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Post by Beekster on Nov 7, 2017 20:08:44 GMT -6
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Post by BUCKY on Nov 7, 2017 20:31:11 GMT -6
This is gonna be fun to watch!!! I'm in the front row for the rest of the trip!
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Post by Beekster on Nov 7, 2017 20:58:47 GMT -6
Yeah, this one snuck up on me over time. I've always liked the Sherman, and after decades as an aircraft guy I switched to armor about 2000 and started working on Sherman variants instead. These beasts were fairly common out here in Oregon and Washington, and some were built at the (now long gone) Madill plant in Kalama, WA. I remember seeing these things parked there outside the factory when we would pass by on family vacations to Whidbey Island when I was a kid in the seventies. I knew even then that I was seeing something Sherman-ish, but otherwise had no idea what they were in those pre-internet days. Years later as an adult I discovered what they were for, and started collecting references. I was fortunate to find a near-derelict yarder about an hour's drive from home a few years ago, and obtained permission to climb on it, measure it, and photograph it to my heart's content. I made three trips to that machine to document it and have since photographed more than a dozen additional yarders. I started cutting plastic in 2013 but the project has moved in fits and starts. There were several things about it that required me to experiment and find out what would work and what would not. Often initial efforts were unsatisfying, and I had to refine my techniques. The Wichita brakes and clutches (six of 'em!) are a second effort, and each has something like seventy parts. The Detroit Diesel 8V-71T engine in there is the fourth version. I can't begin to estimate how many hours I have into this thing. A few more images: Engine and Wichita brakes in the engine bay; Wichita clutches and gears up front, completed instrument panel (less than 3/4" wide!), mock-up with spar in erect yarding position, sheaves for guyline wires and a guyline.      |
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Post by BUCKY on Nov 7, 2017 21:07:51 GMT -6
This is fantastic!!! I love to watch a scratchbuild project! I don't do a lot of scratching around on models, but I do pick up tips from the master scratchers!! LOL
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Post by JCON on Nov 7, 2017 22:02:55 GMT -6
Another very cool project...
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Post by JED on Nov 8, 2017 9:31:04 GMT -6
Absolutely brilliant, I'm sure I've seen something like this being used on the documentary channel following various logging companies
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Nov 8, 2017 9:41:46 GMT -6
Welcome Beekster! Sure glad you decided to show all of us your fine worksmanship. 
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Post by Dukemaddog on Nov 8, 2017 11:56:19 GMT -6
Right on! This is stunningly magnificent! I am overwhelmed.
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Post by Beekster on Nov 8, 2017 12:04:47 GMT -6
Welcome Beekster! Sure glad you decided to show all of us your fine worksmanship. Thanks! But I'll say it again as I have before: Most of the people on these boards could do something similar; they have the tools and skills. It's a matter of research, and for this subject I've got a lot of that. I'm hoping that it will someday be published as a sort of walk-around title with a few key scale drawings. Some of what I've done here is overkill, and with some different choices about things like that mesh engine bay door you could get away with a lot less detail than I have in there. Trust me, there are more possible configurations of these yarders than you can imagine.
Let me elaborate: The winch drums, for example, are simple structures, and anybody can make one if they have a few tools. You need a circle cutter to cut the end flanges, and the little center point is the start of your hole to drill for the shaft it spins on. The correct dimensions are in the sales brochure, which I have. The center cores are built up from Evergreen tubing, and with a True Sander tool you can get good, square ends. Though the shaft diameters on the real thing vary a bit, for a model the difference literally cannot be noticed so I've used .125" diameter tubing for all the shafts. My drums ended up a little out of round, but that can't be noticed unless they are rotated and you look carefully. When complete, they won't be rotated other than to spool the lines on.
Those Wichita brakes and clutches are a different deal; for those you really need a lathe to spin them to a constant diameter. But with configuration choices that obscure sightlines, you could do them similarly to how I've done the winch drums.
