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Clarktor 6 Tow Tractor Scratchbuilt 1/33rd Scale


Bomarc

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A light coat of CA glue overall locks everything down, and with a last gentle sanding on the rotary tool, one tire is done:

 

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And of course, as is my fate, I had to do it all over again to make a second:

 

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Detailing the sidewalls with copper wire came next. I used a punch from an automotive gasket punch set I have in my garage as a mandrel to pre-shape the wire (hey whatever works in modeling):

 

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Then painted up, ready for the rims/hubs:

 

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The rims for the front tires followed the same sequences as for the rears. Using this highly technical tool found in a pencil box (of all places!), I fabricated the outer rim:

 

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The hubs went the path of stacked card on a dowel. Because of the small size of that protruding part, a music wire core was installed to keeps together while being spun up on the dremel . The last image is a “before and after” view:

 

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Detailing on the hubs consisted of punched discs for lug nuts, some copper wire, and laser cut bolts heads from “Avantcard” and then painted in assemblies:

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Final assembly:

 

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Try to imagine a Clarktor tractor between these :rolleyes: :

 

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OK, rough part’s over. The rest should a breeze, right?

 

Hope you guys are enjoying the ride thus far.....

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Hope you guys are enjoying the ride thus far.....

 

Immensely enjoyable and informative at the same time!!! Beautiful work and thank you for sharing your techniques. I have a "few hours" on later model Clark tractors from an airline lay-off and you are really capturing the look in miniature.

 

Gary :thumbsup:

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Guest Nigelr32

What a fantastically executed, unusual project. Beautiful!!

 

Would you not have been satisfied with the 1/32nd Trumpeter Tractor that comes with the Hellcat kit? I think I know thwe answer before you reply ha ha .

 

Happy new Year

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Gonna have to start calling you Mad Mike.

I could see this working in plastic too... if only I had the patience.

 

More like 'Saint Mike' Keith, as in the 'Patience of'...:D

 

I appreciate the work that Mike has to put into these so called 'paper' models (which is as sophisticated as any other modelling medium

to my mind). This is LSP scratch building at it's finest, so very deservedly earns a place in LSP - Great work Mike :speak_cool:

 

Derek

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Thanks Guys, I really appreciate all the kind words ("Saint Mike"...? :rolleyes: ). There are so many high caliber modelers on this forum, that I was bit apprehensive when Geoff (Ironwing) nudged me to display the Mitchell here, but the warm welcome I got with that thread proved that my concerns were baseless. You're a great bunch of guys, and I'm just happy I can contribute something worthwhile to this place.

 

I'm getting all the pics in order for the next wave of installments: Chassis, drive train, and suspension in the coming days (lots of stuff for such a tiny tractor, huh?). And Nigel(r32), I'm sure the Trumpy tug in the Hellcat kit is nice, but this is more fun....;)

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Great stuff Mike!

 

Your skills are a very welcome addition to our little family here. :D

 

I LOVE learning how others get their final result and this is great stuff. That site with the diamond tread and bolt heads is awesome! Bookmarked for future projects for sure.

 

:popcorn:

 

Cheers,

Brian

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I hope that the LSP mods will consider condensing this little lot into the tips and techniques section once completed, as it would be a shame to lose such useful information amongst the normal forum threads?

 

Cheers

 

Derek

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Well, guess it’s time for less words and more pics. With all that unpleasantness with the wheels out of the way, the rest of the build followed pretty standard model building technique, whether It be paper or plastic. Drew up a pattern for the frame and proceeded to build that up. One nice thing about working in paper, you can print your patterns directly to the material you’re building with:

 

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Here I’m using some of that laser cut diamond plate stuff. It’s cut on mat board, and I just peel a section off and apply. Takes paint well:

 

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Next added the brackets for the suspension, detailed with laser cut bolt heads:

 

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One of the reasons I chose the early version of the Clarktor 6 with the louvered side cowls:

 

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Verses the more common grill type:

 

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Is that it saves me from having to build a complete engine (plus I think it looks cooler). However, I still needed to make the oil pan that hangs below the chassis. Mat board card stacked up accomplishes that:

 

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Since I’m not making an engine, I used a sheet of card painted flat black to represent the open area around the oil pan:

 

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Clarktor 6 tugs made in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s sport a Chrysler Flat head 6 cylinder. The predominate color of those engines appears to be silver, so that’s what I painted the oil pan:

 

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At this point, it’s probably a good time to mention some of my reference source. One good source is the website of Doc Throck. Lots of good shots of a Clarktor being torn down and restored. But by far the best source of Clark tug information on the web is a Yahoo group called (strangely enough) ”Clark Tugs”. Tons of downloadable manuals, the brochures I mentioned previously, even some factory drawings. It’s meant for the owners/restorers of Clark Tugs, but it also a treasure trove for modelers too. From there I scored these cool bottom and drive train pictures that helped to fuel this phase of the build:

 

ClarktorCT-6LubricatonInstructions.jpgDrive_Train.jpg

 

More drive train work coming up…..

Edited by Bomarc
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