White Freightliner COE triple drive (project)

[Bills72sj]

I am building two Freightliner COEs simultaneously. Here is some of the slow progress on the 2nd more ambitious project.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Bills72sj
spelling correction

[Tesla]

Nice detailing on the engine

[Bills72sj]

Finally got brave enough to slice and dice the frame for the triple drive. I have been waiting until my DD frame was built to get a feel for where everything is going to go.

[gotnitro?]

Looks good from here !  Stretching frames used to be taboo..now its an everyday part of modelers skills that really makes for for interesting builds imo

 

[MeatMan]

Nice looking project!

[Bills72sj]

Minor update. Was going to paint the frame black, but my choice of paint refused to dry. Changed my mind and decided to go red. Started brush painting the red and found the coverage less than pleasing. Went to Wal*mart and picked up a new container and 2 gallons of purple power. Frame soaking.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Bills72sj
correct spelling error

[Bills72sj]

Still more drama, the Purple Power I just bought does not seem to have the stripping power of the stuff I used years ago. So far it just turns red enamel into orange and the black spray paint (unknown type) is hardly even affected.

[Sam I Am]

21 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

Still more drama, the Purple Power I just bought does not seem to have the stripping power of the stuff I used years ago. So far it just turns red enamel into orange and the black spray paint (unknown type) is hardly even affected.

Bill,  try soaking it in Dot 3 brake fluid, and only Dot 3. That seems to take paint off that purple power wont.

[Bills72sj]

I will have to try that (carefully). BTW I have already used bits from the fire engine to make diamond plate tops on the battery boxes.

[Bills72sj]

Spent yesterday and today making a tail light bar from scratch. I had so trial and error but I think the result will be good in the end. The pis show my inspiration and materials used. I will share an update once I get it painted and assembled.

[iamsuperdan]

Those are some interesting engine colour choices!

 

Rear light bar is looking good. 

 

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

[Bills72sj]

19 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

Those are some interesting engine colour choices!

 

Rear light bar is looking good. 

 

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Dan,

I did research on the "proper" engine color and what I discovered was everything was one BLAH color. I decided to take some artistic license and mix red and white to make pink. I am not one who gets all uptight about "correctness".

The rear light bar should be awesome compared to the stock lights. Though fabrication is much more labor intensive than assembly. I also have to deal with the varying thicknesses of all the lenses.

Stay tuned, I have this one as part of the 2020 BRBO.

[Bills72sj]

I have been struggling to make progress. The frame spent 2-3 weeks in the purple lake followed by 2-3 days in brake fluid. It appears the black is not going to come off of the suspension pieces. If I ever get to paint, I will have to prime before shooting the frame red. I did some studying on my masking requirements for my decal placement. Upon closer inspection, I need to lay on some more gloss white under color first.

[gotnitro?]

Looks like quite the project  !  Sometimes that older paint can really be stubborn..better to leave it and cover w primer and recoat.