MB New Actros Lowliner

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Top notch!!

[Madd Trucker]

I am  building  the   Mercedes  Giga Space also   I have a  question  for   yo u what is  the  modual    next to the  transmission and  do  all  the   Mercedes  have  the  front  under  run   bar and   radator   shield  any  help  would be  great

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello gents!

 

First of all, thank you all for the nice comments !

On 27-2-2019 at 6:12 PM, Madd Trucker said:

I am  building  the   Mercedes  Giga Space also   I have a  question  for   yo u what is  the  modual    next to the  transmission and  do  all  the   Mercedes  have  the  front  under  run   bar and   radator   shield  any  help  would be  great

Richard, the module is an aquatarder, this one works on the cooling system of the engine, this model,  what I'm making ,  get also the same aquatarder, just like the other Actros models.

All the Mercedes Benz have the Front under run protection or bar, this safety feature starts already with the Actros MP2.

At the Actros MP2 and MP3 lowliner, you can actually see them, it sticks out a bit below the bumper.

The radiator shiels are on every New Actros and Arocs models.

If you wanna know something, just ask.

Yes gentlemen, and we continue with this Lowliner.

First of all, i have modified the inner doorwindow frames, the kit is already well detailed, but the inner frames are missing.

With these self made frames, i don't have to glue the windows in to the frames, but glue the frames around the windows.

In this way, you dont have the risk for glue mistakes with the doorwindows.

Then a heat cloth under the floor plate, this is formed with styrene and covered with normal paper .

After all the glue is dry, i painted the whole thing with Matt black.

Then the polishing of the cabine to make it shine.

i used a real car polisher, because the cab is painted with car paint, after this polishing, i polished the whole cabine with car wax.

The result.....

Then put the innerside of the front cover in the real colours and placed the Mercedes star into the cover.

The star is marked with a molotow chrome marker.

Then paint all the rubber and plastic caps on the back of the cabinde, and paint the bolts of the cab supports with silver.

After this fine detail job i cut the long sticks from the fuel tanks, and paint and place the covers at the spot where the sticks have been cutted.

Then with a slightly thicker styrene tube, i simulate the rubber hoses, which are placed on the cooling water pipes of the aquatarder.

And then.....then it's time for the details inside the cabine.

This model is the solo star version, this means that the passenger seat is exchanged for a large relaxing chair in its place.

Source

Source

Of course this chair is a self made one, and now i have the lower part ready.

And for a nice detail and for fun.......a lady form Master Box.

And finally, the result so far ..... .....

Yes guys, this was it for today, and until the next round!

Source

 

Hermann.

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hermann Kersten

[Madd Trucker]

Hermann thank   you  for  your  reply  I   am  following   your  build   closely  and  waiting  to see how   you   detail  the   engine

[Vince66]

Looking very nice just came across this build interesting build. 

 

 

[Hermann Kersten]

On 8-3-2019 at 2:56 PM, Madd Trucker said:

Hermann thank   you  for  your  reply  I   am  following   your  build   closely  and  waiting  to see how   you   detail  the   engine

You're welcome Richard.

On 8-3-2019 at 9:23 PM, NothingAsFineAsaW9 said:

Looking very nice just came across this build interesting build. 

 

 

Thank you Vince.

 

And we continue.

The interior is ready now, and it took a lot of time for making these  small details inside the cabine.

First i show a few features that are standard in the New Actros Solostar together with some small and very small details inside the cabine.

We start with the folding table at the bed and the folding table in the dashboard.

And the 1/24 version....

Some cans and sigarettes with a lighter....

A tissue- box with a real piece of tissue, shades, a modern car key....

Supports where the upper bed hangs , what is absent in my model.....

Than the completion of the Solo-seat....

The electronic key box with 2 small keys for the add blue and the fuel caps.....

Then making the floor mat, this is done with paper and sewing thread.

With the pictures below, the requirements for making this small mat.

And the result after a patience job,  together with the safety belts which are also made of paper.....

From the thin layers of a paper handkerchief, making and painting the curtains .....

