highway

Yeah, Justin, I agree with the others, it would be fine and just a custom painted engine. Anyway, Cat engines are yellow, so you could just say it's a Cat! For future projects, you could use this site for reference for the engine colors. http://www.jobbersinc.com/ They have some nice pics of many different engines, all you need to do is click on the name of the manufacture. If you aren't sure what engine is in a kit, don't be afraid to ask, there are many of us like me who have been around the real things most of our lives, somebody will steer you in the right direction.

Not a problem, even though all I can take credit for is remembering it and finding it!

I'm not sure why the engine looks the way it does on the box, Justin, but commonly a Cummins engine of that era is a tan color. I think the actual color from Cummins is called Sand Beige. Since the box art on the Freightliner is the original art from the 1970s, maybe printing technology in those days couldn't show a correct shade of tan.

Due to the pics, I had to split it into two, just like the original poster did. Just as Ray said in his post, I hope this helps.

OK, Skip, here is the link to the thread, it is in the trucks section: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36918 These are really the two posts that you need from that thread, though.

Skip, I can't help on a suggestion to weld the hinge, but have you thought of making a working piano hinge for it from some plastic or aluminum tubing? That would give you a hinge that would be more sturdy than the PE but would still operate like the 1:1. I'm not sure if it was here in the tips section or in the trucks section, but I think someone showed a nice way to make a piano hinge from tubing, since big rigs use piano hinges commonly for door hinges. I'll try to see if I might be able to find a link for it.

I'm not sure why it's not showing in your watched content, but here is how you can watch it. At the very top of the topic page, you will see a button that says "Watch Topic", just click that and that will take you to a screen where you can select the method of email notification you want, then click proceed. If by chance the "Watch Topic" button says "Stop Watching Topic", then you are watching the topic and I'm not sure why you would be getting notifications in all but this thread. Also, you can also watch topics even without replying to them by using the "Watch Topic" button, and it will always be at the top of each topic screen.

One of my favorites, commemorating the famous "Pass In The Grass" in the 1987 "The Winston" race. I even get different versions of the same cars, these are both a fantasy Impala made for the 10th anniversary of Dale Sr.'s Daytona win, the one on the left is the regular paint scheme and the one on the right is in a special Black Chrome paint. I've also tried to get some of the special one off paint schemes, and this Peter Maxx raced in one of the all star races has to be one of the favorites. Like I said, most are Dale Sr. cars, he will always be my favorite driver, but I got in a kick of buying Dale Jr. cars after he joined Hendrick Motorsports a couple years back. I bought almost every car QVC offered in the first year Jr. was at Hendrick. This is one of very few non Earnhardt related cars in the collection, an autographed Tony Stewart car. Other than that, I also collect trains and Hot Wheels, and I also have a few of the annual Coca Cola trucks that are usually out this time of year. My fiancee has quite the John Deere collection thanks to me, too. It was a nice way to break a $250 trip to the hobby shop to her as I handed a few little green tractors to her with the receipt!

I guess this just goes to prove old threads never die, they just have to wait for members to take the time to get back to them! I have to ask Brian, what is all over the Dale Sr car in the front row, or is it a raced version? I also collect diecast, mostly NASCAR, and most of the NASCARs are Dale Sr. cars. Here are some of my pieces from notable points in his career that I have set up on the top of the entertainment center in the living room. These are some of the Daytona 500 win pieces. The 1/64 scale car on the display base is sitting on an actual piece of the Daytona racing surface. This statue is for his 7th Winston Cup, and the car is the "raced" (weathered) version of the car from the day he won the 7th cup. More to come!

Tim, you owe me a new keyboard, since this one is probably ruined by DROOL!!! This has just jumped from a "Must Buy" to a "I will do anything to have more than one" buy! It is just simply amazing!! Beautiful work as always, Tim.

Now see, that's where I either drive my best friend or ride with him to model shows. If he picks up something at a show I REALLY want, I either tell him if he doesn't sell it to me, he walks home or if we stop for gas or something, I "rearrange" everything so that kit is buried in my stash!

James, it's not the greatest pic in the world, but it's just too cold to lay under the truck! This is what the front fuel tank looks like, and it appears as if somewhere under all the dirt and rust, it may have been steel colored or painted black at one time. Thank goodness this thing used to be a chassis cab!

Well, James, I think it's just the trucker in you! Since I do have one outside, though, and even have a few pics, here's a pic of the back tank in all it's rusty glory. I'll even be a nice guy and get a pic or two of the front tank and maybe even see if I can knock some rust off it to find out it's true color in a little while.

