Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Sorry Reg, nothing new to show on this project right now. I ran into a case of having to remake some new parts that I am not happy with, so until I can figure them out to my liking, there probably won't be much to talk about. Remaking parts three times over starts to kill my motivation, but once the cold weather hits, I'll get back into the swing of things.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

lame!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

This truck is an amazing build the work your doing is awesome

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Very impressive! your machined parts look amazing, looking forward to the next update.
Stu

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Hello guys, thanks for the nice comments. As always it's appreciated. I know some time has passed since my last update. The truth is I got a little side tracked and lost some motivation for this project truck, but I'm slowly (as always :D) working on getting back some momentum, starting off by finishing up a new cab visor!

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps50d01938.jpg

Turns out making a great cab visor is not very easy. It was kicking my butt for a few months. I must have made 4 or 5 of these things, at about two hours a piece. The more I made, the better they got, but it was a bit frustrating putting all the time into making visors that never quite fit right, or looked good. Finally I have one that I am happy with!

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps02d0266f.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps73fe0770.jpg

It's a big show truck looking drop visor, with a little bowtie mixed in, cut and formed by hand out of .032" thick aluminum. I mounted the visor to the cab with four 0-80 screws. It's pretty fun drilling and tapping small screws like this in aluminum (not!). I had to do it by hand, and thankfully all the holes lined up great!

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psddb4db6d.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psaf3af9a9.jpg

This thing 'ought to match the big fat stacks pretty nicely, when the truck is all finished up! :D Thanks for looking.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

:jaw: Bad ***, that all I can say!!!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Looks great....



Wayne

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Wow Nathan, looking a little more gangsta than my taste but who could complain?!!! Love your custom work, every time!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

I have a complaint.... HURRY UP ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes::p

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Thank you wolfws6. That's pretty much the look I'm going for.

Thanks Wayne!

Gangsta is definitely a good description! My driver is definitely going to have to let all the air out of the seat..... :D Up next, the super tall shifter!

Reg, what's your address? The only way I'll get this done fast is to send you the whole truck and let you finish it! :D I'll even let you paint it. I hate painting.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Sounded great until you mentioned painting....

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

I have a brand new 3" brush and a roller I could lend out.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Hahahaha

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Very nice - more progress please.....

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Hey Nathan, have you considered anodizing the truck instead of paint? Looking good!
cheers, Neil.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Wow that's too cool:cool: Hey if you don't like painting maybe get it anodized, powder coated, or even hydro dipped like this body:

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/...ps185e9896.jpg

Have fun! :popcorn:

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

I love the paint job

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Thank you Izzy. I'm working on it!

Thanks Neil. Yes, I have considered anodizing more than once. Especially for the for the chassis and axles. The thing that worries me about anodizing is I think that process builds up a protective, hardened layer on the aluminum and I haven't accounted for that. I am worried things would not fit back together again, as I haven't machined my parts undersized to allow for it. I'm also worried that some parts might get lost in the process, or in transit. For the cab, it's a casting, and not quite perfect, even though it's pretty nice. There are some minor little low spots and things I would like to smooth over with body filler. Anodizing wouldn't really cover those well, unless I went with a matte type finish, and I think I'd rather have a shiny truck. Hmmm, matte black or blue, with polished aluminum parts though....? :D

That's a sweet looking shell, Trucker_Jo! I think if I do any painting, I'll be sending the cab out for a custom job. The chassis painting, I can handle. Actually, let's put it this way. I do fine painting single color schemes. It's the masking I am not good at, with multi-color schemes. Hydro-dipping is something I never considered. Might be an option! Thanks.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Been working on these little buggers for a while now. I just finished soldering up the LEDs for one of the air cleaner light brackets this morning. I still have the other to do yet. It's a lesson in patience, soldering the LEDs inside the brackets. It took me 2 or 3 hours, but at least one is pretty much done!

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1778115b.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3c1a5ff6.jpg

Orange (front) side.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psb4ba883e.jpg

Red (rear) side.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psc831fe3b.jpg

Both, from above.

I haven't got to the breathers yet, but the plan is to mount them against the machined saddle, on the face of the brackets. Might have to get a little help making the breathers, as I don't have my own lathe......

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Trucks looking good Nathan! Keep at it, it'll be done before you know it! (We Hope!?):D

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Hey Nathan, I see your point, So make it "POP"!
Cheers, Neil.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Great build you going here. The attention to detail is second to none. The light bars look sweet.

Ed

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

That visor looks sweeet.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Thanks Ken! Yes, we (I) hope!

I'll do my best. Is there a custom painter in the house? :D

Thank you for the nice comments, Ed. I appreciate it. Especially after seeing some of your beautiful work.

Thanks bigpipespete!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Happy Memorial Day to everyone, especially all of the veterans and those who are in active duty. My thanks to all of you who have helped maintain our freedoms and way of life!

I figured with a 3 day weekend I would (should) do some more work on my Kenworth. :D I enlisted the help of a friend of mine from work, who was kind enough to turn down some aluminum stock for me on the lathe. I gave him the material and my drawings, and he gave me back my air cleaners. Special thanks to Ron. They are actually pretty simple parts. I just bought some precision ground .75" round stock, so nothing needed to be turned beyond the relief cuts for the screens. All in all a pretty simple job, but something I couldn't do because I don't have a lathe. Maybe I should get one!

