Project Heavy Haul: Update 1

For a while, I have fancied building a model of a heavy haulage truck. A heavy haulage tractor unit (or truck tractor I believe they’re known as in the USA) is much like the kind of truck you see pulling Sainsbury or BP trailers on the road every day, but with a few subtle differences. They often have an additional axle or two to enable them to haul heavier loads legally, they usually have the biggest engine available, and they tend to have numerous additions to help them handle hard jobs and hard working conditions – from powerful spotlights, bull bars and tool boxes to hydraulic cranes and more.

Though there are plenty of truck kits on the market, nobody makes the kind of truck I wanted to build, which means building my own from available parts. I have built a couple of trucks over the years but I have never attempted this kind of conversion before, so some research was in order. First job was to choose a truck kit to use as a basis and to provide most of the parts.

I settled on this 1/24 scale Volvo FH16 kit as a basis for the project, Volvos turning up quite often in my search for reference photos online. However, the kit only has a single rear axle, so I would need to lengthen the chassis and add an axle, either a driven axle or an unpowered ‘tag’ axle. Other than that, it looked like a good starting point. Further research, including looking at some of the projects under way at the  Truck Model World forum indicated that a good source for the required chassis conversion would be Lincolnshire-based Kit Form Services who produce many conversion and add-on parts for model truck kits.

KFS supply all the parts required to turn the Volvo 4x2 chassis (4 wheels, 2 driven) into a 6x4 chassis (6 wheels, 4 driven) giving two driven rear axles – just what you need on a damp winter’s day when you are pulling a heavy trailer up a steep quayside. I took the opportunity to also order some amber marker lights and hazard beacons from KFS while I was at it.

The conversion kit from KFS proved to be of excellent quality, with a mixture of resin parts and white metal parts (white metal is a soft alloy which feels a bit like lead) and was assembled over a week of evenings. Resin and white metal parts have to be assembled using superglue or epoxy glue: normal model glue (polystyrene cement) cannot be used because it relies on partially melting the joining plastic surfaces, and this does not work with resin or metal pieces.

Then it was time for the tricky job of fitting the KFS rear chassis section to the kit’s front chassis section. I decided to build the chassis as per the kit instructions, then simply cut off the rear half as required and fit the conversion kit in its place. It was totally up to me how long the chassis would end up, but I decided to keep the distance between the front steering axle and the first driving axle the same as it would have been if I had left it as a 4x2, and cut the chassis rails accordingly. I then glued the two chassis halves together with superglue, adding a couple of small strips of sheet plastic inside the chassis rails to give a larger, stronger bonding area for the join. After a shot of Tamiya German Grey acrylic aerosol paint, it started to look the part.

While I was waiting for the conversion parts to arrive by post, I made a start on the cab. I decided to go with a simple red colour scheme, maybe with grey wings to match the grey chassis, so I assembled the cab and primed it with Halfords white plastic primer (I prime all my vehicle builds with this) followed by a good solid coat of Audi Laser Red. I then polished the cab with G3 cutting compound to bring out the shine.  

Next steps for Project Heavy Haul: complete the engine and fit to the chassis. Add the chassis ancillaries such as mudguards and exhaust system. Glaze the cab and fit the interior.