1/25 BJ & the Bear WIP Update 7/7/12

This is what i'm currently working on, AMT rig, shortened the frame, a friend taught me some lathe basic's & i machined up the fuel tanks & caps (got to drill the holes to fit the caps yet) & put on aluminum straps. The trailer is an Italeri 48 footer cut back to 40 feet. I made a mold & cast one of the rear doors then cut it to fit on the side. Made the king pin on the lathe. The 2 hole Budds are from Jamie aka 73gmc454 (Thanks)(Model Cars Magazine Forum). I,m trying to find wiring diagrams for truck & trailer & Aluminum wheels for the truck. The original inspiration came from Missing in Action's Bj rig (thanks))(Model Cars Magazine Forum). Feel free to comment, good or bad, tips useful.

Nice job, started the same truck over a year ago. Hope you go further than mine.

try Auslowe for the ally rims. earlier issues of truck model world had an article on wiring I think?

When i rebuilt trailers back in the 70's you would run the 7 coloured elect wire from the plug down to the back on the inside of the frame to a junction box which was normally mounted on the back of the panel where the number plate is . Then you would run the clearence light wires from the junction box up the outside of the frame to the front and then run wires from the side lights to those wires where you used little blue joiners that clipped into the wire supplying power to the clearence lights . You also ran the stop , blinker and parkers from the matched coloured wires on the junction box .
I think the wireing for the truck is a huge job ! .

Oh , P.S. Did you guys know that one of the bj trucks is here in australia ? Hava look at the link .
http://www.hcvc.com.au/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1330159235

good to see you out of bed so early old fella.
when you say wireing, do you mean electrical like Scummy pointed out, or plumbing for the brakes etc.

Been up since 5am man , i take the day of for rest AND still get up early .

now thats sad!!!!!!!!

Cool Kenworth & trailer in the making

Thanks for the kind comments, i meant the plumbing for the brakes etc. Thanks

The air lines at the front of the trailer, one on each side of the electrical wire plug go along the inside of the chassis with the power lines . They then go to the side of the breakaway valve , (the valve on the front of the air tank ) and the hoses come out the bottom to each brake booster . Simple idea hey .

Thanks for the plumbing tips Scummy & Thanks Mutley for the Auslowe idea, unfortunately they don't have them, have been able to get some from the US though but not cheap.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread Will be building (when I can find time again ) a BJ & The Bear using the same kit & the decals I got (can't remember who it was) from the States.

Wasn't from Modeltruckin.com was it ? that's where i got mine from. Jbot does them to when ever he has his site open for orders. Got some more machining work done yesterday, will post pics in the next few days when i get some time off work (do 24+hr shifts)

Yahshu wrote:Wasn't from Modeltruckin.com was it ? that's where i got mine from.

That sounds like them
How much did you end up cutting out of the chassis rails on the truck???

You would think after all the years I've been building models and being a huge fan of the show, I would have built one of these trucks by now. Oh well, in the meantime I will watch you build yours. Lookin' great so far.

Ok, here's a bit more, my friend made the air cleaner for me & showed me how to use the mill to drill the holes for the fuel tank caps. I made the air tank for the trailer out of some scrap plastic rod my friend had laying around his workshop, just got to build the legs for it, the tank next to it is a resin peice i bought from the US (you can see why I remade it). The exhaust was bought from GR decals, just have to shorten the stacks. The truck frame was shortened by 65mm.

Sorry , this has been going a bit slow, works busy & I've had to build a new spray booth as the old one was way to small. any way this is what progress I've made so far. Wheels 1st, Jim Littiken rims, Ben Wicker hubs (sorry to keep you waiting) & RB Motion stud nuts, they look real good all together (the hubs will be painted), Working steering made from brass & sewing pins (a 1st for me), Got the air tank finished, Scratch built the refrigeration unit. Fixed the 5th wheel to look more accurate. Enjoy.

looking good,watching and waiting

Looking great.

love the work you did with the steering well done

It's been awhile, 5 years now, I couldn't believe it when I realised how long this project has been on the go. I just contacted Paul Sagehorn who restored the original TV rig & he's sending me detail photo's so I can get this thing finished. Anywho this is where it's up to, I just cut the doors out using the Tamiya .05mm photo etched saw blades, almost perfect cuts and next to no clean up, much better than the back of a #11 blade, I'll be using the Model Car Garage piano hinges.
 

5 years is a while alright. I would have lost half the bits by now. This is going to look sharp when it is done.