Rockford

This project is on another level! Amazing stuff.

Fascinating stuff. You're doing some amazing work here. I suppose the beauty is you can "cut & paste" it to a double sleeper or a daycab.

Managed to get the rear wheels together and fitted. I painted the wheels, they're much more realistic than the chrome pieces in the kit. Mocked up the quarter fenders and mudflaps. I considered reworking the rims as I have on other kits but this kit was bought built-up and the rims are glued into the tyres. I'd destroy them all getting them apart and I can't afford to waste them. So, I'll have to leave these as they are. (Force will tell me off)

Mock up time. Painted my tank straps. Managed to get him on his feet using a borrowed set of drive wheels, even did a bit of shunting in the yard! Looks like a K100 should to me!

Kit plastic always has a certain translucency to it. You see so much more detail on the body once you paint it. Though I dread the paint process because it's loaded with pitfalls for me, I'm always happy that I made the effort.

Doesn't he just carry on driving? Looks like to me. He's got a surprise coming when he gets to his destination.

I don't want to hijack the thread but I think it's linked to them both being owned by White Trucks at one time, they owned Reo and Sterling too at one point if I remember correctly. There was a lot of component sharing.

That's a very tidy build, I'm impressed.

By being old and involved with the auto industry since I can remember. Rode with my dad as a kid, then trained as a truck technician from school. Worked in various parts of the industry until I retired. Worked for Mercedes-Benz for 27 years, from the good times to the bad.

It's definitely different! Nice clean job.

Excellent job, as always from yourself! Black is a difficult colour to pull off but if anyone could manage it, you could. On the display cabinet I had something similar once and got extra glass shelves made by a local glazing company. They beveled the edges and had them toughened to make them safe for indoor use. I've long since ditched the cabinet but I've still got the shelves somehow!

Well, I wasn't happy with the door pull rope, it didn't hang realistically, so I cut it off and redid it. Much happier about it now. You know where I'm coming from on this.

Represents a tremendous amount of work that truck. Well done, impressive stuff.

My 1/32 exterior post van is no longer a dream, it's now a thing! It's a Fruehauf Reefer dismembered into roof, sides and bulkhead, then converted using 1mm square rod. Fabbed a roller shutter rear door, modified the wheels to sink the spiders further in, made the landing gear operable, reset the suspension height, converted it to Fruehauf F2 lightweight suspension too. Looks good behind trucks of the era. Just imagine the Pete pulling it into a hot, dusty truck stop in Arizona, the trailer suspension squeaking and banging over the potholed surface, the rear shutter chattering with the bumps... I'm glad I took the leap because it was rather scary and impulsive.

I suppose it's done now. Wheels detailed, airlines blacked and marker lamps given their colour. I'll post it in Under Glass

Finally a change in the weather. Got to shoot the colour on my trailer, as if I need another one to store. Looks ok. Just got the detail painting to do now, lights, hoses, wheel spiders etc... The modification of the suspension to F2 lightweight has transformed the look of the trailer for me, can't really understand why though.

I haven't touched this since September. The weather has been too damp and cold for paint. Yesterday was about the first day where the temperature and humidity has been acceptable but still there were 50mph winds so, nothing is ever perfect. Managed to get the chassis, cab and other parts covered in a not too bad fashion. I need to look at a stripe for the cab before I carry on.

Jürgen, I honestly don't know how I managed it. I did use the AMT 1/25 version as a pattern for my angles etc... and reduced the size accordingly for 1/32. It took a full day though.

You're doing another brilliant job Jürgen, great to watch. I'd think your KW would have a single turbo at that age if it had a Cummins or a Caterpillar straight six in it. There were still non-turbo motors around but the turbo engines were becoming much more popular. The rear suspension looks like a Reyco 102 setup to me. Your 3D drawing isn't too far of the mark.

Force and I were talking about trailer colours for Sonny Pruitt's rig (the van is bare aluminium but my query is the chassis: silver or grey?) and he reminded me of something that's been nagging at me for a while. The trailer had a side door, the Monogram one doesn't. I'd considered laying one out in plastic strip but I wasn't happy about making a handle, the lock bar, the hinges etc ... The Fruehauf doors are too tall because the side doors are smaller and couldn't be cut down tidily. Then I realised that, of the two AMT Trailmobile doors I'd saved recently, I only need the LH one, the RH would be perfect for the job. I marked the van where the door opening is and then gently scribed the lines with a knife. Took a hobby saw and gently dug into the cut until it went through, then took the cut to the limits. The opening was purposefully too small so I could use the door as a GO-NO-GO guage until it fitted all round. Two pieces of card stock behind for support and plopped the door in. Still needs the reinforcing piece under the lower rail but looks good to me!

Clever stuff on the lights. Well done on another rejuvenation.

Looks transformed! Good job. No offence taken on the GMC, all part of the process. Paint looks great.

It's been six weeks since I was able to touch any of my projects and I've been getting out of the habit so I pushed myself to do something today. Made an upper bulkhead for the sleeper access and fitted the sleeper cap. The bulkhead mimics the gasket between the two. I'm going to make some decals to represent the diamond buttoned interior upholstery. Did some remedial work on the tyres and added the quarter light rubbers (in 0.75mm square strip) to the quarter lights. Not the most dramatic day's work but has to be done before paint and it's got me moving again. As we hit April, suitable conditions for painting are almost here. Weather in GB has been atrocious, cold, wet, windy for months.

Great build that. Someone gave me one of those LHD signs as a present a few years ago. It's stamped aluminium. I recall seeing these trucks when I was a kid in the 70s. They looked massive, especially with that huge hood. They'd finish their days as recovery trucks in garages, like a lot of WW2 Scammells built for similar purposes.

Very clever, looks impressive. Good work on the exhaust flex.