Semi Trailer Mechanic

Cool! You even put a pyrometer gauge sensor on the exhaust! Some of the earlier T600's in fact had NTC Cummins. When I started my career as a mechanic there were a few I worked on that had those engines.

I forgot this kit had the auto trans... I'd paint it Tamiya Bare Metal Silver and black wash it a few times.

That's a Late 70's early 80's K100. As far as the trans colors go. Semi gloss black,matt black,gun metal, red oxide (not primer), The radiators are usually a semi gloss black. If you're building a custom truck then paint it the color of the chassis.

It was a little tricky! I took strip styrene cut it into pieces the lengths of each hinge. Next sanded 95% of the top surface down leaving just enough material left to drill down the center for the hinge pins. Followed by sanding just enough material off the bottom surface of the hinge so it will clear the hinge butt allowing the door to close flush. The hinge butts are made from h-beam styrene. On the h-beam the flanges are thinner than those on i-beam. Cut two flanges off one side so it looks like c-channle. glue those on the door frame. When dried take your hinge and mock install it in the hinge butt and sand off the excess flange so it's flush with the bin boss on the hinge. Carefully drill thru the two flanges into the hinge so all the holes are aligned. You'll want to leave the hinges and doors off when you paint the door frame and paint the hinges seperate as well. Install the doors by using some tape to hold them in place. Install your hinges to the doors but make sure you use like a piece of brass wire to keep them aligned with the holes in the hinge butts. After that I used scale bolts "two" one for the top and the bottom. The shanks on those aren't long enough to go thru the two flanges in the hinge butt and the hinge boss. Apply some type of lube anything that will seal the surface of the styrene from glue contact to the inside flanges of the hinge butts. ( Of course you'll have to remove the doors ) Once you do that reinstall a door cut the bolts off the spurs and apply lube to the bottom of each shank. very minimal amounts. This too will prevent the glue from seizing the hinge boss' to the shanks of your hinge bolts. Apply a very fine amount of glue to the bottom of the hex of the bolt. When you install these the lube on the tip of the shank will coat the remainde of the shank as the bolt is installed in the hinges' pin bossand the minimal amout of glue on the bottom side of the bolts' hex will secure it to top surface of the hinge butts' flanges. This will allow your hinge to work and hold them in place. As far as the doors go. I fitted those exactly the same way as I would if I replaced a set of doors on a 1:1 trailer. Start by measuring the area height and width. On a piece of paper record those numbers. Here's where most mechanics mess up and cause their doors to bind. Measure the width starting at the bottom of your trailer right at the thresh hold. Record that measurement. Then go up a couple feet measure again. Do this until you reach the door frame header. Do the exact same from the trailers' threshold to the door header from the roadside of the trailer to the curbside. If you're door frame IS out of square your will see the variation in measurements from the bottom to the top and then across and then from side to side. Don't bother trying to straighten your door frame unless it's way out. Alright now. Divide your width measurements ( First measurement taken at the threshold and the last by the upper door header) by two. Here is your centerline where your two doors will meet. If you're not going to add door seal detail then use these two measurements to cut your door blanks out of. Using sheet styrene say .030 and a straight edge draw a line using a fine tip pencil. IF your door frame measurements were not all the same mark the outter edge of your door acording. As you cut it out you'll cut it to those widths. For example most door widths ave to a little over 48" so let's say the bottom is 48" even the next 48 1/16" next 48 1/16" next 48 1/32" 48 1/16" and so on. You'll cut you door blank and shape it to the distortion of the door frame being out of square opposed to taking time to cutting out the corner irons use the port-a-power and restraighten the frame and reinstall the new corner irons just to have frame to tweek out of square again when you remove the port-a-power and you're gonna end up cutting the blank to fit the out of square measurement. Learned that a long time ago the hard way!!! If it's excessively out of square then you have to do this. I've had to take leaf spring ubolts and weld them to the upper corner of the door frame and the opposite corner on the threshold and use a chain and hoist come along to pull the frame in square. ANY WAY I explained that so you get an idea. On that Trailmobile I used two of the 27' pups to make a 35' I had to use 1/4" thick styrene and cut it in one piece to fit the rear to square up the roof sides and floor it was so warped. Then I just added the detail hardware just giving it the curbside effect. If you want to add door trim I used angle styrene just subtract the thickness of the flnage on the angle from the width of each door and cut your blank according, Once you do this they will fit nearly air tightand open and close easily!!! It will take some time and patients and you will make mistakes. Plan on it!!! Good Luck

Very Impressive!!!

Thanks. By all means wasn't trying to hijack your thread. Just giving ya some ideas. Lately... I haven't been able to put the effort into building like I use to. Yesterday I did 10 mins worth of model building. The last time I tinkered w/ a model before that was a month ago. You could say I know my way around trailers. HA HAAA I've been fixing 1:1's for a pay check for nearly 20 years now. On the ribside trailer I did use various sheets of wood. If I remember I used basswood,balsa,mahogany to give the effect that several liners have been replaced from abuse (forklift/freight) over the years. On that FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plywood) I used a sheet of 1/32 plywood. I wanted to put fiberglass over the ply but it would be too thick. SO I did a little thinking and used a semi gloss latex just to paint it. This paint when dried looked perfect!!! It showed an identical surface as 1:1 FRP panels do. That was alot of work.

