Superb work Nige, this has become one of my favorite threads now. I must have read it "cover-to-cover" a dozen times and picked up tips every time.

Cheers, D

Hi Damian ,,,,,,, thanks for the compliments

Added the top hose, thermo-fan sender cable and overflow pipe to the radiator


Oil filler pipe to the sump (now in the right place)


Oil to coolant heat exchanger and oil filters made from sprue off cuts




More hoses and pipes in place now


Nige

I agree with Damian, every time I look at this thread you either give me another idea or solve some scratchbuilding problem for me. Keep up the good work, the rest of us can use it!

Jim
Large Scale Armory

Hi Jim

Having seen the quality of your work, it is me that is needing loads of lessons from you on fine detailing.

Made a start on the coolant header tank and the steering hydraulic fluid reservoir using laminated plasticard glued and sanded to shape and then skinned with aluminum foil.






Filling points from spare sprue sanded to shape


Added some detail to the rear cab support frame
Before


Drilled out the cab locating holes and central lock down hole




The KFS resin is very easy to drill and work and is chunky enough to take a little working.

Nige

A little more work on the rear cab support to form the U channel that forms the bottom part of the A frame (KFS have probably expected most cabs to be static and only formed the visible face)




Glued to the chassis now so my calcs on the cab location had better be correct.


Also added a couple of brackets for the cab spring shock absorbers and removed the lower cross member that would foul the gear box.



Can now add the mounting brackets for the coolant header and steering hydraulic fluid resorvoir.

Nige

wow... just wow. Still impressed with each page

I overloaded my photobucket with my recent pics past month there and my account is suspended till the 13th when I can start uploading more.

DAF DROPS Photobucket updates

Hopefully this link works to my photobucket board where you can browse all the pics uploaded to it.

Is my fault for taking so many pics instead of building ,,,,,,,,, TEE HEE !!!!!!!!!!

Nige

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

Ordered some rear square coloured and clear lenses plus 20 ratchet straps in photo etch from KFS.

Although, tomorrow I have a bigger bill to pay and another job taking up my time to sort my exhaust as PC plod pulled us over tonight and asked us politely to get it sorted on pain of death (OK a £30 fine if not sorted in 21 days).

We should have told PC plod it was really our sterio playing up !!!!!!!

Super car exhaust !!

BUGGER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More expence just after Xmas !!!!!

Howards service with KFS is great having received my lights and ratchet straps in two days.

Had a bugger of a time trying to get the shrouds for the rear cab mounting frame built to attach one to the cab and the other to the A frame support itself. The steering hydraulic fluid reservoir and coolant header tank are supported off the rear mount A frame. It was a bugger to gauge the sizes from the mix of photos.

First the rear mount and the tanks


I had got the location of the rear mount wrong and had to cut it off the chassis and re glue it giving enough space to place the tanks on their support frame




The space appears more correct this time around






Still got to add more plumbing to this area


Hope you like

Having just sent Jon (Ferny) a couple of pics of the real truck and trailer combo, I have just noticed that I have not added the guide horns to the front ISO locks on the trailer to match the rear ones. BUGGER.

Looks like I need to fettle them quick and get a first coat on them before I forget them and they are too far off colour.

It's amazing what you can see from a different perspective when you least expect it. Hopefully not too many other big ommissions as I am hoping to put another coat of paint on the trailer this weekend.

Nige

Got a few jobs done on the DROPS tonight. A few points were correcting niggling errors that were too obvious.

Added the bracket to mount the cab tilt hydraulic ram.


Also added a new strengthener to the rear cab support A frame.




First of the fixes was to add the two guide horns to the front of the trailer


Wasn't happy with the first cross member including the towing hitch as was too thick. Cut back off and added some additional detail to the tow hitch








Also added the small grill that has the air line, red and yellow connectors to fit to (still to figure out how to make them)




Wasn't happy with the rear cab A frame support shroud on the back of the cab. The angles did not look right so cut it off and re did the shroud.
Before




After




The section of shroud that is fixed to the A frame now has the hole for the air cleaner duct to engine


Beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel

Nige

Time for some update of work

Found a donor fuel tank for cannibalizing to make what I need. Was obviously one of a pair from a model but I cannot think where it came from.

