Fork truck project

Fork lift truck build.

First i had to decide which type to build and it was going to be a little more difficult to attempt an all terrain vehicle so a smaller type of truck seemed appropriate.

I started by playing around with a pencil and a block of balsa and drew an approximation of the outline of a basic truck shape then carved it all out with a dremel and various fitments .

 Now the tines and lifting mechanism had to be assembled and this was done by using a mixture of scrap brass and some of my stock, with a bit of nifty soldering, cutting and grinding some kind of progress was made and more parts were added to supplement the detail in this part of the model.

 It all fitted together quite nicely as I measured as I went along each part adding and cutting as I went.
A retainer was added behind the fork assembly as I found out it slid up and down easily and I realised It could be made to work .... in a fashion.

The working mechanism :- below

At this point a steering wheel had to be added to ascertain the model as a whole looked right, so a long rod was cut to size and an old wheel of some kind was added, ( a lucky find from the scrap box) 

A small hole was drilled into the centre to accommodate the completed part in the bulkhead. 

 The cabin was made up of small square brass sections laid on a plan drawing then both sides soldered together with two short bits of square, the roof is the motor vehicle body repair mesh from Halfords.
The seat is also a lucky find although some kind of backrest will have to be fabricated.
Two pedals were added, one accelerator and one brake, no clutch is needed as this is a semi auto box and justs needs a gear lever adding to the column.

The dashboard is a thin strip of brass and will accommodate the oil gauge, temperature gauge and warning lights. The three levers are dressmakers pins and operate the lifting mechanism.

One is for lifting up and down, one is for sideshift and one is for tilt.  

Below the main ram was in the wrong position and had to be moved between the masts where it should be, I did manage to knock together some kind of hydraulic ram which surprised me, but had to be done to look correct. Needless to say it works like a dream and I'm happy with it.

Below:- the gear lever added to the steering column, here a close up view of the pedals can be seen.

 Below:- The seat back rest made up from scraps and fixed onto the main seat body, here can also be seen a nice close up view of the operating levers.

Above the completed model is operational and needs painting.

A slight change was needed as the levers were on the wrong side so the cabin had to be changed around, an exhaust was fashioned from micro tube and a roll of paper wrapped around to create a muffler. Finally a coat of grey primer was added.

Below:-

Finally the topcoat was added and the details touched up like the steering wheel and control handles, The Toyota badge on the rear was printed of on the computer onto crafty computer paper waterslide transfer paper. All in all I'm very happy.

It's not an exact representation of any particular truck..... just a truck in general, I can't be too pedantic about it with the materials available for a complete scratchbuild.

End blog.

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