A fluffy teddy bear that comes from a car - asseccoire set of Fujimi.

You have to paint the lighter color nuances and the eyes on the bear by yourself,  the fur on the bear has already been done by Fujimi.

Then the ceilling spots,  which are made with small train lights of 1,2mm x 3,6mm and 1,2Volt.

With these small axial lights, I can keep the real shape of the ceiling spots, when the cabine is closed and a little dark, i can on the lights, so that everything is still good visible.

And finally, the test with the lights inside the cabine.......

These were the progress so far.

Now I can place the interior inside the cabin and close the cabin.

See you next round!

Source

Hermann.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tbill]

Wow, just wow! Amazing detail thru this whole build, fantastic work!

[Hermann Kersten]

On 11-3-2019 at 11:51 PM, tbill said:

Wow, just wow! Amazing detail thru this whole build, fantastic work!

Thank you Tom!

 

Hi gents, today i show you the progress of the cab.

The last small details inside this cab are, some bookxs and a small box in the storage compartments of the inner roof, that i made before, small black curtains  and a  magazine in the storage compartment of the passenger door.

And in the dark....

And the outside so far.

The wiring of the lighting runs on the inside of the window interior post,  to the bottom plate.

From here, the wiring will later run along the chassis, and end up on the trailer connection bar.

The external power supply can then be connected on these trailer couplings.

 

Behind the windscreen you see the camera of the automatic brake assistant, or in other words, the ABA.

With this system, this truck can brake itself on a dime, even fully loaded.

This safety feature is a common in all the New Actros trucks.

Well, gentlemen, this was it for today and see you next round!

Source

 

Hermann.

Edited April 13, 2019 by Hermann Kersten

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello gents,

Today I will show you the progress of the chassis.

To start with, I made the plug connections for the wiring of the rear brakes from small, very small and very very small parts.
I had to be careful in terms of space, because the battery box fits very short on the rear axle, and therefore there is little space.

Whatever the case, it all worked out well in the end.

After this detail job i sprayed the whole chassis in a black primer.

This black primer is a good base for the dark grey colour, what will be used after the wiring is attached.

Let's go see the pictures ...?

Then the rods for the electronic height adjustment of the air suspension that keep the chassis at the correct height when weight of the trailer is added.

And the whole chassis in the black primer ......

That suddenly looks very different, instead of the white styrene.

The next job is installing the wiring.

That was it for today.

 

Hermann.

 

 

[Vince66]

Hermann your Slaying this beast.

Loving all the work and details you've put into this truck is just incredible 

As the cow would say

Utterly amazing  

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Amazing work!

[Hermann Kersten]

On 10/6/2019 at 10:00 AM, NothingAsFineAsaW9 said:

Hermann your Slaying this beast.

Loving all the work and details you've put into this truck is just incredible 

As the cow would say

Utterly amazing  

 

On 10/7/2019 at 3:48 AM, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

Amazing work!

Thansk for the nice and enthusiastic comments guys!

 

Hermann.

[Cpt Tuttle]

The amount of detail added to this is amazing, I must say, and the results are great.

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello everyone!

 

On 10/9/2019 at 2:44 AM, Cpt Tuttle said:

The amount of detail added to this is amazing, I must say, and the results are great.

Thank you Mattias!

 

Yes gentlemen, today the construction of this Lowliner has come to an end.

The last modifications or details concern the engine.

This engine is already nicely detailed, but in my eyes some crucial elements were missing, such as fuel pump, fuel lines, electronic modules on the gearbox and engine, and of course the Voith Aquatarder that sits on the rear of the gearbox.

After this work i had to paint everything and when the chassis is painted, than i can connect the last wires to the engine and gearbox.

And placed loosely between the chassis for the overall picture....

 

Now I can start with the cabling of the chassis, and after that,  the paint job of the chassis.

That's it for today!

 

Hermann.

 

[Sam I Am]

I have been lurking on your builds and have been in awe to not only your attention to detail but also the level of craftmanship and the ease in which you make it appear.  The only thing I wish I could do is actually see it, and meet you, in person.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Yet again, WOW!!! AWESOME WORK!!

