Hulett Unloader - Part 5

I forgot to mention it before but the stabilizer arm offers the same alignment challenges as the walking beam assembly (upper portion). Once the cross members are glued in, use something to hold the pieces in the proper alignment. Step #57 explains how to mount the walking beam to the trolley. If you recall a couple of posts ago I only glued the one wall section in place because I wanted to add weight to the inside. Rather than taking a chance at breaking off one of the tops to a side panel I opt to glue it all at once. This worked for me. Just watch where you put glue. All of the kit provided details went on rather nicely. I made a lot of work for myself by trying to add the extra railings on after I had completed each main piece. It would have been a much smoother process if I did this while build each piece. The rigging went pretty well just make sure you read the whole process before starting. You’ll notice that in the pictures I've added a fair amount of extra details parts to this point. The rest of the detail parts will be added after the “beast” is painted. Our local hobby shop is not what you would call "user friendly". They seem to have a problem keeping staple items in stock. I’ve been over there 3 times in the past couple of weeks looking for paint. This weekend I’m taking a road trip to my favorite shop about an hour away. I know they’ll have the paint I need. The down side to the trip isn’t how far away it is, it’s try to get out of there without spending a small fortune. They have just about everything.

Hulett Unloader - Part 4

Over this past weekend I was able to get started on detailing the gantry portion of the Hulett. Using pictures from the Cleveland digital library for guidance, I began adding light shades, safety cages and additional railings. There still are railings I need to add. In all cases the kit only comes with railings for one side of the catwalks and stairways. Additionally I added support braces in various locations around the legs. There are some details like electrical conduit that I’ve been thinking of adding, however would it be worth it? Where the Hulett’s will be located most people wouldn’t even notice the smaller details. This might be a “good enough” moment.

Hulett Unloader - Part 3

I have to apologize for some of the picture quality in the last few postings. In an effort to keep up with the progress of the project I did not take the time to get proper lighting. I began putting together the “trolley” a couple of nights ago. This is the portion of the Hulett that moves back and forth on the gantry. I did not glue one side of the trolley until I built the upper portion. I wanted to add weight to the inside of the trolley. The upper portion is going together very well. When gluing the cross members to the one side, you need to do this quickly because you have to glue on the other side before the glue sets up. When both sides are glued I placed the assembly against a couple of objects (weights) to help hold the correct alignment. While this assembly was drying I began to assemble the bucket and leg assembly's. To this point steps #45 through #48 are very important if you want the leg assembly to be able to rotate. I've been very pleased with the way the pieces have been fitting together, if you've ever built a "Kibri" kit you'll know what I mean. When the two assembly's were dried I placed the weights inside the trolley and glued the wall piece in place to hold everything together. At this point the next steps will be to begin adding extra details to various parts of the Hulett.

Hulett Unloader - Part 2

Last night I started on the girder portion of the gantry. The first thing I noticed right away is that you need to make sure the two pieces you glue together to form the inner and outer girders need to be kept straight. While the girders were drying I spent the time trimming the cross plates and “larry” car front and rear rails. When the girders were dry I began the assembly process. Again, you need to double check your work for alignment before the glue dries. I was pleasantly surprised how well everything was fitting together. Even the “larry” rails were lining up straight. After completing both assemblies I began gluing the legs to one of the girders, once in place I glued the other girder on. (Note: I placed the girder sections upside down on a firm flat surface while gluing on the legs. I wanted to make sure the alignment was going to be correct.) During the process of attaching the deck portions to the girders I made a mistake. Rather than tacking down the pieces with glue, I elected to start from the front gluing to the back (remember I use liquid cement). Some how I introduced a stress point which caused the assembly to have a slight rock to it when placed in the upright position. What a bummer! All the care I put into the alignment went down the drain. Needless to say it was difficult getting it corrected. When I go to build the next one I’ll "tack" it down and check the alignment before completely gluing it in place.

Hulett Unloader - Part 1

OK,...I folded up like a lounge chair, I just had to start the kit. I'll get back to the charging crane later. One thing I failed to mention in past postings, I use liquid cement (MEK) for just about everything. Just make sure you have good ventilation. You start the kit by building the unloading “larry” and ore hopper. Both assemblies went together fairly quick. The bogey assemblies were much different however. You’ll spend a fair amount of time putting these together, not because their difficult, because the wheels take a fair amount of time cleaning up the contact points from the sprue. Make sure that when you glue the wheel assemblies together you check the alignment. Next you glue the bogeys to the towers. I spent a little extra time cleaning up the pieces and dry fitting them together before gluing. I figured these are going to be important for the overall alignment of the gantry. The only extra trimming that had to be done was on the top plates part numbers 138 and 139. On the back side where they are to meet the vertical uprights you need to smooth them out to get a good flush mount. To this point I have a couple of nights into the project so far.

Charging Crane - Part 1

Now that the holidays are done I’ve been able to get back to work. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures in the early stages of detailing the Walthers heavy duty crane kit. The bottom portion was detailed following the same patterns that I’ve seen in pictures of other modelers work. I added on to the existing catwalk around the operators cab, and added a ladder w/safety cage (Plastruct PN 570-90431). I still need to add electrical conduit in various places. I installed the drive lines using 1/8"inch tubing connected to the center transmission and the outer transfer cases. This was achieved using Evergreen Styrene square stock in various sizes. I also installed a catwalk along the drive line side of the craneway. The catwalk was made using .040" sheet stock cut to desired width and length, handrails are from Plastruct PN 90682. The catwalk is supported with 3/32” I-beams. The trolley portion of the crane was made from .060” styrene cut to desired dimensions. I used H-beam to frame out the deck. The trucks were made using C-channel separated by .040”x .40” square stock to simulate wheel spacing. The square stock is glued in at the depth to allow the trolley to glide across the rail. The mechanical details representing the hoist system and drives were also made from Evergreen Styrene square stock in various sizes, Plastruct handrails trim out the deck. The next steps are to build the “J” hook assembly and paint it.

Today I pickup my Hulett kit’s that were on lay away at the local hobby shop. When the charging crane project is done, I will start on one of them. I briefly looked in the box and said wow there are a lot of parts in here. A couple of years ago I found a site on the web for the Cleveland digital library. There I found numerous pictures of the Whiskey Island hulett’s that I downloaded. I plan on using them for reference when detailing the kits.