M54 POL Tanker in MASSTER

[thathaway3]

I’ve now completed the assembly through step 9 which has all the axles, drivelines and suspension done. Next up is the steering.

Taking a hint from John Ratzenberger’s build review of the kit, I’m going to attempt to modify the drag link and steering linkage so that the front wheels will turn. This involves removing the fixed molded pivoting link on the upper end of the top drag link and drilling it out and installing two pins so that it will actually pivot. At the other end it will also require insuring that the other parts are also free to move. There is a pivot bracket (the part that the kit instructions only barely show in the illustration and do not even call out the part number as John has pointed out), into which the two drag links insert. Those two ends will also have to be free to move as well. We’ll see how it turns out.

[PzAufkl]

Hi Tom,
Here’s how I will treat my steering linkage, based on what I’ve done on Italeri and AFV Club Dodge kits:

First of all, drill through the hole on top of steering arm B44 on the left front wheel.
On top drag link C19, cut off all positioning pins and drill through the part instead, as if you had pulled them out. Now carefully cut off the pivoting link on the upper end (it may become necessary to strengthen or replace part of it). You can now rejoin the two with stretched sprue and the tried and trusted “hot screwdriver method”.
Cut off and drill for new connecting pins on the lower drag link C50. Now figure out how joining these two links to pivot bracket C51 can be done best - cementing stretched sprue either into C51’s holes (whose diameter may have to be reduced) or into the corresponding holes of the drag links and then melting the respective free ends.
Now carefully mount C51 with the help of its mounting pin C10 and very little cement to keep it movable.
The aforementioned considerations then go for mounting the respective ends of the drag links to the frame and the steering arm on the front wheel.
Happy modeling!
Peter

[thathaway3]

Great minds think alike!!! I did almost exactly what you’ve described on my build. Remember that I spent 30 years as an automotive design engineer, so this kind of problem and solution is something I love to do.

I took a slightly different approach. For the steering arm, B44, I drilled a 0.020” hole through the part and then inserted a piece of wire, which had a small 90 degree bend on the end, from the bottom of the part. This was super glued into place with about 3 mm of wire left sticking out of the top of the part. The lower drag link C50 then had a 0.020” hole drilled through it so that it would slip over the pin. Because that part is slightly long and sticking straight up there was no need to make any sort of cap on the other end.

At the bottom end of C50 as well as the bottom end of the upper drag link, C19, I drilled 0.035” holes to match the diameter of the holes in the pivot bracket C51. Because I do a TON of scratch building and because there is no way to get the consistency I need otherwise, I have a complete stock of almost every size, thickness, and diameter of Evergreen Styrene that you can buy. That way I can always get the exact size I need for any item.

I drilled out a 0.035” hole through a 1.5mm hex rod, and then sliced off a very thin section to act as a “nut”. I also prefer this method to the hot screwdriver tip, because it allows me to fix both ends of a pin without worrying about melting the rest of the model when I’m working in very tight quarters.

Using these prepared “nuts”, one is glued flush to the end of the rod to create a “bolt” with excess length left. The drag link ends were then placed next to the appropriate holes in the pivot bracket C51 and the bolts inserted from the backside with the excess length protruding outboard. Then the nut was placed over the ends, worked carefully to the point where the joint is tight, and then very carefully the nut is glued to the end of the bolt keeping the pin free to move. Then the excess length is cut off.

For some reason the attachment hole in the pivot bracket was 0.040” so I drilled out the center of C10 to that size, and then extended the rod through the part and the then through the mounting hole so that it extended through to the frame. Again keeping the pivot bracket free from glue the pin was glued to the inside of the frame and the C10 was glued to the mounting position on the outside.

And then finally the upper end of the upper drag link had the pivot bracket cut off, holes drilled through both ends and rods (using the same nut/bolt method) inserted on both ends so that the pivot bracket is free to swing on both ends.

And with all that, turning the wheels is allowed because all the linkage is now free to move.

Luckily I had some experience with doing this sort of stuff in building the Tamiya 1/12 Tyrell P34 six wheel Formula 1 car which not only allowed the FOUR front wheels to turn, but because the tie rod was attached to a rack and pinion steering gear, the steering wheel ALSO turns along with the road wheels!!!

