Two Reefer Trailers

[Rockford]

This is what I'm dealing with. I've laid some right angle strip along the rail. I'll leave that to set good before I fit the box. 

[Tcoat]

4 hours ago, Rockford said:

This is what I'm dealing with. I've laid some right angle strip along the rail. I'll leave that to set good before I fit the box. 

 

Pretty sure that wavy trailer showed up at work last week! Except you could see daylight between the floor and the walls on that one.

[Pete68]

17 hours ago, Rockford said:

After much research I worked out that for some unknown reason there's a space added between the axles and the springs. The hangars have then been stretched to accommodate the extra height.

I sliced a section out of the spring assembly, cut the trailing arms off the hangars and reshaped them. I did one axle at a time to keep it square. You can really see the difference in height.

It's a real fiddle to assemble but once it's done all looks good and everything seems to line up like it was meant to be. 

I always knew this trailer sat too high. Guess I’ll have to try to lower it like you did if my way doesn’t work 

[Rockford]

Lee, I've tried two ways of lowering this trailer, I've omitted the slide rails altogether and I've rebated them into the bed. Either way improved the stance of the trailer but not the look of the suspension, and it created other problems because with clearance etc... I realised by looking at this picture of the real thing how the hangars on the kit had been stretched downwards. I wonder if they raised the ride height to make it sit level because the fifth wheels on these snappers sit so high. Reducing those side hangars seems to bring everything back into alignment. 

[Rockford]

Took time easing the body on, cleaning up the tabs etc... The front bulkhead area required some work to improve the shape. Removed the bandages this morning and assessed the results... Sides are nice and square, no trace of the warping. Mocked up and it looks like I've given it's dignity back. Ride height is just right, suspension proportions look right too. I did shorten the mudflaps so the they're not dragging. I cut the bottom end off the oversized kingpin and used it as a filler cap for the reefer fuel tank.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Rockford
Text editing

[Rockford]

Now onto the next stage, the reefer motor. I don't like the aero-reefer that comes in this kit. I understand the reason for it and it probably saved a few cents per mile when it was brought out, but I prefer the older steel cabinetted versions and also they'd be more in keeping with the era I base my modelling in. So I want to fashion a new reefer unit modelled on a Thermo King NWD30 or suchlike. It's hard to get a grip on all the models and formats of Thermo King reefers because the information that's out there is a bit erratic, but I'll fashion something akin to the unit on the AMT Tropicana Trailmobile I've built as part of this thread.  

Decided to use the grille off the kit piece, cut the side pieces off. I'll use the kit gauges, the battery box and possibly the Thermo King logo too. 

Edited January 20, 2023 by Rockford
Text corrected

[Dutzie]

Nice work on the modifications. Looks good. 

[Rockford]

Sorry but I was so engrossed in how to make the reefer unit I forgot to photograph it. 

I ended up using more of the original than I expected. I cut the height down to 54mm. Then cut the side panels off and narrowed the front. The slots on the front panel were filled with 1mm square strip and filled. A little trimming and the side panels fitted easily back in. I can use the original control panel in the same place. I used the original top piece fitted to the new unit and I can still use the moulded in tab. 

I cut the Thermo King off the top edge and reduced it to a simple L shaped bar. I sat this over the top of the grille and formed a surround out of strip. 

I formed two doors from plastic card, they still need tidying up. The battery box was cut loose, trimmed and turned upside down with a few brackets added. 

A quick mock-up and it looks good. This is the first time I've used the super glue and baking soda method of filling and it seems ok. It's hard stuff though. 

[Gary Chastain]

Nice fab work, looking good. 

[Dutzie]

Great work on the reefer! 

[Rockford]

Gone as far as I can with this now. Paint next. Finished the doors on the reefer unit, trimmed and fitted the control panel. Added an exhaust too. It's not the most accurate reefer but it's got the 70s Thermoking vibe and looks right behind something like my 352 Pete.

Fitted the lights and Mansfield bar. Couldn't help colouring the lights with a Sharpie. Now it can sit and wait for the weather to improve. 

[Dutzie]

Those are some good looking trailers. 

[Rockford]

Turned my attention back to my two trailers. When I painted the Bison I had some blue that was close to a Thermo King colour so I used that. 

Foiled and washed the grille. Not perfect but acceptable. Detailed the control panel and dials. 

