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Building the 1/14 Mercedes Benz 1850L

The 1/14 Mercedes-Benz 1850L (Item #56307) will be my first "Tractor-Truck" for a build article, I have built many Tamiya Semi's though none of them have been step-by-step builds. The reason I choose the Mercedes-Benz 1850L over a traditional 18 wheeler is I have some ideas of mods I have been wanting to do and this platform will work better.

The Mercedes-Benz 1850L is what we in the USA would consider more of a local delivery truck, much like used in Furniture delivery, or most local delivery trucks seen on our streets. It packs most of the features and realism of our 18 wheeler's into a smaller box. There is no 5th-wheel so the box is mounted to the frame and one set of rear axles drive the Mercedes-Benz 1850L. We still get the detailed interior and tilt forward cab you would see in full size local delivery cab-over trucks.

I will first be building this mostly stock with some small tweaks, then we will get into what I pictured it would look like after I got my hands on it. We will be adding the Tamiya MFU to get all the lights and sounds.

My goal with this article is to give you a idea of what it takes to build Tamiya Semi's and some tips along the way. This will all be documented in text, pictures and time lapse video during the build.

Prepare to be transported to the build....

Bearings

The stock truck is equipped with metal bearings, we will be replacing those with ball bearings. This will help with maintenance and better performance on the drive-train. Below you will find a list of bearings...

Equipped with:

1150 Metal bearings x 19pcs

1260 Metal bearings x 4pcs

850 Metal bearings x 1pc

What you need: (we recommend Tamiya quality ball bearings but you can use other ball bearings)

Item # 53008 1150 Ball bearings x 5pcs

Item # 53065 1260 Ball bearings x 2pcs

Item # 53030 850 Ball bearings x 1pc

Threadlock Note

This kit comes with Tamiya Threadlock, you need to use this on all fine thread screws that are threaded into metal. This excludes any screws that are used with "locknuts", as these already lock on threads.

Be careful not to get threadlock on plastic as it make harm some plastics.

Use sparingly, a little goes a long way... Wipe up any excess!

Here we have the box for the Mercedes and MFU, I'm ready to dig in!!!

Opening the Mercedes box, reveals the beautiful Tamiya presentation, almost too good to start building...

Step #1 Steering Servo

Step you are wanting to first center your steering servo so you can install your servo saver.

Setting up your steering servo can be done in two simple ways.

#1 (per instructions, it can be a good pre-test of radio system)

Wire up complete radio system
Plug battery into ESC
Make sure steering trim is neutral
Turn on radio system
Servo will auto center
Turn off radio system and install servo saver in correct direction

#2 (if you do not want to go through wiring the radio system)

Servo only has about 180 degrees of travel
When you know where the ends of the travel are (A - B in image below) you can then set your center.

Once you get your servo saver installed mount it to the servo bracket.

Mounted and ready to go.

Step #2 Shift Servo

Center your servo as explained in Step #1 and mount your servo saver and servo to bracket.

Step #3 Cross memebers

You will be using Press nuts on C19, so make sure you face them in the correct direction as manual shows. After nuts are seated, remove screws as you will come back to this when you are installing rear dampers.

Step #4 Suspension Stay

We Start to setup the basics for the front suspension to mount up. Make sure you Threadlock all BC2 screws.

Step #5 Frame

Here we assemble the frame with cross-members and shifting servo. Do not forget (BA2) locknuts before installing C1.

Step #6 Steering Linkage

Here are the first two (1150/850) bearings that will be replaced with ball bearings, this will give you a smoother steering experience. Note the 90 degree setup of the linkage arms, make sure yours looks the same.

Assemble the 3 linkage rods with rod ends. The illustrations in the manual are 1:1 scale so you can use them to measure your spacing.

Fully assembled:

Step #7 Mount steering servo

All screws will require threadlock in this step. I find it easier to just add threadlock to the inside of the chassis holes.

Step #8 Dampers

Build four dampers and use screwdriver on head of (MB7) for easier assembly. Add grease to shaft of (MB7) for smoother operation.

