Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Thank you! :)

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

A few progress pics after some paint work.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...jwGZg5M-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...8687QZ7-X2.jpg

Lesu rear suspension and some other aluminum goodies. I also should've installed the rear center caps. D'oh! :)
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...svzrxVW-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...w9b8pdk-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...7S7D5jr-X2.jpg

Scale hardware for the win!
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...2crwfs3-X2.jpg

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

That's good looking. I see you have lots of patience :) You're hired:lol:

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

LOL, thanks!!:D

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Very sharp looking truck!

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Are the leaf springs you used tempered..?? I saw you drilled new holes, did you have to anneal the spring or something... I haven't had any luck drilling leaf springs, any tips would be great.

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Thanks!!

I doubt they're tempered and I didn't temper them myself. They're just stock F350 springs and yeah, it was a pain to drill through them. :(

So we got a bit of snow on Sunday here in Austin, Texas. That's not a common occurrence for us so I figured I'd take the opportunity to take a few pics and see how it drives in some icy conditions. Well, it did great!
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...vDPmTS3-X2.jpg

Then last night we got some real snow. Like....."are we even in Texas" kinda snow! Depending where you measured, we easily got 4-7 inches, which is crazy for us. Well, of course I had to test out the truck in deeper stuff today. Overall, it did really great and had plenty of traction. The limitation, as one would expect, is the low hanging front bumper and the overall low right height. Nonetheless, I was pleased!
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...fvhtdTZ-X2.jpg

I also got some Lesu steps for the frame, but only have one installed at the moment.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...w7FPNQ3-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...H5FqFdR-X2.jpg

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Tamiya 9805522 is the part# for the rear leaf spring of Tamiya 4x2 trucks which are pre-drilled with the 12mm spaced holes, it may be an easier option?

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Oh, mine were drilled, but I wanted to move the axle forward a bit so I drilled new holes.

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Ah my bad!

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Might be a long time before you can take winter pictures again ;) Looks good in the snow!

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

I knew I'd want custom plates for this truck and rather than spend money on some custom ones, I decided to try my hand at making some. Being 1/14th scale, they're only about 1" long so it won't be obvious if they're not perfect. And it costs me nothing to try so why not? I went online and copied a few JPGs of license plates I'd want. I printed them and then trimmed them out. Here's a super close-up of what my mediocre printer could do:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...82_HEIC-X2.jpg

Then I adhered them to some .015" styrene with some glue.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...83_HEIC-X2.jpg

Then I trimmed them out with some clear tape applied over them to protect the ink.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...84_HEIC-X2.jpg

The thin overall thickness feels pretty realistic and from a short distance I think they'll look just fine.

Another thing I've been thinking about lately is the front bumper. I haven't found an aluminum one that I like so for now I'm going to use the stocker. I cut off the two "buck teeth" from under it to help the approach angle.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...87_HEIC-X2.jpg

I like weight in my scale RCs. They perform more realistically that way. In fact, I'm rather disappointed the Pete is only weighing in at about 9 lbs so far. So I decided to add some weight in the form of touring car weights glued into the front bumper. I Dremeled out some room inside the bumper, glued the weights in, and will paint them silver so they're less obvious. Those 80 grams really gave the bumper some heft!
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...86_HEIC-X2.jpg

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Weight is good! Interesting way of making plates :)

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

I agree! And ideally I'd like to apply the plates to some super thin aluminum, but I just used what I had around.....for now. :)

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Snow pics look great

Soda can or aluminum disposable oven cookware (tooling foil) can make pretty good license plate backing.
Commercial rig with Vanity plates? (The LA plate took me a second to get.)

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

What can I say? The owner/operator is a vain guy! :lol: Great idea on the can for an aluminum source! I'll give that a try soon. Thanks!

I popped some holes in the dash today in preparation for backlighting the dash similar to how Bob at Hobby Concepts does it.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...Vq9HGBx-X2.jpg

And with paint and my marker job it came out looking like wood grain. Perfect!!
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...n2wksZC-X2.jpg

Primed/painted some other bits today, too. Ignore Cletus. I think he sniffed too much spray paint today.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...djRSBzS-X2.jpg

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

I picked up a pair of super single Michelins from RC4WD in hopes of maybe running them up front. Holy crapola, they're gigantic!
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...11_HEIC-X2.jpg

I mean....sure, technically they fit, but that wheel is way too narrow so these will be used another time. It's a bummer because they look amazing and are so much softer than the rock hard Lesus.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...12_HEIC-X2.jpg

I also started working on painting the driver. Never painted a person before so it'll be interesting to see how this dude turns out! But how do I mount him into the seat?
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...18_HEIC-X2.jpg

Not gonna lie. This felt a bit awkward.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...22_HEIC-X2.jpg

But I had my reasons to violate poor Cletus the way I did!
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...24_HEIC-X2.jpg

See? I told ya. This wasn't just for my own personal enjoyment!
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...25_HEIC-X2.jpg

Finally getting around to doing some detailing of the cab, too. Rolled the windows down to make it easier to see the interior.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...26_HEIC-X2.jpg

Got the orange lenses fitted to the cab clearance lights and painted the visor.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...27_HEIC-X2.jpg

I also painted the wipers and some window trim.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...28_HEIC-X2.jpg

Lastly, I picked up a Gear Jammer fifth wheel slider and a Lesu fifth wheel and did some painting along the way.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Hobby-Stu...29_HEIC-X2.jpg

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Lookin' good over there. I did shorten the front axle 19 mm. and moved the springs further in, a little tight for the gearbox. It looks pretty cool.

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bf3f86f0_b.jpgIMG_5576 by Bo Wallen, on Flickr[/IMG]

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

For super-single steers, probably consider making a set of cut&shuts? You'll need some Rubberized CA glue normally used for mounting racecar tires. I'd take off the parting line tread block, and maybe the one next to it.

We're not gonna judge you about what you were doing with the driver, if you're both concenting adults, be yourself.

Re: Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler
 

Thanks, guys! I've got a set of 30mm width wheels coming from Semi Joe. We'll see how they fit. I've done cut-n-shuts back in the day, but it's been well over 10 years. I may consider that, but we'll see...

As far as Cletus goes, things were a bit awkward between us for awhile, but we're all good now. :D

I'm happy to see the interior taking shape the way I'd envisioned. :)
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...P4k7QKm-X2.jpg