[Tesla]

Thank you for posting your projects on this forum. It's a pleasure to follow your builds and learn from them ?

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello everyone,

On 10/19/2019 at 7:02 PM, Sam I Am said:

I have been lurking on your builds and have been in awe to not only your attention to detail but also the level of craftmanship and the ease in which you make it appear.  The only thing I wish I could do is actually see it, and meet you, in person.

Thanks for your nice compliment and admiration Sam, I appreciate it enormously, honestly!

On 10/20/2019 at 10:51 PM, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

Yet again, WOW!!! AWESOME WORK!!

Thank you Brian!!!!

On 10/22/2019 at 10:15 AM, Tesla said:

Thank you for posting your projects on this forum. It's a pleasure to follow your builds and learn from them ?

Thank you Dennis, I like it when people get inspiration from my models, I also do that from others.

I also show that a lot can be made by yourself without having to go straight to after-market products, if it doesn't work out, you can still buy it later or omit the detail.

 

And we continue!

The chassis is painted with spraycan of grey carpaint and all areas were hit well despite the cabling and many other attributes.

After the spraying session, I painted various parts with the brush, such as the protective covers of the engine, the protective grille of the radiator, air spring bellows and the brake discs.

Then install the engine, radiator and drive shaft, and then connect various cables to the engine, gearbox and the Voith Retarder.

However, there was 1 problem, the paint had chipped off on 1 tank strap.

I had experienced this before with another Actros build, so no panic for me.

That means, strip off the paint, put a piece of paper between the tank and the strap, fix the end of the strap in the tank support, and fix it again with a soft brush and some car paint from the spraycan.

The modified rear hubs, which now also have the gray chassis color....

The space between fuel tank and exhaust, so that the details can still be seen ....

The air conditioning pipes on the radiator, with 2 rubber hoses at the top, which are later connected to the pipes on the cabin.

And an overall picture....

And last, with the cab loosely placed on the chassis for the overall picture.

 

This Actros is already moving towards the finish line, but a lot of work still needs to be done, especially small detailwork.

That was it so far!

 

Hermann.

 

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello everyone.

Yes gentlemen, fiddling and fiddling ....
The wiring of the chassis is almost done, and then it's time for some extra details.
This time this lowliner gets 2 chain hooks on the rear of the chassis for the snow chains.
I had seen this at an Austrian Actros Lowliner and actually  i  thought it will be a cool detail to do this on this Lowliner.
So this will ultimately also be an Austrian Lowliner.
In terms of cabin color it is also correct because this color was also ordered and sold in Austria.

These chain hooks are placed at the very rear of the chassis.
On the photo below you can see what this looks like.

Next job, attach the bottom plate of the fifth wheel and put a decal on it, attach the battery box in the chassis frame, and connect the 2 main power lines to the battery box.
You can also see here how tight it is with the wiring of the brake lines on the rear axle, costing a bit of tinkering, but it at the end, all got a good but tight fit,

Then a step for the inside of the niche of the large fuel tank.
This is done with styrene, and a catwalk part of the CTM-set, what i used as a drilling template.
The hole pattern must have the same pattern as the catwalk and the pattern that comes back on the chassis.

Then the bracket for the trailer cables, which is made separately, and later glued to the cabin support.
At the bottom left there is a pin to which an (electrical) trailer cable will be connected later if there is no trailer, no idea why and if it is a an electrical trailer cable.
This cable has a blue cuff on both ends.

Then the attachment of the fuel lines and some electrical lines on the tanks.
Italeri supplied these connectors on the tank with this Actros kit, which in itself is very good of course, but in my case, unfortunately not good enough, because the shapes on the New Actros are somewhat different.
I can use those connectors again for an MP2 or 3 kit, because these connectors are correct there.

Well, that means very small work again, and for this Actros i had to make a small separate diesel filter that is attached to the cable bundle wich is mounted with 2 cable ties, exectly as on the real one.

