Jürgen M.

I know it´s far from a bought kit but still I like it. The next project is already in design and it will be much better in surface quality! Maybe I´ll give you a sneak preview in a few days! ?

I think it´s more or less finished. Air lines are fixed, mirrors, marker lights (they don´t look that bad after all!), turning signals, ... Only the licence plates are missing. I´ll put those on sometime this week! Also got some self made decals. Nothing amazing but I guess they´ll look alright. I´ll show you when they´re on!

You´re probably right there Brian! Maybe I´ll give that a try! Thanks for that input!

Thanks! To tell the truth it wasn´t totally my idea! I copied that from one of the pics I had found in the net! I also thought it was a cool idea! Not the usual place for a stack on a conventional!

Put the rear fenders on. Didn't glue them yet though. Wanted to see how it looks! What do you guys think? While I decide If they stay on or not I'll finish the rest! Mirrors, licence plates, air lines, ...

I'm still working on the small stuff! Can't seem to decide what kind of markerlights I'll use. The printed ones don't look really good. The printed Horns look good though. Have to paint them and the turning signals on the front fenders! I'm also thinking about rear fenders! I've almost got them so far that I can try them out and see how it looks! I'll post them when I'm ready! Put a bit of other stuff on like the side steps and the step plate.

Awesome! Really nice paint work! Since this is getting along quickly, I hope you didn't forget to order the beer! ?

Thanks! Not a surface Like your build but I'm working on it! ?

The air cleaner is now connected to the turbo charger! Hood works on both sides! and both at the same time! And it even closes too! The exhaust pipe is also installed: The two hooks on the Back side of the cab are for the air lines!

Thank you Gary, glad you like it!

A little more progress: Hood works: Air cleaner hose is in fabrication! Fuel tanks are mounted. (I tried out the surface quality improvement measures I discovered! They almost look too good for this truck!) Head lights are selfmade! Lenses are from my disassembled Volvo F12. Still not finished for a while! There's more to come! Oh by the way, mistakes happen: As I fitted in the exhaust line I noticed that I had actually forgotton to paint the underside of the oilpan! I needed an unpainted area to rest the engine while the paint was drying. It rested quite a while; too long for my memory to keep up with! ? Had to design a bracket to hold the exhaust line. Just stuck it onto the fuel tank bracket. (Again, freedom of art!) ?

Very nice! Perfect surface!

Beautiful! One of my favourites!

Thanks Jeff! That axle really kept my adrenalin on a high level! Glad you like the truck. Hope the rest of the build comes out as well!

OK, that axle was one I had planned to kick out but I must have forgotton to! ? It broke in the moment I put the truck on its wheels! ? Had to take it off again carefully without breaking the leaf springs, then disassemble the steering. Reprinted a few small parts but after all it worked out and the truck has a new and functioning front axle with steering! Now some pics of further progress! I think I hit the effect of a nicely but not professionally restored oldtimer quite well! The paintjob looks a bit bumpy but shiny! At least that's my vision of an oldtimer in that condition! (By the way, I discovered a few new tricks to improve the surface quality, which I will of course try out on my next project!) A little mock up to check the fit of the hood! Before I fit that for good I still have to do some piping around the engine. Exhaust line, air intake from air cleaner to turbo charger, ...!

I exchanged axles! Had one in my box from earlier projects when I actually needed a smaller one! Talk about quick repair! ? Just needs painting!

Yes it did, thanks! I just noticed though that the front wheel track width is too narrow. By using the new idea with the bolts the wheels moved closer in and narrowed the track. I had used a shortened front axle on previous models, seems now I'll have to go back to the original one! Got the interior finished though!

The interior is making progress. Seats and bed (if you can call it a bed) as well as the steering column and the steering wheel are in the "Paint Shop"! So are the cab and other body parts! The interior is actually very close to the original! I saw a couple of pics when I found the blue one I posted in the beginning!

Wheels mounted! Worked out fine! I think I'll keep that up.

What a great idea! Maybe I'll build a road train with three trailers full of beer! I'll be watching!

Brakedrums are mounted! Front wheels will be stuck onto the bolts. Rear wheels assembly as shown before! Hope it works! But the good thing about it is, it all can be assembled without glue! ? If something goes wrong, I can Take it apart without risking damage! The wheels are ready: They´re supposed to look old but over worked with a new paintjob on a weathered and processed surface. Semi professional repairs I´d say. Of course there are people who make even such old and used off trucks look practically factory new but I would say that doesn´t happen that often. Anyway, the whole truck will hopefully look like someone found it after decades in a barn or so and did what he could to turn it into a respectable vehicle. That was the vision I had about building this model as soon as I had seen the pictures of the two Autocars that I posted in the beginning of this thread! Maybe the next project will be the complete opposite, like a show truck or so! ? I also began printing some of the interior:

Yes, the MB was a really nice truck to drive. In the army they let me drive the 1017 4x4 a few times even though I never had a licence for it but it was only out in the "German Outback"! That was fun too but the engine lacked torque.

I never had a class 1 licence, the 7.5 ton truck I was allowed to drive with my car driver´s licence. Meanwhile it turned into a 10 ton + trailer licence. Maybe I´ll give it a try again someday! The only really big truck I ever drove was a Scania 76 Vabis with a cement silo trailer on it. Weighed 32 tons at that time. I drove it at 16 (a friend and I always visited the cement factory because of the big trucks and we were allowed to accompany the drivers once in a while). After a couple of times on tour with them they let us drive a round across the factory area. You can imagine how much fun that was as a teenager! It was one like this in light blue.

OMG! I had problems posting the last thread and now it's in here three times! Anyone know how to delete them?

I was able to delete everything but the smiley! ?