Allen's (V2) F-108 Cable Reel Trailer for SimonT

[minitnkr]

Found this pic of front of your trailer. Shows stepladders but unfortunately doesn't clear-up what object in front compartment is. Thought maybe a small switchboard or large junction box. There may be a door on lower front center between the ladders. PaulE

BTW, you can tell if it's loud enough when the drywall moves to the beat.

[Steven000]

Very nice detail work Allen, looks great! :thumb2:

[Steve Jones]

Happy New Year mate. Stunning update. A lot of work has gone into those wheels and cables. A real credit to your modelling skills

[adt70hk]

Allen
Just caught up on this. Great work indeed!

ATB.

Andrew

[Strenko J]

Allen,

what can I say that has not already been said about this build… Simply amazing… Keep up the great work

[Jim R]

Hi Allen
Jaw dropping stuff. Just looking at the photos of what you've achieved so far makes me appreciate the skill, patience and madness that is going into this.
Jim

[Allen Dewire]

Good Evening Everyone,

First I must apologize for the late response and a long overdue update. I also must apologize for my lack of commenting on so many fine builds going at the time. I have been on vacation? for 3 weeks, but a lot of personal crap has been going on in my life. Please be patient with the old dude and I will try to catch up with you all ASAP.

Even with all the crap going on, I wish everyone here a Happy New Year and I have gotten some things done on the trailer, but first,

PaulE - Thanks for the pic, but like you said, it doesn't show anything. There is no door in the front and the thingy in the middle is a t-handle of some sort. I still have the option of emailing someone who is writing a book on all the support equipment and vehicles for the V2 battery. Have you gotten any word on your Camaro Yet??? Oh, and I thought it was loud enough when your ears started to bleed...

Steven - Thank you for following Sir and I hope it only gets better as I go...

Stevie - Hey Buddy, I'm giving it all I can and I'm glad you like it so far. Been practicing your swing with the 3 wood in the backyard of the Plymouth???...

Andrew - Thanks Sir! You're doing a heck of a job yourself, Etch King! Gotta catchup on your fine work...

Joe - Hey my friend, I hope you and the family are all safe and healthy in uptown Ohio, or is it downtown Ohio, Thanks much and it's just the good German beer that helps keep me going...

Jim - You are to kind Sir! Trust me, the madness has, sort of, just begun. Please see below and take care...

After all the nonsense with tires and reels, I decided to make a start on the trailer chassis to catch my breath. First off, the kit trailer only has the re-enforced frame cross beam on one end. That needed a fix,



Out with some sheet plastic and using the other end as a guide, I made a piece to re-enforce the other end. I had to hit the one side with some putty to get the angle correct, but it worked out. I'll coat it with some Mr. Surfacer 500 and then sand it back again. Then I went to work building the front axle assembly,



I found that the air tank was too long and I had to saw out about 3mm to fit the air pipe to the air junction box I scratched on the left side,



That looks better. Luckily, after researching for a few hours, I found a brake diagram from the original 5 ton trailer handbook and found that I needed to modify the brake drum actuating arms in the middle, on the axle, from what was in the kit. Done...Then it was on to the back axle components,



Heavy seam lines made this a lot of fun, but we finally got everything cleaned up. The trailer hitch lacked the lever to raise the pin, so I added that. Here you can better see the modified brake actuating rods and the piece I had to remove between them (the V). The 2 little arms go up to the air operated piston to work them. The brakes were of the normal type operated by air pressure. Anyway,



The trailer chassis (before I added the pipe on the air tank). Everything lines up pretty good and after it gets painted, I can add the air lines and the electrical wiring for the lights etc...Now onto something different, really different. After getting my order of new Evergreen plastic rod, I broke out the chopper and started chopping up bits,



These are the towing hand bars for the carts. They are out of 1mm rod and the curve was formed using my thumb and first finger. The T-handles are from 0,064 rod. You may ask why I have made 3 of them. I need the third one for my Steyr generator wagon that's in rebuild at the moment. So, while going blind and slinging glue, we had these,



Now, we need to make the main cart frames. The cart frame will be made from 1,2mm rod and I needed two 90° angles. Oh, wait....I forgot to show you what I am trying to make here,



The thingies that are hanging on the back.....Sorry that I can't make the pic bigger! Now, where were we......Ok, making the frames. I tried bending the rod using hot water. Nope! Then with hotter water. Nope! Boiling water didn't work either. Time for a cold one and a think.....I needed constant heat and no open flame and I don't own a hair dryer. Bang, I do have an old soldering iron from my R/C car racing days when I made my own battery saddle packs. Hasn't been used since the 90s, but it was worth a try. It worked and dumb me for got to take pics of the finished pieces. I made axles and found 2 pieces from a Dragon Panther kit which I modified a tad. Glued all the stuff together and here is what came out of it,



Cable reel carts!!! The top one will be in use on the ground and the bottom one will be hung on the back of the trailer. You can see the Panther parts I used for the kickstand, along with a punched out disk for the foot. The kickstand on the top one will be glued on after I finish mounting the reel on the cart. Another pic,



They still need a little clean up and the cable reel rod holder's added. Of course, I have to paint them and the tires too...Next up will probably be making new end walls for the compartments as mine are too short in height. I need to make them 4mm higher, but that's another story........

