Rockford

Turned some brake chambers from sprue. Piped them up. Made a cab tilt pump out of sprue, square rod and a piece of aluminium wire (arrowed). Added securing straps to the lid of the battery box. Realised that I'd made a mess of the radius arms on the Reyco suspension. The front brackets have a dog leg in them to bring the front arm bushing out and down. I knew that and still made the original brackets wrong, modelling them on the centre bracket. Looks righterererer.

They're absolutely fantastic. You can see the effort that has gone into them, so crisply moulded and proper individual pieces like the real thing, the droop in the middle of the top layer is just so realistic! Your patience has definitely been rewarded there, although I bet you're sick of the sight of them now! Well done for persevering.

Thanks Jurgen that's what I'm aiming for I suppose.

Thanks Brian, very kind of you, I don't have much space at all, just one shelf, so my trucks are tucked away all over the place. I'm forever getting them out and putting them away and rotating what I have on display. Maybe that's why I've stayed with 1/32 despite their obvious limitations, I couldn't have more that one or two 1/25 knocking around and they're so fragile they'd soon be wrecked. 1/32 seem quite robust and I take steps to even improve that in the way I mount quarter fenders and build mudflaps. I actually work in a converted cupboard in the hallway of our apartment. Needs must...

Thanks for the kind comments. My work pales into insignificance compared to some of the scratchbuilding I see here, but I do like sitting at the workbench working away with my hands, so therapeutic.

It's going to look great when it's done, I like the contrasting colour on the chassis, I'd have probably been lazy and painted everything aluminium. Worth all the effort. I've got one of these that I hope to build one day. You're inspiring me. I might even do a 1/32 one to go with my fleet.

Impressive, as ever. I heard a boom earlier on, must have been you breaking the sound barrier!

That's a nice build. You're right, modelling does seem to be trapped in the 70s, mind you, so am I!

Thanks very much, I am still surprised that I managed to pull it off!

I can't even drill a hole in the right place! You've got some patience to do that. As with all your jobs it will look fantastic when you complete it.

Started doing my usual filling in of the diffs and decided to do something I should have done several times before now, adding the radius arms to the Reyco spring suspension. Had to add bigger front brackets for the front spring hangers to take the front mount of the radius arm. They should really be all the same but the poor rendering of the Reyco setup forbids it. You see why I haven't bothered so far... can't see a thing once the wheels are installed! Also made a set of rear lights out of a length of 3.2mm rod and a length of right angle strip. Also a licence plate bracket from the kit.

Interesting project, be good to see it take shape. I'm assuming it's 1/25 scale? That Trailmobile suspension seems unbelievably and needlessly complicated!

That is undoubtedly unique in so many ways. A truck like that could only come from one country - USA! You did a great job on this considering you only had pictures to work from. I wonder what sort of trailer such a beast would pull?

Cheers mate, I am so glad I didn't write the Pete off in sorting the fifth wheel.

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

My favourite period, and I don't think I'm alone in that statement am I mate?

Your usual excellent work, well done mate, on to the next job! Tell the printer to brace itself.

Thanks mate. I've just been working my way through the scrapyard really.

I know, this is from the book "Hammer Down" which I've had since 1978:-

Patience? I'm in awe at the detail of this build, just fantastic stuff.

It's a great little kit that, especially with the new decal sheet they've put in the latest release.

Steering box looks great, and it's had a recon pump! Make sure you bleed it properly.

I'm struggling to keep up with this build! Those brake chambers are exquisite! Loving the detailing you're doing. The fuel tanks look great, good idea on the chrome tape, stops the seam spoiling them, I might look for some myself. I know I've found aluminium duct tape very useful recently, like a much cheaper Bare Metal Foil.

The sheer brutality of the designs of this era are astounding. They were basically a drivetrain with a housing for a human bolted on. You've captured it perfectly, well done. You have to admire the men that drove these things.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this. Air plumbing will look good and keep you occupied for a bit. Are you doing the full U-bolts on the front axle?