During any build, whether it takes a weekend or a year from beginning to end, it is always very pleasing when the main parts of the model start to come together and give an idea what the finished model will look like. Project Heavy Haulage reached that stage this evening as the Volvo’s big red cab was finally united with the chassis. However, this heavy haulage Volvo FH is still a long way from completion.
Since the last update, I have added most of the chassis details such as the diesel tank, battery box, exhaust system with turbo pipework, front mudguards and a few other bits. This required a little extra thought as I have altered the chassis, as you can see in Update 1, meaning I had to carefully check the location of these parts. The other complication was the unfortunate fact that the kit manufacturer, Italeri, had based this 2000s truck model on an older 1980s Volvo kit chassis, making many of the chassis details including the engine incorrect and outdated. Rather than replacing the engine and all the other parts, I have decided to leave the old-style engine in place and use most of the old details with a few updates where I can. I am not a truck expert, so as long as the finished model looks good I will be happy, even if there are a few inaccuracies here and there.
The other tricky job was to attach the tilting cab to the chassis via a pair of plastic brackets which are fixed to the cab floor. As with the steering gear which allows the front wheels to be turned, the cab brackets allow the cab to tilt by allowing free movement of the pieces against each other, the pieces being pierced through to allow short rods or kingpins to run through them with the kingpin ends slightly melted to stop them falling back through the holes. This is all a bit hard to describe, but it’s just like a rivet which holds things together by slipping through a hole then having its head flattened. However, that wasn’t the tricky bit – it took only a minute or two. The tricky bit was hoping that the cab, made of numerous parts, would sit correctly on the chassis and over the engine and mudguards, again assembled from many parts. Luckily enough the cab sits pretty well, maybe a bit low at the front but good enough, and it sits perfectly on the rear cab support, a nice surprise.
The biggest problem came when I fitted the front bumper and headlamps unit, which fixes to the chassis rather than the cab: I have ended up with too large a gap between the bumper and the bit of the cab below the doors. I can’t think of an easy way to remedy this so it will have to stay as it is. Otherwise, I am pretty happy with how the cab has fitted.
The truck is now starting to take shape and I can now concentrate on the details: the crane which will sit behind the cab, the rear mudguards, and all the external parts like spotlights and the 5th wheel (the trailer coupling).
Next jobs for Project Heavy Haulage: finish and fit the crane. Fit remaining cab and chassis details.
Thanks for sharing this information because having this simulator, I know on how to assemble this heavy haulage in heavy hauling company. It was very important to learn on how to assemble this because you must know about heavy hauling when you are on the field.
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