Cap-it Trucks - Part 4

Our next instalment shows the rock sculpting process on the Jeep sign. However, at the time, we neglected to get pictures of the blocks of foam we had glued up to form the rock base.

Luckily we followed the same process on the pickup’s sign and we managed to snap a few pictures as we went.

We had some bits of 2" and 1.5" foam blocks tucked away in our storage area (saved for just such a project) and we glued them on using PL3000 a construction adhesive. We pinned the blocks of foam to the wood box and to each other with some screws while the glue dried.

Once the glue dried these blocks will be carved into rock shapes — generating a blizzard in the workshop in the process!

Then we gave the foam a rough coat of sculpting epoxy, followed by a final coat into which we carved the detail. The next instalment shows that process on the Jeep sign.

Cap-it Trucks - Part 3

With the frames complete we shifted gears and moved back to the tires. They only needed a little handwork on the centre treads to finish them up. The hand die grinder made quick work of the high density urethane and once they painted up they will look great!

Then it was time to switch gears again and move on to the truck bodies. We decided to slice the pickup in vertical slices, while the Jeep was sliced horizontally to facilitate the interior detail. The grill for the Jeep was done as a separate piece, as were the inner fender wells, and front fenders.

The yellow areas were done as fills, while the blue lined are straight cuts. Everything will be cut from one inch thick 30lb. Precision Board HDU.

We also designed and cut the pieces for the signs themselves. From here on the piece mostly required involve handwork.

As the pieces came off the CNC router we took the time to mock up both trucks. This is an important part of our process as it's still easy to make changes and adjustments at this stage.

Next we drilled some holes in the frame and glued in some steel rods. These would be the mounting points for the springs which we fashioned by bending some flat bar. Once we were happy, we welded them on securely.

Then we drilled the wheels and glued in some heavy steel rod. More rod formed the lift kits under the springs. We also added some steel driveshafts. A few more steel bits are still needed for the shock absorbers, tie rods, and the exhaust system. After that it’s time to break out the sculpting epoxy.

At this stage we mocked up the entire sign just to make sure everything was working together. At this point, the piece tops out at a little over six and a half feet tall now and will get even higher with the windshield and roll bar.

The two trucks are now worked up enough that we can do some sculpting on the undercarriages.

We worked on the springs first, then the differentials. The exhaust system was next and then the last little bits and pieces of detail.

The holes drilled in the bottom of the tires match up with short pieces of threaded rod which are glued into the rock base under the truck. After the pieces are painted we'll drop some epoxy in the holes and slide the truck onto the top permanently.

This project reminds me of my father’s famous four wheeling days. I was just a kid when he owned his old Toyota Land Cruiser into which he had stuffed a big V-8. It sported extra large tires, a winch, a full roll cage, and sundry other modifications. It was a pretty potent vehicle that could go just about anywhere - no matter how steep or rough. He had painted it bright yellow and dubbed it the 'BIONIC BANANA'. Never one for subtly, my father.

Cap-it Trucks - Part 2

Our last instalment covered the creation of the trucks’ tires. The next thing we made was the trucks’ frames. The trucks are mounted quite high on the display so the undercarriage will be quite visible. To keep things relatively simple, we used the same frame for both vehicles. We've built a few hotrods in the past, so we didn't have to do any research on the subject.

The vectors were created in EnRoute. The large rectangles going in both directions were used to create necessary bends in the frame.

The frame rails were simple flat reliefs 1" tall. The cross members were 0.9" tall so they would tuck under the main rails. The floor pan was 0.3" thick.

After these were built, we created a separate relief with the dome tool using the horizontal rectangle. We then selected the two cross members we wanted to curve upwards and then the big rectangular shape. By “merging highest” the crossmembers were instantly curved.

After this, iit was time to do the rear floor pan and the rear of the frame rails. We created a concave shape with the dome tool and line it up with the top of the frame rails. The frame rails were curved downwards using “merge lowest.” We then nudged the concave shape downwards until it lined up with the floor pan and repeated the merge lowest procedure.

At this point, we are almost done. We used the various vector shapes with the dome and bevel tools to create the different elements of the engine oil pan and the transmission and transfer case shapes. The rivets on the frame cross members was the finishing touch for this stage. And as simple as that, we had our trucks’ frames ready to tool-path and send to the CNC router.

We routed the frame from 1.5" thick 30 lb. Precision Board HDU.

We were delighted with the little frame of the truck when it came off the router. The detail was good and everything looked pretty much as we had imagined them.

Unfortunately, when we mocked the trucks up with the large wheels it looked kinda dinky. While the width longer good, it was definitely too short. So, it was time to make some adjustments and give it one more go on the router.

We measured things up again by holding the wheels against the frame, opened the frame file in EnRoute and stretched it out. The cross members were a little thicker than we originally designed but still looked good. As you've may have guessed, we tend to design as we go - by the seat of our pants and at a full run! We design by eye, so tape measures are generally used as a last resort. It definitely has it advantages, but sometimes (as in this case) we have to make adjustments as we go.

We tool-pathed our adjusted file and sent it on to the router. The rough pass was done in one pass with a 3/8" ballnose bit and a 50% overlap. And, we used a tapered 1/8" ballnose for the final pass, again all in one go, and with an 80% overlap.