highway

Hmmmmm.......I wonder if anyone from Moebius is looking?? The HX 520 looks a lot like a 9900ix, and I'd take a few of those in a heartbeat.

That's better than me, I never even heard of Brown trailers!

That just might be that the kit windows might be off, I don't have a kit here to compare it too. Other than the pic I mentioned earlier, which KJ supplied an even better one to help you, I did find a couple in a Google search (and it took a while LOL) that has an older sleeper like the T600 and the flat roof. Maybe comparing the height if the side windows compared to the lower edge of the front might help to see if AMT messed up the front window position, that's why I tried to find close to the same angle for the older cabs as the newer orange one. It may be more than an optical illusion though, because to me it seems that the orange and red trucks front windows do match in position, but on the purple one the windows do seem larger and lower.

That was what I was suggesting, use the pic Clayton posted as a guide, and hopefully with the studio sleeper. Actually though, you'd be surprised how close the sleeper in the T600 actually is to the newer style like in the pic, the biggest changes are just the window on the access door and the top windows, the shape is about the same on them, the bar in between has just been deleted to make it a one piece window. The windows on the access door are optional if I remember correctly, but many do have them. The slope in the roof to meet the sleeper shouldn't be to hard, regular Bondo would make the transition and blend everything together. I used Bondo in the roof of my custom sleeper Ford that is on here, and after 5 years it has held up quite well, including the curve that is in the roof of the original kit sleeper I used and kept through the entire length of the sleeper. The blending would probably also lessen the illusion of the overhang. I think the main parts of the newer sleepers are the same as the kits, but I'm not 100% sure so don't hold me to that. As for seeing behind the stacks, what are you trying to see back there? If it is to see if there is a gap between the cab and sleeper like the kit would be built, there isn't. The cab and sleeper, while I'm not sure if they are a true integrated sleeper like the Cascadia I drive is, there is no seam between the cab and sleeper. I have a pic of another W900L that I have as one of my desktop backgrounds that shows that area a little better, but still has stacks, as soon as Photobucket is not down for maintenance (AGAIN!! ) I'll post it for you. I'll also try to keep an eye out while I'm at work to see if I can come across one that just may roll into the distribution center.

Cool, I hope you can, I really would like to see them.

So even the kit that is supposed to replicate the real truck will end up looking like my custom mock up then? That really doesn't surprise me though, the "Movin On" Kenworth kit doesn't yield an accurate replica of the real truck either.

Nice start Mike, and honestly I think I'd ponder over the pic Clayton posted a little more.

Mark, here is a pic of one of the trailers used in the show, and even though I zoomed into the pic to the max of 500%, I can't make out the name of the trailer manufacturer on the front lower corner of the trailer, even though it appears to start with a "B". If you notice, there is not a reefer on this one, it had been removed and this trailer had been used by Universal Studios for a storage trailer. That and the next pic are from a site you may find helpful in your build: http://www.tvtruckin.com/index.html The truck is owned by Paul Sagehorn, who also owns an original "Movin On" Kenworth. As Doug stated, and I'm not sure which trailer he is referring to, AMT/ERTL made both a Great Dane 40 foot reefer with a correct era Thermo King reefer unit and also a Freuhauf 40 foot reefer that I believe also had a correct era Thermo King unit as well. This is another pic I just found in one of the research files I have on the truck, it's Paul Sagehorn's rebuild with the reefer unit installed. Also, just as a little FYI, if your kit is the original BJ and the Bear kit, this shouldn't be an issue, but if the kit is a regular AMT Kenworth K100 Aerodyne, the frame will need to be shortened to have the correct look to the original truck. I've never had the original BJ and the Bear kit, but it should have the correct frame for the original. I'm actually working on a custom version of this right now using a longer frame from a Papa Truck kit because I like the long frame look. This was a mock up I did of one of the regular non BJ and the Bear kits, and if you would like I can measure this frame's length so you can make sure you have a true BJ and the Bear kit and not one of these regular kits with some decals and a box, or your truck will end up looking like this:

I've sometimes thought of attempting this! Since I'm a trucker and have always had a soft spot in my heart for a fancy, chromed out rig with all the extra lighting we call "chicken lights", I've often thought of building a lipstick red two stack Mack like this song describes, dressed in a lot of chicken lights and chrome!

