Jürgen M.

Thanks very much Bren! You're absolutely right. It's a great time to be a modeller. Next to printing also scratch building has increased in possibilities by improved materials. Combining both you can really get the best out of modelling! Some of you guys have scratch building skills I can only dream of so I try to substitute that by designing and printing. And with your skills in resin printing I am now again able to put another nice truck on my shelf! I too enjoy challenges! This IH cab was one! I'd be happy to accept a challenge of yours! 😊 Hope the cabs arrived soon. Can't wait to work on this build again. By the way, the reefer will be a kit. It would mean a great deal of time to print it. Took me 5 days to print the pups when I built the "Big Nasty" Mack! I already purchased the Watkins reefer on eBay! The decals will of course be self made again.

And the original "Western Star" key chain! 😉 Great job! Can't imagine this getting better! Impossible!

Killing time with minor mock-ups! A little ashtray, grille, lights, ... The fit ist not perfect on this dummy cab but good enough to get the idea! Bren has put the cab on its way! Should arrive by end of the week!

Yes, that's quite nice! I really appreciate Bren's efforts seeing how terrible my cab came out! But it's good enough for adjusting decals and positioning parts like the lower grille. I'll have to mix the Paint for the cab. It looks like an off white. I'll just put some yellow in the plain white. Should work!

The new dash: Looks a bit better than the old one. Still not perfect but good enough!

Thanks pal! I hope it'll look as good as I expect it to when it's finished! 🤞

Not having done anything the last few days I decided to print a dummy-cab from a faulty file. It came up to the window line looking quite OK, then started to show more cavities than material so I stopped the print. It's cause is to adapt the decals and to see if it fits together with the tub in assembly. It fits perfectly! Still some work to do on the location of the cab sided hinges but the cab tilts and fits over the shifter. I then designed the decals and printed a first shot which looks quite satisfying. I attached them with little pieces of double sided carpet tape. Still need some attention though. I also added the side steps to the cab below the "Transtar" plates. (Of course I only attached one temporarily to see how it looks). Now the cab has the correct height and so will the bumper! It's also (more or less) adapted to the Transtar II design that way! In consequence I also decided to make a new dash according to the Transtar II. It's not perfect, it should have stretched a bit more to the center of the dog house but I'll leave it that way! The wall to the sleeper will be closed. Therefore I will not bother making a bed or any panel work. And now, the best news: Bren actually made it! After I was able to simplify the file of the cab a bit he managed to print a very nice looking cab. Thanks again very very much, Bren! I more than appreciate the time, patience and effort you put into this! Saved me again! 😉 Hope it's OK that I posted a few of your cab pics? Can't wait to get them in my hands and start integrating one into my build!

That's a real beauty Ron. Awesome combination. I like the color scheme too. Very nice build! Just like I know them from you! 😉

Hey Steve, good to see you back! Remarkable work you're doing. I always enjoy following your builds. I told Jeff (Biggu) a while ago that I was thinking about a tribute 1/32 rebuild of my Rubber Duck Mack with trailer. I was planning on making a diorama of the introduction scene of Convoy in 1/32 with the XKE. That might be my next project after I hopefully finish the 4070b. The printing of the cab has brought up some problems but I'm very confident that Bren will succeed!

Are you referring to the original version of the Convoy song? Otherwise I don't know what you mean! 🤔

A few small things more: filler necks and a bit of touch up here and there! The chassis is therefore completed! Now I'll begin to paint the interior so everything is ready when the cab arrives! I know, it's from the "a" but as I said, it won't be visible up on the shelf!

Thanks Brian! Don't know yet when the cab will be finished! For the others, Bren has generously declared that he will print the cab for me! Thanks again Bren! 😊👍

The tanks are painted and ready to mount: I used a no name chrome spray that actually has a nice dull effect. Looks more like aluminium than any model paint I know! Mounted they look pretty nice too! The tanks are pieces of 25mm aluminium pipe and the ends are slatted plugs. Works great. I did the same on my Superliner! Now I need the filler necks. They'll be printed!

There is a guy here in Germany who has a replica of the R.D. Mack. He bought it from someone in the US and brought it over here. It's not totally authentic though. Sleeper is different, no original plates, ... but he once showed it to Kris Kristofferson before a concert. Kris was impressed about the Remake quality but didn't seem to be that happy to see the truck since he didn't have such good memories about making the movie. I don't know if all of the actors in the movie would have thought that way? No way to find out anymore since they've almost all passed away. Only Franklyn Ajaye is still alive. And Ali MacGraw. No matter what they would have thought, I love the movie and the trucks in it and I'll try to keep it alive as long as possible!

Thanks Jeff! As far as I know there are hardly any trucks of that movie left. I therefore have no idea if this truck still exists!