Model truck mud flaps - build them from scratch in 1/25 scale
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- čas přidán 15. 02. 2023
- As a result of the needed compromises between scale size/detail and practicality of injection molding/strength of finished parts, mud flaps provided in model truck kits are often over size in thickness and the mounting brackets tend to be simplified.
0:20 Many 1:1 trucks use a mud flap bracket made from square steel bar, formed into a coil at one end to absorb vibration and road shock. Bent flat bar tabs provide attachment points for the rubber mud flap.
0:50 In 1/25 (or 1/24) scale, 1/32" square brass bar (from K&S Specialty Metals selection) is a close to scale match. Begin by annealing one end for a couple of inches to soften the brass. This is done by heating the brass carefully with propane torch until it reaches "red hot" (really more of an orange). Let it cool on its own. This makes the brass soft enough to easily be formed into a coil around 3/32" brass tube. Make the coil 3 full wraps, and put 90 degree downward bend in the short end. A left and right hand version is required to locate mud flaps properly in relation to tire.
1:29 .005" shim brass is cut into strips .060" wide for the flat bar tabs. This image shows all of the pieces tinned with a layer of solder, ready to be assembled.
1:46 Cutting shim brass strips is easy to do with straightedge and hobby knife. The fixture shown is copper sheet with brass strip soldered at one end.
2:00 This makes a stop against which the brass shim is placed, along with spacer of required thickness and the straightedge. I am using .060" square styrene strip here.
2:17 Remove spacer and cut strip with several light passes of the hobby knife.
2:35 Magnets on steel surface are a great way to hold parts for soldering. Place tinned surfaces together and apply heat for a few seconds. Solder will melt and flow together, joining the two metal surfaces.
2:52 Finished assembly will, at this stage, look like a small brass centipede.
3:06 Bending the flat bar tabs is done using styrene strip of appropriate size to ensure consistency. .030" x .060" is used for this application, one set of bends has been completed and next step is to cut each tab to length with chisel blade in hobby knife. .005" brass cuts easily with light downward pressure. Next operation will be bending other side of tabs down, then flipping bracket over to make the "plunge cuts" on tabs.
3:48 1/25 scale version of the coiled bar stock with flat bar mounting tabs.
4:00 Kit mud flaps with logo molded in, such as these Ford ones, can be used by cutting away mounting hardware and sanding flap down to .030" thick.
4:16 Drill through tabs and mud flap for .020" brass wire pins.
4:30 These not only look like bolts, they act like bolts by providing a mechanical connection that is much stronger than four small glue joints. CA glue is used to secure the pins in place, after which they are cut to length with flush cutting pliers for a smooth finish - no filing required.
4:48 Frame bracket is a short piece of 1/16" square brass tube soldered to a piece of 1/64" brass flat bar.
5:27 is a better view of frame bracket, 1/64" x 3/32" flat bar with piece of tube cut 3/32" long. Two styrene rivets represent fasteners. AMT Kenworth mudflaps were used on this model...
5:44...with a small "cheat" of placing reflectors over the two prominent ejector pin marks at lower corners! Another advantage of the brass square bar with brass tube bracket is mud flaps can be removable and taken off the model if travelling long distances such as going to a show. Eliminates the chance of a mud flap breaking off in transit.
6:00 Mud flaps can also be scratch built with styrene, .015" sheet and .015" strips of suitable width. The .030" finished thickness matches the 1/32" square bar.
6:17 Drill and pin mud flaps to brackets in the same manner as when using kit mud flaps.
6:33 Many tractors have the mud flap bracket angled down 45 degrees at outside top corner to reduce the likelihood of mud flap snagging trailer on sharp corners, especially on uneven terrain.
7:08 Make model angled mud flap hangers the same way as shown on this Peterbilt 378.
7:29 Scratch built mud flaps were used on this model, you can also cut kit mud flaps off at a 45 degree angle just like it is done on the real trucks.
8:00 A great advantage of making separate mud flap and bracket is the ease of achieving clean colour separation between the parts as shown here with white mud flaps on blue painted brackets. Mounting pins are easily touched up with brush after final assembly.
With some basic scratch building, more realistic mud flaps and brackets can easily be added to your scale model trucks!
#scalemodeltrucks
#modeltrucks
#scalemodelling
You have some of the best tutorials to be found. These videos will keep getting hits as new people find you. They'll wind up going thru the whole library. Thanks for sharing
Thank you, funny thing is that the model truck topics were a bit of an afterthought when channel was initially created! Will still make and upload videos related to horses, trailering etc. of course however the model truck detail items are fun to do and also provide me with motivation to make progress on the various projects on the bench, even if only a little bit at a time.
@@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579 I never mind when someone has other real life subjects mixed in. Adds to it far as I'm concerned... even if you started with that (horses trailering etc) in mind my guess is the trucks will takeover in views.
These vids have inspired me to begin using brass/aluminum materials in my builds. Had never thought to venture down that path before. Thanks for taking the time to do these, and please keep them coming!
Thank you for the feedback, great to hear that you can put some of the ideas to use.
