Big Nasty

[Rockford]

In the opening shot of your post the stripes do have a green tinge, on the one where you asked what it says on the doors they're pure tan coloured to me. Co.ours can vary so much on film, but I'd lean toward a khaki for the stripe. The twin pup trailers were never 20ft in my experience, always 25-27 feet. 

[Force]

On 3/1/2024 at 10:10 PM, Jürgen M. said:

Sorry, but I've got a red-green problem. A friend of mine said it's green with a touch of gold in it.

But thanks for the input. 

 

That's what I thought.
I see no green what so ever in the stripes, they look gold or tan to me.
 

19 hours ago, Jürgen M. said:

Till I've got the decals finished I'm going to begin the first Trailer.

I have a question about the two trailers. Does anyone have a picture of the rear of the first trailer where you can see the hitch?

I'm not sure if the american ones look like the European ones. 

I've got pictures of the draw bar as it's shown on the box of the amt double header that I found in the internet so I'll make it like that but I'm not sure about the hitch itself.

I know I could make it easier by buying the kit but they don't look like the ones in the movie!

I'd be greatful for some hints in this one! ? 

Oh, one more thing:

are they generally 27ft. long or are there ones that are only 20ft. long like the short overseas containers?

The hitch type used in the US and Canada is nothing like we use in Europe, they look like this pintle hook and ring, there are several versions but this is one of them.

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2024 by Force

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks! I almost thought so! 

I'll see If I can print one of those! 

[Jürgen M.]

19 hours ago, Rockford said:

In the opening shot of your post the stripes do have a green tinge, on the one where you asked what it says on the doors they're pure tan coloured to me. Co.ours can vary so much on film, but I'd lean toward a khaki for the stripe. The twin pup trailers were never 20ft in my experience, always 25-27 feet. 

Thanks for your input Rockford! I've got a tan color but it's gonna be Tricky to repaint now that the Truck is fully assembled!

I'm trying to put the color in the decals. If that doesn't work I can still hope for a calm hand! ? 

Concerning the trailers I already corrected the size of my drawings! 

Edited March 3, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

OK, I took your advice and changed the stripes from green to tan. Looks better! Thanks again!

 

And I´ve started printing the first trailer parts:

Here´s the floor made of three parts. (Only because I had designed them to 20ft and not 27!

So I made another part to increase the lenght from 24 to 33cms.

 

And here´s the front and side walls (only front half) being printed:

 

 

[Jürgen M.]

Looks good! ? 

[Jürgen M.]

The rear part ist also printed.

I put them together to see If they fit. Seems to work out pretty well.

When they're glued together and painted I'm sure it will look even better!

The roof will be printed soon.

I decided to print the chassis and wheels first. 

[Jürgen M.]

Here's the chassis of the first trailer. 

I used metal rods as axles since printed ones don't always have enough stability unless you make them thicker. They too have advantages though. You can keep the wheels from sliding off by using a hot knife or something to melt the ends and press them flat just like it's done in some model kits.

In this case I chose metal rods though.

Here I made the brake drums fit the rods tightly so there's no need for "stoppers" at the ends! Fits perfectly!

Also the walls of the first trailer are now glued to the floor:

And I designed a new fifth wheel for the drawbar of the second trailer:

[Jürgen M.]

The rear chassis of both trailers are printed and assembled.

The drawbar is designed. I experimented in making it of one piece.

Just the brake cylinders and the brake drum covers need to be attached.

Hope the print works out well.

[Jürgen M.]

The fifth wheel of the second trailer ist printed ...

... so are the landing gears:

I used the pins to keep the "feet" movable. 

Not that it's necessary but it looks nice! ?

The landing gears are printed in one piece! Saves glue! ?

[Jürgen M.]

Now the roof of the first trailer is finished and mounted.

As soon as the parts of the second one are printed, the painting begins! 

[Jürgen M.]

Got the drawbar printed. Not too bad I'd say! Still needs to be sanded though.

The fifth wheel was printed separately.

Unfortunately I ran out of tires.

I always ordered them directly from Revell but they're shifting their production to Austria which means no orders possible for the next 4-6 weeks.

Since I don't want to wait that long I designed them! ?

Edited March 12, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[cifenet]

The trailer is coming out very nice! 

I wonder if you are going to do anything with the vertical line in the middle, but either way, I think it will turn out to be fantastic!

And Michelin tires on the drawing software looks good too.  Keep up the good work!