Step #9 Shackle Assembly

Assemble shackles using (BA2) locknuts, and dampers to stays using (BA3) flanged nuts with threadlock. Snap smallest linkage to steering crank.

Here is a video of Steps 1 - 9

Step #10 Uprights/Front axle

Assemble uprights as shown, note direction and correct ball connector placement. Assemble front axle assembly, adding threadlock to (BA3) and (BC2).

Step #11 Front Axle install

Mount front axle with step screws and (BA2) locknuts. Attach shocks to front axles as well.

Step #12

Attach uprights with link pins and e-clips, add grease to link pin shaft. Snap on longest linkage rod.

Step #13 Diff Gear

Assemble 2, use grease between MC1 and MC12.

Grease all internal parts. Note there is grease points on inside and threadlock for three screws the hold Differential Gear together. Assemble as shown so MC3 assembly is sandwiched between MC1 assemblies.

Shows how it should look before grease.

After assembled and threadlock added to screws.

Step #14

Here I will be adding four 1150 ball bearings to replace the metal bearings. Do not forget to see that bearings will be on the inside of e-clips on axle shafts. Long axle shaft MC16 slides in the gear side of Differential gear assembly.

Step #15 Rear Axle

Fit your diff. gear assembly into A1 axle housing, make sure to add grease to gear face.

After enclosing diff. assembly in housing, screw it together. I would use threadlock on the nuts, vibration can loosen these screws.

You will find the enclosed notice in your kit, please follow instructions.

Step #16

A couple things to note on this step.

Direction of MC5's (These are your upper damper mounts).

Which end you mount MB5 shackles to and that screw heads are on inside of leafsprings.

Threadlock BA1 nuts.

Step #17

Mount rear axle to chassis, make sure you sandwich front leafs with MC11 washers.

Step #18

Mount rear dampers with rods facing toward axle. use access holes in rear cross-member to get your screwdriver in for top screws.

Step #19 Gearbox

use threadlock on small BB1 nuts. Note you will only be installing three MD9's there are four, one will be installed later during final assembly.

Step #20 Gear Shaft A

FIRST - If you see this symbol, it will tell you that the difference between to diagrams is that they are twisted 180 degrees. So make sure you look for those during assembly.

Check page #36 of your manual and you can see what Shaft A (MD4) looks like.

We will be starting with MD4 Gear shaft A. It is very important to watch which way your gears and hubs are pointing.

Step #21 Gear Shaft B

Check page #36 of your manual and you can see what Shaft B (MD5) looks like.

This would be the harder of the two shafts due to more gears and more hubs installed. Replaced the 1150 and 1260 metal bearings with ball bearings on Shaft B.

Step #22 Shift Rod

This is the shift rod, see my note in (RED).

Add a coating grease to rod..

Step #23

In this diagram it shows how to fit all three shafts together into the gearbox housing. I find it easier to fit the shift rod onto Shaft B and slide it and Shaft A in at the same time. I also replaced the four 1150 metal bearings with ball bearings.

This will give you three different upclose angles of the tranny assembled.

Step #24

Mount the motor up and add the pinion gear, make sure that the gear alignment is so when the gear is spun the grub screw (MC10) does not hit the spur gear. Adjust your mesh properly, I always use the trick by using one of the bag headers from your screw bags unfold it and place it between gears. Tighten motor down and spin pinion til paper comes out then you will have a good mesh.

Firmly tighten MC7 with the MC10 grub screw to flat side of shaft.

Slide MD19 on the shift rod and secure with the MD8 ball connector.

You will find the enclosed notice in your kit, please follow instructions.

Step #25

Before starting this step, make sure you have grease on every gear and all three shift forks. This will ensure smooth operation in all three gears. Add the gearbox casing and hold together with five screws.

Step #26

Assemble shift rod linkage, you can use manuals illustration for correct measurement.

