Rockford

As usual, your work is unbelievable! Such quality and insight. Fantastic.

I DID IT! I GOT IT PAINTED AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE I USED A STICK! In Liverpool today all the planets aligned to allow me to paint the trailer. 1) I had red primer and Post Office Red topcoat. 2) It was sunny, warm and not too humid. 3) I had the afternoon off. 4) I'd washed the trailer during the week and given it a quick going over with a Scotchbrite pad. 5) My darling wife wanted to do her own thing. I got the car out of the garage, set up my painting table and put the trailer on a turntable. I need to have the job facing the light because of my cataract, otherwise I can't see where I'm painting or if I'm spraying too wet/dry. I sprayed the lower surfaces first, let it flash off for 15 minutes then turned it over and shot the top. Two coats each of primer and then 2x topcoat so it took a few hours. Got the deck chair out and had a good read while I waited. There was still some topcoat left after two coats but it looked so good I was scared of ruining it with a third, so I left it there. I'm stunned by the results. The stress is now to leave it alone for a least a week. If I start fiddling around and moving it I'll damage it so I've got to be strong. I still couldn't resist sitting the wheels alongside it to see what it looks like. I know it doesn't bear comparison to some of the scratch building that you see on this site but it's put a smile on my face. I've never enjoyed doing anything as much as this. Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to look at my trailer again....

A very clever solution for the tyre situation! I'd just end up with a resin bomb if I tried that.

Hasn't James Pretty not long bought a real Marmon on YouTube? Is it the same type? I can't believe it arrives one day and painted the next! I measure such progress in years. Well done mate. Will be an interesting subject.

Fantastic looking machine! Looks very realistic. The weathering is just right. You can be suitably proud of it.

Brush painted the wheels with Tamiya gloss white. They look ok from most angles and the strip I added around the inner rim does the job appearance wise, making them look like pressed steel dishes. I haven't done the hubs yet because these wheels are going to be on and off so many times during the paint process. Supposed to be hot and dry this week so you never know, might get it finished!

I was hoping to get some paint on the trailer this weekend but I decided to do something with the awful AMT wheels. They're featureless, toylike pieces that irritate me. They're a flat rim, probably posing as split-ring tubed-tyre wheels but there's no hub in the middle and I wanted two hole Budds, not ten hole. I do have to say, the tyres are excellent though. Little masterpieces. In order not to inundate the wheel nuts with putty I filled six holes on each wheel from the back, making sure it was proud of the hole in the dish. Then I used my motor tool to run the remaining holes together. A butchered sanding stick was used to rub the putty down smooth. I also cut 2mm strips of styrene sheet, chamfered at the edge and fitted it into the dish to make them look more like tubeless wheels. I had to trim the end of these just enough so that they butted together and made a slight interference fit into the wheel, that way they pushed themselves round with no gaps. I also drilled a hole in the middle of the wheel dish to form the hole for the hub assembly. Two axles from Ali tube poke through as would the real thing. Was it worth an afternoon's work? I think so. Makes me feel better about the model. Now, I can get paint on it, weather permitting.

This looks absolutely great. The wheels make all the difference. Really looking forward to seeing the finished result.

I'm glad you remembered this! Looks great. Couple of questions, do you recall where did the wheels come from? I'm assuming you must have cut the centres out of the tyres to get the wheels in. Good call on the bumper too, kit piece is far too deep.

I've just had to grin and bear the tyre situation here in the UK because of the cost of the alternatives from the USA but if you're over that side there may be a few options from the aftermarket. I take the separation line off and then shoot a coat of matt black. AMT did 1/32 snap kits and the tyres on them were really good except that they're way too small and make your truck look like a skateboard. In all honesty, once they're fitted you don't really notice them because they're dark and generally shrouded. The people who designed these kits must have stood them on a shelf and thought about where they had to put detail and where they could leave it out. This just shows me how boring I am in that I can talk for so long on plastic tyres. Forgive my verbosity. I have to say you're doing a great job, thinking about what you can do to add detail

Great colour combination and the stripes fit right in. These were really good kits when you think about it, especially for kids starting to build, they could have a finished rig in a few hours if they wanted. Then too, someone experienced like yourself can really bring the thing to life. They're so much better engineered than the AMT Snap-fits. Shame they didn't keep on them and develop the theme. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I'm curious, silver sided van or white? The Aerodyne K100 is a very accurate cab rendition I find. That will be a great looking rig, looking forward to seeing the finished rig.

