RoninUtah

Thanks, Jeff! I guess great minds think alike!

Thanks! I’ve had good results with the Tamiya lacquer rattlecans too, but I need to pick up some lacquer thinner. I usually decant a little from the spray can for touch-ups, and need the thinner to clean my brushes after.

You guys are nuts! (and bolts)🤣

As I predicted, painting was kind of a disaster. Entirely due to my impatience. I had my heart set on a cream and green color combo, one of my favorite classic combos. So, I set up my airbrush and shot a coat of Testors cream onto the cab, tub and dash, from the tiny bottle, slightly thinned down. Big mistake. Although I usually have excellent results with these paints, this one was about two or three years old and had started to separate. It shot uneven and too thin, with almost no coverage and running away from the high points. I gave up and cleaned off the cream as best I could, let it dry (not long enough, as it turned out) and then hit it with a Rustoleum rattle can of Marigold Yellow. I've used this paint before, and liked its results. Well, this time, since the thinner I used to clean off the Testors paint hadn't dried completely, the spray didn't cover evenly- too thick, except where the thinner had accumulated, such as door grooves and changes of geometry. I let it dry a little and hit it again, and it was somewhat better. Meanwhile, I used Humbrol green enamel for the chassis. It's a good, tough paint but it takes forever to dry. It shot reasonably well, but wound up kinda thick in some places and thin in others. So, three days later, I'm still waiting around for this mess to dry. I can eventually salvage it, I think, but it will take some careful retouching here and there to pull it off. [sigh] I need to learn to be more patient!

Thanks, Jeff B. and Gary!

That looks great! Thanks for sharing it.

Can't wait to see it!

Thanks, buddy! Unfortunately, this won’t be nearly as detailed as your stuff. There are very few useful reference photos of this truck, so I’m more or less winging it. Just trying to make something that will look cool on the shelf.

Thanks! the cab swill be a butterscotch yellow, with a green chassis and fenders. I wanted to do cream and green, but my cream paint is 2 years old, and my local hobby shop is out. And I’m too impatient to wait to order some online. Actually, I think the butterscotch/ marigold yellow will look great. I might build the C-cab, just for the hell of it. Maybe replace my old one…

Over the years, I've probably accumulated over half of the AITM catalogue, first from the late Dave Natalie (one of the finest people I've ever met in this hobby) and then Doug Wagner when he purchased the company from Dave. For those who don't know, American Industrial Truck Models, or AITM for short, had a wide variety of cast resin truck cab conversions, as well as parts and complete kits. They focused on American trucks from the late 1930s through the 60s, specializing in Mack, but they also offered just about every other brand out there. They closed down about a year ago; every once in a while one of their kits will pop up, but they are few and far between and priced accordingly. One of the ones that alway eluded me was this one, an Autocar U-series COE. These trucks were offered from about 1935 through the early 50s, and a modified version helped win WWII. They were tough trucks; from 1939 on the heaviest models were powered by Cummins diesels. Here is the original AITM catalogue page: And this is one of the reference photos I'm using- as you can see, it's a brute of a truck. Unfortunately, this kit was not available neither when Dave nor when Doug was running the AITM site, apparently there was a problem with the mold by then. So when I saw this on the Sourkraut Truck Models site, and at a relatively reasonable price, I jumped on it. It's a typical AITM conversion kit- cab, tub, dash, other resin parts, a "pewter pack" with accessories, another pack of small resin parts, a sheet of clear styrene for the glass, some decals, and a brief instruction/ glass template sheet. The only thing missing was the steering wheel, but I've got a few extra AITM steering wheels in my stash so that's no problem. Here it is, after I washed the resin to remove any residual mold release, dust and fingerprints. For a donor, I found an old Ford C-series kit on eBay for $20; the box was crushed but all the parts seemed to be undamaged and in their bags. This is an original AMT kit, not a Round 2 repop, not that it makes any difference. So, I built as much of the chassis as I wanted to, and added a 3-D printed fuel tank to match the reference photo. For wheels, I had the right 6-spoke rear wheels in my stash, but I didn't have any proper 6-spoke fronts. I remembered that I had some on my '59 Diamond T conventional (another AITM conversion; I actually bought it from Dave's brother). The Diamond T agreed to give them up in trade for a set of 5-hole Alcoas, also period-correct for that truck. I printed some up (thanks again, Jurgen!), painted them and made the swap. Here is the Autocar, primed and mocked up on the Ford chassis, in the model truck maintenance facility on my kitchen counter. I'm using the Ford engine bottom and back, as well as the transmission, for the parts you'll see. These early COES did not have tilt cabs; as far as I know the earliest US. tilt cab COE was the White 3000 in 1950. This cab actually is fitting very nicely on the Ford chassis. The Diamond T with its shiny new Alcoas is next to the Autocar, Next is paint. I'm dreading it. Thanks for following!

Hopefully next week sometime but with Christmas coming up it’ll be hard to find time…

I’ll be starting an old AITM 1930s/40s U-series Autocar cabover, on an AMT Ford C-900 donor chassis. But that’s a separate thread…

I’ll be in the front row, watching with great interest!

Wow, that looks incredible! What a transformation! Amazing job, and a great showcase for 3Dskills!

What a cool build! Looks great so far, great choices for everything!

This will be a very interesting and unusual build, I’m looking forward to following!

I knew this was going to be an amazing build as soon as I first started to follow the build thread for this Hayes, but wow! Jeff, you exceeded all my expectations and set a new standard. Take a bow, buddy, this is one that anybody would be proud of!

Beautiful job, that’s one great looking truck!

I feel your pain! That’s always the most nerve wracking part of a COE build… why most of mine are “placed” and not hinged!

Oh no! More glue! That’s always my solution!

Thanks, Jeff!

Moebius sells their wheels and tires that they use in their International Lone Star/ Pro Star kits as a separate set, it costs about $20 or so.

Great Freightliner! Love the colors. Well done!

Is this the 1/32 version? It looks more accurately like a T600-A than the original 1/25 AMT kit.

Nicely done!