Here is a video of Steps 10 - 26

Step #27

Mounting the tranny in chassis first slide propeller shaft into drive cup of rear axle, then rear cup of tranny. Then drop tranny slowly onto chassis keeping pressure on propeller shaft so it does not fall out.

snap shift linkage on tranny and servo, make sure you have longer 17mm end on tranny side so it can slide in shift linkage groove.

Step #28 Battery Tray

I will not be putting any electronics in just yet, as I will be using the MFC unit and need to paint some of these pieces first. But here it is assembled.

Step #29

Mount the battery tray to the chassis.

Step #30

Assemble rear bumper to light housings. I'm just showing assembly as I will be painting later.

Step #31

Assemble mudflaps (R2) pieces only go on correctly in one direction.

Step #32

Mount up mud flaps and bumper to chassis.

Step #33

Mount Fenders to chassis.

Bolt fenders to mudflaps.

Add rear mount for box, make sure (ME5) threaded nuts are installed.

Step #34

Mount front electronics tray to chassis.

Add body hold down bracket.

Add front mount for box, make sure (ME5) threaded nuts are installed.

Step #36

This diagram is important it shows you the relationship between the gear speeds and how it translates to servo movement. This will help you if you need to adjust the linkage to get the tranny shifting correctly..

Step #37

This diagram will illustrate how to adjust your steering correctly.

Step #38 Tires & Wheels

Only tip here is when gluing tires onto wheels, you need so scrape glue from channel on rim, as CA glue does not adhere to chrome.

Step #39

Bolt on your front tires, I replaced the four 1150 metal bearings with ball bearings.

Step #40

Before sliding on the rear wheels make sure you add ME4's this will slide on the axle splines to drive the rear wheels.

Step #41

Mount up Carrier Tray.

Add backside of control box to chassis.

Steps #42 & 43

These steps show how to setup electrical parts of kit. I will be skipping this since this truck will have a Multi-Function Unit.

Steps #44 - 60

These steps take you through assembly and painting of cab. We will get to that later on.

Step #61

Assemble front panel frame. This will create a pass through for wiring inside box.

Step #62

Corner parts, you will be making four (A) and four (B) parts. During assembly keep them separated to help you in future steps where they are needed.

Step #63

Assemble the lower portion of box. Remove blue protective layer on lower panel. Note corner pieces are marked for placement (A) and (B), so use the correct ones. Add lower guard stays, and rails to underside.

Step #64

To assist you the metal frame pieces for the box are taped with color tape, please see illustration to ensure you have the correct pieces.

Assemble box roof.

Step #65

To assist you the metal frame pieces for the box are taped with color tape, please see illustration to ensure you have the correct pieces.

Mount box rear floor on chassis. I found it easier to loosen up center tray from step #41 before placing it down on chassis, holes then lined up easy.

Drop in floor and add box uprights..

Here is a video of Steps 27 - 65

Future updates

Ok, where I am at right now is the basic build is completed minus paint/mods/MFC. Future updates will be all over the place so check each section. I will try to do daily updates, where paint and drying time allows.

MFC

Here we will look at how I will wire and mount the MFC unit. my goal is to keep the cab interior intact, so the MFC components will be mainly installed in the box trailer. The MFC manual shows to install it all in the cab, but you will loose the complete and interior and want to black out the windows.

So on to how I will be installing the MFC.

The control unit housing will be two parts one from the kit and the face from the MFC box. You will need to unscrew four screws that hold the control unit board.

You will then screw the board into the face housing.

attach wire harnesses (three total). I used a zip-tie to keep the strain off the board connector it tugged.

After mounting control housing back-plate to frame screw front plate on. Also I wrapped harness in electrical tape to help hide and protect wiring.

I will be mounting the vibration motor in the box. Here are the components that make up the vibration unit. Basically it is a motor with a off-center weight that when spun shakes the truck. This spinning is controlled by the MFC and varies with engine RPM.

Motor mounted to bracket.

attach weight, kit comes with two so you use the smaller one for European trucks. use threadlock on grub screw to secure weight to motor shaft.

Attach cover with four screws, this will protect spinning weight.

Mounted up front of box by drilling two new holes in box floor.