On with the photos!

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psf0198961.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps22816160.jpg

They still need a final polishing and a bit of clean up, but it shouldn't take much to get them looking flawless. I thought for the old Kenworth strapless air cleaners would look best. Sort of going for a resto-rod project truck here.

For a little extra touch of style, I planned to illuminate the inside of the air cleaner screens with an LED. I've always loved this look on the 1:1 trucks. I have blue LEDs on order for the truck, but just to see how it would look I stuck a red LED inside, temporarily.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps74fa4982.jpg

And one more in the dark -

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psb5997660.jpg

Thanks for looking guys. Have a great weekend.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Very nice work Nathan! :cool: and good of you to invest some time of a holiday weekend into Rc.:D
The air cleaners turned out beautiful. I really like the led inside. ( wish I did that on Sues truck :eek:) . The screen looks nice and straight, fits perfectly.
So hopefully we don't need to wait for another long weekend to get some more progress and pics right:rolleyes::p:cop:

Mario

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Happy Memorial Day Nathan, I'm with Mario the cleaners look great especially with the LED inside and more updates please!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Its be a while since i have checked out your build so Wow Nathan impressive ..This build is going to definatley be a one of...a show truck for sure ..Do you plan on painting yourself or farming that out ?..wish I had your peicients

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Thank you Lou, I appreciate that. I am not sure about trying to paint this truck myself. Paint and I really don't get along to well. I would like to send the cab out to someone for a really nice finish, but I will probably paint the chassis myself. The only way I would tackle painting the cab is if it's going to be a simple one or two color scheme. Whenever masking is involved, I always get some bleeding.

Thanks Kent! I'll keep at it, and hopefully I'll have some more updates soon!

Thank you Mario! I'm really happy with air cleaners too. You could always go back and add some LEDs to your own trucks. If you have to go back to rework something, it will give me a chance to catch up! :D We need more 3 day weekends, I think. Ha. Just kidding. I've been feeling pretty good about the way this project is going now, and so I've been more enthused about working on it.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Nathan if you want to anodize you could use a aluminum filler that Eastwood Companys has it is like fiberglass filer but is is aluminum and you use it like the fiberglass filler. I have used it on a few things and I like it. Ed

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Hi Ed, I've heard about Eastwood, but I never knew they had an aluminum filler. Might have to look into it, if I decide to have the cab anodized, but right now I'm leaning more toward a classy paint scheme. We'll see. Thanks for the tip.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Okay, so it's a beautiful day outside and thought I would snap some pictures of the Kenworth in some natural sunlight. I spent some time working on the cab. I removed and sanded the original passenger side cast on air cleaner mount to make room for the new ones I machined. Then I drilled new holes and got the air cleaners and light brackets all mounted up. Here are some pictures.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psb8c94da9.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psf71b9126.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psd64c5837.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psd08d7a81.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps66d0e729.jpg

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...ps72e1e146.jpg

I'm really happy with the look that the look that the Kenworth has now. :D The cab isn't looking so naked anymore. I still plan to try and build some mirrors and mirror brackets for it too, which I think might be a challenge, but we'll see how that goes. I also need to make some cab glass yet too, but she's looking pretty good right now. It's been a good day!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Looking good. I like how it's coming together... Your attention to detail stands out!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

I love the " look" or " stance" of it!;) with the visor , bumper and the fender style this thing looks Wicked! :cool:
Now get back to work!:lol:

Mario

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Now that's got some attitude! Looking good

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

You have done some amazing work on the 'ol girl. Aaron said it best, attitude:jaw:...Should that be the name??? A true piece of art.:D:cool:

Big John

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

As always you amaze me Nathan! Love the breathers with the interior light! Have you figured out what your gonna do for the headlights? I think it looks good in the raw form.

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Thank you Lmackattack.

Me too, Mario! Ha ha. Alright, I'll get back to the workbench, just as soon as I'm done posting this. Thanks for the comments.

Thanks Aaron!

Big John, thanks. Maybe 'Attitude' would be a good name for the truck. I kind of do want to name it something, and then have a sticker with the name made for the rear window, once I get it milled out and glass installed.

Thank you Jimmy! For the headlights, I have a couple ideas. I like the look of the All American Toys headlights, because they are true Kenworth replicas, but if I can't light them up, I'll have to go with a round single from another source. Maybe PMD or something. But for the All American Toys headlights, I was hoping I could take a ball nose end mill and hollow out the centers, than find a clear lens that would fit over the front. Run the wires for an LED out the bottom or something. We'll see. I don't think it will be very easy! The truck does look good in it's raw form, but I think I'll still paint it!

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Nathan just grab your mill and mill the centers out and then put some plastic inserts in them and a light. Ed

Re: 1950 Kenworth Needlenose
 

Hey Nathan. Have you thought about pico sized led. Don't hog out the original lights just drill a hole to fit the pico led. These things are smaller than nano but seem very bright.

Size specs on this page.


http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/le...ined.html#pico

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/smd-chip-leds.html