BigBad

Up to your usual standards and then some. In one word: impressive!

Looks good with a long frame.

Nice dropdeck Thierri, I like the wood you used for the decks and it looks good with the spread axles.

Don't worry, it'll pick up! Our people will see it built here and get a taste for it. I have one, I haven't gotten to it yet. It's got a lot of potential, I've got at least 3 versions planned. A stock white dry van with 2 hole wheels, a stock reefer van with the kit wheels and a custom lowered one with spread axles. And probably another with 3 axles. I just don't have the area to store a lot more boxes!

Salut Thierri, je suis de Montréal et je suis francophone! Your english is actually pretty good, some anglophone people who write in forums sometimes do worse! And yes, some of the trucks we have in North America are pretty awesome! Just to be different I'd like to model an americanized prototype of a cabover Volvo someday.

Thanks Thierri! The link is for your Western Star truck, can you post the one for your trailer? Don't worry about french for me... On est petits cousins!

More details... I added this diamond plate (beige panel) for a late model look I will add round stop lamps from KFS as the included parts are European/Australian issue square red and amber lights. Sorry for the lack of clarity... I added these braces as there weren't any in the kit, I think it looks better this way, I might add toolboxes from AITM toward the front. Picture showing connector plate This is how the trailer is supposed to sit. Close up of the kit wheels, without hubs they will be painted flat Alclad white aluminum with the hub trailer body color. Any wheel kit with an AMT type metal axle will fit here. i could have ordered the spoke wheels but I wanted a late model look. This trailer is meant to be pulled by my Laidlaw 379. I was thinking of painting the deck silver and the underside red. But then again i might make it generic, either all silver or all black with 3 strips of wood or wood like detail. It will have the red and white safety reflector side decals too. Give me your thoughts... Thanks for looking!

Go for it Ben! These kits have small issues and they need some mods to Americanize them but, I think they are nice, they build up nicely but they need a little more attention than a regular kit. The molded resin parts need to be cleaned up and the tires have a lot of flash but once built up and cleaned up, I think it's going to give pretty nice results. By the way, don't mind the trailer's rake, the truck in front has been lowered quite a bit and was used for mock up purpose only. it's going to sit level with the appropriate truck in front.

We don't get to see too many of those builds, it's going to be interesting to follow this one. We still get to see these trucks on the road today and that's what makes it interesting to me. Are you keeping the vent windows on the doors or making the later model "daylight" version? Nice start man!

Nice work The blinkers seem to be the right size, so I would leave them the way you traced them already. I have a concern about the fog light hole location on the passenger side though. It seems to be a little to far to the right compared to the driver's side. Check it out on your pictures. But otherwise this truck is taking shape very nicely. I'm always surprised how you Europeans are so interested and thorough in your North American truck builds! Bon travail Mec!

This is my latest project, I started it during the holidays and ongoing. It's a trailer that Auslowe builds and sells. What's neat about this kit is that you have all kinds of options such as trailer length, 40-42-45or 48 foot, number of axles tandem or tridem, type of wheel, aluminum disc or 5 spoke, type of brakes, disc or drums, suspension, leaf or airbag and the option of a ramp for hauling vehicles. So after seeing all those options and knowing they are almost the only source for a kit like this, I jumped on the opportunity. It is expensive at 140.00 Aud, but wanted to try it out. So I ordered this in september and got it in november. This kit has cut to size styrene flat parts for the floor, the cross members and frame molded resin parts for the suspension components, brakes and wheels and parking feet crank gearbox, wire for the retaining gards, metal axles, black rubber like lo-pro tires and clear red and amber lens for the rear lights. Alright, so building the thing is fairly straightforward, but I don't recommend it for people starting out building plastic models as this is mostly a hand cut parts kit with very few locating features. The upper and lower floors are scored at the bottom to position the frame rails and the crossmembers, but you have to take measurements to make sure your frame is straight. There are instructions included but some items have to be interpreted because of the lack of some info and the pictures are mostly hand drawn. Don't get me wrong, this builds up as a nice trailer model, but you need some experience to do it. So anyway, I am almost ready to paint and these are the pictures I've taken. Uploaded with ImageShack.us I added some plumbing to the underside for the brakes, the wheels and the brake cylinders are not fixed yet. More to come...

This is going to look gooood!

Oh yeah, this is going to be good! Box art is nice too, I like the suggestion of a flatbed in back of the truck on that picture too. I just got 2 terrific Czech Truck Modell photo-etch kits for the Lone Star and I think most of the parts on there will also fit the Prostar... Can't wait! Thanks to Dave for keeping us up to date with this project!

Perfect subject from great comments! I'll say like JT, not a fan of Autocars either, but the ones that are shown here are pretty hot.

Nice custom man! Nice stripes, perfect stance, nice details! Looks great.

Man! The rims came out great didn't they! Love those traction tires, makes it look right. Nice stripes on the cab, good color. Very nice Freightliner.

Really? That is good to know!

I second that T660 vote...

I haven't seen anybody sell these in the US except Sourkrout, except they don't always have interesting items such as those. So not much luck there. The only other source I've seen selling aluminum items like fuel tanks and wheel WAS KFS in Britain. That is WAS because they don't hold these products anymore. You might try Auslowe in Australia (I know these guys are all over the globe...) Good luck with your search.

Nice work Jake! I bet you're proud of this one!

I've seen this rig before, are you the author of this nice T600 Chuck?

Tom, was this ever displayed around here?? OMG! This is too unique to pass up! I remember riding the 1:1 International buses! Please show this in detail!

Super tuff little hot-rod you have there! I like both grills, the first one with the chunky bumpers makes the truck look tougher, but the second one looks a little better. This is turning out pretty nicely. What are the plans for the exhaust and air intake ? Decided on a color?

This is high quality work Alex, good attention to details, nice finishes, good use of aftermarket parts. I like all your rigs but somehow prefer your blue TSMT Pete. Very nice! Happy new year to you too.

Looks really good!