Adding Detail to the Classic Metal Works Cabs

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi Guys,
Earlier today I posted a question about adding rear view mirrors to the Classic Metal Works Super-Power truck cabs. Below is a response I got from BXCARMIKE, who was kind enough to respond with a great idea.

“The classic metal works trucks you have are either International Harvesters or Whites, not macks, the common practice for mirrors were the small round ones thru the mid fifties, the two(westcoast mirrors,started on the west coast, hence the name and came common in mid-late fifties and by sixties, on everything. check out sheepscotts mirror sets in the walthers catologue,it’s stamped brass and theres an assortment of mirrors. You can make your own by bending brass.010 rod into a square u shape and add .005 styrene shape and drill out two holes on truck doors and superglue on, be sure to add styrene mud flaps also”.

Rather than going out and buying brass rod as Mike suggested, I took some very fine common pins my wife uses for sewing and bent and cut them as Mike suggested to form the mirror support. You get about 350 pins for $1.50 which is cheaper than brass rod. I cut one end of the “U-shaped” frame a little longer than the other and therefore only had to drill one hole near the bottom of the window frame of the door because when I inserted the longer end of the “U” into that hole, the top, shorter part of the “U” just rested against the outside of the door frame. I did add a drop of super glue to both ends of the “U” before applying it to the door. Then, I cut plastic for the actual mirrors, using a #11 X-acto blade and super-glued them to the frames. I didn’t use styrene as Mike suggested for the mirrors but rather used some clear “window” plastic which I had lots of and it’s nice and thin. I then painted the frame and the “mirrors” silver after the super-glue had dried. Below are 2 photos of the result.

I should mentioned that I also added the exhaust pipe you can see in the photo which is made of brass rod. I simply drilled a hole the size

2

Mondo if you want to paint CMW White 3000 cab this how to remove the cab to do so:
To remove the White 3000 cab from the chassis requires the following tools,

  1. Dremel Tool
  2. Small Hi-speed Cutter Bit

Locate the “mushroomed” rivet holding the chassis to the body.
The rivet is just behind the rear axle. Carefully, use the small
cutting bit to grind away the rivet’s “mushroomed head.”
Go slow, once all the material is ground away, the body, fenders,
interior and window parts will separate without any damage.

It works real well have rrepainted several cabs,after painting reinstall and just add a drop or two of super glue to hold in place.

3

mondo, that’s an international r-190 cab, nice job, but it needs mudflaps,just drill holes behind dues and use your pins and some thin plastic, paint dark gray or black

4

Hi Mike,
I’m one step ahead. After I took the photos I remembered you mentioned adding mud flaps. I again used clear plastic, cemented it to the tap on the frame and painted them black. They look great but I don’t have time to take more photos just now.

Thank you again,
Mondo