Thanks for looking in and have a good week. Stay safe and all bla bla good or bad cheerfully accepted...........

Prost
Allen

[Si Benson]

Good evening Allen, hope your well sir?
Don’t seem to be getting notifications again so your update slipped under the radar. The research and alterations your making are impressive as are your scratch reel roller frame things, top stuff :nerd:

I like what your doing Mr D, keep it coming mate :thumb2:

[JR]

Dude 1.
Having just read how you made them, that answers my question then !
Definitely on a roll with this, really good to see the mojo so high again .

[minitnkr]

Sorry about the photo. No VIN yet, so they haven't started construction. I've never had it that loud, but I've seen window drapes sway & drywall move. Bose systems are very cool. PaulE

[Mini Me]

Indeed they are...........takes me back to Quadrapnonic sound et al.

[Tim Marlow]

Lovely scratch work Allen.

[Steve Jones]

No golf at the moment mate. Not picked up a club since November. Its quite handy as I have had four builds on the go at once. Never again! Great to see your neat and tidy progress. Luvin your style my friend.

[Allen Dewire]

And just when you all thought he was gone forever.................................HE'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, to make a long story short, real life and work beat me to a pulp!!!...Work. new Passport, work, Permanent Residency Pass, work, youngest son's OP, work and all in these trying times tends to beat the hell out of ya. Mojo was flying, but sleeping at the table after work didn't help the build one bit. Anyway, life is back, almost, to normal and time to get cracking once again....

Thank you all for the support and comments and banter on this madness build of mine. I really do appreciate it. Now, I did find out what is behind the small commo reels in the front of the trailer (No need to apologize for the pic Paul and great to hear they are building your Camaro finally). Here is a little better pic than the one you found Sir,





As you can see between the ladders is some sort of T looking holder. I guess I have to ask what it is for. I forgot last week to ask about it. Now, for what is behind the commo reels,



They are folded cable bridges to protect the laid cables from vehicle traffic. Each trailer had 6 inside and 2 more hanging on the back between the reel carts,



Now I'll have to use the guesstimation process to construct them and be sure they fit where they go. I have also learned that there were 2 different versions of this trailer and mine is a bit too short once again. I am NOT building another one and I will call it MAL (Modeller's Artistic License) in this case. Progress has been slow due to having to make so many tiny parts. More on this later....

We did manage to get the cart mountings done and the handle holders were made from some etch,



I just have to add the bottom support mounts for the carts. The finished trailer will only have one hanging on the back. I also finished the reel cart that will be on the ground,



It just needs the axle hubs added and then it can be painted and put aside. It's kinda cute, but very functional for rolling out and rolling the cables back up....

Now a little off track..........I have a (crazy) V2 friend who only works in 1/48 scale. He is doing the same things that I am, but has to scratch almost everything. He is building a Steyr 2000A like I did. He was building the relay cabinet and decided to build the inside of it too. The original relay cabinet,



And his start in 1/48 scale,



The man is definitely off his meds at the moment. He also spent 4 years scratch building this fully workable 1/48 Strabo crane. Transport mode,



Operational mode,



And you all think I'm nuts!!! I think we all sniff to much rocket propellant.......Ok, back on track now..............

Tiny parts are a real PITA. I needed to make the main body to frame supports. I needed 6 T-shaped and 4 L-shaped pieces for them. Easy, huh......NOT,



If you look closely, there are no 2 that are alike and they are all crooked and not 90° angled. I made 3 sets and they were all crooked and not the same size. Plus, the T tails are too short and the L tops too thick. Ok plan B was in order. I also needed 32 latch pieces to keep the doors closed. 24 double latches and 8 single latches,



You can see the latches on top in red and the supports on the bottom in red. Here's what we ended up with,



On the left, the raw latches (only 24) and on the right, the supports, in the little cups held by some rubber tires from my Hanomag SS100. Trust me, it was a whole lot of fun to drill out the holes in the latches. Talk about going blind!!!!!!

Sorry for the long post and I do thank you all again for your support. All C, C. and C is cheerfully accepted!!! More to come.....You have been warned!!!

Prost
Allen

PS, A special thanks go out to Ron K and Volker Ruff for their assistance and info for this project......

[JR]

Dude 1, brilliant work. After a quick discussion at Race Towers Award Committee, the Dogs Award is granted without question.