push back tractor,which we built five in total shipping them to Ogden Aviation at schipol airport,Aer-lingus at Hethrow,RAF at RAF Brize Norton and the last two to China
The original spec
Overall length 8156mm
Overall Height 1725mm
Overall width 3025mm
wheelbase 3575mm
Ground clearance 190mm
Engine Aircooled Deutz BF10L513 394 Bhp 15.95 Litre
ZF powershift transmission
Kessler twin steer drive axles

My aim is to produce a accurate working scale model of the 8001 and the inspiration came when i purchased a Tamiya TLT and realised the axles are a very good match for the originals.
I have spent around 6 months so far producing what you see,the main chassis is 5mm alluminium plate with he same material used for the bulkheads.
The bodywork and cab are all made from various thickness's of brass sheet.
The square box with the brass gear you see in one of the pics is a combined Hydraulic tank and pump to power the onboard jacks and cab elevate ram and the block with the fittings in is the three station manifold to control the above features.
The drive gearbox is a cross between a TLT and a electric plane reduction gearbox although this may change if i can lay my hands on a Tamiya 3 speed unit
All the service hatch lids will be hinged to allow access to the radio gear,pump etc.
The cab has hinged doors just for the **** of it nd will be trimmed out with carpet as per the original.
I still have a lot to do and expect to spend at least another 6-12 months before it is finished.

I have had the pleasure of driving one of these on a pushback at Heathrow Airport where she pushed a fully laden Air India 747 backwards on little more than tickover,it really is rarther daunting to look up through the cab roof and realise the nose of the plane is stretched to the rear of the truck {we pushed it out from the front of our vehicle} and the look out to the side making the tightest turn and realise just how tortured the tyres and landing gear of the plane are.

Anyway im sorry i didn't find you guys earlier and you have missed quite a lot of my build but any questions i wil try to answer and bring you up to date.