Jürgen M.

This is the chassis of the trailer! The height from axle center fits exactly the hight of the fifth wheel from the axle center of the tractor so it should look quite good later! The frame on top of the chassis is one piece! I'm thinking about designing chassis in one piece in future concerning the rails and cross members! That would assure a strait and aligned chassis! By the way, the break drums are of such a large diameter on one side in order to center the wheels and I don't need extra backing plates! I know, they remind a bit of train wheels but they won't be visible later! (Of course I am aware that backing plates do not turn with the wheels but they're hidden so well that noone would notice. It's Not a toy to play with besides that!)

Thanks for the brightening Up words Rockford! I did Change the design a bit hoping it might turn out better. Have to print it sometime between the trailer parts. Probably when the chassis parts are finished! That gives me a bit of time for further improvement ideas!

Looks like you shrunk a real one! Really nice work to perfection!

Looks perfect! Nice paint job!

Thanks! Didn't think the tractor would find so much recognition!

I put the mesh on the grille and had forgotten the KW emblem. What I am absolutely dissatisfied with is the sun visor! I'm gonna have to redo that! Looks terrible! Maybe that will improve the main Impression of the truck! Then it will be a bit more dusted over. Not just the windshields! I guess there's always something to improve!

Looks very unique! Interesting vehicle you picked! Nice paint job! ?

These are the first parts of the trailer chassis: Leaf springs: Connected to chassis rails:

A few statistics, just in case anyone cares: (tractor only) Design time: 69 days (~ 3.5h p.d.) Print time: 50 days (Started printing first parts before I was finished designing) Build time (incl. painting): 47 days Total days of build incl. design: 75 (overlapping processes) Total hours of project (~ 3h p.d.): 225h Total no. of parts: 235 (incl. tires and other parts from parts-box) No. of parts printed: 198 (84%) If you like, I´ll make the same statistics for the trailer too.

The springs are printed. Yes, they look a lot like the ones on the tractor. They are actually the same parts only with the counter plates for the u-bolts turned upside down like I was told it was supposed to be! I am aware of the fact that the chassis of the trailer will not be a 100% like the one in the movie but I'm sure it will do the job!

Thank you Rockford! Yes, of course it's satisfying. I'm always happy when another model truck is on the shelf! I'm not always happy with everything I did during the build. That's why I redo Things once in a while when I don't want to see previous mistakes anymore (See my R.D. make overs, I think I did four all together!) Anyway, I do learn from finished projects and of course try to improve things I'm not satisfied with. The satisfaction is then even bigger when you see that you've actually not only improved your working process but it shows in each new model. The trailer will indeed be a real challenge! The parts are almost completely designed and the first ones are being printed at the time! I'll keep you up to date of course!

Thank you! ? Glad you like it!

? I finished the tractor last night. Just couldn't wait! I know it's far from original kit quality but on the shelf it looks pretty good! Now comes the trailer!

Got the windows installed and the roof on. Not a very good fit due to warping during printing. That happens for example when you have a part with different strong walls or components. In this case the cab walls are thick and the bridges above the windshields are comparably thin. These fell in a bit and therefore caused a gap to the roof. What did I learn? No more separation of cab and roof in design. It takes more filament because of the support structures but there's no warping. Had to redo the bumper and the grille because of an unwanted interaction between chrome spray and clear coat! I went over to plan B! Aluminium silver (Revell no.99) with a bit of beige mixed in to create the common yellowish shade in the aluminium parts. Didn't want the grille to be the same silver color as the cab! Hope it turns out well. I'll show you when it's dry!

?? Good Idea! Really looking great! Can't wait to see further progress!

I understand why! It's always a risk. I've had fully dried paint dissolve beneath clearcoat, mostly metallics. Sometimes decals begin to wrinkle or come off. I don't know why that happens. Mostly it works out great. I actually use clearcoat just to fix the decals on the surface. I've had them come off sometimes after years. Maybe the decal sheets I bought are of a different quality. Haven't actually tried to find out If they're clearcoat compatible!

I applied the clear coat after the paint and the decals were perfectly dry, still one of the stripes came partially off and had folded itself. I had to cut off the first 20mms and put a new tip on. I actually glued it on with a glue stick. It worked! - I saw that some of you guys work with decal sheets to make your own decals. Do you also have that problem when you apply clear coat? - Now the windows have to be made and fit in, horns, marker lights, mirrors, .... Still lots of work.

I believe everything has been said! I can only agree to all the others and say a job well done! ?

Thanks Rockford! Your words in God's ear! ?

I painted the cab. Still need to do some fine tuning. The masking was a bit tricky due to the rivets. Should have made them a bit smaller! They break off quite easily too. The narrow stripe in the middle is a self made decal. The inside walls are only painted as far as visible! Looks a bit wild without the interior!

Looks really nice! Did you use a clear coat on the chrome? I had fingerprints all over even after two weeks of resting and drying in a warm and dry room.

Now that is one nice truck you created! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

I finished the interior. Not very neat I admit but sanding these parts is practicaly Impossible considering that the filament is very hard and the parts would break easily due to their size. But since this truck will be on a high shelf between the other Convoy trucks the inside will not be relevant to the optics of the model! I will try to find a way to smoothen the surface of smaller parts though thinking about models still to come!

Thank you for your nice feedback! It's one of the few trucks that survived over the years. I'm happy it did.

Beautiful! ?