Drew up some grill slots and cabinet door shuts on clear decal paper. Also reduced some TK logos and printed them. I didn't have any white decal paper so I just painted a white square on the clear sheet and overlaid my logos on it. Works fine. Door shuts could be thinner but they look ok. 

[cifenet]

I didn't even know you were building these.   I guess I am still too new to this forums. 

The A/C unit has the right amount of details, I like it!  And the trailers do make the truck look complete when attached, they are nice to look at!

 

[Rockford]

Scary day today. Reached the paint stage and I hate the paint process, there's so many ways things can go wrong and ruin the kit, prep, masking, the weather... 

Shot the primer over the lot. Then gave the reefer units a couple coats of light blue and the fuel tanks silver. They look good. One terror overcome. 

Next is chassis colour(s). Fairly straightforward, easy masking. 

Big dilemma is the white sides and the ali top and bottom rails. I don't know which to do first because of the masking. Ali rails then white or vice versa? I'll ponder it over breakfast in the morning. 

[Rockford]

Continued with the paint in the two reefers. Perfect conditions for painting, 34% humidity at 24°C, won't be many days like this. 

I was keen to use a different colour on the running gear etc... but after looking at hundreds of old photos of the era 98% of the trailers were a gull grey shade, only high end custom jobs were painted anything else. My truck are workhorses so that's grey it needs to be. 

Sprayed my reefer grills silver, the AMT kit version is on the right, my hand built one on the left. Then the van sides were sprayed white. All turned out very well. Tomorrow, the silver on the top and bottom rails. Just don't want any bleed through. 

[cifenet]

These trailers look straight forward in terms of building, but now I am realizing they do require some work!  Good progress so far.

[Rockford]

Well I couldn't avoid it any longer. I had to tackle the top and bottom rails. I was that nervous about the job I considered brushing them but I knew that would be patchy and with my trembling hands nowadays, a straight edge would be impossible. 

So, masked up both trailers this morning. It's a job trying to mask the whole job except for two little strips around the edge. 

The nature of the subject means that the very joint you're trying to mask is a row of hundreds of rivets so the tape has little room to grip. I laid it slightly over the line so that when I ran a cocktail stick along the river line it pulled back to where it needed to be. 

Did the same as on the Bison and sprayed a coat of the white first to seal the joints, then two coats of silver... I was either going to come away laughing or crying. 

Fortunately it was the former! As peeled off the tape the lines were sharp, straight and crisp. Just one or two places where there's a little bleed through, but only a  slight shadow. The only real thing is that I seem to have missed masking a triangle on the front bulkhead of the Trailmobile but that will polish out. 

[Rockford]

7 hours ago, cifenet said:

These trailers look straight forward in terms of building, but now I am realizing they do require some work!  Good progress so far.

Thanks mate, this is simple stuff in comparison to your jobs but I've spent four days and acres of masking tape doing these two. They're worth it though. 

[Rockford]

Apologies for being AWOL but my poor old mother in law finally succumbed to that dreaded Alzheimer's. It was rather traumatic because it turned her swallow reflex off. Four days of fighting for her life before it overtook her. 

So, the last week has been awful but my dear wife let me have some time on my workbench today for a bit of therapy. I did some detailing on the reefer, painted the rims silver on the Fruehauf, coloured my marker lights, built up the bogies, painted the battery boxes for the reefer batteries in a matching colour to the reefer and fettled the landing gear to operate. Looking good but not quite finished yet...

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by Rockford
Better photos

[cifenet]

Nicely done!  The paint job is top notch as well, very smooth finish overall.

Now I am wondering about your next step.  What kind of finishes are you thinking for these?  These cannot be glossy and shiny, no?  Then perhaps some weathering? 

But I can also see these coming out fresh/clean from the factory with no logos, no nothing.  Just like how you have them right now.  

 

[Rockford]

Steve

Weathering would just be another chance to ruin my work, in my eyes. Just painting my models terrifies me until I get good results and then I'm elated. Weathering would be great, if I could trust myself to do it acceptably, so factory fresh they will have to be. I am thinking of lettering one of these though. 

You'll notice that the decals I put on the dark blue reefer have all gone. That's because I masked it when I decided to paint the grille instead of foiling it, and it took them all off. I accepted that philosophically, but that's about at the limit of my rework tolerance. 

[Rockford]

I've actually finished something! Got the Trailmobile finished. Decals on the reefer, little bit of pipework etc... I'm really happy with it. 

I'll post it in Under Glass