This detail comes from one of the many reference photos of a German model colleague, who sent me these photos, and who works at the factory in Wörth where these lowliners are built in 1/1.

Now i have to complete the connector on the adblue tank and then the chassis wiring is done.
Then just a total picture so far.

That was it for today!

 

Hermann.

 

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello everyone,

 

And we are a bit closer to the finish line.

The last connector, for the Add-blue tank, is now also ready and placed.
Since there is a cover around the connector from the factory, I wanted to approach this as much as possible.
A cable runs at the front of this connector, which goes into the sleeve and runs away at the rear with the 2 other cables or lines to the chassis.

After some thinkin, I came to the decal-sol method.
With 3 Russian license plate decals and a little sol, this should be sufficient.
I think it will work also with other kind of license plates.

Then the brackets for the snow chains...

In order to subsequently have the cabin take place at the "marriage" between cabin and chassis.
To my great joy, this cabin slid nicely over everything and fitted like a sword in a sheath!

Now connect the cabling to the front and see if everything stays properly free of the front cover, and it does.

The cabin pin still needs to get a color, but after a fit with the front cover, it fits nicely.

Now the lighting cables are also connected to the trailer cables and have done a test right away.
And indeed, the lighting works exactly as I had expected, I will take photos later, because it must be a bit dark for this.

Well, then the trailer cables that are hung on the cab support in exactly the same way as with the real one.

If you look closely, you see the aluminum pipe on the left, which I think is the air-conditioner overflow.
This also runs to the front and comes out again at the front in the piping system that I made.

Then the pipe that runs at the top of the engine to the air inlet, that is a self made one.
In the Italeri kit, these are 2 parts, and I used a 0.5 mm brass wire and an insulation tube for this, so that it is 1 part and also looks a bit more robust and realistic.
After everything was bent correctly, I applied this last part of the engine.

Then apply the 5 silver-gray clips of the protective cover and take a picture.

And a picture to show that the cab tilts nicely over the bumper, and that the rear axle also remains on the ground due to the fish lead in the battery box, despite the fact that the cab has now become a little bit heavier.

Then the footboard that I made myself, edit with chrome marker and install it in the niche of the dieseltank, mount the flashing light in the front fender and install the 2 marking lights on the fender and tank.

Then edit the headlights with chrome marker, the turn signals with tamiya clear and a cocktail stick, then place the clear parts and the rest of the final parts.

And just a picture of the whole so far.

That was it for today, and until next round.

 

Hermann.

[iamsuperdan]

Wow. Been following since the start. Amazing work on this.

 

 

[Hermann Kersten]

Hello everyone,

Thank you Dan!

Yes gentlemen, today is the last update because the build is done.

I attached the last details and I have ordered the snow chains from Howard.

Now i'm just waiting for that order so that i can place them on the hooks on the rear of the chassis.

There were still some small things that still had to be completed, and of course also the front hubs, which are selfmade.

The marker lights on the right side ...

And to be sure, spray the top of the mudguards and put them on top.
It looks like the reference photos, but I think it looks better without it.

The modules for the airsuspension on both sides of the chassis.

And then the front, the thin intermediate grilles just painted black, as it should be, and the small holes are painted with a coctail stick and black Vallejo paint.

The excess paint i swept away with a damp cotton swab  to keep the grid on the surface grey .
It sounds like a very intensive job, but at the end it's not.

Ok guys, the next round are the final pictures of the details and the whole truck with trailer.

See you later!

Source

Hermann.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Hermann Kersten

[chuckyr]

Looking forward to the finale.

[Vince66]

Hermann killer build like all the extra touches you've added 

[Hermann Kersten]

Hi everyone,

Chukky and Vince, thanks for the replay and today i show the final!

 

The snow-chains are arrived, and i made them right away, not the easiest job, but it is part of the job anyway.

Just follow the KFS instruction carefully, and it will be fine.

And with this last job, it is the last update.

The rest of the pictures will be shown in the " Under Glass"  section.

I want to thank everyone for their interest, comments, constructive criticism and praise!

Hermann.