In the box floor there is a tray, it was designed for the older #56501 Tractor Trailer Electrical Unit. I will mount the MFC unit here.

Adding LED's to rear tail-light housings.

Route harness inside of chassis rails.

I am mounting the speaker toward front of box as shown.

Shot from the back, I will add back after box is mounted to chassis.

I cut a hole in front of box, for speaker to fire sound through, I will add a metal grille to protect speaker cone.

Metal grille cut to fit behind panel.

Wired up front light LED's.

MFC-01 gets wired up as below, except we have no 5th wheel so the leg servo and coupler switch will not be used. Refer to MFC-01 manual for light wiring on this box style tractor.

After you have all the wiring hooked up per the manual, you will need to train the MFC-01 to read your radio. Page six of the MFC-01 manual will tell you to:

Set all your trims to center(neutral)

Turn on Radio then MFC-01

Press SW1 once and engine will shut off

Left stick press up then down and back to center

Left stick press right then left and back to center

Right stick press up then down and back to center

Right stick press right then left and back to center

Press SW1 once and engine will start up

You have now set the MFC-01 to read your radio correctly. If you have problems using all the features of your MFC-01 this is a good procedure to repeat to make sure all your neutrals are set correctly.

This is the stock configuration per the manual for all MFC-01 components. I mounted mine different as you can see, so you can choose to keep it stock, but be prepared to loose the interior details of the cab and black out the windows.

This illustration shows my basic layout.

Paint

I will be updating you while painting.

Painted the control box.

Added some detail to rear fenders.

Rear bumper looks much better with paint.

Started painting the dash.

Added color to interior pieces.

assembling dash before final touches.

Added dash stickers.

Adding some more chrome accents.

Starting to prime box pieces, here is the speaker grill all mounted up.

Cab is primed.

Rear doors get painted on both sides.

Added paint to speaker panel.

Spoiler gets some color.

Box top panel gets painted.

Cab gets painted.

Rear door hardware is primed.

Box panel corners.

Laying coats down on the box panels.

Test fit panel.

Adding detail to grill.

Box panel rails get painted silver.

Mods

Here I will detail my mods for this build: Video Screen will be a 7" android tablet. Not only will it be capable of playing audio/video, you will be able to surf the web as well yes and play games. Starting to make a structure to hold a 7" video screen.

Adding support to my structure.

Video screen screen fitted.

Cut out a bezel for video screen.

Glued support to bezel.

Unit mounted without side wall.

After side wall is mounted w/ bezel.

To get better sound from the video, I am using another speaker assembly from the multi-function unit. Since the display only has headphone out I need to amplify the sound for output on speaker. I picked up a project amp board at Radio Shack, the Velleman K8066 3W Mono Amplifier Kit.

Amp attached to back of speaker, this amp is able to run on 6 to 15VDC. So I will be wiring directly to the 7.2v battery the truck runs on.

I wanted to add a more detail on things you might see on Coke trucks. I scratch built a hand truck out of styrene and some wheels from a military truck model.

Added some paint to the hand truck.

As well as the wheels

I saw alot of trucks that would mount there hand trucks to either the front or rear bumper as not to take up space in the box. I decided on the front so the rear doors could open easier. I created a mount that would allow hand truck to be removable.

Hand truck mounted on front.

Assembly

Here is where I start some assembly to check fitting and clearances. Mount side windows with mirror hardware..

Spoiler mounted.

Rear of spoiler.

Add stickers to dash panel.

Add rear cab lock.

Mount cab to chassis.

Starting to work on wiring.

Routing wires for MFC Unit.

more wiring.

Graphics

So I had Vinyl7.com whip me up some vinyl for this project. Let's get started on it. Side logo script goes on in two layers.

Black First

Got the back graphic cut and laid out, before adding all the hardware.

Side graphics are on.

Finished

Being a big Coca-Cola Fan I've always wanted to build my own scaled down Coca-Cola truck. Here are some final pictures of the build, there will be a quick video at the end. I will try to make a better video in time.