Hermann Kersten

Thanks for your comments gentlemen. Yes Jim, to smash the rivets with the Punch & Die set, is a long process, for attaching them its a fairly easy and quick job. For the front bumper It doesn't look too complicated, but we shall see. Ok guys, after i got a privat mail, there was a little comment on this build. The recommendation was that the bottomside of the doors were not round enough, and tat this newer model hat there was a door frame around the doors. I knew this before, but was too affraid to danage more than doing good. Well......after some thinking, i give it a try anyway, because the cabine is not painted yet, and i want to have the cabine as realistic as possible. As you will guess, the doors and door frames are now adjusted to the newer version, first I stripped the primer from the cabin, have sanded away the old door frame, rounded the bottomside of the doors and attached a new doorframe with a 0,25mm x 0,5mm styrene-strip and after all this work i sprayed the cabine in the primer again. The result of this work.............. Now make everything smooth for the paintjob. I already had a color in mind, and I sprayed a test on an old cabine. The cabine is sprayed on a grey primer, and the flat piece of plastic is sprayed on a red primer. With the grey primer, the colour looks more alive than with the red primer. After all, im doubting again, maybe a brown bronze is more beautiful than this one. Freightliner FLA Brown Bronze I will test again hahahaha. Ok guys, this is it for today and I would say, see you next round. Hermann.

Great idea and a great build, love this kind of projects. Keep up the good work. Hermann.

Nice and interesting build, im watching your progress. Hermann.

Perfect job, with a very nice colour scheme. Hermann.

Awesome project, I have never seen this vehicle before. That is why it is all the more fun that this vehicle is captured in a model. Hermann.

Hello gents, long time no see, but i was very bizzy with a new project. After some talking and drinking a lot of coffee with my friend Jacobus, the US resin truck builder, we found on the net a very beautiful Freightliner. Some times i try to build out of the box, but every time i fail again, because i see so many nice "real" Freightliners.....pfffffff. Ok than, at the end we choose the Freightliner with the Front set Back Axle, a very rare model in scale 1/25 , and as far is i could find there is only one at timstrucks.com. Here is the real thing....... I choose to make 2 cabine conversions, 1 cabine with 3 steps for Jacobus, and 1 cabine with 2 steps for myself. This means that this will be a duo build with 2 different approaches, so that there will be two different trucks at the end. Ok guys, here the conversion of the cabine. First i had to smoothen the doors, so that the 2 ridges each door were completely sanded away. With a sprue part the door handle holes burned shut and sanded until this was all smooth. After this job i glued the 2 cabine parts together. On the seam , I glued a 0.5mm round styrene and after that i put some putty on it and sanded all smooth. This means that with the sanding i will damage some revets, but thats not a problem at all. I removed all the revets from the 2 side walls, front side and rooftop. After everything is smooth, i will renew all the rivets with a Punch and Die set like i did with the Marmon cabine parts. Than its time to cut the under side parts and renew them with styrene with the wheel casings to the back. The next job is to close the headlights and make new ones at a lower point. The headlights will be the square ones instead of the round ones. Also the window style in the window frame has to be removed and will be changed to a smaller one. The windshield will be inside the frame and not behind it like the kit version. After some putty and sanding i renewed also the rubber of the windowframe and afcourse the new revets. Here is the tool i use for the new revets, a piece of tape with some distance lines so that the revets have the same distances. In the beginning i counted the 0,6mm rivets but after a while i stopped with counting. I guess there will be around 450 till 500 rivets each cabine. Also the wall on the backside has to be modefied to the newer version, just like i see or saw on my reference pictures. Than the modefication on the chassis. The chassis stay the same way and dont need any cuts. Just remover the parts wath i marked in red...... On the front axle i removed the part where you have to glue the power steering. This power steering unit will be on the front of the chassis, and i had to make a new spacer for it. A new straight crossbar at the end of the chassis, and 2 casings or holds for the rear lights. The fuel tanks extended on both sides and the exhaust tower a little bit modefied. And than.....than with the cabine to see the fittings. Now its time to make the engine and make a new exhaust with a flexible part, what is made out of styrene. The engine becomes a turbo and an airbox on the engine. I saw this type of engine on an auction site, where they sell a few of these Freightliners. The exhaust pipe is made out of 9,7mm styrene tube and the pipe in the upper is a polished aluminium pipe. As last, i sprayed some primer to see the result so far...... Ok guys, thats it for today and i hope you find this an interesting project. To be continued. Hermann.

Another great rusty one, very nice done. The cracks in the upholstery is a cool detail. Hermann.

A big YESSSS, finally a 141 that is not a bling bling one. The weathering is, as usual, perfect. Great job! Hermann.

Yep, you got it right. Hermann.

Wow, great work! The rust is very well and convincingly executed. Hermann.

Nice rig, also the choise of the colours on the Mack are great, simple but good. I love these work horses. Hermann.

Very nice done, also the colours are very good choosen. De details and the rest of the garage are very nice to see. Great work! Hermann.

Thomas and Jürgen, thank you for your interest, admiration and nice comments! Hermann.

Thank you for watching and commenting my work Jürgen. Hermann.

Thank you for your nice and enthusiastic comments! Hermann.

Jürgen and Charles, thanks for your interest and comment! Hermann.

The rig looks great, the choise of the Dodge truck and the colours are great in my opinion, i love these oldies. The beautiful cars make it all complete. Hermann.

An unusual and a very nice model! Also the details are very well executed. Hermann.

Hello modellers! Today i'd like to introduce you all a Mercedes Benz NG 2032 with a 20ft tank container, what i build in 2005. The base is a Revell 1/25 kit from the early 80s and i made a complete modefication of this standard tractor. First i had to change the roof to a higher roof, instead of the flat roof from the kit. As you can see, the cabine is reduced to a half sleeper, the chassis changed to a 6x4/2, the engine modefied from a V8 to a V10 and some extra details on and inside the cabine. The trailer is a CNC kit and is modefied to a Pacton trailer, the rims are 3D printed and as last but not least, the tank container is 100% scratchbuild. The tank is water tight and can really be filled and emptied. First i will show you some pictures of the building proces and at the end, afcourse the complete rig. I hope you find this an interesting vintage rig from the late 70s. Hermann.

And another Top job what you presenting here! You're weathering skills are fabulous and well executed. I love your style of modeling. Hermann.

Great build and nice paint job. For a first big rig build it looks very good. Hermann.

Very nice build, and i love the colours. Great job! Hermann.

Great Pete Kerry, also the colours are well choosen. Hermann.

Perfect, absolute perfect work what u showing here, even the bend in the step of the ladder and weathering, looks very real to me. Top job! Hermann.

Great truck and a great model. I like these Aoshima kits, beautiful models in a very good quality. The busses are also very awesome, especially the last one. Thank you for sharing. Hermann.