The stripes will go well with the Aerodyne shape and the paint colour. Any plans for a trailer? That would look great with the Fruehauf van trailer.

I'm almost at the paint stage now. Did a little detailing of the slider locking mechanism, used a carburettor of the Revell Z28 kit as a brake relay valve and plumbed in my brake chambers, adding the hoses that move with the sliding bogie. I made some spacers for the hoses by drilling a piece of scrap strip and then carefully cut the two lines to the right length so that they dangle right in the forward or aft position. I'm going with red as a chassis colour, so you can see some of the detail I've built. Post Office Red over red oxide primer, so it'll be a little darker hopefully.

This is really just a pairing of the Kenworth T600 and the Fruehauf dry van from the old Monogram Snaptite range. I've built both of these kits separately, WIPs are on this forum somewhere, I'm sure if you search my profile it should bring them up. At present I'm working on a 352 Peterbilt which should be nearby on the page. They're really just basic display models with generic chassis, lacking detail and not manufacturer specific. The trailer outshines the tractors for detail TBH. I spend a long time on each of mine filling rear axles, adding brake chambers and piping, chassis detail etc...to give them some credibility. I enjoy it as it tests my skills and brings back memories of when I worked on trucks here in GB, but to you it may be a waste of time. I have little room for models so the smaller scale is better for me. Having said that, they do build into fairly presentable shelf models as they come so as the lads say, enjoy making something of it.

I can't believe I'm the first to try this. How does this heat shield look? It's a bit short I know but I was just trying something out. It's the foil off an electric shaver. I bought a new head for my wife's leg shaver and when I looked at the foil I thought it was perfect heat shield material. Dismantled the head, put a tighter curl on the foil and slipped it over the muffler. Looks good to me. There are bigger ones out there for around £7, this was £3 or thereabouts and it rejuvenated the wife's legs! The bigger ones might be ok for 1/25.

Lorry! You dont even hear that over here nowadays. Real blast from the past.

A few other little things. Made a handle for the sliding bogie out to f aluminium tube, crimped the ends flat. Also the bracket out of ali sheet. Using discarded bits of angle and plastic tube I made the gladhands and electrical socket. Quite pleased with the result.

Time to make the deck. I'd bought a pack of what we'd call lolly-ice sticks in GB, would that be popsicle sticks in the US? I sifted through finding the straight ones in both axes and squared them at then end, then cut the narrow filler sections. Got it all to fit but every time I moved the thing a piece popped out. What to do? I laid some duct tape across my large set square and transferred the pieces onto the tape, starting in the corner and working out to keep everything square(ish). Then I trimmed the tape leaving a single piece of decking for each run. I sanded each section of deck to get it all uniform, and then installed each section. Now I can remove them for painting without any messing around.

Wonderful job, great looking combo. Could I do one in 1/32 I wonder ?

I've got a few things to do before paint but I'm torn between black, which seems to be the modern colour, and a brick red, not quite red oxide but not a bright red.

Project creep at its finest but what a great job you're doing with it. I've never seen one of those before.

Had a second bite of the cherry this week. I desperately wanted to get the headboard sorted as soon as. I scoured the interwebs for examples of headboard setups. I used 2.5mm square rod as a frame for the stock card. I made a basic flat headboard then added some 45 degree wings with the end pieces of the frame acting as a final location for the side rail. I also cut 1mm slices of round tube to form the rear light bezels. I'm still over the moon with the way this build has gone.

Gave attention to the rear end today. Fitted a rear section of the bed perimeter and added stake pockets and tie rail. Fitted corner pieces to the bed, as well as rear light fittings and mudflap brackets. Added electricians tape mudflaps, Mansfield bar and brackets. Fabbed a central panel with the three clearance lights. I honestly can't believe that I've built something that looks so correct! It sits just right, it's all square and straight! Probably one of the best purchases recently has been an aluminium mitre box so I can cut square sections and 45 degree angles accurately, it's really helped today. Next time it's the front end. I need to build a headboard and front crossmember.

That's a proper truck that. Looks great with the Freightliner chassis. Does the Detroit fit under ok?