Some applications of brass aluminum have evolved for me over the course of a decade or so, with mirrors being an example. .030” styrene rod was used on several sets of truck mirrors and was easy to work with from an assembly point of view (flattening ends, drilling holes and gluing together vs. soldering) but forming curved and especially 90 degree bends was difficult, and the finished mirror was very delicate.
.032” brass wire is what I currently use and is certainly more difficult to flatten ends on and drill, but assembly by soldering actually goes fairly easily and resulting mirrors are stronger.
In the end my choice of materials comes down to which one works best for the application. Aluminum tube is easier to cut than brass and polishes well but of course doesn’t solder. Styrene tube has a heavier wall thickness, offsetting this is the ease of attachment to kit parts. All are better than kit parts for many round items as there is no parting line to remove.
I had a head injury. Haven't been able to get out and do what I'd like to. Figured model building would keep the mind sharp. Some of you do some amazing work on CZcams. Being I'm seeing double, I'll keep to the simple kits.for.now. But this is some Oh Mazin stuff
Your work is always the best! Great real photos for examples. Good variety of mudflap types & finishes! Nice decal work too!
Ink jet printer decals do have some limitations due to the ink not being very opaque but on a white surface they work great!
Love your tutorials. I may never get to that level of detail, but your skills are impressive!
Those small detail items can be a lot of fun to create, I think one reason I like to add them is seeing them up close on 1:1 trucks I have driven at previous jobs.
What a great tutorial episode. Your various rigs look amazing (and that's just from from the rear frame angle).
I also noticed the double mud flap or mud flap for each axle on the Labatte assembly. Very interesting set-up.
The double mud flaps are unusual, and true to the 1:1 truck! In an unusual turn of events, I was able to speak with the fellow who drove the actual truck when employed by Labatt's. That connection came about as he was related to a fellow who was president of Great Lakes Truck Club of which I was a member at time that model was built. He gave me information about the interior colour, engine (Cummins) and other interesting detail items including the double mud flaps which apparently helped prevent "tire poppers" like nails, screws or other debris being thrown up by lead axle tires and causing flats on the rear axle ones. Because this truck had the wide drive axle spacing of 72" this makes some sense as it is a long way between the two sets of tires.
I actually gave the completed model to him a year or two after it was completed, the real fun is of course in the building, it had made it to a few model car/truck shows as a completed rig and in the end I think it is better displayed in his home than in my collection.
FANTASTIC!!!
Nicely done great tutorial
Thank you, the still photos with narration format does seem to work fairly well for this sort of presentation. And in progress photos are nice to have for future reference as well.
The gmc general by amt ertle actually had this style of molded in mud flap hanger! Only kit I have seen it on
I didn't realize that, and I even built a General kit some years ago! Interesting to see how much variation there was between AMT's kits in terms of many of the small details that were included, I recall the General as being one of the most complete for brake chambers and valves as an example, compared to the Kenworth W925 and K123 kits with brake chambers and air tanks only, no brake valves (or even front brakes although that was a legitimate spec if a 1:1 truck buyer wanted it up until around the late 1970's)
Looks cool.
Thank you - probably one of the most mundane parts on a real truck but also a highly visible one, it was fun to create 1/25 versions.
This was a completely awesome video and I can't tell you how much I appreciated the tips here thanks again. 🙂Thomas 0ver at The Model Hobbyist Thumbs up #3
You're welcome - glad there was information you found helpful. I will post another mud flap video in the near future with a couple other options using kit parts and styrene strip, as sometimes the brass and soldering approach may not be feasible. (For example, supply chain issues. I picked up what I could of the K&S square bar and 1/64" x 3/32" strip when I saw it a few years ago at different hobby shops, unfortunately it doesn't seem to be listed on the K&S web site currently.)
Have you ever built a tandem steer system
That is something I have not done, a long time ago (10 years or so) I did take some photos of a Mack DMM mixer, it had a separate steering box for each front axle. I don’t remember if there was also mechanical linkage between the two axles as well to synchronize steering.
Great video I'm having a hard time finding glad hands and air lines any suggestions of who might sell these?or how I could make some
Plaskit (Daniel Gailloux) from Quebec makes excellent resin glad hands, both separate (“unconnected”) and as a connected pair. He also casts the electrical plug for trailers.
I’ve used both kit-supplied air hose material and insulation from small black stranded wire for straight hoses, and either coloured small gauge (solid) wire or .032” diameter solder to make the coiled type often seen these days. The solid wire is available in red, blue, green and yellow which matches the typical colours on 1:1 trucks.
I did make simplified glad hands from brass tube for an AMT trailer some time ago, will look in the archives for pictures.
Thanks for the information 👍
Where did the wheels come from on the lab
That's labatts truck
@@barryrae9355 Those are Italeri kit wheels although I'm not certain exactly which kit they are from. I believe it was their "US Wrecker Truck" Ford LTL 9000 as I used that kit's "Cummins" engine for the 378. Lug nut covers were made from Plastruct .060" styrene hex rod, finish is Alclad chrome.
Cool and thanks