Jürgen M.

Hi everyone, normally I'm more into big rigs but now I'd like to share this special car. It's a 1996 Jeep TJ. I built it for my best friend who bought it a couple of years ago and has been working on it since then. Since the TJ is his dream car and he's been my best friend for almost 45 years I thought I'd surprise him with this selfmade model. It's about 97% self designed and printed. Hope you like it! For those of you who might ne experts on the TJ, I know it's not quite authentic concerning the chassis and the engine but I didn't have any pics to see the details so don't be too hard on me! ?

Painting has begun! Not quite dry everywhere yet but looks good!

This is the hitch. I tried to design it according to the pics you posted! Thanks again! That was very helpful! It opens just enough to hitch up the drawbar! Of course they still have to be smoothend. Too much material still in the hook. That comes from the small size. The printer hast problems with such tiny pieces. On larger parts you don't see it as much. The trailers are ready for painting now! Almost like twins! The drawbar is only positioned because I have to know how far it's going to have to stick out in order to make the trailers turn without touching.

Thanks Guys, glad you like em! Big Nasty will probably be ready to join them by tomorrow evening!

Yes, I agree. For car or truck body parts such a printer would be perfect. The sanding is not always fun and neither is the work with putty. Still I'm quite satisfied with the results. Since I only do this for my own pleasure and don't want to (or have to) make a living out of it, it's fine for me. The cabs I've printed up to now have become better in surface I would say. The ACX was already pretty good compared to the Marmon Cabover eventhough the horizontal printlines are still visible but the've become finer. The sanding is tough because the pla filament I'm using gets very hard. You risk destroying details in the surface like bolts or hinges when you apply too much pressure. Maybe I should try a softer filament.

Now they're assembled!

The wheels are painted! The rims are done with a small flat brush which I borrowed from my daughter's nail styling set. Very useful! ? If you look close enough you can see they're printed but that doesn't matter to me! It's the over all impression that counts to me! When the whole rig is on the shelf, joining the convoy, no one cares about such details.

The wheels are completely printed now. This is how the parts fit together. (I know, it's hard to recognize details on white parts but I think the principle of the whole thing gets clear!) The hub is put into the inside wheel which hast to be turned around first... then they're fit into the inside tire. Then the outside wheel is put on top. Finally the outside tire is put in place. The rims are printed in one piece with the tires. It'll be visible when everything is painted. You might See it in the picture of the 3D drawing I posted. Anyway, this is one version of how I build truck and trailer wheels. In my next project you'll see the other version. This is the very last part of the second trailer to print. The vertical grid is just the support structure. If you can read the display there's another 18hrs to go on that. Takes about 24hrs in total on one of those! In the mean time I'll begin prep work for painting.

Thanks! ? Glad you like it! There'll be more to see!

Nice work! I Love that kit. It's just pure fun to build! What you're doing is unbelievable! The details are awesome and the paintjob perfect. I'm thrilled by the precision and quality of your build! I'll be watching what's next! ?

Hi everyone, I'm sure that at least those of you who have followed my posts so far know that I'm a great fan of Peckinpah's "Convoy"! I wanted to share my own convoy as far as it's grown up to now! My "Big Nasty" is still in the "in Progress" pages and will soon join the convoy as a complete rig. The Brockway got a steerable front axle today to make it look more realistic driving around the corner! The "Big Nasty" tractor is already there without trailers to keep it away from my workbench. Don't want any paint or anything to get on it. You can follow the progress of the trailers on the "in progress" pages if you like. At the beginning of the post of Big Nasty I said it would be my last Convoy truck. I'm not sure if I can keep that promise since now there's room for one more rig on the shelf. Dont know which one it'll be though. Maybe "Bald Eagle", the "Magnavox" Transtar Eagle for those of you who are familiar with the movie! I'll keep the tension up for a while till I've decided which rig to build. But before that I'll build two others that I've already started to design. But before that, the motorcycle season will keep me busy! Stay tuned! ?

These are the rear lights of the trailers like they come out of the printer! I made them fit the red and orange lights you find in every Amt truck model kit. Guess everyone knows them! They'll be covered on the back side so you don't see the red and orange through.

Thanks! I was thinking about the vertical line too. I'll have to put some putty in and then clean the horizontal lines. Hope that works out the way I want it to! I think I'll put on the first layer of primer and then see how much the vertical line shows through. It just looks so dominant because the light ist shining through, showing the connecting areas. We'll see! Anyway, the wheels print is almost finished. VID_20240314_135339.mp4 Then one more part of the second trailer to print and I can begin prep work for the painting. This is how the first trailer looks up to now: The king pin is a little metal rod. So is the axle.

Got the drawbar printed. Not too bad I'd say! Still needs to be sanded though. The fifth wheel was printed separately. Unfortunately I ran out of tires. I always ordered them directly from Revell but they're shifting their production to Austria which means no orders possible for the next 4-6 weeks. Since I don't want to wait that long I designed them! ?

Now the roof of the first trailer is finished and mounted. As soon as the parts of the second one are printed, the painting begins!

Keep going! I'm sure it's worth it! ??

Wow, Rockford, that's a beauty! Nice work! Looks absolutely real! ?

The fifth wheel of the second trailer ist printed ... ... so are the landing gears: I used the pins to keep the "feet" movable. Not that it's necessary but it looks nice! ? The landing gears are printed in one piece! Saves glue! ?

The rear chassis of both trailers are printed and assembled. The drawbar is designed. I experimented in making it of one piece. Just the brake cylinders and the brake drum covers need to be attached. Hope the print works out well.

Here's the chassis of the first trailer. I used metal rods as axles since printed ones don't always have enough stability unless you make them thicker. They too have advantages though. You can keep the wheels from sliding off by using a hot knife or something to melt the ends and press them flat just like it's done in some model kits. In this case I chose metal rods though. Here I made the brake drums fit the rods tightly so there's no need for "stoppers" at the ends! Fits perfectly! Also the walls of the first trailer are now glued to the floor: And I designed a new fifth wheel for the drawbar of the second trailer:

The rear part ist also printed. I put them together to see If they fit. Seems to work out pretty well. When they're glued together and painted I'm sure it will look even better! The roof will be printed soon. I decided to print the chassis and wheels first.

Looks good! ?

OK, I took your advice and changed the stripes from green to tan. Looks better! Thanks again! And I´ve started printing the first trailer parts: Here´s the floor made of three parts. (Only because I had designed them to 20ft and not 27! So I made another part to increase the lenght from 24 to 33cms. And here´s the front and side walls (only front half) being printed: VID_20240304_102412.mp4

Nice! Thanks for sharing! ?

Thanks for your input Rockford! I've got a tan color but it's gonna be Tricky to repaint now that the Truck is fully assembled! I'm trying to put the color in the decals. If that doesn't work I can still hope for a calm hand! ? Concerning the trailers I already corrected the size of my drawings!