Dave, while I don't know exactly what pain you are going through with constantly having to care for your mother 24/7, I do know how the pain of life and just life in general can get in the way of what is supposed to be a relaxing hobby and how sometimes a complex project even turns the "relaxing" hobby into something that sometimes feels like a job itself and life getting in the way makes that feel even worse. My life in general took a very bad turn in Dec 2011 and through life, work and more life getting in the way, my entire collection had to be moved to storage and most of it has been there since then, and life has been a roller coaster for these past 4 years, but it slowly on an uphill climb again, and a couple times on that roller coaster was about to push me to make the decision you are contemplating, but I never did. Through those years on the roller coaster, I did take a little time to do some simple projects, a few diecast kits and a few simple snap kits, but stayed away from the complex builds. Now that the roller coaster is finally leveling out, I'm getting back to a build that has been stalled since the roller coaster began, and that is with working a full time job as a truck driver 6 days a week and 2 days off, and sometimes working up to 14 hours a day and only having 10 hours off before starting another 14 hour day. Yes, many of the days I'm working I either get home and am not in the mood to go to the bench or just too tired to, and every once in while have to spend a night or two away from home in my truck, but there is some spare time. Life does have the way of getting in the way, but sometimes as I have found out through everything I have been through, life will get in the way of the hobby and that's OK, but sometimes you just need to tell life "I NEED A BREAK!" and the hobby will be there patiently waiting. I know my chair at the bench looks at me quite often as if to say "You need to relax, sit down and work on something" and sometimes there just isn't time, but when there is and I sit down, my chair embraces me as if to say "I've missed you, relax and let the troubles escape your mind for a little while." As a few others have said, don't make any hasty decisions. You have tough times ahead, but life will eventually smooth out, and you'll start finding the time for the hobby again.

Congrats Mike, and I just have to ask, did you go to Jarred's!?!? It's a good thing I wasn't drinking my coffee when I read that Nick, you'd be owing me a new keyboard and monitor sir! And on a serious note, sometimes the "second time" around comes full circle, it has for me. After a year I'd rather forget last year that led me to almost give up on relationships completely, my ex wife was a part of my "support group" that actually got me through everything that happened last year to me, and likewise I was there for her through a tough year for her last year. That all led to her asking me on New Year's Eve if maybe both of our troubles with others were because we made a mistake 15 years ago when we got divorced, so we are slowly testing the waters for our "second time" around, and it's just as you said, it seems to be going well so far with us.

Ironically Clayton, and I'm knocking wood as I say this , I have not had a blowout during the 2 years I've been with Schneider. The worst I have had has been a couple of flats that either were caused by a yard jockey running over something that ended up making the tire flat by the time I got the trailer or just someone else dropped it with a flat. I'm usually the one that gets the "I just leave it for the next driver to worry about" trailers.

As Clayton and KJ have already said, most companies nowadays want us just to be drivers, they don't want us doing any repairs ourselves, and most of that stems to one factor: liability. They would rather pay a road service call and have them accountable in case something bad happens due to a repair than it being pinned to the driver or the comapny themselves. Honestly too, with the new breed of idiot steering wheel holders on the road today, most make me wonder how they even got a license, so I surely don't want them attempting even a simple repair like changing a light bulb. I'm like Clayton and KJ though, I come from the old school where I at least try to save that road service call and get back to the distribution center I run out of, we have a shop there, and if it something I can limp home with safely, I will. In my younger and dumber days and after I drove heavy wrecker in 2000-2002, I learned a lot more about what I could and couldn't fix myself, carried a fully stocked tool box complete with caging bolts for the brake cans, and always made sure I had a good quality roll of electrical tape in the truck too. I found electrical tape is better than duct tape, especially for repairing a small hole in an air line. Also, never a really scary moment with a blowout, the worst for me at least is that unexpected seat sucking moment when the tire goes "BANG" and it sounds like a bomb going off! It's one reason why I don't like and will not drive trucks with super singles on them, At least with duals, I'm able to get the truck and trailer to a safe place off the highway, an exit ramp, truck stop, store, etc. so the road service can be safe doing their job and also keep my equipment safe, and with a super single that is impossible without damaging the wheel as well. That just comes from being one of the guys while I drove wrecker standing on the white line and having my hat blown off my head more than once by drivers that came a little too close for comfort.