 

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks!

I was thinking about the vertical line too. I'll have to put some putty in and then clean the horizontal lines. Hope that works out the way I want it to!

I think I'll put on the first layer of primer and then see how much the vertical line shows through. It just looks so dominant because the light ist shining through, showing the connecting areas. We'll see!

Anyway, the wheels print is almost finished.

Then one more part of the second trailer to print and I can begin prep work for the painting.

This is how the first trailer looks up to now:

The king pin is a little metal rod. So is the axle.

Edited March 14, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

These are the rear lights of the trailers like they come out of the printer!

I made them fit the red and orange lights you find in every Amt truck model kit. Guess everyone knows them!

 

They'll be covered on the back side so you don't see the red and orange through.

[Jürgen M.]

The wheels are completely printed now. 

This is how the parts fit together. (I know, it's hard to recognize details on white parts but I think the principle of the whole thing gets clear!)

The hub is put into the inside wheel which hast to be turned around first...

then they're fit into the inside tire.

Then the outside wheel is put on top.

Finally the outside tire is put in place.

The rims are printed in one piece with the tires. It'll be visible when everything is painted. You might See it in the picture of the 3D drawing I posted.

Anyway, this is one version of how I build truck and trailer wheels.

In my next project you'll see the other version.

This is the very last part of the second trailer to print.

The vertical grid is just the support structure.

If you can read the display there's another 18hrs to go on that. Takes about 24hrs in total on one of those!

In the mean time I'll begin prep work for painting.

Edited March 15, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

The wheels are painted!

The rims are done with a small flat brush which I borrowed from my daughter's nail styling set.

Very useful! ?

If you look close enough you can see they're printed but that doesn't matter to me! It's the over all impression that counts to me! When the whole rig is on the shelf, joining the convoy, no one cares about such details.

[Jürgen M.]

Now they're assembled!

 

Edited March 15, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[cifenet]

They turned out to be quite nice!  Michelin logos are clearly visible.   
 

As you said, I can see the printed surface has some roughness, but they are not a deal breaker for sure.  
 

Hopefully the technology gets better and better and 3d printers can improve for all of all.   

[Force]

2 minutes ago, cifenet said:

They turned out to be quite nice!  Michelin logos are clearly visible.   
 

As you said, I can see the printed surface has some roughness, but they are not a deal breaker for sure.  
 

Hopefully the technology gets better and better and 3d printers can improve for all of all.   

The printers print out in layers so some surface roughness are inevitable, but there are good 3D printers that can print out smoother parts and high detail out there but they are expensive.
Look at the stuff Texas 3D Customs have in stock, the things he has are very nice and smooth, not perfect but the surface roughness on the parts are barely visible.

[Jürgen M.]

Yes, I agree. For car or truck body parts such a printer would be perfect. The sanding is not always fun and neither is the work with putty. 

Still I'm quite satisfied with the results. Since I only do this for my own pleasure and don't want to (or have to) make a living out of it, it's fine for me.

The cabs I've printed up to now have become better in surface I would say. 

The ACX was already pretty good compared to the Marmon Cabover eventhough the horizontal printlines are still visible but the've become finer.

The sanding is tough because the pla filament I'm using gets very hard. You risk destroying details in the surface like bolts or hinges when you apply too much pressure.

Maybe I should try a softer filament.

 

Edited March 16, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

This is the hitch. I tried to design it according to the pics you posted! Thanks again! That was very helpful!

It opens just enough to hitch up the drawbar!

Of course they still have to be smoothend. Too much material still in the hook. That comes from the small size. The printer hast problems with such tiny pieces. On larger parts you don't see it as much.

The trailers are ready for painting now! 

Almost like twins!

The drawbar is only positioned because I have to know how far it's going to have to stick out in order to make the trailers turn without touching.

Edited March 16, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

Painting has begun!

Not quite dry everywhere yet but looks good!

 

Edited March 16, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

The tail lights:

[Jürgen M.]

Looks like "Big Nasty" is ready to join the convoy! 

Air lines are installed!

Ready to slip into the back door!

Only the "Fruehauf" emblems on the trailers are missing but they'll be finished and applied shortly!

Concerning the vertical lines on the trailer sides caused by printing in two halves (printer size doesn't allow larger parts), I tried to close the gaps but it didn't really help. A little maybe!

Still looks pretty good to me.

Hope you enjoyed the build and thanks for following and your good advice! ?