Mega Mule (Glencoe 1/15th scale M274) Scale-O-Rama to 1/35th scale

[Jeffry Fontaine]

My prototype scaled up Mule has been destroyed in the process of prototyping.  It had lasted as long as possible before realization finally checked in to make me finally admit that this horse was indeed dead. 

Not a complete loss though as I learned what not to do on the next iteration of this idea.  This after all was a learning experience and that means mistakes will be made in pursuit of the idea.  Sharing the WIP will continue as I began again on Mega-Mule Mk.2. 

Some work was done on the new cargo platforms last night/early this morning to assess how badly warped they are.  Also some minor cleanup of surface features that are out of scale. 

Thank you all for the support given and suggestions on the Mk.1 Mule.  I hope to get further with this second attempt. 

[Claymore]

You have my sympathy and heart-felt respect - sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. For what it’s worth, I am hugely impressed that you are moving on to the Mk 2 - remember, that which does not kill us makes us stronger! 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Hi Claymore.  No need for the sympathy.  The prototype Mega Mule Mk.1 was just that, an experiment to see what could be done.  While along the way there was some "permanence" to the modifications so disassembly to continue the process was a dead end on progress going forward with the existing Mega Mule Mk.1. 

The next iteration of Mule will continue with the modifications once I can get the cargo platform a bit less warped.  Out of the box, the Glencoe Mule suffers from major warping issues with the cargo platform.  So much so that I have had to remove the side railings on the cargo platform in order to even try and make the thing flat.  A minor win on that effort is to take two of the cargo platforms and glue the things together to give it more strength but one platform looks like a a "C" in appearance from the end on view.  The second platform has a bowl shape to it so combining the two is probably the best solution to the problem.  Getting the damned things flat enough to do so is the challenge.     

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Mega-Mule 2.0 WIP image teaser. 

Thanks to Bill/FinsRin I now have two Glencoe M274 kits that are in good shape with almost perfectly flat cargo platforms to work with.  I had given up on the first Mega-Mule after a losing battle with the warped cargo platform and details that failed after trying to add them on.  It was after all a learning experience so lesson learned and keep it simple. 

Attached images of the two Mega-Mules showing the two top surfaces of the cargo platform and one underside and topside to prove there are two under construction.   

[Frank3k]

That looks good, Jeff. The Mega Mule is about the size of a HMMWV or slightly smaller now?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Hi Frank. 

You are correct on the size comparison with the HMMWV. 

Attached image confirms size relative to an Italer 1/35th scale HMMWV. 





***Edit to correct sentence structure/grammar.--jjf

[Frank3k]

I was going from memory, quadrupling the size of the DML Mule in my head. Looks like it'll be a great cargo hauler. You'll need a hefty engine under there, too, depending on the cargo.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I was going from memory, quadrupling the size of the DML Mule in my head. Looks like it'll be a great cargo hauler. You'll need a hefty engine under there, too, depending on the cargo.

Current plans are to use the engine bits that came with the kit.  Possibly add some bits and details to make it look more "engine-like" since the original M274 Mules were powered by a four cylinder, four-stroke air-cooled opposed piston engine that produced a measly sixteen-horsepower.  Also no electric starter, hand pulled starter cord like a big lawnmower engine.  Some of the versions were also powered by a two-cylinder, four-stroke air-cooled opposed piston engine so I guess I am lucky that Glencoe chose to model the four-cylinder engine. 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Dry fit of engine, connecting drive shaft, and axles to get things aligned. Used the driver's platform as the engine mount and it appears to be the ideal height for lining it all up. 

***Edit to add additional image. 

Second image showing the second Mega Mule with the original engine and the modified engine to show the difference between these two.  All dry-fit at the moment.  Still cleaning up the wheel spindles and turning arms. 

The real M274 originally featured four wheel steering while later production models featured two wheel steering of the front wheels only. 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Additional images of the engine, modified driver's platform, and drive shaft. 

Drive shaft in the kit has just a half section (big end).  I cut that same piece from another spare drive shaft to give it a more complete appearance. 

Clipp8the foot rest from the driver's platform to get the clearance needed to fit between the tubular frame and rear underside of the cargo platform. 

Modified the engine by mating two upper half pieces together.  Removed the air cleaner component from each half.  The trans-axle is a bit larger so the differential fits easily within.  The nub on the end of the trans-axle that connects to the drive shaft was attached after adding some plastic card to square it all up
 

[Ramba]

Great to see you back at the bench. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

[Frank3k]

The engine looks good. Are those the cylinder heads at the sides of the big piece?

[Buzzbomb]

And, were back !

