Rocast Models

Dear all,

Today after seven months since I started this project, it is finally seeing its end.
I would like to share with you the photos of the test-fitting models which are the first ones made in order for me to see that all parts fit properly, some required a redesign, but all in all I am very satisfied with the result.

There are a couple things missing from these pictures, one is the compartment, the compartment which is were the food carts are stored is already made, but these parts in particular will be made with polyurethane resin, as you know, some of the GSE kits combine different kind of materials more suitable for each type of part.

Another detail missing that is already done though, are the figures. The set will include a loading (or unloading) figure with a food cart and the driver in a seated position.

• 

This catering will be available with a choice for the cabin, it will be available with the Mercedes Atego cabin or the Ford F-750 cabin.

The Ford F-750 cabin has a higher CG and bigger wheels, therefore, the choice for this cabin will also include the correspondent wheels (for both, cabin and chassis).

You will have the freedom to either glue the side guards or not. Some real caterings do not have side guards and some have even less accessories attached to the chassis.

For the scissors, they will reach the maximum height of 41mm which is the equivalent to the real model limit which can rise up to 6 meters (tall enough to service most if not all airliners). The minimum height is determined by the cabin height which is also produced in scale taking into consideration the measures of the real models.

The set also includes a representation of the lifting rear platform, which is in retracted position and located under the chassis.

Note that, the Mercedes representation in this publication is not fully finished, for example, driving mirrors were not added yet.

This project is or has been a quite complex one for me personally. The level of creation was not as complex as the Commander cargo loader, but it surely will take me some time to have the first model done and painted, for which I am going to take the chance to record the building process.

Now time will be focused on making their correspondent decals for which at first, I plan to do the following handlers:

– Delta.
– Jal Royal Catering.
– ANA Catering Service.
– Dnata.
– Emirates Flight Catering.
– Lufthansa Service LSG Sky Chefs.
– LSG Sky Chefs.
– Alpha LSG Sky Chefs.
– Gategourmet.
– Servair.
– KLM Catering Services.
– Q Catering.
And some that I am considering as well:
– Beijing Air Catering (including the Chinese lettering).
– AeroMar (including the Russian lettering).
– Southwest (although I believe they use smaller catering trucks).
– Cathay Pacific.
And maybe some others I may find as to give as many options as possible depending on which diorama or scenery you would like to represent. If you would like some that are not in the list, please do feel free to contact me and let me know which catering handlers are out there that I can also represent.

In terms of production, this model is a slower product to produce due the size of the parts and the quantity and variety. Material-wise, this product will include parts made in polyurethane resin, photopolymer resin, photo etch (wipers), acetate, plastic and decal, so it will be the most complex to restock.

Also, note that my camera is not so good at closeups, but upon inspection of the rims for example, you can actually see the screws.

I am still aiming to have the first units ready around the mid-end October.
I know that I should not look at things negatively, but I wanted to make other GSE models this year that I haven’t been able to, such as the hydrant truck and a towbar tractor, they are all still in the list.
Motivation is very important to me and these last couple months are difficult and a lot goes through my mind, however, I also have hopes in the decal liveries for which I nearly finished the A320 illustrations as well as for upcoming projects such as the B747 cargo deck set and the B737 1/12 cabin.

There may not be any other new 1/144 GSE from here till next year, as I will probably take this time to start converting more 1/144 GSE models into 1/200 despite the low demand that they had upon the release of 1/200 belt loader, which, I must admit, has been the desmotivation to continue converting models to 1/200 scale throughout the year.

From the beginning of the release of the 1/200 belt loader, no new units of this model needed to be done, which means that stock that was initially done is still there, thus I cannot have products hanging on the wall that won’t produce any income, as this is a beloved hobby and a hobby/work for me, I must also think in the future of the business, so if I feel the 1/200 scale may not take off, I will probably invest the time in the other 1/144 airliner projects that I wanted to start this year.

That is all for now, work continues and hopefully next time I can have more things to share.
Best wishes,
Guillem

Dear all,

I’ve been able to progress further with the current projects, and finally been able to start putting together all the pieces I worked with on the FWD cargo hold for the B787-9.

• 

• 

• 

I had lots of issues to figure out how this was going to be made and assembled by the modeler.

