Jürgen M.

OK, guess I thought of everything. Turning signals, antennas, the number 2 in the sides, the screen on the grille, ....! Oops. Just saw that the right rear outside tire isn't sitting strait. Be fixed in a sec. Gonna Put some dust on it too. But I have to wait till the decals are on. Otherwise they won't stick! Now the decals have to be designed. Gonna be a toughy! I'm not sure how I'll design them, I mean with which design software. The standard stuff won't do the job I guess. I'm not talking about the writing on the doors, I mean the red pinstripes on the green. My hands aren't calm enough to do it with paint. Maybe If I practice a bit on some others parts. I'll think of something! By the way, this is the only shot I've got showing the doors. Anyone know exactly what it says? The white letters and numbers are very blurry!

Good morning, I got a little more done: Got the too wide axle off without breaking anything. Also the breakdrums were detachable without damage. Got the mirrors in and the hood hinged. Now the fine tuning begins! Rear turning signals, tail lights, Bulldog on the hood, aging, more dust in the mud flaps, ... Then the tricky part begins: Designing and applying the decals!

Thanks! ? Glad you like it! I must admit I am quite proud of it myself too. But there's still a lot to do. The shortened front axle is finished and hast to be painted and mounted (The white one is the new one, obviously) , the air hose from the filter to the turbo charger still has to be designed and the mirrors are still missing. But I'm not in a hurry.

Here's a view from the other end: The mud flaps are printed also with loops to put through the metal rod. Still have to be aged more! The movie truck hast a long spring on the back side of the cab to hold the air lines. I'll do that when the first trailer ist done. Also there are brackets one the side of the frame, I believe they're the holders for quarter fenders. I'll have to see If I can get a good view of them in a movie scene.

I discovered that the front axle is a bit too wide. The R685st is about 5mm smaller in width than other 1/25 kits which means the front wheels would be too far outside of the fenders. I actually decided to redo the complete front axle incl. steering. The 3D drawing of the axles is already shortened by 5mm and printed. Now I have to reprint the other parts but first I have to reduce the holes a bit to create a better fit. The wheels tend to tip a little to the inside which makes the whole thing look like a VW Beetle of the 70s.

OK, I actually missed taking more pictures of the build progress. Here's what I've got to show: I'd say not so bad! Wheels are "aged" with graphite Powder, normally used for lubricating locks and hinges. Still a lot to do but I'm satisfied up to now!

Had some trouble with the painting of the hood. It sort of peeled off. Don't know why but I suspect it's the mix of colors. I had the same problem when I built "Pig Pen" (Convoy). The aubergine tone was mixed out of 5 different colors and after having applied it, the paint began to wrinkle. Had to sand it off and repaint. What helped was putting a different primer underneath. I had used flat black. Just like this time! Using flat grey seems to work better. Hope it does this time too. Unfortunate that I didn't remember before painting! Looks good now. Primer didn't wrinkle! Hope the rest works as well!

Oh yes, by the way, the hood of the Big Nasty truck is from the Mack R685ST kit (old R.D. hood), only the cabin is printed. But I did print a new hood for the RS700L (Rubber Duck).

Wow, thanks Rockford! I'm flattered and Happy to hear that my work ist actually that good. I was just comparing the precision of the stuff you guys make. Engines with authentic tubing and wiring, perfectly worked frames and suspensions, ..! I really appreciate yor feed Back and I'll keep trying to improve my quality! ?

Good morning, I wanted to share the progress of my build. Actually I almost stopped building because you guys are used to much more precision in building, details, painting. I've looked at some of the builds in the forum and I must admit I'm far away from what you guys do. I'm really impressed! Honestly! But I'm not going to stop the build. I put in a lot of effort designing parts and trying to make them look as good as possible! Why quit? No, this is not fishing for compliments. I know where I'm standing but I'm still happy that some of you appreciate what I do, knowing I could do better. OK, lets cut the BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH, here's more progress: The red looks brighter in the picture than it actually is! The interior: The cockpit goes into the cabin, then they're combined! Painted chassis. The hood is just taped to see the fit! Here you can see the cab with the fit in cockpit! Double air intake from the filter: One leads to the cabin and (later) also one to the turbo charger!

Here's the back side of the can. It says isoprafine and aliphatic hydro carbons. (I looked that one up).? And this is the water based clear coat I use! Never had a better one!

Interesting stuff! Thanks! I don't always use clear coat but depending on the base coat color I use sometimes it's better to use the flat type because it's better in spreading, surface and covering. You mostly only need one layer. Except for white, I always put two layers at least. And when I use decals I prefer covering them with clear coat to prevent them from peeling off later. I'll see If I can find a catalyst-hardener. Sounds like good stuff! Concerning the ingredients of the odorless thinner, I'll have to look. Be back soon with the answer.

