Nick's Heller 1/24 Ferguson Tractor - Lee W's Four Wheels on my Wagon GB

[Nicko]

Afternoon Guys,

I'd like to join in with this one and my chosen subject is Heller's 1/24 Ferguson TE-20 Tractor.

I've had this in the stash for a while - since December 2016 according to my records - so its about time it got built. When I was a young apprentice mechanic working for a construction plant company, we had an old 'Fergie' that was used for towing stuff in and out of the workshop and other general yard duties. I've no idea how old the machine actually was, but it did have an interesting fuel system with twin tanks - one (smaller) for petrol and the main tank held paraffin; the idea being that the engine was started and warmed up on petrol, after which it could be switched over to run on paraffin. According to Internet sources this engine had a larger capacity but lower compression ratio than the petrol only version.

Anyway, this is what I am going to be working with:

The boxed kit still in its shrink-wrap...



The usual Heller 'bigger than it needs to be' box...



The sprues.....








Some 'rubber' tyres..


The instructions and a very tiny decal sheet...



Looks like there are a couple of different seats and steering wheels to choose from and alternative front tyres too. I hope to start cutting into it later on in the week so for now its still in that lovely state where it exists as a finished masterpiece in my mind...... ?

Welcome along to all.......


Nick.

[Jim R]

Nice choice. When we lived on the Outer Hebrides a lot of crofters had these small, vintage tractors. Looks anice kit.

[PaulTRose]

Now this i like the look of!

Something very different

[Lee W]

Looks good Nick, if it's anything like the MF 2680 that I've got on the bench, then you're in for a treat, yes I've added some cables and hoses but still looks like the real thing... kind of!

[Nicko]

Before I'd opened the box, I'd already bought the paint for this little project.....



However, on looking at the instructions, there is a red and grey option, which looks quite fetching..



In general the instructions look pretty easy to follow...





Anyway, for the first time in quite a while I have no partially completed projects so this afternoon I gave the bench a good tidy, put new blades in the scalpels, replenished the brush cleaning fluids and we're ready to get cracking. This is as tidy as it ever gets....



The next update should hopefully show some progress. Thanks for looking in.

Nick.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Nice work area Nick. Beats my garage hands down.

[Lee W]

Is is is that a cutting matt on your desk?! I haven't seen mine in a long ???
Looking good Nick, a tidy start!

[papa 695]

Nice one Nick looking forward to seeing this one.

[Nicko]

I've been making some slow progress. Firstly I sorted out all the bits that are not required for the version I'm building. They went in the spares box...



Then the cleanup began. Tractors are interesting to build with everything hanging off a core engine/transmission/final drive unit...



A few minor horrors though. A lot of ejector pin marks on the inside of the mudguards and underside of the bonnet assembly....



And the front of the radiator has a nasty bit of sinkage...



One of the great things about this subject is the sheer number of reference pics that can be easily found on the web. This is something that's going to come in really handy going forward.

Also, I've got myself a new phone, having had my previous one for seven years - quite good going I thought. Anyway, the new one has a much better camera and a 'macro' option which shows my 60% success rate at drilling the distributor tidily.....



A bit more to come in a follow-up post.


Nick

[scottie3158]

Nick,
Count me in mate I will follow along.

[Nicko]

Welcome along Scottie. It is you that has inspired me to try and add a little more detail into this one.

Nick

[Nicko]

After the distributor drilling and a little more assembly, I went ahead and got some HT leads in place.





I also added the engine oil dipstick which you can see a little lower down if you look closely. I still need to add some detail to the oil filler which is just under no. four spark plug.

Next pic shows the fuel tank and battery tray together with the toolbox and drivers panel all dry fitted.



I also made an attempt at the transmission oil dipstick...



Manifolds in place with intake, air filter and carburettor dry fitted.




The hand operated throttle control was not provided so I made one from wire..



She's currently sat with one half of the outer rear axles gluing...



The transmission drain plug and washer were reinstated after I sanded them off sorting the seam...




Next up will be the other end of the axle and then I'll be seeing what other wiring/pipework I can manage. Then there are a lot of rather fiddly looking control rods....


Nick.

[scottie3158]

Great work mate you seem to be having fun with this.

[Nicko]

Yes, thanks Scottie. So far so good.....

Nick

[Jim R]

Good progress. All looking neat and tidy.

[Nicko]

Cheers Jim.

Nick

[Nicko]

Not exactly huge progress, more tinkering round the periphery. I wasted a lot of time trying to fashion a fuel pipe to the carburettor. Eventually I had something that doesn't look too bad.



This was made from a piece of stripped telephone extension wire. I used a punched disc to make up for a slight gap between the carburetor and manifold. These are just dry-fitted at the moment.

I also opened up the air intake which is actually on the dash and used a small piece of etch mesh in there which kind of looks ok.



A few small parts have been added but i have also been finessing a couple of other parts. The intake to the air filter was opened up, likewise the exhaust outlet and i had a go at thinning down the blades on the cooling fan...







I wonder if it might be better to cut those blades right off and replace them with some scrap pieces of brass sheet.

The next stage of actual construction is the front hubs and steering mechanism, but I am also mulling on attempting to fashion some battery leads and the associated fittings. Onwards.....

Thanks as always for looking in....

Nick

[papa 695]

Just caught up Nick, some cracking work going on.

[flyjoe180]

This is very interesting Nick, good progress