Thanks for you tips. Looks like we solved the problem in a very similar method!

Thanks,

Tom Hathaway

[PzAufkl]

That turned out great, Tom! Every once in a while things learned in real life come in handy for modeling, it seems.
Speaking of hex-head nuts, here’s my method of making them: I take one of those cheap pencil-shaped ball pens and after removing the refill treat it like stretching sprue. For some unknown reason, clear ones work best, although their material turns intransparent from heat-stretching:

I’ve worked with your method of drilling out rod, too, but find mine faster as it produces lots of material in one stretch. (The real problem with both always being the exact slicing …)

At any rate, between the two of us we’ve helped modeling mankind build better front axles! I’ll keep on following your report closely.

Regards, Peter

[thathaway3]

You’re right about real world experience helping out. I’ve found that both my time in the Army as well as all the years I spent doing automotive engineering combine very nicely in building military vehicles.

As an engineer used to working with specific dimensions, I’ve learned that I have to be able to reach over to my shelf and grab material of exactly the required thickness, width or diameter, especially when I’ve grabbed a specific size of pin vice drill bit. I’ve never been able to be consistent when stretching sprue so I just gave up on it and went out and bought stuff somebody else went to the trouble of making for me. Just too lazy!!

[thathaway3]

Finishing up on the chassis. In the past I’ve scratch built something to represent the “glad hands” which is the connection between the air hoses for the trailer brakes to the truck so they can be applied. Unlike the AFV M35 kit, which doesn’t have these represented, the M54 not only has two in the back but also two more in the front for the provision of one truck towing another and being able to activate the brakes in the towed truck. Since I’d already made the glad hands for the trailer to connect to a pin on the truck, I decided to just go ahead and drill them out and put in the pin so that when it’s time to connect the trailer I have something to connect to.

And here are some shots of the completed chassis. I decided to do something different with this build and that is apply the MASSTER to some of the sub assemblies as I add them, rather than wait and assemble the entire truck in OD, and then go back and apply it. This method allows me to do a better job of applying the paint to some of the harder to reach areas than if I waited.

One other note here. I had decided to build this vehicle as the one vehicle in Service Battery (of two) which was equipped with a winch. I was fully prepared to turn the front bumper upside down from the conventional version which has the cut out on the bottom edge, and place the cut out opening on the TOP of the bumper. Almost without exception, virtually EVERY M35 with a winch has the cut out on the UPPER surface so the cable runs over the bumper through the cut out. But to my surprise, almost EVERY 5 Ton vehicle with a winch shows that the bumper remains mounted with the flat surface on the top and the cut out on the bottom.

So, that’s how I’m building it.

[thathaway3]

Finally finished the cab. I’m not sure exactly why, but for some reason I really found assembling the cab to be very difficult. Many of the parts were difficult to figure out exactly where to position. The instruction sheet doesn’t always show exact clear locations for placement and in some cases there are no good locators. There are two possible notches in the frame where the rear cab mount COULD go, and the instructions are not exactly precise in pointing out which one. Naturally I used the wrong one and had to remove and re-position it. The other issue is that there are a lot of extra parts which are not called out. There are a large variety of lights available which does allow the builder to install a number of variations which represent how they were changed over time. That is helpful if you have a specific variation in mind with good references. But some explanation might be helpful. And there is a cab vent cover that can go over the door which is located on the lower cab cowling. Again, I’m sure this is for different versions and since the old conversion M-54 I did years ago has one (as well as side marker turn signals on the front), I copied that so the two trucks would appear some what similar. But there are two of these vents, one on either side, but only one of these scoops is provided. Plus there is a bewildering array of clear parts for windows of various types. The two wind shield pieces and the two door glass parts are obvious. But there are two each of two slightly different size pieces for the backlite in the rear of the cab canvass, one of which fits after some slight clean up of the opening but the other is simply way too short. And there is also a single piece, much longer, oval shaped and has a divider which appears to represent a sliding window. But NONE of them are mentioned or called out in the instructions. Just glad this section is done!

