Old Albion

Romell, Very impressed with the amount of work that you are putting into this. This thing is going to be huge!! Dave

KJ, Your Grandfather's truck looks great in the green and white colour scheme. Your skills are also great especially painting, very impressed. Keep us posted with progress. Dave

Ray, Many Thanks fop the information about the photoetch kits. In the photo's they look very good. I just bought some! Doug, The more I look at your FLC the more I want to build one myself. Dave

Doug, This is a superb project. Very Impressive. The Freightshakers from the 1970's with the headlights fitted to the grill are my favourite model Freightliner conventional. Was this model still being built when they dropped the White from the name? Did I read somewhere that there was a photoetch grill available for this? Or is old age creeping in? Dave

Dennis, The interior details look great. I like the dash and the seats. Great work! Dave

Jim, I will build 2 of them. One for me and one for a pattern to cast from. I'm not that interested in doing the casting myself. So maybe I will ask Ben to have a look over it to be sure its good enough to cast. Then see who is interested in doing the casting. Its early days yet and I'm open to suggestions. Dave

Check Tim's web site he has just built the K123 re-release prototype. Lots of usefull info and photo's. Oh and I forgot to mention another superb looking truck from Tim. http://www.timstrucks.com/bench.htm Dave

The service manual for the 1693 arrived this week. There is a lot of great usefull information in it but there are several bits of the jigsaw missing. So I have bought a Operation manual as well to hopefully fill in the gaps. Had a look through the service manual this engine has a lot of components and looks fairly complex. It is also quite a size and weight and will definatley need an extended hood for it. Dave

Scott, Very impressive and it looks good in Black. I built a tri-axle bottom dump about 5 years ago was loosly based on a Ranco model. The Ranco website was great because it had dimension drawings for the different model trailers. Also bottom dumps are great to scratch build. You just have to watch the angles of the hopper and the door mechanism. Great Work Dave

Great build. I like the colour scheme. Dave

I really like the Diamond Reo and the Paystar. Those are definatley inspirational builds. Dave

Daniel, This is something very different from the type of vehicles we are used to seeing on the forum. I never seen anything like this before. Judging by the size of the DM kit it must be quite a size. Mind if its messing with Polar Bears it needs to be able to take care of itself. Great truck! Dave

Kurt, Very Impressed. I like the frame, the blue and the chrome look great. I had forgotten about this build. Great to see it back on the agenda. Dave

My recent project is a White Freightliner with a two colour scheme. This is the first time I have tried painting two colours. I used acrylic spray paints in the rattle can for the first time. I was impressed how it turned out. I put all the decals on and then applied the clear coat. You can imagine my astonishment and disbelief when is started to go a milky haze colour. I could not believe what had happened. I tried all kinds of things to try and get the colour to come through but alas it was not to be. I did a search on the web to see if I could find a solution and found that the milky glaze was caused by the water in the acrylic getting trapped in the paint because of temperature, atmospheric conditions etc. The only solution stripping all the paint and decals. Was I pi**ed off?? So I started to try and get the clear coat of. No matter what i tried it would not come off. In the end I got some stuff from a local DIY store that eventually got all the clear coat, paint and decals of. What I nightmare and to top it all I dropped the cab and as it fell it hit my boot and suffered some damage. Anyways I have now repaired the cab, repainted it in the two colours and so far things are looking good. When I painted the cab this last time I left it out in the sun to get some warmth through it and soaked the rattle can in a tub of warm/hot water. I also waited for a dry sunny day with low humidity. The results were better than the first time with the paint having a good gloss finish. I'm a bit apprehensive about using the clear coat but I'd like to try again. With paint there are so many variables and it takes a long time to become proficient at it. I'm very much still a learner and have a long way to go. But with pactice and time maybe I will reach a satisfactory standard. Time will tell. I think its good not to dwell on a particular model and pick faults with it but to look at it as a stepping stone on the way to developing your skills and abilities. For many of us modellers the challenge is against ourselves as individuals. This for me is where the satisfaction of building comes from. Every new model is a new challenge. You keep trying something new or incorporate this and that. The important thing is to keep persevering. You will be suprised how well and how fast your skills and abilities will develop. The paint scheme on the Chevy is a bold undertaking and you have tried something that is to advanced for me. I do not have the knowledge or skill to accomplish something like that. So I think for a first off its an excellent effort worthy of comedation. Well Done. Dave

David, It looks like a straight 6 cylinder naturaly aspirated Fiat Diesel Engine. I would estimate that it is about 120 to 150 HP considering the year. The red colour is very typical of the colour that frames and engines are painted on new Iveco vehicles even today. There is a slim possibility that it is a Maguirus Deutz engine, but I reakon it to be Fiat since Fiat built their own engines. It has two cylinder heads. Sorry I can't be any more help. Dave

Ben, I just had a look through your albums. Very very impressive indeed!! Those wheels look great. Where do we buy them from Jamie or somewhere else? Those photo's of the 1693 will be very usefull. Many Thanks for posting them. Dave

Ben, Its not your end. I just tried to open my Fotki Albumns but the system is down completely for some reason (Hocus Pocus strikes again) Dave

Spalding also offered an extended hood 351 (127" BBC I think). I have one and bought 3 x 119" BBC hood conversions about 5 years ago. The 119" BBC was great because they gave you 2 radiators in the kit. You could either have the shutter type or the one with the single rib and mesh screen. When I built my 351 I used only the shutter type radiator and possibly the fenders (I cant remember have to check). The hood itself I made of brass sheet and fully opens. Dave

I am collecting information and details and have just bought a Workshop Manual for the 1693 of eBay (Is everything Clatterpillar so expensive?). It will take a couple of weeks to get here. Thats OK because I have a lot on at the moment. But hopefully I can muster enough information to start building a prototype. Maybe I will build 2, keep one and send one to Ben for perfecting for a mould. Its a lot simpler than the 12V Detroit that I scratch built and being in 1/25 scale I won't be able to put as much detail into it. Anyways when I get round to starting it I will start a new thread. If Ben gets one done before me thats great either way. Dave

I checked with Eric. He does not have a factory extended hood for a 359 but has the custom one. So it looks like I will be having a go at building my own. Regarding the clatterpillar engine I will get hold of some shop manuals for reference and scratch build the 1693TA. In both cases I need two of the hoods and engines for two builds I am planning. The AMT little window Pete's will be the base kits. Project No 1: What a superb looking truck!!! Project No 2: A truck recently advertised for sale on Courtland Truck Works Web Site: http://www.courtlandtruckworks.com/detail.php?id=143 When I get my Freightshaker finished and have all parts together for the Pete's I will start a new topic. Thanks Dave

Scott, That is a great colour combination it looks very clean and crisp. It looks well with the long frame to. One thing to watch for the front axle in the kit is to wide and the steer wheels protrude out the side of the cab. Apart from that I agree one of the best kits out there. Thanks for sharing. Dave

Jim B, Thanks for posting the Evan Hermel details about the Superliner. That explains why Jim is having so much trouble with the accuracy of this model kit. I had no idea that they used the Freightshaker kit and just added some bits to make it look like a Mack. Reminds me of the ERTL Rubber Duck Mack. Enough said!! Dave

Matt, Very Nice indeed. I have a soft spot for extended hoods and this one looks superb. Dave

Mark, I like the KW version you are building. That is going to be a very impressive truck when its finished. Dave

Tim, Both trucks look great. I like the colour of the 389 it works well with all the chrome. Dave