Warren D

Minor update, had a rainy weekend so spent over 10 hours on this project. Focus was the trailer which is well along now. Color coat is on most of it, now the hard part, weathering. I'm trying to go light, it's easy to get carried away and overdo it. I like KJ's look and that's what I'm shooting for, subtle but realistic without going overboard. I've done a few locomotives but this will be my first serious weathering on a big rig. I have more than a few ideas, might be interesting but hopefully not frustrating! Also got the tires painted, wheels are in primer. Chassis needs to go to primer as well as the cab. Have colors mostly picked out but still have to decide on the truck chassis color....down to 3.

I think I'd lengthen the frame by 1/2", looks a little short compared to the photo. I also notice the rear axle seal is leaking!

Suspension went better than I thought and all 10 tires are sitting on the ground. Not sure that would be accurate though....these trucks get beat up and a twisted frame is probably more the norm than the exception! Might get a twist by the time I'm done anyway, so if it does I won't sweat it. Mock up is starting to give me an idea of just what a beast this is going to be. Yup, that's a crane behind the headache rack. I'm hoping there will be enough room for it when I get the front log bunk installed.

It's been a year and a half since I started the Rubber Duck build, I forgot how involved the resin chassis is. OTOH, the AMT Mack Cruiseliner chassis hasn't been a piece of cake either...... May get a few progress shots up tomorrow. Another rainy day means I get some serious time at the bench. So far, wheels are cleaned up, tires in primer. Rear suspension almost ready for assembly. Got to work on one of the accessory items and some parts spent time in the purple pond for cleaning.

It would help to see what size tire you are using. I'd say another inch might be too much, maybe 1/2" but it depends on where the front of the tire locates. Assuming your single axle is located mid-spring as shown, it looks like there is a decent amount of room between the tank and front of the rear tire in the photo. Good project!

Interesting idea, looking forward to seeing the direction you'll go with this.

Jeeze, do you have enough kits?

Thanks folks and like most of my builds, I'm keeping a few little things secret for now. (Basically, I need to see if I can pull it off before I commit!)

It looks great with the trailer! Looks like so many I saw back in the 80's.

Picked up a First Gear Int with lowboy for an excavator I purchased. Sadly the excavator was mis-represented as 1/25 scale when it is in fact a Newray 1/32. It was detailed and with a little work should be rebuildable into a medium class excavator in 1/25 scale.

Well, it's 1/1/2020 so I'm off! Got all my resin parts washed, need to do the log trailer but have time for that. Chassis is from AITM, Mack with 80,000 lb rears. Cab is also AITM. Still have a few parts coming, post office says by the weekend. Still working on the Love Machine Mack when I have time, not sure if I'll get that finished before I start in on this build.

I think I've decided to do a Mack B815 logger. Haven't decided if it'll be a trailer or straight job.......probably the trailer. Too many ideas rolling around in my head.....someone make it stop! ?

Seems like it might be short?

Count me in though I'll have to figure out a worthy project. Got too many of them but I also don't want to take on too much. The Rubber Duck Mack was over a year......but the Autocar DK was only a couple of months (though I was sick for 3 weeks which gave me plenty of build time).

Reminds me of some of the goodies in the NJ DOT storage garage in 1978. Too bad I never took pics.

You're now a home-moaner!

One man's art is another man's garbage........

Ya gotta give the guy credit, it's a pretty trick rig!

Probably not, there are much better choices. The Lindberg Dodge frame is very short, is kinda flimsy and from a build point of view, the parts don't fit well and the frame twists if you look at it wrong. It also drops at the front. The White 3000 cab is a good fit but that's about it.

Plans? We don't need no stinkin' plans! ?

To be honest, I built more than a few kits in the 70's, the KW with torsion bars, KW Aerodyne, Pete Long Hauler, Autocar dump, etc and don't remember this much trouble. I still have many of them that are slowly being rebuilt or used for other projects and they all sit flat on the ground, all 10 wheels touching. This Cruiseliner needed major surgery to come anywhere near close (frame was square before suspension) and I haven't even gotten to the little tweaks yet.

Very realistic looking!

Oh great, I have one of those in the stash.....

Starting my next project, will be a companion to my Rubber Duck Mack. Running into issues already, I don't remember a plastic kit that was so hard to build. Parts fit is questionable at best and instuctions, well, being a family friendly forum, are garbage. The A64B I just did went together better, even with the resin cab. In some ways the resin cabs need more work but the Autocar DK was less difficult by far. Maybe I remember wrong from 30 years ago, maybe I didn't care as much. Engine is done, needs paint, chassis is in the works, but need to get farther along to be sure where certain things go. Front engine crossmember will get located when I get the engine/rear suspension ready for install. I guess I'll work it backwards. Rear cab support, same thing, once the cab is together I can be sure of it's location. It'll be harder to paint but I can't figure it different. A lot of the parts are best guess, no accurate numbering between the sprues and instructions and instruction diagrams leave more than a lot to be desired. I seem to do well with the AITM resin kits, maybe I'll go back and do some more! ;^)

Hoping someone can help clarify a couple of assembly questions. Instructions are really BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH, funny but back in the day (30+ years ago) I don't recall having any trouble. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out the correct location for the front engine crossmember and the rear trunion. The trunion has 2 posts sticking up, do those go inside the trunion mounts or hang down underneath? I may have more questions later, but that's it for now. Thanks!