At first, I thought that I would make a shell consisting of the two side walls and the floor together, which could be incorporated inside the fuselage. But, upon construction, I realized that the section where the side walls rested on the floor, were way too thin to hold themselves together with the floor. This is due to the particular shape of the wall to allocate the LD3 containers.

So then I thought, well, maybe the set can consist of the three elements separate from each other; the two side walls and the floor, but another construction problem arised.

What would happen with the other side wall? For example, one goes and installs the floor at the door level, then places the side wall, however, the fuselage is glued in a way that it would make it impossible for the other wall to be glued since the other fuselage half is closing the space, there is no way to reach the inside and place the wall.

This made me think of something I was already thinking, make the shell a whole unit with the fuselage. There was another issue, concerning the construction of this, and this was regarding the opening of the cargo door.

The cargo door opening has a lot of detail on the real model, it has a kind of lip for the door to sit on once closed, there are the latches of course, and the hinges.

So I thought, ok, if the modeler has to open the cargo door, there are many factors depending on it, the platform for instance is at the close edge, then there is this border around the door opening, the latches that would need to be on the bottom…

In the end, the idea of making a unit shell with the fuselage was gaining weight, I thought that it would be easier to just make four cuts and insert the shell with the already built in cargo hold.

This way the modeler can paint, decal and detail the cargo holds and once done, these could be glued together with the aircraft fuselage.

I do not think it is a very difficult operation to do as long as it is stated carefully in the instructions where the cut has to be done at (which I took note of) in fact, there are aftermarket plugs to make the fuselages shorter/longer so this is more or less something similar, also, the cargo holds will have some sort of extensions that will aid on the positioning with the rest of the fuselage.

Lastly, another issue that I found and that I had to avoid were the galleys. The galleys were going to interfere with the cargo holds, so I had to measure where the galleys ended up in order to make sure that everything could be together. This limited the space of the cargo holds, which are longer in real life, but, considering that the whole length is not visible from the outside, it was a part that needed to be sacrificed.

At the moment all is going well, I tried to replicate the cargo holds and its platform as close as possible to the real aircraft, and there is still some more work to do; the ceiling, the door details and the door itself.

Personally, I want to do a full build with all the galleys and both cargo holds, this way it will show much clearer the whole progress and see the final result. I will plan to add lighting to the aircraft.

In regards to the catering truck, all the parts are done and first tests are being done. I believe that these projects still require a bit of time, I still have to make the AFT cargo hold, make their decals, make the stock, and for the catering, it is basically the same, I will have a first version assembled (without paint), but decals need to be made as well as the instructions.

It may still take me some time, but if everything goes well, I may have these projects ready at the end of October at the latest.

That is all so far, my next update will feature the first 1/144 catering model assembled.

Wish everyone is doing well,
Guillem

Dear all,

Things have been quite busy with the current projects and I wanted to have something more advanced prior giving an update.

I’ve been working on the other catering truck cabin, the Ford F-750. At the moment the cabin is finished, however, there are a couple things that I must do; add the shape of the Ford logo on the front grid (later a decal with the logo will be placed on top of it) and also make the joining points for the wheels and the supports for the cabin interior.

The Atego cabin requires a few adjustments, mainly to improve the finish, but all in all, the catering truck is nearly done.

As always, I will need to assemble the first prototype to ensure that everything fits where it has to, and then, production will be started.

A few extra things that will be needed to do in the meantime are the decals (basic details and handlers) and the precut windshield acetate.

In regards to the B787-9 cargo holds, I am glad to say that the way I found to do this has finally worked and I am currently progressing forward with them. My objective is to release these cargo holds at the same time as the catering truck.

I am still working on the new type of parts (parts on the base) for the LD3 trolleys and baggage carts. On the way, I may make another type of baggage cart with a lining cover.

The 1/200 GSE models will undergo this parts modification (parts on the base) very soon. From there, I hope to bring some of the models previously made in 1/144 into the 1/200 scale progressively.

I hope to stabilize the current works so that I could continue with the airliner decals illustrations as well as with the B737 1/12 cabin.