The fuel tank is just as simple: Thick circles at the ends, trimmed and glued onto sheet styrene so that the cut part is oval in shape. Those two ends were joined by thick I-beams and strip stock and skinned with sheet styrene. Easy to do, and in this case a large punch set provided the circles from .040" stock...I think I paid less than twenty bucks for it on eBay and it punches holes from .125" up to 3/4". For smaller circles and hexes, I have three sets from RP Toolz in Hungary which are fantastic, if a bit expensive. But good tools are always worth the cost.
For sheet work, like the parts that built up the cab, The Chopper and True Sander from NorthWest Short Line make it a snap to cut and square plastic stock. The cab required a bunch of cuts and parts of various sizes to accommodate the window openings. But for things like boxes, these tools make the job a snap.
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Mence
ROLLING ON
OSM'S PROF
Posts: 926
Likes: 2,342
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Post by Mence on Nov 8, 2017 14:58:23 GMT -6
Brilliant, what a fine beast in the making this is!
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Post by Buddho on Nov 8, 2017 17:30:26 GMT -6
What an impressive build, sir. Looking forward to see this one evolve into completion.
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Post by Beekster on Nov 8, 2017 17:45:39 GMT -6
What an impressive build, sir. Looking forward to see this one evolve into completion. Oh, I'll get there eventually. The fabrication yet to be done is pretty straightforward stuff, and the assembly after base color painting will be easy with just a little touch-up required. Rigging it will be a challenge, though. I have to get lines on all eight of those drums and run them correctly up and through the spar, for one thing, and I have to make suitable terminations for all of them. The other is that I will initially display it with the spar up, and it was supported in the erect position by four (sometimes five) fixed guylines running from up near the top of the spar to the hull. I may need to buy more brass shackles for that, but I've already made the turnbuckles that will tension those lines. But that will be tricky. Then there is a HUGE amount of weathering to be done. The amount of dust and grease that accumulates on a yarder is immense; there's usually a toxic goo of diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid, gear grease, dirt, and wood chips a couple of inches deep down in the belly of the thing. Fluid leaks are common wherever there is fluid of any type, and dust accumulates on any spill. Mine isn't particularly beat up, but within weeks of starting to pull timber the scratches and rust start to accumulate. Look up images of the real thing on the internet and you'll see what I mean. |
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Post by Beekster on Jan 28, 2018 13:50:41 GMT -6
OK, I realize that there's been no update on this for a few months now. No, I haven't given up or gotten bored. But it has been languishing as a result of some airbrush work. My lovely Olympos HB-100SB is a superb tool, but is rather short on paint cup capacity and the really fine spray pattern makes large area coverage a tedious and difficult job. I've acquired a used Paasche VL brush and it has been out for a spa treatment the last few weeks, being tuned up by an airbrush expert in St. Louis. It will come back home next week, and paint work on this project and the Mack tank transporter can resume.  So there was more orange sprayed before my airbrush upgrade project caused a hiatus in painting. You can see that the front box cover has had the side sanded back. The color here never wanted to even out over the gray area, which had been primed but required some superglue and more sanding to smooth out. I will shoot some white over that and resume with the orange when that has cured, in fact the white will be the first spray test for the Paasche VL. But in the meantime, another problem has been solved. I now know how to finish all the rigging lines, as illustrated here:  The ferrule gets painted with Model Master Steel, and that silver Sharpie hits the high spots on the black thread to give it the silvery sheen required for these steel wire ropes. It's messy for the fingers, so when I get after it in a big way I'll wear gloves. But it looks good, and a little black wash at the end will even out the finish. I won't need to use the Sharpie on the whole line, because a fair chunk of it will be wound onto the winch drum. The lower layers there can stay black as they will be in shadow anyway. The Sharpies were less than $6 for a pair at my local Blick art supply house, and at that price I'll gladly buy as many packs as I need to color up all the lines. |
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Post by JCON on Jan 28, 2018 13:59:12 GMT -6
Nice trick for the line!!! I like it!!!  |
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Post by Beekster on Jan 28, 2018 15:52:10 GMT -6
Nice trick for the line!!! I like it!!! Indeed! I'm really surprised how well this works. I had considered the usual standby of painting it, but that makes a line stiff. That's fine if it's a Sherman tow cable that is relatively short and draped in place, but these lines will have to be much, much longer and drape naturally. A watercolor wash with black should do nicely. The Sherman ARV Mk. 1 also has a couple of big tow cables using white nylon cord from the conversion with resin cable ends. I will try to get them colored black with a watercolor wash and use the Sharpie on them, too. |
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Post by BUCKY on Jan 28, 2018 17:21:49 GMT -6
Great tip for the cable! I have been using Sharpie pens for a lot of different things, lately. I have several colors on hand.