Hi, I promised to take a picture of the solvent can I bought. It's from a German hardware store chain called "Bauhaus". I searched the whole Isle of cleaners, detergents and solvents till I discovered that can saying aromatics free. I'm not a chemist but I know that aromatics are highly poisonous and are known to cause cancer! I've had my share of that so I always was careful with the solvents I had been using! Anyway, I saw the can but of course I couldn't just open it to smell the contents. So I took a small can just in case it wouldn't work the way it should. But it did. I was really surprised. And that performance with no smell is just perfect! I recommend it truly. Try anything without aromatics. Should work out! But first try the smallest container Just in case. OK, I talked a lot, now here's the product: It says "thinner, free of aromatics. For thinning and cleaning". Tomorrow I'll get more! ? Have a good night!

Wow, thanks for so much informative input! What I discovered is an aromatics free hardware store solvent which doesn't smell at all and works great! I'll take a picture of it when I get home. Don't know If it helps though since it's from a German hardware store and therefore written in German! Of course I also use a mask while painting. Got enough left from Corona times! Oh yes, I usually use Revell enamels. Tried some others too but didn't get good results with those. Must have been Herbol if I remember correctly!

Hi everyone, I've got a question: What kind of paint do you use for your models, enamel or water based and what do you use for thinning enamels? I'm just curious because I use enamels and it took me till today to find a thinner and solvent that doesn't smell but does the job well. I've made the experience that water based paints don't really work very well without using an enamel primer. Also you need to apply more layers. And what I find very strange is that water based paints e.g. Revell are tougher to get out of the airbrush than enamels. Only the water based clear coat works pretty well and I like using it because it doesn't smell. Anyway, I found an aromatics free solvent which really cleans brush and airbrush perfectly and doesn't smell at all. What are your experiences?

Here's more progress: The air filter is printed and mounted. The engine is almost finished, shaft is printed, the new tanks are in place, such as the battery boxes and the firewall is finished and placed in its position but not glued yet. A few more parts to print, some finishing to do in the lengthened frame and then the painting can begin!

Thanks! ? Yes they are! Especially when it comes to tricky solutions you can customize as you wish!

OK, some changes had to be made. I discarded the fuel tank holders. Didn't like them. Works for round ones but not for these. Made new ones and had to change the tanks as well. Left: old, right: new Also lengthened the chassis about 2cms. Seemed a bit too short after I had positioned the cabin and the hood. Still some work to do in that. Also put on the sliding plate for the fifth wheel. Like I mentioned I want to use up some old parts. The engine is growing too. Decided not to use the old one after all. I discovered that it was damaged.

Hi, I've got a bit of progress to report. The chassis is growing. Fuel tanks and axles have found their destination! Shocks are printed... Fuel tanks prepared for mounting, .. The assembly of the chassis is headed for completion! A few more steps until the painting begins!

Well done! The scratch trailer looks great. I know it's a lot of work. I did the trailer of the Rubber Duck almost the same way. But the effort is worth it. Your build looks perfect! ?

Absolutely immaculate! I can't imagine anything being different to the original! Accurate Work, beautiful paintjob! Thanks for the pictures! ??

Hey Rockford, I'm sure it's not easy to memorize all of the trucks in the movie, especially when you've only seen it once or twice. I'm a Convoy Freak though and I'm not sure how often I've seen it but it must have been at least twenty or twenty five times. Maybe more. Still I'm going to quit building one after the other! With this one I'll have five of them. That's enough, even for a freak like me! ? I'll show them all when this one's finished. I'm gonna have to Take a Look at some scenes again though because I have to find Out what it says one the doors in order to make the decals! Here's some more printed parts.

Thanks Rockford, wasn't easy though. It took me almost three months of effoert to get the hood designed. It's still not perfect but it looks more authentic than the R600 hood. The cab of the R600 for the "Big Nasty" project was comparably easy but took me about 6 weeks. I've learned a lot in 3D designing in the last 9 months and I'm sure there's many more tricks to discover.

Hi, I'm back with a new projekt. As the title of this build says, it's going to be the Mack R600 called "Big Nasty" from the movie Convoy! It will also be the last "Convoy" truck I'll be doing. This time it won't be completely from scratch since I've got lots of parts in my box that I want to use. Of course the hood will be the old R.D. hood, the engine is from an old amt Peterbilt359 kit which fell totally apart during moving. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. Especially the two trailers will be a challenge. The cabin ist already printed, so are the wheels and some chassis parts. I'll be back with more details shortly!

OK, it's done! I completed the hood, overdid the bullbar once more and finished the paintjob. Still doesn't look exactly like in the movie but much closer! The designing of the hood was a real toughy! Still I think it Looks pretty good but you decide! ? Only the dust ist still missing but that'll be the easy part!