Great to see this moving again

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The engine looks good. Are those the cylinder heads at the sides of the big piece?

Yes, on that.  Very crude looking cylinder heads.  The bottom of the engine depicts cooling fins and the exhaust port which is supposed to be covered by a length of exhaust pipe that connects to a muffler with a matching muffler and exhaust pipe on the opposite side.  I am removing this feature in an attempt to simplify and unclutter the rear portion surrounding the engine so that a batter box and electronics boxes can be put in these same spaces or close to it. 

And, were back !

Great to see this moving again

I feel like I am the living embodiment of the definition for insanity.  Keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Back at it with some small detail work added to the underside of the Mega Mules. 

Plastic straps to bulk up the bottom of the cargo bed since the payload weight has increased. 

Added small extension to the ends of the frame for a bumper or stop lights/turn signals.  Extension was an end section of the tube chassis that are now spare parts. 

Damage to side rail near fuel tank was repaired for a second time using CA glue instead the fast-dry Tamiya liquid cement.  Hope it does not break again 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Some additional work on the Mega Mule undercarriage to attach the front wheel spindles and the engine/trans-axle mount.  The mount was originally the extended driver's foot rest at the front of the vehicle
  I added some plastic straps for strength and attached it using eyesight to center it between the chassis.   

I decide to stay with the kit engine with minimal modifications to avoid the pitfall of the need for details best left to the imagination. 

Attached images to show engine mount with and without engine.  Engine and drive shaft are still dry-fit at this time. 

The all-wheel steering features of this model are being avoided/ignored due to the toy-like qualities of these features. 

[Old Wombat]

 

[Buzzbomb]

More bits. Great to see 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Work accomplished last night on the Mega Mule power packs (engine and trans-axles). 

Not much to see when installed.  So details are sparse. 

Added exhaust pipes from curved parts runners.  This was done to suggest some small improvements over the original muffler parts that are now featured as part of the engine. 

[Old Wombat]

Cool!

[Frank3k]

The exhausts look good!

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Thanks Frank! 

I was going for an air-cooled, turbo-charged, fuel-injected four-cylinder opposed diesel engine without putting too much effort towards the details becoming overwhelming for the available space.  I still need to figure out what the engine displacement is for this 1:15th scale engine that is now 1:35th scale. 

According to Wikipedia, the engine is described as an AO4-4-53 16 hp (12 kW).  Not sure if that is 53cu.in. total dispacement or 53cc total displacement of each cylinder. 
A total displacement of 53 cubic inches (868.52cc) would make more sense.  In which case each cylinder would displace 13.25 cubic inches (~217.13cc).  Any suggestions on what this would be in 1:35th scale?  My guess is somewhere in the range of 350cu.in/5.7Litre for displacement.  Engine designation would be something like AOIDS-4-350 to describe the engine. 

A - for Air-Cooled
O - for cylinder placement
I - for fuel injection
D - for Diesel
S - for Super charging/Turbo-Charging
4 - for number of cylinders
350 - for engine -displacement

Considering all of the short cuts taken in making this model to allow for the all-wheel steering features I am glad that this can be ignored otherwise this project would have been enroute to a landfill by now. 

Attached image to show final details added to both power packs and the modifications made. 
Added part from Heller AMX-13 to the bottom of the air cleaner. 
Added part from F-35 weapons bay to serve as the starter motor.   
Added half of a kit muffler to serve as an oil filter. 
Added two pieces of curved parts runner to serve as exhaust pipes/waste dumps for the turbo-charger. 
Added small gray rod to serve as the dip stick to check the crank case oil level. 
Added part of the engine brush cover to hide the hole at the front of the engine. 
Added end section from on of the tubular chassis sections to serve as a secondary intake for the turbo-charger.  It gives it a bit more clutter. 

Next step is to add the rear wheel spindles and some boxes for the vehicle electric systems plus the fuel tank. 






***Edit to add image.  --jjf

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Just finished attaching the spindles to the rear axle.  Reinforced the parts with CA glue which also fills in the empty space between the two parts. 

[Frank3k]

So you're not going to be able to turn the wheels? That greatly reduces the playtime technical evaluation potential, but removes the issue of it falling apart.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

So you're not going to be able to turn the wheels? That greatly reduces the playtime technical evaluation potential, but removes the issue of it falling apart.

 
I wonder how long this kit was supposed to stay intact in the hand of the kid that built it.  Say it took a couple of hours to build, did the rolling wheels with steering last more than an hour on the sand pile in the back yard? 

My first attempt with this had the steering ability and it did not steer very well. 

Yeah, the steering feature and rolling wheels is overrated as far as I am concerned.