On a personal note, I would like to make my anual project on the Christmas holidays since I did not have free time in the summer to work on other things. I would like to make a full build of the B787-9 with all the galleys and cargo holds in order to illustrate and have a better view of all these things put together.

That is all for now, on my next update I will be showing the first preview of the assembled catering truck as well as the B787-9 forward cargo hold assembly.

Everyone stay safe!
Best wishes,
Guillem

Hello all,

It has been quite some time since my last update, things have been a bit difficult over here and I’ve been trying to work as much as possible on the new items.

I have been able to upload the review and full build video of the container transporter which you can find here:

The progress on the catering truck is nearly finished, a few more details need to be included and then, the remaining thing to do would be the Ford cabin, which I am thinking to base it on the Ford F-750. Therefore the model will be available in two different versions, the Ford F-750 cabin and the Mercedes Atego 1518. The chassis as you probably know is based on the Mallaghan CT6000.

The B787-9 cargo holds were restarted a couple weeks ago. I had a lot of trouble and later discarded a “built in” shell specially due the limitations of the plastic and its thickness, meaning that you cannot add a wall inside the fuselage if the wall thickness is already the plastic thickness, more thickness would result in an unrealistic effect plus the LD3 containers would not fit in.

I am going to discuss more about this as soon as I have the first of the two cargo holds done and you will be able to see some of the critical points that avoided me to make a one single interior to fit inside the plastic plus how I had to planify ahead keeping in mind the space that the galleys already occupy.

So far the progress is going well and most of the details are done, it is taking some extra time but I expect to release both the FWD and the AFT holds by the time of the catering truck release.

In the meantime, I am also working on new units, specially of the Commander FMC15i cargo loader and working on the new type of parts for the dollies and baggage carts that will also be placed on numbered platforms as the rest of the GSE.

1/200 GSE is also in my mind, so I will be doing this change in the resin parts for them as well.

Working on the A320 instructions illustrations, it does take quite a lot of time but I keep progressing as much as I can, as I said some time ago, the silk screen details are already here, but there is still so much work behind to do, complete the illustrations, make the rest of the decal set as well as the liveries themselves. You can actually have a small preview of the silk screen decals from the slideshow at the top of the blog.

Wish you all have a very nice week,
Guillem

Dear all,

Just a very quick update to inform that the new releases and the 1/144 GSE items have been restocked.

The reason for this long delay and long time out of stock was due the change I made on the parts, from being pre cut (which took me forever) to having them orderly placed and numbered on platforms.

From now on, I will continue restocking progressively and will also update the very few items remaining to apply this change, which are; the trolleys and baggage carts although they are all in stock at the moment.

Work continues and I am currently working on the 1/144 catering truck (which is at 60%) B787-8/B787-9 cargo holds, 1/12 B737 cabin and the coming up project B747-8F main deck set (as well as cargo holds). Also, working on the livery decals illustrations.

Thank you all for the support and patience waiting for those items, I am fully dedicated to it, so I hope these will be of your liking and pleasure.

Best wishes,
Guillem

Dear all,

I am very close to finally restocking everything and releasing the new items on Friday. It has been a very long time of hard work and preparations but I am glad to see that all the pieces are finally fitting together. And although I still await some final material, I am sure I will be able to have it all ready.

I have been uploading new product photos at the store as well as new thumbnails to keep things a bit more tidy. I still need to modify the category’s thumbnails.

As the GSE catalogue grows, I am planning for this upcoming restocking/release to make different subcategories as I feel a bit overwhelmed seeing all stuff mixed together in the same place, so there will be different categories under GSE named “Pushbacks and tractors”, “Cargo operations” etc.

This will also lead me to join the “Ground accessories” under the “GSE” main category.

Tomorrow I will be making the product page of the new articles; B787 crew, cargo loader personnel, container transporter, Envirotainer and B787 Rear galley.

I have finished the progress build of the cargo loader which is finally uploaded on Youtube:

I have also been working on a new GPU C690 build that I used to record the whole process.

I expect to upload the video of the container transporter first, and then the C690 GPU.

The release and restocking will approximately be at about 2pm – 3pm CEST time.

Once everything is ready at the store, it will be time to continue with the current projects which in fact, I have been able to work on the last few days.

Everyone stay safe and well,
Guillem