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Post by Beekster on Jan 23, 2019 12:34:25 GMT -6
This progress was made before my year-long hiatus, but I haven't documented it until now. This first image shows the cab mocked up, with floor/seat inserted from the bottom and the roof on. There's a base coat of white on the inside, but not yet outside. I also have yet to complete the four brush shields for the windows; those are straightforward enough but slow to build. In the foreground are the five guyline turnbuckles. These are fabricated from brass strip, stainless steel nuts, and stainless steel screws, metric thread M1.2. I think I got them from an opticians' supply house in Seattle.  The spar has some paint on it now, and the orange has been shot with Dullcote which really improves the look; these machines weren't glossy. The white at the end needs some remedial paintwork to fix a bit of orange overspray, but nothing major. I will get to that when the weather improves and will paint the outside of the cab at the same time.  Once the white has been fixed and sealed with Dullcote I can think about weathering. These machines get really beat up over time, and the rust patterns tend to follow the circumference of the spar since it naturally spends most of the time lowered (for storage, transport, and essentially any time the yarder isn't yarding). For example:   I won't beat mine up quite this bad, but you can see how much weathering is possible. And I've seen worse... |
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Post by JED on Jan 23, 2019 13:05:46 GMT -6
Did I state the obvious earlier in that I thought I'd seen one on a logging documentary ,is that what a harder is, I don't think we get them in the UK? It's a great build whatever it's for
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Post by Beekster on Jan 23, 2019 13:34:58 GMT -6
Did I state the obvious earlier in that I thought I'd seen one on a logging documentary ,is that what a harder is, I don't think we get them in the UK? It's a great build whatever it's for You did state that, Jed; these things are made to move logs from where they are felled to where they can be loaded for transport out of the forest. There was/is a History Channel show called Axe Men that follows several logging outfits in various parts of the USA. The first season featured one firm, based just a few miles from my home, using one of these Madill 071 yarders. There are many different types of yarder; this one is only special in my mind because it was built on Sherman tank (or variant) hulls. They may be used in the UK; I know that several Madills are currently working in New Zealand. Here's how they work, in brief: The yarder is set up on a flat landing, with the spar erected and stabilized with four guylines. The Skyline is run from the yarder downrange maybe a quarter of a mile to an anchor point. A Drop Carriage is hung from the Skyline, and that has several lines that drop to the ground so that loggers can hook them around logs to be moved. The Main and Haulback lines are attached to either side of the Carriage, and move it back and forth on the Skyline. The yarder operator positions the Carriage where logs can be attached, then reels in the drop lines so that the logs are suspended with one end on the ground. Then he hauls the carriage, and logs, back to the landing next to the yarder. The logs (called a "turn") are dropped there to be stacked, and the Carriage run back out for another turn. These machines are best suited for yarding logs in steep terrain, of which there is an abundance in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and in British Columbia, where these machines were built. Madill was based on Vancouver Island, and had a satellite factory in Kalama, WA in the seventies. |
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Post by BUCKY on Jan 23, 2019 13:47:48 GMT -6
Excellent history and description! These brutes are pretty rugged!
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