A tale of two trailers

[Rockford]

All work pretty much stalled on things because the mother in law had a stroke to add to her Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. Try untangling that lot in an 89 year old brain, you can't work out where one illness ends and another begins, so it's been a turbulent month or so. Anyway she's stabilised in hospital now so life is a bit more settled. 

Been looking at the Trailmobile and regretted painting the whole thing silver. Always intended to do the chassis and underfloor in a grey colour. I don't know why I didn't. I had already bought the paint so I masked the box off and then DROPPED IT ON THE GARAGE FLOOR! Nearly had a stroke myself until I examined it and found all the masking had saved it. 

Shot the grey and all went well, no reactions etc... and I like the contrast between the silver panelling and the grey chassis. The grey doesn't stand out as much as the silver so the sides stand out more. To add more contrast I decided to use Ultra Bright BMF on the bottom rail. Looks good. 

Started adding reflectors and marker lights to break the sides up and add a bit of realism. Few more to add. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by Rockford
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[Rockford]

I'll add this to the WIP too, I'm trying to add the little things that make these snappers more realistic to the eye. Something I've wanted to do is the airlines for the trailer. Using garden tie-wire coloured black with a Sharpie I have formed the air and electrical lines, then either draped them over a convenient crossbar or made myself a pogo stick out of stock plastic tube of different diameters. I still can't replicate gladhands but they all look better. 

The yellow Mack has the livery of a Liverpool UK company on it so I used the old English three line system for that, all neatly stowed. Red for supply, blue for emergency and yellow for service with a narrower electric suzie on the right. English trailers of the era didn't use spring brake chambers, so the emergency line supplied reservoir air from the tractor to the trailer chambers and the tractor front axle only, using a lever called the Dead Man. So called because if you had to use it you were...

I've also managed to deal with another issue on these kits, the lack of hubs on the drive axles. I found some cheap pens that have end caps the right size. I just cut them down, paint them and glue them on. Done the KW T600 so far but instantly looks better (righter?) to the eye. Before, it was like looking at a left hand threaded bolt! Just didn't look right for some reason. Now I've just got to buy another 24 pens! 

[Jim B]

Yes, the rear hubs do look better.  I like the T600 as a daycab.

[Rockford]

Thanks Jim, they add weight I feel. Looks heavier, adds gravitas!

Edited July 4, 2021 by Rockford

[Jim B]

What pens did you use for the hubs?  Just wondering if I'll be able to find something similar here in the US.

[Rockford]

They were just these things, I've never seen them before and probably won't again, but at least I know I'm looking in the right area. I use the middle section from the top. 

[Rockford]

Finally finished the trailers. Added the air lines for the sliding tandems on the Fruehauf and just detail painted the locks and seals on the rear doors. 

[Rockford]

The Trailmobile looked good but there were no decals with it so after searching the web I drew up some decals for the mudflaps using Paint on my laptop. I did some white on a black background for the black mudflaps and red ones too in case I want to change the mudflaps to white. I also downloaded a Trailmobile insignia from the web, reduced it and printed four off on decal paper. They look ok and put the finishing touches on the trailer. I really like the weathered effect of the mudflaps on the Trailmobile, I discovered the electrician's tape for mudflaps far too late in my recent spate of model building. I tried weathering the Fruehauf flaps but it didn't go well. 

On the Trailmobile, when I refitted the tandems the fresh paint welded them to the sliding rails and I can't break them free! So all the work of retaining the function whilst dropping the ride height was wasted. Never mind, I prefer them right back anyway. 

You may also notice that I've added the pipes to the Luberfiner and some rear hubs on the axles on the General. Gradually improving the fleet! 

[Rockford]

Here they are together. Two very different kits of classic van trailers, released from the clutches of the eBay box traders and doing what they were designed for, making tractors look complete! 

[The Brush]

Hi, Your extra details make these stand out. Nice work. 

Graham