Yes Michael, on both that of the old rigs I used to drive from the pics, the International's passenger step is a hidden box, and the Pete you can see the box's lock in the passenger fairing. As KJ also said, and was the case on both of my old rides, the driver's side matching areas/steps were the battery boxes. LOL Clayton, that is hidden too!

Oh, and on the one fuel tank, driver's side is more convenient but at most truck stops it doesn't matter because they have a main pump on the driver's side and a satellite pump on the passenger side.

It's where we hide the bodies LOL!! In all seriousness, at least for me, they were more or less the "junk drawer" for things I needed but didn't use on a regular basis. The driver and what the truck normally hauls will change the answer too, because flat bedders may put chains, tarps, straps and binders in them and others may not use them at all. Also, not always are the boxes for storage, some that you see might be a APU (auxiliary power unit) that keeps the cab cool in the summer and warm in the winter without idling the truck's engine. There can also be storage where it might not look like there is. There is no big boxes hanging off either of these trucks I used to drive, but they did have extra storage boxes. Guess where??

***tapping foot impatiently*** Photobucket has been back up for a while.

Hmmmmm, I wonder if this has ever been brought to the companies attention (before right now anyway) like simple to open mounting holes have been?? That is the underside of the 53' trailers, and every single crossmember under the floor is not in line with the rivets that hold those crossmembers in on the 1:1, the crossmember should be centered directly in the middle of each group of four rivets in a square. I'm sure I'll probably be accused of being a "rivet counter" for this post, but being around the 1:1 trailer every day, it's a little more than rivet counting, it's accuracy as well. And yes, I do count my rivets, because I don't want my trailer to end up like this:

I'll check through some of my Italian ladies in the morning to see if I can find you anything or at least a source.

February is just next Monday LOL! Anyway now that I had to get the laugh out of the way, post some pics of both when they come in please. The pic in the link the gladhands look nice, but I'd like to see one up close.

I thought maybe it was the only paint color in Texas! Nice job, and looks like it would be right at home in the Reliable Carriers fleet! As you said in the opening post, it is surprising how strong this trailer actually is. All but the front and back patrol car on the toprack in this old pic of mine from the last reissue back about 10 years ago are diecasts.

I had to pick up some paint for my K100 build today, and this talked me into bringing it home too!

My daily driver: My daily driver when I'm not at work: My play toy I hope to have back in drivable condition soon:

Thanks Dennis, but at least I didn't have to do any modifications to the kit frame for this long frame like I did with this beast. Even though the idea was going through my mind of stretching the frame a little more, after I found out the Papa Truck frame was already a longer frame than the standard K100 frame, I figured the extra foot and a half would be enough. I mocked up the rebuilder K100 I have with the reefer from the beast above and figure that the extra length in the Papa Truck frame will move the trailer nose to just above the rear drive in this mock up, which should be plenty of exposed frame to add some shiny stuff to. By the way, since the original builder did build that truck like the box art, the "regular" K100 I've been referring to is the one that looks like that on the AMT box art and why I always thought that it was a Papa Truck without the bed. I knew that kit had a long frame, because I have seen numerous builders who don't like the long frame look cut the frame down, but never realized the Papa Truck was even longer.

I've been doing a little off and on with this, have the front axle mounted and shocks installed. I still have to put the drums on and the brake chambers, and have been throwing around the idea of plumbing the air system. Even though I did this before I painted the tandem and landing gear, I also modified the landing gear crank to look as if it is in the stored position. I REALLY didn't like how Moebius molded the crank sticking out as if you were cranking the legs up or down. A little heat from a candle and a quick bend was all it took to make it look stored. I also took a little more off the support for the back of the wing, and I think I have it just where I want it now, it appears to me as if it is just under the height of the trailer the way it should be. I may also have another idea for motivation, even though I love my green engines, this one sorta looks good in the frame rails, at least until the Tyrone Malone kits get reissued and I pick up a case or two for the big Buzzen Dozens! If I do stick with the 3406 though, it would give me an excuse to put an "Attack Cat" on the hood!