A few years ago on another forum a fella did just that. He built the Happy Toyz Western Star. If I remember correctly the guy made the gobblin face out of clay or play dough then made a resin piece.

Here are some van trailers I detailed the doors on over the last few years. Take a look at this set of pics of it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495602@N02/sets/72157618444714198/ This is another http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495602@N02/4318063135/ Another http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495602@N02/sets/72157623829493805/with/4840552628/ This is an older one but still can give ya an idea http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495602@N02/2323273062/

Robert. Your trailer height should be no higher that 13'6" while on the back of a tractor. It may be easier to build a door frame in the rear. On 1:1 those are made out of 1/4"x2"x4" tube steel. Evergreen and plastruct has what you need. You can get away with using some angle styrene glue that to the inside edge of the frame so your side panles and roof have a mounting surface. If your not going to made the doors functional then put the angle just on the inner edge of the frame,threshold, and upper header for a surface to attach your doors to as well. Scott

Look in your yellow pages for a local Detroit Diesel Distributor,Warrently,and Repair shop. Go to the parts department buy ya a can (if ya absolutly have to have the exact color). I did that several years ago. Here in Columbus,Ohio I know several mechanics that work at W.W. Williams Detroit Diesel/Carrier Refridgeration. After BS's with them in the parts dept one of my buds just grabbed a half used can off his tool box and gave it to me. LOL The paint is called Series 60 Blue.

The boogie is a frame that sits on top of the axles that supports the box (van) . I know this very well. I spent nearly 2 years straight changing bent boogies while working in Swift's trailer shop in the Cols.,Ohio terminal (major wreck shop). They'd come in w/ the right front axle chained up the rfi/rfo wheels off in the back becasue the driver clipped something very hard while attempting a turn!!! LOL That suspension in the kit resembles a 9700 series Hutch (I think that's what it was) spring ride. The dolly legs are similar to Austin Mfg. dolly legs mostly found on chassis (container). The trailer in that kit might be an old Timpte or a Wabash? So the dolly legs for that year of trailer could have been those similar to Austins. I can say this. The legs are out of scale undersize. Most of the dolly legs found under trailers these days are JOST,Binkly,Holland, and another brand I can't think of right now.

Just get a leather swatch in the color your interior will be. Trim it to fit.

This is just my opinion but an International 9300 with the integral sleepr cab on a longer wheel base (same as the Lone Star kit) chassis would make my day!!! " Just Sayin' ...."

Nice truck!!! You can always just leave it as a tractor if you can't settle on a trailer and move on to the next project. I like the hose tender you made and the load locks as well!!!

Good Tip!!! Heck as a bonus the truck will smell like the driver got his lunch as well!!!

Everything Gordon said I was going to recommend. You can also use tissue or a kleenex for the sheet. Also I use Evergreen scale tile sheet styrene that works well. Or flock it. Here's a T600 I detailed the bunks' interior. Take a look. Just weed out the other WIP pics. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495602@N02/sets/72157603827432233/with/2223944235/ Good Luck!

In Delaware,Ohio is a garage called North/South Towing on State Routes 36 and 37 near Interstate 71. Their tow trucks (heavy) are all yellow. This looks like it'd fit right in w/ those perfectly. This built of yours is quite inspiring. Currently I've been tinking w/ the Bill Sign's 359. I might paint the cab yellow seeing how well this turned out.

It's been a few years since I worked w/ pvc. I believe I did sand the barrel down w/ a medium/light grit paper,washed it and allowed it to air dry. I used TenX7R. A lot of it but it worked for attatching styrene and plastic. .

Interesting subject! That's my account on Flickr (Scott WP) I haven't built a bulk feed trailer but the thought has crossed my mind a few years back. In the past I have built several different tankers. These days I just don't have the knack to build like that anymore. I don't even have the patience to build a complete box stock kit. But take a look at my album if ya want if ya have any questions feel free to ask. On the home page of my Flickr account click "sets" then search those that'll make it easy to find what you're looking for. Good Luck!!! Scott

Peterbilt 359EXHD

Years ago I started to build a dump truck where I did some experimenting using wheels off a Tonka pick-up truck for floats. At the time I was working in the shop for a trucking company that ran dump trucks that had floats. Yes I was doing the tires as well as the wrench and fabrication work. So I took measurements off a 425-65.22.5 that I had just changed and scaled those to 1:25. On my day off went to Toy-R-Us with a small key chain style tape measure and found these on a toy pick up. Not 100% true but convincing enough for me. http://www.flickr.co...N02/2302782015/

Clean build. Well done!

WOW!!! LOOK AT THE PAINT ON THAT CAB!!!

Let me tell you something. If think those Diamond Dual Lane haulers look big in pics try being right next to one. I ran a service call for Diamond Heavy Haul over a year ago. When the driver called the shop he gave the location they were at and said " LOOK FOR THE LITTLE RED WAGON" One of the hubs dried up and the bearings burnt up on the 16th axle curb side postion. Working on that in 5PM rush hour traffic at the top of the I-270and 23 north ramp draws one hell of a spectical.If you've drivenin this traffic here in Columbus,Ohio you know what I'm talking about. One of the pilot car drivers told me (to be exact a chevy dually) it's always a rolling circus. Everyone's gotta look at the big truck. LOL

That's what I was thinking. The rib side Trailmobile from either the double header kit of the US mail kit.