Rockford

Great work mate. Looking good. You're recreating one of the unsung heroes. Really looking forward to seeing how this comes out. The tractor you used as a mule looks great too, great colour combination. That kit is just so right, I understand why you like it so much.

First time I've seen woodscrews used on this forum and it would have to be you Jürgen! Hats off to you for resourcefulness. Looks bonzer too.

That's really good work there, you'd never know how it started out. Great job on the front axle too, just hope it's strong enough. That would take me months!

Your usual "outside the box" thinking on the trailer mate, very clever and resourceful. Chassis looks excellent! Well done.

The rears were glued on and I decided against cutting them off. I retrieved the time warp 352 I bought that had been built and put straight back in the box 40 years ago. I unsnapped the rears from that and built the diffs using the offcuts from the cab when I shortened it. I started by using masking tape to generate a template. Has to be careful not to glue them into the axles by mistake. Once built up I shaped them, added a strip of 2.5mm across the top to replicate the axle tube and coated it all with liquid cement. I also built little fillets to drop into the gap in the trailing arms. Dropped them into place on this truck. They look ok for me. Thanks for your very kind comments lads, I'm really flattered when I look at the work being done by others in this forum. I'm stuck with 1/32 for some reason but remember that it's me being odd that does this, others have a totally different and more sensible approach to these than me.

Very nice, clever paint scheme too.

Who's cutting and pasting the other one's build? Good stuff.

Oop north eh? 🤔

You're right, it is just the right amount of 'long'. Love it. Hard to believe that design hit the road in 1969. Great looking truck. Must have had an unconscious image of this truck in my mind's eye when I set the 352 up. Just wish it was an Astro in 1/32

Saw this in a back issue if Overdrive, December 1969 I think, on the release of the Astro 95, they were quite complementary about it, especially in comparison to the Crackerbox it replaced. It just caught my eye as being the right chassis length.

The chrome vinyl emblems look impeccable! Never heard of the process though. Is this the kind of system they'd use for signs and things, controlled by a computer? Stripe scheme looks great.

Should have told your wife to go and build it herself! 😁

I can't take credit for the Freightliner, that's Bill showing me how he used his chassis space. Wrong scale for me sadly. My Pete looks much better with the Holland type fifth wheel. The shape is so distinctive and stood out to me when I first bought AMT kits because it was so different to the couplings used over here. We had York, Davies Magnet, Fruehauf as I recall but they were all pressed steel and pretty oblong shaped. The American ones were cast iron with that elliptical shape. I'm getting quite adept at knocking these up now, just two layers of card stock, some 1mm square rod and 3mm hollow tube for the gudgeons. I'll add a pull lever later. Elephant in the room... hollow diffs. I know, I have a plan.

Snatched some time on the bench this afternoon. Fabbed some air tanks from plastic tube with the ends filled and shaped. Added brackets and located them behind the fuel tanks to keep the clean look of the chassis. Added a 2mm strip to the bottom of the chassis to make it a genuine C section rail. Really couldn't abide the fifth wheel so took a pattern of one of my Hollands and started making a new one. Much better than the kit pieces.

I remember when I was serving my time I had to clean out an oil bath air cleaner and I was moaning about how antiquated it was over a cartridge filter. The mechanic I was apprenticed to gave me a lecture about how good they were. They filter out so much airborne grot without restricting the efficiency of the intake system when they get dirty, unlike the modern cartridge filters. He taught me to respect 'old', newer is not always better in every way. Sorry to digress. I'll be quiet now. Except to say, that's one cool looking beast of a truck.

Excellent scratch building, so clean and tidy. This is going to be impressive. Fire equipment is always perfectly presented.

Your fleet looks great too!

Great attention to detail there. I like the oil filters on the oil coolers, very good. You could have used white sprue to save you having to look a more yellow!

Great looking rig Jürgen, on the floats situation, you often see rubber extension lips on the front fenders when they run them because of the width issue. You don't have to add them to make that truck look good though! Well done. You can see that you're getting more adventurous with the 3D printing.

22!? Thanks for giving me ammunition for when the wife starts on me about my stash! The trailer looks great. They are detailed little kits, I wish 1/32 were as good but they're a totally different concept.

Made myself a driveshaft from various pieces of tube. Put pieces of stock card around each suspension bracket, also had to make an airleaf bracket because it came with one snapped off. Looks ok. Cut the top edge off the transmission and will make a rudimentary lid assembly.

It's a worker!

Here's another picture that's stuck with me for about 40 years. It's from the book Hammer Down about 1980 of this truck going on a Dyno. I was amazed at the length of this truck, though I know it's a bit of a "drom" with the platform behind the cab. UK trucks were all about cramming everything into as small a space as possible. I wonder if the San Diego dealer on the mudflaps is still there?

Nice looking combination, well done. Is the sleeper going to be "shiny" or painted?

Nice contrasting colour choice, will look really good I think.