truckabilly

Thanks a lot everyone. I keep on working on the trailer. Unfortunately, I don´t have any reference of certain trailer parts. Like the air tanks location. This is just a pure guesswork. I didn´t have any idea where to get the big tank. I thought of buying the whole tanker kit but then my friend gave up his project and sold me his parts. He actually cut the trailer tank in two pieces and the short one is exactly what I needed. All I had to do was to get rid of some surface details. This is the camparison of the cross section before and after modification. I had to add the inner lip to the cut off end so that the cap would fit okay. A few pics of the whole unit..... That´s the latest progress.

Ha - ha. Got the same song by Jake Brake and the All Trucker Band. They say that´s the original, but I don´t know. What I found like 3 days ago is The White Knight LP by Cledus Maggard and The Citizen's Band. It´s 1976 LP but I´ve never heard it untill now. I like that CB lingo even though I can´t say I get everything the guy says. But it´s fun anyway. With all respect to them serious truckin´ songs I can´t help having a lot of fun listening to this hilarious guy. Look him up, he´s worth it.

This thread got me listen to the old trucking songs again. I guess 1960´s and 1970´s was the boom. There is a newer trucking music around but it´s not as intense as it used to be back then. In the early 1990´s I guess a CD Rig Rock Deluxe came out ad it´s a fine mixture of the old and (then) new. Dick Curless and Junior Brown duets "NItro Express" and "Semi Crazy"... wonderfull. Del Reeves and Jim Lauderdale "Diesel, Diesel, Diesel".. just as great. I just can´t find any name of today´s artists being associated with trucking music as much as Red Sovine or Dave Dudlay or C.W.McCall... or whoever sang "Convoy".

Nice pair of chassis. I like the dissolving colours on the exhaust pipe next to the gear box of the International kit. Not sure if realistic but it sure looks interesting.

Yeah, I second that. I remember pushing a pen when I tried to write down the lyrics to "I´m a Truck" from the old recording and how frustrated I was when my untrained ears couldn´t make out certain parts of the song. How easy it is now with internet available. Here´s one of my favourites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47LPQP710k8

Thank you very much, guys. To make a little change for me I started working on the trailer. I do not know too much about how it works with all the complicated equipment. For now I concentrate on the chassis. It looks like the one on Fruehauf dump trailer. Unfortunately, I have none to spare and take the parts from. So, there it goes again, the scratch building blues. I got me the rough dimensions and cut the sheets and channels. This is how far I got. There are still a few parts to add to complete the suspension. Also the hubs need some changing. Thanks for looking.

Phantom 309 as well as another truck driving songs of the day were a great part of my education. When I learnt English language I would listen not to the Beatles as most Europeans probably do, but to the good old American country music. And the truck driving songs played a major role in the process. My musical taste moved closer to the dark side but I still love to listen to the old guys like Red Sovine, Dave Dudlay, C.W. MacCall and Hank, Merle and Waylon... Thanks for reminding me the old times.

It was nice to watch the progress and now when it´s all done it is just as great. A wonderful piece of old machinery and great talent there on display. My hat off to you, sir.

My chin just dropped down. R you sure it won´t slack?

The wheels look really good.

I haven´t started my re-issued kit yet but my friend also complains about fitting issues with wheels and tires. He says that the discs are too small for the tire diameter. Another solution next to stuffing the tires might be adding a stripe of plastic around the disc. Just an idea, haven´t tried that myself.

Nice build, man. I can´t judge accuracy but it looks good to me. I am not into cabovers but I wouldn´t mind getting my hands on these Tyron Malone kits. Love it!

I bulit the Big Sleeper couple of years ago. I wasn´t satisfied with the shape of the cab steps (the upper red part) as they were far from reality. Other than that, it is a nice kit.

If there is anything like a perfect model truck, then you´re getting dangerously close. This si truly a work of art. Are there any limits for you at all?

Thank you guys. I have spent a few weeks working on the hood again. I wasn´t satisfied with the plastic parts, so I tried a brass sheet instead. I wanted a functional butterfly hood and that required piano hinges. I was not sure if the PE hinges and I would get along well. I went even more complicated way and tried to manufacture the hinges of my own. I went along this wonderful tutorial: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36918 My version is made of 0,5 mm brass tube and 0,3 mm wire. First I tried three sections like in the tutorial mentioned above. But it didn´t work very well for me. Not even five. Finally I ended up with like 13. Looking pretty well in scale and working nice the hinge was very fragile too. It was just one careless move of my fingers and the hood dropped to the floor and scattered was the hinge. I gave me a few names and needed a few more days to get it back together again. The side hinges are not much visible, so I made them tougher. A beer can sheet and 0,5 mm steel wire was the material this time. So much for chattering, let´s see pics. The hood is fully functional but I didn´t think of one thing. How will I attach all this to the nose and cab? I cut the tiny wire of the central hinge to the length of the hood and there is no reserve for mounting. Maybe it will just sit in its place.

"One thing I noticed is that the instructions say to install the oil pan as I have. But every reference pic (see below for examples) of the real thing I've found has the pan on the other way around. For those who have built this one, are the instructions wrong? Will the engine still fit if I flip the pan around?" Don´t know if it is still in question but the orientation of the oil pan depends on front axle position. If it is set forward (SFFA) the oil pan lower part must be closer to the bell, like in your picture of the model engine. If the axle is set back (SBFA) then the oil pan must be backwards, like in the picture of the real engine. Otherwise the oil pan would get in collision with the front axle. Nice progress on your build.

Great looking combination. Very nice job on both vehicles. I am looking at the pics over and over again and I can´ t get enough.

GSI white over GSI black primer. This is how it turned out. I needed three layers of white, in some areas even more. Unfortunately, the color builded up pretty thick in some spots. Some imperfections need repairing. The color needs some aging effect. It will be done at one time with the rest of the truck.

We already had nine model build weekends. The next one will be 10th... a little jubilee. Some came with the idea that it should last 10 days. Oh my... I already had complaints about my pics not being displayed on the forum. I do not know where the problem is. The pics are downloaded from the photobucket. Sometimes I do not see the pictures on my company´s PC (at work) because it is connected to a central company server and some pictures and videos just do not show. I doubt that because NASA did not bother to arrange for displaying one of the real units in a museum of transport. They are destined for an auction but without the special equipment. They do not consider them as objects of any historic value.

Yes, I do like it. Plain and simple truck. But it takes some effort to make a model look like that. You ve done it just great. And nice trailer too.

The past weekend I took part in our model building gethering which takes place twice a year. I took my NASA Pete with me and worked on the generator. I made the belt cover and the cable hanger. I tried the GSI black surfacer. They say that black is the best underlay for white. I never tried that before. I wonder how it turns out. It looks like I have all the major parts of tractor ready for painting. Time to start the trailer so that I can paint both vehicles at one time. There is even more guess work than it was on old Pete. So, till then...

Nice cabs. Hope the casts (if any) will be just as good.

Hello, yes I keep on working on this build continuously. Right now I am busy with the AC generator located behind the cab. I will take the pics when all the main parts are ready. Actually, it is almost finished. All there is to do is the box that sits on top of the main body and the belt cover. The back lid is the most complicated structure and it took me most of the time. Thank god it´s finished including the three pulleys. Sean, I did not have to heat the PE screens because CTM uses very fine material for their sheets and it rolls pretty nice. I hope to add some pics soon.

Top class job on everything. It´s as realistic as it can be. And cool idea with the load set up.

Very nice, man. Real eye catcher and not a circus wagon by any means. Wonderful thing to look at.