Yeah, I drove mostly tractor trailer, so that's why I had to think of the few straight trucks for their weights! I sort of figured that was what you were thinking of, and you are right, it's mostly trial and error and experience to get a semi scaled out just right. It took a while, but I had always found if I set my fifth wheel (yes most of those slide back and forth too) so the front edge of the trailer was even with the front quarter fender mudflap, it set me up good to where I had a little over 11,500 pounds on the front steer axle and could slide the trailer axles to adjust the tractor drives and trailer. That was one thing I didn't mention in the other post, the fifth wheel position effects the weight, but it mostly transfers weight from the drive axles to the steer axle. I found on trucks where the fifth wheel wasn't movable, they were most always set where the trailer lined up just like the way I always set my fifth wheels. There is, I guess, a little formula along with the axle weights, too. I was always told each hole in the fifth wheel slider was about 500 pounds of weight redistributed and each hole in the tandem slider rails were worth about 250 pounds. After a few years though, I could almost scale a truck by the seat of my pants, I could always tell before I ran it over a scale what changes had to be made just by the ride!

If you mean making an extra copy of a kit's decal sheet, like if you want a backup if you mess a decal up, you can scan the kit's decal sheet into your computer and reprint them. I would suggest printing it on regular paper before the decal paper, though. That way you can make sure the decal will come out right before wasting the decal paper if it is messed up or colors might be off.

Aaron, I think in the respect of straight trucks, you are right with the 20,000 pounds on a rear axle, because the few straight trucks I drove did have a GVW of 32,000 pounds. I'm not sure if the same is true for a tractor with a single axle, though. I know the one single axle tractor I drove with a tandem axle box was 63,000 pounds gross weight, which equals the weights I explained in the post just after yours. As for the transfer of weight from the trailer and tractor axles, I'm not really sure what you mean by it being calculated, but I can tell you how it is distributed. Trailers with a tandem axle, with the exception of tandem spread axles, are movable and sliding the axles forward (pushing the trailer backwards on the axles) distributes more of the weight to the trailer axles and takes weight off the drive axles of the tractor. The reverse is true for sliding the axles back toward the rear of the trailer, more weight is put on the drive axles and less is on the trailer axles. It also depends greatly on how the trailer is loaded too, like you said. Commonly for a single axle tractor, the trailer is loaded lighter in the front and more weight is distributed towards the rear of the trailerand the tandem axles. Usually the trailer tandems would be set as far forward as they can be slid, too.

No, Justin, twins are fine, because the dolly axle for the second trailer acts just the same as a tandem (dual set of axles) on the tractor. As for weights, and this applies for your common everyday road truck, they go as follows: Front steering axle: Max 12,000 pounds Single axles, drive and trailer: Max 17,000 pounds Tandem axle sets, drive and trailer: Max 34,000 pounds These are also what determines the GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) rating for trucks, the normal 5 axle trucks on the road is 80,000 pounds, where a truck like the C900 and the Freuhauf trailer would only have a GVW of 63,000 pounds. There are execptions to this, just like every rule. One I know of is on trailers with a spread axle tandem like most flatbeds nowadays, since my good friend drove spread axle flats hauling steel, the axle weight on a spread is 40,000 pounds maximum. The GVW is still 80,000 pounds, though, just because the spread axle allows 6,000 pounds more than a standard tandem, it does not increase the GVW. Hopefully I didn't lose you with all that, but with the C900 as the example, the C900 could haul 80,000 pounds legally with the doubles. The only thing that effects the weight is the lack of a second drive axle, it could only legally haul 63,000 pounds with the Freuhauf trailer. The dolly between the double trailers is actually adding an axle to the setup, and therefor increasing the GVW.

That's right George! On the serious side, though, but also does fit what George said, two of the hardest kits I used to have and that I've been hunting ever since I lost the originals in a house fire in 1997 have been a Lindberg (I think) 1979 Pontiac Trans AM Type K Sportwagon and a MPC (I think) 1974 Trans AM. I know they were made because I had both, but since then I have never seen them again.

Very nice Paul, and I agree with Tim, how bout some trailers!

You can never ask too many questions, Andy. The more you ask, the more you learn! An OOP kit is a kit that is Out Of Production.

It would be fine Terry. The only thing I would suggest is if you are loading the trailer, keep the load "light", a heavier load like the three steel coils in the kit, would be too heavy for the single axle of the Ford. It would be overweight on that axle by DOT regulations.

Mike, as Casey said, you are using the correct glue. The best I could suggest if you want some wiggle room is test fit the parts together first, then when you have the parts where you want them, put some thin CA in the joint. The capillary action of the thin glue will (or at least should) draw the glue into the joint. That way the parts will be in the position you want them and where they should be.

I won't hold it against you that you aren't a big Freightliner fan, I just won't like you as much!! Of course I'm just pulling your chain, and New Ray has a nice selection of different trucks.

Don't get too disappointed, Justin. At the time I made the comment you quoted, I had only had it for a few weeks! I've still not made any decals with it yet, but I've designed and modified some pics with the program, and finding it easier to get along with. I just needed more time to learn what I was doing.

The pic isn't coming up, Tom.