KJ790 Posted February 9, 2020 Posted February 9, 2020 (edited) I have started on a new (possibly too ambitious) project. Hermann has inspired me to build an Freightliner FLA cabover. I started with an AMT dual drive cabover kit, but the old style 71 series cab needs an extensive rework to be turned into an FLA. I started by cutting the front and roof off of the kit cab pieces. The truck that I am building will have a 96" BBC cab, rather than the 86" of the AMT kit. I decided it was easier to make the sides of the cab from scratch. I cut them out of 2 layers of .020" styrene sheet, laying them on top of each other to make a total thickness of .040. This way I could get the right shape to the doors (rounded corners) and extend the length of the cab without adding extra seems. I widened the kit front, roof, and back wall using strips cut from an old donor cab (which was painted brown). The total width of the cab was increased by 4 scale inches. I also lowered the headlights by 3 scale inches. Still lots of work to do in order make this thing look like a real cab! Edited February 9, 2020 by KJ790
KJ790 Posted February 10, 2020 Author Posted February 10, 2020 I had to extend the chassis by 10 scale inches to match the longer cab. I also swapped out the spring suspension for an air-ride suspension from a Peterbilt pacemaker. Through the 80's, Freightliner used the same air-ride suspension that Peterbilt used in the 70's, so this made for a nice swap. I sprayed the cab with white primer so that I can see what defects need more work.
Mr mopar Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 Looking good , did you move the head lights down still look a bit high ?
KJ790 Posted February 10, 2020 Author Posted February 10, 2020 15 minutes ago, Mr mopar said: Looking good , did you move the head lights down still look a bit high ? Thanks! Yes I did move the headlights down. I probably should have moved them down a hair more, but then I would be into the heater vent intake on the passenger's side. On the 1:1 the right headlight is about 1" above the heater vent intake, but I don't know how accurate the intake is on the model. The headlight position will have to do for now.
Hermann Kersten Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 Oh yeah, nice to see somebody else do a conversion on this AMT kit. 14 hours ago, KJ790 said: I have started on a new (possibly too ambitious) project. Well KJ, given your previous projects, I think the ambition is justified.? If i understood it well, you widen the cab or did i misunderstood that? Looking at the ctm grill, it look like the original wideness of the AMT cab. I'm asking it, because I'm also working on the same size of this FLA, mine will be a high roof. If you want the picture removed, just notify me. Since the rivet work is not done yet, I can always adjust the width of the cab if necessary. In any case you have a follower on this one, I am curious what you will do with the rivets. Hermann.
KJ790 Posted February 10, 2020 Author Posted February 10, 2020 7 minutes ago, Hermann Kersten said: Oh yeah, nice to see somebody else do a conversion on this AMT kit. Well KJ, given your previous projects, I think the ambition is justified.? If i understood it well, you widen the cab or did i misunderstood that? Looking at the ctm grill, it look like the original wideness of the AMT cab. I'm asking it, because I'm also working on the same size of this FLA, mine will be a high roof. If you want the picture removed, just notify me. Since the rivet work is not done yet, I can always adjust the width of the cab if necessary. In any case you have a follower on this one, I am curious what you will do with the rivets. Hermann. Thanks Hermann, your builds are definitely an inspiration. Hopefully I can make something close to yours. I did widen the cab by 4 inches. I am going to use a 3D printed grille that I designed to be the correct width. I think I am going to use archer rivets, but I may try some other options on a some scrap pieces first to see if something else will work better for me.
Mr mopar Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 I give you two Guy's two thumbs up this is not an easy cab to modify . i'm gathering parts to do the same thing ! I would like to see Round2 redue the cab ?
gotnitro? Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 Very ambitious project , but well under control!! Your certainly getting the cab profiles nailed down
Mr mopar Posted February 10, 2020 Posted February 10, 2020 I did notice that a lot of guy's do the straight back cab where I'm going to do a slant back cab like this !
Hermann Kersten Posted February 11, 2020 Posted February 11, 2020 Thank you JK, i have now 2 cabin halves on the table.? With the Archer decals you have to be careful when painting, sometimes they get detach at the corners when spraying paint. On 2/10/2020 at 5:22 PM, Mr mopar said: I did notice that a lot of guy's do the straight back cab where I'm going to do a slant back cab like this ! I would say, bring it on!!! Hermann.
Mr mopar Posted February 11, 2020 Posted February 11, 2020 7 minutes ago, Hermann Kersten said: Thank you JK, i have now 2 cabin halves on the table.? With the Archer decals you have to be careful when painting, sometimes they get detach at the corners when spraying paint. I would say, bring it on!!! Hermann. Thx Hermann you guy's make me want to do it so badly ,but it will be sometime maybe next year sometime ….LOL
KJ790 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Posted February 14, 2020 Rivets, rivets, rivets. Not perfect, but at least there is an essence of rivets on the cab now.
CRUSADER2 Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 Great work on this conversion, really enjoying watching this project come together
Sergey Posted February 15, 2020 Posted February 15, 2020 Great work! KJ, what kind of rivets have you used?
Hermann Kersten Posted February 15, 2020 Posted February 15, 2020 Ah, the Archer rivets, it looks great on this cab. Hermann
bigred63 Posted February 15, 2020 Posted February 15, 2020 KJ, do you have nightmares, with all those Rivets? They look great.
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted February 21, 2020 Posted February 21, 2020 Very nice!! The rivets really look good!
gatorincebu Posted March 5, 2020 Posted March 5, 2020 Kurt, This is a really cool project. And I am sure you will do it justice. Have enjoyed the thread thus far. Be Well Gator
KJ790 Posted September 21, 2020 Author Posted September 21, 2020 It has been a while since I have been able to work on this, but I have made some progress. The cab is nearing completion. Paint is complete along with some weathering. I have the wheels complete and weathered as well.
Mopar - D Posted September 21, 2020 Posted September 21, 2020 Nice progress glad to see you back working on this one.
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted September 22, 2020 Posted September 22, 2020 Glad to see you back on this one! Looks Awesome! The cab looks great! I really like those drive tires!!
kilrathy10 Posted September 22, 2020 Posted September 22, 2020 That is incredible... Very nice... My hat's off to all those who attempt to add rivets to Anything... I'm always impressed...
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