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While the lacquer is drying on the UC, I decided to start prep on my next project, the Morris C8 Quad with limber and gun.
Here's the blueprint

Photo of a rebuild

This is the Tamiya Boomerang I bought about a year ago as a spares/repair. I've tested it with the TX and surprisingly it works fine. It's filthy dirty, must have been in the garage or attic, so lots of cleaning up to do.

This is the scale blueprint for a 1/10 scale build. The chassis is going to be just a tad wide so I'll have to fudge a bit but it should look and work well. The scale is perfect for 96mm wheels/tyres and I've got some on order from China.

And so we begin..... Alwyn

Some progress on the Quad while I'm waiting for bits for the UC and M7. The body needed to be stripped and thoroughly cleaned, I think there was half a field and a quarter of someones garage muck on that chassis! Anyway it cleaned up nicely and the chassis is working and in fairly good condition. I also received the new wheels and tyres from China in a very short time! They aren't the right ones but they will do for the build. I'm still waiting for the hex nuts so the wheels are wobbling around which makes the build interesting.

The frame is moving along nicely and I have positioned the front, back, and centre points ready for the framework build.



I had a small problem as the frame had to be mounted so it didn't foul the suspension and was sufficiently strong to be a sturdy body, but also I had to be able to remove the body in case I needed to maintain any of the electronics or mechanicals. I had to superglue the nuts to the chassis so the bolts can be easily removed, and in doing so managed to superglue one of the nuts to its bolt. There followed considerable bad language, a certain amount of frustration, and the need to rebuild a few components, but hey, that's scratchbuilding.

Anyway alls well that ends well, so down to framing out the cab.

Alwyn

Cab framing in progress and I've run out of square section 5mm styrene, so a temporary intermission while I wait for that to arrive. The shape is starting to look familiar now.



While I wait for the Post Office to do it's thing (which could take a while) I'll progress the windscreen, bonnet, and radiator cover, and maybe install some panels to stiffen things up. Alwyn

Yet another unique build, and it with great running gear too. Love the way that you can build so many perfect right angles for the supporting frame.

Thanks Rob, yes it's very fiddly work despite being quite a large build. The reason for using the Tamiya 4x4 chassis is that I want to use it in rough terrain, so everything has to be very robust otherwise it would continually be superglue time! With a model like this the measuring and angles have to be spot on, otherwise it would look a complete dog's breakfast; you probably can't see it in the photos but a lot of the joints have bracing pieces to ensure the angles stay correct while the glue sets and also to strengthen the joints. I love these scratch builds because there's the opportunity to turn them into mini art works as well as being working models, and the great appeal is that there aren't many of these out there in this scale so it's different.

The problem will come in trying to find 1/10 scale action figures to go with it, I've looked and there's nothing out there that I can find, anyone know a secret supply of the things? They need to be 6" or 7" to look right. It doesn't matter what they are as they can be remodelled, so long as they are fairly cheap.

Alwyn

They would be a bit on the small size, but have you considered 1/12th scale dolls house figures? They are not military, but I am sure a man of your talents would not have a problem with modification.

Thanks Richard, just found some 'aliens' action figures that are the right size but they are pricey, they may do the trick though. Alwyn

An SCX10 chassis would probably work really well with that body.

Hi Bill, yes it certainly would and it looks a mean piece of kit, however it's a bit more expensive than the £15 I paid as a spares/repair for the boomerang chassis and electronics including the (admittedly crappy) Acoms 2 channel tx (the prices look like about £250 and that doesn't appear to include the tx/rx !! ). It does look a fantastic chassis though and it also is about right on the measurements as well. Alwyn

Well some goodies arrived but not the ones I really need. The hex wheel adapters came so at least the wheels are solidly mounted and the model doesn't wobble as I'm working on it. I got the front chassis extension done for the bumper and then did the bonnet, plus framed up the windscreen and cab front plus got some styrene sheet mounted as well to make things a bit sturdier.




I totally overestimated the amount of styrene sheet I had so I've had to order some in, so that will also delay things. I still have enough to do some of the smaller things on the body so some progress is possible. I'm still trying to decide whether to model the inside of the cab and have opening doors, the problem with that is if the truck is bouncing around I don't want the doors flying open so some careful thought/design required for the door catch if i go the opening door/model interior route. Alwyn