BRBO 2021 Kenworth Aerodyne Cabover

[doorsovdoon]

I'm jumping in to the deep end with this one! A 34 year old kit, far more complicated than my last build which was the Peterbilt Conventional by Revell, basically a snap kit, it was also the first and only big rig I've built! so yeah, this is going to be a bit of an adventure!

[Rockford]

Yay! You've come over to the big boys! I built this when I was a kid, had it in front of an ERTL Great Dane reefer couldn't even afford to buy it now!

Have you decided on a colour scheme yet?

[doorsovdoon]

12 minutes ago, Rockford said:

Yay! You've come over to the big boys! I built this when I was a kid, had it in front of an ERTL Great Dane reefer couldn't even afford to buy it now!

Have you decided on a colour scheme yet?

Yep, I took my stabilizers off and I'm ready to ride, haha. The colour will be white with blue stripes and blue frame. I'm hoping the 34 year old decals don't disintegrate when I use them, but if they do I'll just paint my own by hand. I did a search for that ERTL Reefer, ..boy, is it expensive! I might buy the AMT Semi Trailer again, that was a fun build and looks great, and it's affordable! 

[Olskoolrodder]

This will be a great looking build, especially in the blue and white you mentioned  

[gotnitro?]

Awesome color choice  ! 

As far as trailers if you want an affordable kit thats fun to build check out the mobius great danes . The have a reefer or smooth side and they build up very easy...and take up plenty of space to boot lol

[Sam I Am]

Another 2021 build, and another great subject! 

[doorsovdoon]

29 minutes ago, Olskoolrodder said:

This will be a great looking build, especially in the blue and white you mentioned  

Cheers, Stephen.

26 minutes ago, gotnitro? said:

Awesome color choice  ! 

As far as trailers if you want an affordable kit thats fun to build check out the mobius great danes . The have a reefer or smooth side and they build up very easy...and take up plenty of space to boot lol

None available in the UK:( There is a couple of the AMT Great Dane extendable flatbeds and Coca Cola Fruehauf trailers, but yeah, shelf space! haha,

21 minutes ago, Sam I Am said:

Another 2021 build, and another great subject! 

Thanks, Sam. 

[Rockford]

If you do as good a job on this as you do with your cars this will be a stunner! Looking forward to seeing it come along.

[doorsovdoon]

47 minutes ago, Rockford said:

If you do as good a job on this as you do with your cars this will be a stunner! Looking forward to seeing it come along.

I shall certainly do my best. It's the same as a car build I'd imagine, just tons more parts and tons more test fitting. I can already hear the seasoned big rig builders spitting out their coffee, "same as building a car?!, you have no idea, mate!" xD

[doorsovdoon]

Finished the engine, I'll move on to the frame next. I tried my hand at a bit of weathering, I don't know if I'll try weathering the cab though cos I was a bag of nerves messing up my painted engine! Lol

[doorsovdoon]

Colour chart is very basic, it says to paint the centre hubs red, but the box art shows a blue frame, which is what I'm doing. My question is, what colour do the wheel rims go? the part that is visible in-between the two rear tyres. Are they alloy colour or are they the same colour as the frame? also, do I paint the hubs red or blue?

[Olskoolrodder]

The engine looks GREAT, my friend!  

 

I would just Google up some reference pics if you haven't already to get a look-see at the hubs. I haven't seen anything that old in real life for a lot of years, but I know on the more modern trucks that I owned and drove (which that too has been a while, haven't owned one since 2001, haven't driven on since 2004 or so, LOL), the inner wheels were always matching to the outer (aluminum with aluminum, steel with steel, etc), though when it was steel wheels, they weren't necessarily always the same colors (I've see plain white outers with black inners, indicating that a flat had just been swapped off for a spare or new tire that had already been mounted on the wheel).

[doorsovdoon]

Yes, they seem to be steel coloured, and the hubs are usually the same colour as the frame. Thanks, Stephen.  A lot of the pictures I seen had what look like baby moons on the hubs, very nice, but the kit doesn't have any:(

[Bronzekeg]

looking great

[Rockford]

I would paint the rear hubs chassis colour because the complete axles would be painted as one unit with the wheels removed. The way the spacer in between the rear tyres is done in the kit isn't true to the 1:1 vehicle with these wheels so I think you're best making that as invisible as possible. 

The red on the front hubs represents the oil filled Stemco hubs which had a red rubber cap on them for filling, so that's  good!

Your engine and transmission look great!

Edited Thursday at 10:24 PM by Rockford

[doorsovdoon]

4 hours ago, Bronzekeg said:

looking great

Thanks, Ken.

1 hour ago, Rockford said:

I would paint the rear hubs chassis colour because the complete axles would be painted as one unit with the wheels removed. The way the spacer in between the rear tyres is done in the kit isn't true to the 1:1 vehicle with these wheels so I think you're best making that as invisible as possible. 

The red on the front hubs represents the oil filled Stemco hubs which had a red rubber cap on them for filling, so that's  good!

Your engine and transmission look great!

ah, ok. I'll put a dab of red on the front hubs then. Thanks, mate. 

[doorsovdoon]

Frame is ready for paint. I glued pretty much everything to it as it'll all be one colour, I can detail things like the shocks and air bags by hand. So far, everything has fitted nicely. The frame rails had some warp to them being in the box for so long, but some careful massaging sorted them out and after the cross beams were fitted it sits nice and level. Pretty darn good kit so far, really enjoying it.

[gotnitro?]

Frame and engine look fantastic 

[Olskoolrodder]

8 hours ago, doorsovdoon said:

Yes, they seem to be steel coloured, and the hubs are usually the same colour as the frame. Thanks, Stephen.  A lot of the pictures I seen had what look like baby moons on the hubs, very nice, but the kit doesn't have any:(

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm glad if that helped any, my friend, chassis is looking great BTW

[Pete68]

Nice updates 

[doorsovdoon]

15 hours ago, gotnitro? said:

Frame and engine look fantastic 

Thanks, Jeff.

13 hours ago, Olskoolrodder said:

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm glad if that helped any, my friend, chassis is looking great BTW

Thanks, Stephen. Yeah, any bit of info is a great help.

12 hours ago, Pete68 said:

Nice updates 

Thanks, Lee.

[doorsovdoon]

Paint time! This is just the first coat, it'll take a few passes to make sure all the hard to get areas are well covered. I haven't decided yet if the tanks will be blue like the frame, or chrome using silver tape. I'm leaning toward blue with chrome straps but I'll have to fill the seam lines before I put paint to them.

[Sam I Am]

On 1/14/2021 at 7:30 AM, doorsovdoon said:

Finished the engine, I'll move on to the frame next. I tried my hand at a bit of weathering, I don't know if I'll try weathering the cab though cos I was a bag of nerves messing up my painted engine! Lol

Truckers always keep the cab shiny. 😄

 

1 hour ago, doorsovdoon said:

Paint time! This is just the first coat, it'll take a few passes to make sure all the hard to get areas are well covered. I haven't decided yet if the tanks will be blue like the frame, or chrome using silver tape. I'm leaning toward blue with chrome straps but I'll have to fill the seam lines before I put paint to them.

The chassis has to match the engine. 😄

[doorsovdoon]

ah well, it had an engine replacement after a diesel runaway incident!😁

[Olskoolrodder]

I'm loving that blue 😁 (blue is both mine and the wife's favorite color...our FJ Cruiser is the exact same shades of blue and white as my handicap placard even 🤣)