SpreadAxle

Very cool Tim.

She looks amazing!!!!

While digging through a parts box I bought on ebay last summer(lots of gems in there), I found 2 steer axles from old Ertl Internationals. One is complete but the other was broken along with the tie rod. I hated the idea of throwing it away, so I came up with this.... First, trim the broken axle ends down and cut the ends off the KW axle, then, put the operational ends on the KW axle. The tie rod ends were still attached, so a brass tube replaces the tie rod. I need to play with it a little to strengthen it, but here's where it's at for now.

That looks GREAT!

Very nice so far.

Looks great.

I love it. Outstanding.

Well, every truck needs a trailer, so I got started on that. It will be a frameless Fruehauf Dump. I took the remaining section from another dump that was cut down for a Michigan Pup, and added it to this one. Here's where it's at for now.

I have Harald Weber's set. For a few extra dollars, he did the soldering for me. Here's the grille from that set. The other set mentioned above by Czech truck Modell is very nice and has A LOT of goodies, including 2 grilles. One is like this one, and the other is the later 2 bar grille introduced in the mid-70s. If you have more than one Freightliner kit, you'll want more of this set after you get the first one.

We were taught about these in school, but I knew I would never get the chance to mess with them. From the stories I've heard, I don't feel like I'm missing out either.

That really is a nice build.

If you should find your kit, know this: The chrome was poorly laid onto the plastic. The orange always shows through on sharper edges. Other issues of this kit didn't seem to have this problem. I had to coat the wheels again. I guess I got carried away when buffing, because in the pix, I see orange around the edges. And yes, I would love to see a W900L kit.

It's been awhile since I updated this thing, but it's still going. Here's a mockup now that she's been painted and striped. The color is DupliColor Classic White. The stripes are made by Special Appearance Decals available through STS. These are the Movin' On kit stripes redone in red and black. As for the mods, I used the fuel tanks from a Revell AG Kenworth W900 kit. They were the perfect size for my shortened frame. The Visor came from an AMT W925. To install it, I notched the corners of the cab and thinned the visor. I got the idea from the Revell AG kit, since the cab in that kit is notched where the visor goes. Since this is the 1991 re-issue of this kit with the "self stripping chrome", I went ahead and painted the bumper, wheels, and battery boxes with Model Master Aluminum Plate buffing laquer. They still need another coat, I just wanted to see how it looked. Thanks for looking.

The truck in that link looks like a real life "parts box" build.

Outstanding work once again, Tim.

Jim, the container trailer is pretty accurate as far as the box goes. As to the frame, it's a European version. If you go to the website for Cheetah Chassis, they have some nice line drawings of the chassis with measurements if anyone wants to try it.

Outstanding job.

That really looks good, Tim.

Another name is Purple Power. It's a little cheaper, and works good. Also, for removing chrome, try Westley's Bleche White. It's in the automotive section, or at the Auto Parts store. It's a whitewall tire cleaner. Takes the chrome off and is great for soaking resin parts prior to painting.

I totally agree. Since it's a freightliner frame, one could use an AMT cab modified to 80s specs on it. It could have lots of uses.

That's looking good.

As far as winter fronts, remember this. It still needs a hole in the middle, or the engine will actually run too hot, and the fan will constantly be turning on and off. But, the bad thing is that snow and ice build up on that center opening. That also causes the engine to run hot. This I know from experience.

LOBBS, you're not bothering anyone. If you're new to trucks, feel free to ask. Some of us, myself included, are truckers by day, modelers by night. I would recommend this site to you for research. www.truckpaper.com It's a site listing trucks for sale, but often, you will find many detail shots. Also, you will see trucks in "fleet dress", so you can see what accessories to remove, etc. As is the case with almost every truck kit, this one seems to be the owner operator version all the way around. To make a fleet truck, some modifications will be simple. Others, will involve some work. The thing with "chicken lights" is that they must be amber, or if facing the rear, red. No red lights facing forward. Blue is a BIG NO NO!. If you've seen Transformers, you'll notice Optimus Prime is covered in blue chicken lights. I would've loved to do that to my first truck, but in reality, you can't get much more illegal than that. The reason being, blue is for law enforcement. The only blue lights I ever had were on my bumper guide rods on my other Pete. But, they're very small, so everyone seemed to be ok with it. Green doesn't seem to bother law enforcement much, but blue is taboo! lol.

I love the re-issues myself. My favorite subjects are 1970's and 80s trucks. However, I would like to see more of the newer trucks and trailers. It looked like Revell AG and Italeri did try in the 90s with a few subjects, like the FLD, and newer style Western Stars. I do find it strange that there was never a 379 kit, but the 377 and 378 are nice kits. I'm sure there are those who will say they are tired of seeing Peterbilt or Kenworth kits, but I would've liked to see newer KW kits, like the T800, a proper T600 kit, or even a newer W9. Aerocab versions would be cool, too. Were it not for the resin casters, there wouldn't be many of the modern subjects that we see, So I thank them. But buying a kit, then the resin conversion, can be costly for some. There are older trucks and trailers that were never modeled that could be, and they could sell. Although, I know the topic is about newer trucks. I do think the kit makers know that newer, more aerodynamic truck kits do pose one risk. Many truck fans aren't as excited about them as they are about the more classic designs. A Freightliner Century/Columbia kit may sell, but the Freightliner Classic XL might sell better, for example. Not that it's guarunteed, but I wonder if that may be what hampers some trucks from being represented as kits. As for the older kits, I think AMT made one mistake. They updated the 359 kit in the '70s when the cab was changed in 1973. Now, I do recognize this would get expensive to do to all kits, but they could've updated a couple of the kits. That same year, for example, Kenworth changed the door handles and rails, emblems and other items on their trucks. The 60" flattop sleeper and 110" K100 cab were introduced at the time as well. I think AMT could've made some of these changes and helped sales a little. And am I the only one scrathing their head as to why AMT never made a W900 Aerodyne? They did the K100 at least. Ertl updated their International cabover and conventional kits in the mid 70s. I'm just saying it was something that could've been done, even if not to all kits, at least to the big sellers. Those are just my thoughts, though.

P and P Resins makes a mid '70s LTL 9000 conversion kit.