gino Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 here is my version of freightliner of the late 60's. this is the original issue kit that I've had in the stash for many moons. I wanted to build a truck that I would spec out back in the day. something that would be capable of hauling double 40 footers up the hills on the mass pike into new York. that's where the DD V-12 comes in. parts were collected for a long time for this build. I started on the cab first with the headlite mod, then did the grille. the amt fit of the grille is not accurate it mounts in behind the opening giving it a recessed look. on the real truck it should stick out at the top. It was reworked to facilitate this. the cab was also cut down to a 78 inch bbc. the kit depicts a 86 inch bbc which was not available back then. the cab was painted summer 2014 using testors revving red over diamond dust silver.here is what it looks like now : here is the engine, it was originally from the amt bandag bandit kit. the exhaust manifolds are made from scratch. the front steer is a r.o.g. unit . I made axle u-bolts from wound guitar string and used aluminum tube for the tie rod. front wheels are from the amt/ertl transtar kit. after trying all of the tires I had in the stash, I settled on the older small goodyears as they seemed to look the best to me. for the rears wheels I used resin 5 holes from Spaulding. for the breather tubes 3/16 copperzinc automotive brake tubing was used. aluminum tube was used for a section of the driveshaft and some of the exhaust. the radiator and engine are pinned in and can be removed when the frame is ready for painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chariots of Fire Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 That's a nice start Gino. Good looking color scheme also. Narrow tires for the period look good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petetrucker07 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Looks great so far. I've been wanting to make a dual vertical intake system on one of my COE builds. Looks easy enough. The 352 I started may get it. I like how you made the fuel tanks even, that drove me nuts AMT did that. So change every one I do. The rear light bar looks awesome. This has just enough "cool" stuff on it to be just right. I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 thanks Charles ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatorincebu Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Gino, I really like what you are doing on this one. I like the colors and paint scheme. The dual intakes are great. What type of trailer are you going to put behind it? Be Well Gator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinac359 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Looking good ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Looks great so far. I've been wanting to make a dual vertical intake system on one of my COE builds. Looks easy enough. The 352 I started may get it. I like how you made the fuel tanks even, that drove me nuts AMT did that. So change every one I do. The rear light bar looks awesome. This has just enough "cool" stuff on it to be just right. I like it. thanks clayton ! Gino, I really like what you are doing on this one. I like the colors and paint scheme. The dual intakes are great. What type of trailer are you going to put behind it? Be Well Gatorthanks gator !don't have any plans for a trailer as of yet due to space limitations but perhaps a van type .Looking good ! thanks tim ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodwrench3 Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 HI -- Can you give me a web site for those wheels ? (5 holes from Spaulding).Also -- what process do you use for painting the 2-color cab ? Those paint lines look razor sharp even over the rivets !!! Thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 (edited) HI -- Can you give me a web site for those wheels ? (5 holes from Spaulding). Also -- what process do you use for painting the 2-color cab ? Those paint lines look razor sharp even over the rivets !!! Thx! here is the link for Spaulding : http://www.stsmodeltrucks.com/ I use 3M automotive pinstripe tape for my paintwork . there are two different widths. I use the smaller of the two. and I always remove the masking asap right after I paint . there is a clear carrier film on the top of the tape to ensure the two strips are uniform when pin striping a car . remove this , you will end up with two pieces of tape. when painting, apply as little paint as you can get away with . this will give a nice sharp line with no hard edge, and again remove the tape asap ! hope this helps . if any questions feel free to ask away, I will be glad to help any way I can . Edited November 10, 2015 by gino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 COOL...! What a beast....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 Charger Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Very cool I love the early rigs. Gino could you tell us exactly what you had to do to the grille please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 (edited) COOL...! What a beast....! thanks mark ! Very cool I love the early rigs. Gino could you tell us exactly what you had to do to the grille please? thanks dave ! this is my first grille mod so i'll call it the prototype, however this build made me realize something that I missed and since corrected with another build. the 60's cabs were mounted lower to the frame. the amt kit depicts a 1971 with the built in air breather system. therefore on the real truck the cab was raised 3 or 4 inches to facilitate this . it's easy to spot this on the real truck by looking below the grille. the older trucks had a narrower panel below the grille and the 71 and up had the wider panel like the kit has. I realized this when I went to test fit the front bumper on this model. I ended up cutting the cab down below the headlites and all I will have to do is slide the bumper up to get the right look. I have since corrected this on another truck currently under construction. (will post pics soon) to do the early lower version simply cut the hinges off the grille and glue them to the cab where needed to get the cab lower. more on this in a future post. the basic grille mod is the same for both except the cab hinges. if anyone is still awake here is how I did the grille. to mod the grille I cut off the material that surrounds the part leaving the bottom intact for the cab hinges. then sand the bottom in a way thus changing the angle to allow the lower part of the grille to be flush on the bottom, and the upper part to protrude out. then I took scraps of plastic glued to the back part of the grille and one piece to the cab on the inside . here are some pics, hope this helps. here you can see the front of the hinge that was sanded to create the angle that was needed, and the backing that was glued behind the grille also has a slight angle. Edited November 10, 2015 by gino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 Charger Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Thanks for that Gino good reference pics too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatorincebu Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Veddy veddy interesting, Nice work Gino. I like the radiator mods. Be Well Gator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodwrench3 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 oh balls.. what a chore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesla Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 This is a nice project Gino. I like what you've done so far. The paint job came out great...nice crisp lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Buckaroo Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Gino - this is a really good looking truck and your attention to detail shows. I have used solid "silver bearing solder" (lead free) to plumb in exhaust with great results. You can really get nice curves by using it.I like this AMT kit myself and have backdated several cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny B Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Gino, nice work so far. love those old freight shakers.Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 thanks for the kind comments guys ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpreadAxle Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Great job on the paint and the engine. I look forward to seeing more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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