[HeavyArty]

Looking great. There are many extra parts in the kit. Hopefully this means AFV Club will offer other M54/M800 variants.

[thathaway3]

That’s for sure. There are several generations of marker and stop lights as well as two different brackets for mounting the rear stop lights, so there are definitely more parts than for just this version. Hopefully the second unit body will be a whole lot easier!!!

[thathaway3]

Working on the second unit body. To get the tailgate to close and latch properly, I had to remove and replace the slotted brackets that were molded into the back because they were slightly too low. The latch hook has to go through both the bracket and the tailgate when closed to keep it in place. Where they were didn’t allow me to cut an opening high enough to actually go through the side of the gate so I made new ones. Getting the chain the right length so that it holds the gate flat when open is always a lot of fun, but I’ve done so many now I’m getting better at it. I’m finding that the best way to do this is to have a hole drilled in the hook and then tie it to one end of the chain. Then I also tie the other end of the chain to the fixed PE bracket.

Next step is to attach the tailgate to the second unit body with two hinge pins through the previously drilled holes. And then scratch build the bracing frame which is used to ensure that the fuel pods and pump unit are secure in the bed.

Next step will be painting it before securing it to the frame of the truck.

[thathaway3]

The assembly of the truck is finally complete. I’ve included a couple of comparison shots. It was nice to have an already completed vehicle as a guide, but since they were not the same kits, there is quite a lot of variance between the two.

Next step is decals for the truck, then the painting and installation of the fuel pods and the pump unit.

[HeavyArty]

Very nice Tom. It looks great.

Can you do me a favor? Since you have the older M54 based on Italeri’s M923/5 and a new AFV Club M54, can you put them tailgate to tailgate and snap a pic to demonstrate how much more narrow the Italeri kit is?

[thathaway3]

Per your request, here are three photos. I aligned the bed side panels on one side so all the variance was on the other. Based on my measurements, the difference appears to be that the Italeri bed is around 2mm narrower than the AFV bed.

While that may not SEEM like a lot, that translates to a 2 and 3/4 inch difference when you scale it out.

Ouch!

[HeavyArty]

Good deal, thanks. My rough measurements of the unbuilt bed parts was closer to 5mm narrower for the Italeri parts. I guess the side rails help shrink the difference down a bit. Still pretty bad though.

[thathaway3]

Yeah the side rails are not the same so that takes up some of the difference. There are some other inconsistencies as well. The lower panel to which the tail gate attaches is wider on the AFV by about 1.5mm, but the tailgate on the AFV is actually 4 mm wider than the Italeri. That’s pretty evident in the photo from straight down.

[HeavyArty]

Yup, the AFV Club kit is definitely more accurate.

[loncray]

Heh, my MDNG unit still had a single 2.5T and a Dodge pickup in faded MASSTER in the early 1990’s - I guess neither made it to repaint.

[thathaway3]

And with the exception of the dirt wash which I use for weathering, the M-54 POL Tanker is complete.
These first shots are of the fuel pods which are now painted with MASSTER and decals applied. I debated about painting the pump unit since it’s got a lot of crevices, and then decided to compromise, painting most of it but leaving the machinery in OD.

Next I realized that leaving the rear most tie down bracket at the very end of the bed would mean it wouldn’t line up with the pump unit, so I moved it forward a bit. And here’s the painted bed with the bracing.

Next I used the solder provided to run the supply lines from each tank to the inlets at the rear of the pump station.

Next step was to install the turnbuckles which secure the lower part of the tanks. These were not all the same length, so I used a piece of rod to determine the length each set required and then adjusted the placement of the hooks accordingly.

Next step was to install the pump unit, taking care to fit the two hoses from the tanks into the inlets in the back.

And then the last steps were to install the tie down straps and an orange flasher light. As I expected it was not easy to install the tie down straps, especially the middle set on each side which I criss-crossed.

And finally here’s how the combination of truck and trailer looks, with the exception of weathering the truck itself. You can see the difference that the dirt wash makes in the appearance. I’ll post some final shots of the completed and weathered truck when that’s done.

[HeavyArty]

The whole thing looks awesome. Great job.

[loncray]

Beautiful work; looks like it just came off the wash rack after a weekend of drill.