SpreadAxle

Nice work so far.

You can use 22 or 30 guage wire. Also, most AMT truck kits come with hollow black vinyl tube. I slide a piece of wire inside of it and then coil it around a paintbrush for the coiled lines, then paint red and blue. Or, you could model the straight lines, too. just don't coil them.

NICE! I like the paintjob.

You can do a lot with just your basic stuff. In fact, I inherited my late stepfather's fancy modeling tools, and I still grab the simple basic tools.

I'll join in. I love the road legal rule, and the fact that it lasts all year. I'm bad with CBP deadlines when they're short. LOL.I don't know which tractor kit I will use just yet, it will be my "namesake". A Flatbed KW. I'll post my decision on kits when I decide.

Excellent!

Very nice work on both.

outstanding

That's good as it will go great with the old trucks that AMT puts out.

Outstanding! Keep us posted. Pretty please.

Really nice Jim.

I'd be happy with a room like that. I'm still trying to get mine done. I see a few builds that I've not seen b4, like the silver GMC. Nice layout, too.

Very cool

Very nice work on all of them.

Nice job.

That really looks cool. great load for a dropdeck trailer.

Nice job.

Roads in the eastern states tend to be more crowded, and the city streets much harder to navigate with a longer truck. Out west, you have much more open roads, so that's why you see the longer frames on western trucks.

Good luck on your deployment.

The engine is a Cummins engine. Most likely an NTC-400. The kit was originally made in the mid 80s, so it will be a Big Cam 2 or Big Cam 3 engine. Big Cam simply refers to the increase in cam size that Cummins did in the 70s. They went from a 2 inch cam, to a 2.5 inch cam. Click here for great engine photos. This is the Cummins page. http://www.jobbersinc.com/Cummins_engine.htm

I mentioned Road Games earlier. It's a tandem axle Mercedes cabover. Maybe our Austrailian or European friends could tell us if this truck is possible from Italeri or Revell AG kits. Here's the truck: http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_40301-Mercedes-Benz-2224-NG-1976.html

Nice job on the Astro.

Another cool truck was the green Freightliner cabover with the short tanker. the blue diamond Reo with the fruehauf box. One could also build the 2 B model macks in the movie. there's a B 61 with a flatbed that chases the newlyweds until it crashes and burns. Then there is the blue and white B Model with an integral sleeper that bobtails around the truckstop, although you rarely see it. Go to AITM for those trucks. Or the black and gray freightliner cabover with the beer trailer. single axle daycab.

I agree Johnny. It's just that I see it so much, I added it to this truck. It's just how some fleets are, though. "It's still got a few miles left", or, "We'll change it when you get back" are things I've heard in the past. When I worked for a reefer fleet that did a lot of drop and hooks, I always found a trailer that looked like this one. Off to the tire shop it went. Thankfully we carried spares already mounted, but sometimes they weren't much better. When I left and went to a much larger fleet, I could call and they would have me go somewhere without a problem, minus the approval process that the shop would have to go through that took forever. Bent fenders like this one are what happens when that tire policy is practiced. Hence the new tires on the left rear. this truck and trailer are almost done. When I get a few minutes undisturbed, it'll be finished.

I am slowly learning little weathering techniques, but am cautious about weathering, as I would hate to screw up something I worked on so hard. I like light weathering, myself. Trucks get dirty whether we like it or not, especially if you go to the places I go, but I do like a model that looks like a truck that's driven. I wash mine as often as I can, though. Here's an exhaust manifold I did. The flex pipe is shiny because they eventually get replaced, often by themselves. Another weathering trick I did, mis-matched(by brand/tread pattern/age) and worn tires I did it to the tractor as well. You'll notice I made the forward drive axle tires look worn and the rear drive axle tires pretty much look brand new. It's common to see this on real trucks, especially in fleets. As time goes on, I will get more into the weathering.