Hi, All,
This will be a model of a Ford T-800 fuel tanker. This tanker was built in the mid to late 50s and widely used at air bases in Vietnam and Thailand during the 60s and 70s.
I’m using the chassis, cab seat, dashboard and wheels from the very nicely detailed Academy 1/72 U.S. M35 2.5 ton Cargo Truck kit shown below. Everything else will be scratch built.
Below are a couple of photos of my progress so far. The first photo shows the modified chassis. The chassis had to be extended and the drive train was changed to rear wheel drive only.
The second photo shows the cab (as far as I’ve gotten it) and the fuel tank temporarily sitting on the chassis.
That sure is an ambitious project! Just the reference photos for something like that seem to be hard to find, not to mention any form of a kit. Say, what make and model is this truck? We’re in the XXIst century now - maybe it would make sense to draw it in 3D so that it could be 3D printed? It could also be, that the cab is already available for 3D print, for example on Shapeways, just in different scale (1/64 is popular) - you could then ask its maker to rescale it for you to 1/72. I’d gladly check it out for you, just need to know what cab is required.
Took a quick look on Shapeways…Stoney Smith Designs has a 1/43 “C” cab for around $38. Might be able to scale it down. Says it has a slightly grainy feel so would take some sanding/filling to get smooth if he could downsize it.
Thanks, Pawel. Good idea there, bud! My brain is still in XXth century mode lol. I got my measurements from what pictures I could find. As near as I can tell, the cab used with the tankers was the Ford C-600 series.
Thanks GH! Very interesting find. I wish I had known about that before I started this project.
However, looking at the 3D product and all the drilling, cutting, cleaning and sanding that would be required on such a small item, then considering what I have left to do on my model, I think I’m better off completing my cab. But that would certainly be a useful consideration if someone else wanted to build their own tanker, or any other cab-over version.
Wonderful start on this great project! Your scratch building skills are top notch, and I have no doubt that it is going to turn out perfect. I’ll be along for the entire ride. Thank you for posting this project.
Hope you are all safe and healthy. It’s been a while, but I finally got the urge to finish this beast. So far, the major parts are just about complete. Still some work and detail to do on the cab and I need to add the walkway on top of the tank, but at least things are moving again. Below are a few pictures of my progress. Many thanks for looking!
Can I pick Nit? Well, I am gonna anyway. Round the tops of the fender ledges a little more for the scale. Otherwise, This is a hard one for sure. Now, all that said. If you want real good looking Walkways look to Model RailRoad Supplies. For sure! Looks like the trucks from Danang!
Hey, Tanker, feel free to Nit all you want, bud! [:D] BTW, do you mean the rear fender ledges? Model Railroad supplies - wait…is that the name of a company? Do you by chance have a specific link for the walkway material? Otherwise, Walthers it is. [:)]
Hello, Pawel, and thanks! Yeah, the cab is not quite the right shape but heck, neither am I! lol. I’ll round those fenders off some more.
You’re right - 3D printing, at least for the cab, is the way to go, although… can it be done without making the insides solid? That would be a lot of work to carve out the insides if you wanted to detail the interior or add windows.
So if you had a 3D printed cab and the chassis and wheel sets from an Academy M35 kit (or equivalant), that would take care of the hardest portions of the model. The chassis has to be extended in two places, but that’s easy.
For the tank, I used a plastic 1 1/2" diameter sink tail piece that you can pick up at a hardware store, so that was pretty easy to make. The pump house is pretty straight forward and a good way to use up some scrap pieces of styrene.
I only had two or three photos of the actual fuel truck that I could use for measurements and those were mostly at angles. And wouldn’t you know it - after most of the truck was finished, I came across a website that had a full walkaround of the truck. Augh! This has happened to me many times before.
If you or anyone else is interested in doing one of these trucks, let me know. I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.
Thanks for the help, Pawel and best of luck to you too, my friend.
BTW, here’s the website I found with the full walkaround of the Ford T-800 fuel truck. 70+ photos. The truck is missing the pump house assembly, but I have other pictures of that.
Wow, that’s wierd. The truck was there last night when I added the link. However, I have a series of the photos if anyone wants them. That’s not the same one though - the tank is different and it still has the pump house, which the other one didn’t have.
Yes I was, But only in transient passing through both times. The company is Tichy Train Group. Hot, Noisy, and Couldn’t wait for that 130 to get airborne!