First job was to sand smooth all the old, molded detail of support straps and sighting glass, etc. Then to split the tank in its two original halves to then remove 1.5mm off each half.


Next was to add thicker plasticard ends to allow me to sand them to the required shape




Added a new sighting glass including fine metal mesh for the protection


Along with the three supply, return and breather fuel pipe entry points, the pipe support bracket and filler pipe, I made new end brackets that will mate to the chassis supports.


Fuel tank ready for attaching and then plumbing




Am quite satisfied with the end product

Nige

A quick fuel tank fix with I channel dressed with some tin foil and on the chassis








It starts giving the main chassis some bulk now

Nige

Main tool locker plus battery rack glued in place and mud guards and cab only placed on a dry run to check progress and locations out












Will possibly tackle the rear wing supports first, then the front. Have to figure out the front cab supports and bumper too.

Nige

Rear mudguard support and Jerrycan holders formed and glued in place with mudguards to check stance








I can't remember what I have done with the left-overs for the stiff wire to make the mudguard supports so will need to wait till weekend to rake through shed.

Needle ,,,,,,,,,, haystack !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bugger

How hard can it be to make KFS's fantastic etched metal ratchet straps while blethering at the model club? After all there are only four bits and some ribbon to each !!!!!! Only managed to do one, and cause I was blethering, screwed up one part by cutting off the wrong bit !!!!!!!!! ha ha ha ha !!!!!!

Not the instructions fault, just the person reading them !!!!!!

Instead I have some pics of the air reservoirs hung under the battery rack and some plumbing.








Will maybe tackle the ratchet straps again when I am not blethering. Still got nineteen left to make after all.

Nige

Hell Nige... Haven't you finished this yet?

Just as well the Army already has some!








Absolutely superb work mate, learning a lot from it!

Just as well I got around to building it when I did, that is them coming to the end of their life with UK Army and being sold off at auction !!!!!!!!!!

If I had extra dosh and a sizeable piece of land, I would want to buy one with a trailer too.

Can but dream !!!!!!!!!

Nigel

What are you using for the piping? It looks very realistic.

Hi Murdo

I have three thicknesses of solder, very thin copper wire from an electric winding and sprue off-cuts

Nige

Added fuel filter and pipes from the fuel tank, the cab tilt mechanism

Second steer axle in place. As you can see I whimped out of trying to mimic a full steering set of wheels as the model will be heavy and I have a couple of trucks with normal plastic kit parts that have failed early at the steering axles.

With the weight of the KFS cab I will be happy to have the kit last longer rather than having pose able wheels.



Steering linkages made from scrap sprue, paper clip inside a cotton bud tube




Nige

Starting to add the axles and brake actuators, plumbing and anti roll bars, etc
















Nige

I was thinking I would have to have a simple lift off cab, but everything has fitted in so well and KFS had a couple of secure points in the cab inner piece that allowed me to fit plugs of hollow square box section directly into.

I drilled out pivot point holes in the box section and rounded of the ends to match the holes


Using two sizes of U channel, one wide but shallow and the other slightly narrower but deeper channel, I formed the mounting points for the chassis. I matched up the drilled holes and rounded off the ends in the same manner. Also had to sand out the back of the channels to allow the cab pivots to tilt.


Got to figure out a way to stop the cab tilting all the way over and keep it just at the right angle by making some form of restraint slide like the original.




Quite chuffed that the cab will tilt.


Nige

Ha ha ha ha ha ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, my fertile mind made a boo boo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The reason the cab was not tilting properly is because I have got the pivot point too low. The cab appears to tilt at the line ABOVE the indicators !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shows you how many times I had to tilt the cab in my nine years driving them !!!!!!!!!!!!


Yet another cut of the KFS cab


This is the extent of the cab that tilts


The bit I was not going to do, but new would be correct was to cut out the front cab access panel for first parade and water top ups on the windscreen washer, etc.


If I screw this bit up, I will have done damage to £65 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, bugger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too Late Now !!!!!!!!!!! Started, so wish me luck !!!!!

Nige