1/32 Freightliner cabover

[Rockford]

Just snatched a few minutes and finished the interior. It's nothing like any Freightliner I've seen before but I just made it look presentable, you can hardly see it once it's in place. 

[Rockford]

SQUIRREL!!!!!! Look what popped up on Extortionbay for £20! Not the usual £80-99 idiots are asking for. 

The stacks fell off in transit and there's only one mirror, but it looks ok with the original 1980's decals. You realise what great little kits these were in their day. I don't intend to lose the colour scheme, just give the truck some dignity by correcting a few things. 

Anyway, back to the cabover.....

[Jürgen M.]

Interior looks nice! ? 

I had that same Freightliner conventional back in the 80s and I had put it together without painting. Just put the decals on and it looked exactly like this one! Almost fell apart by itself though cause the snap elements broke off one after the other without even touching it. The plastic was old and the softeners seemed to have migrated already so I looked for a decent way to get rid of it!

Had a tank trailer for it too!

One day a friend of mine and I opened the tank trailer at the rear, stuffed it with big fire crackers and added a long fuse. We closed it with ducttape and sent it down a hill with a lit fuse.

That thing rolled down that hill like a real truck with failing brakes and exploded in the middle of the intersection! There was nothing left but plastic debris. Both truck and trailer we're completely destroyed!

I kept the cabover though. That was a really nice kit!

[Biggu]

Perfect interior colors ! I like this. I have never had a 1/32 truck kit. I like where you’re going with this. Very interesting and its looking really good, can’t wait to see whats next …..

Jeff

[Rockford]

i do love videos like this!!!! 

[Biggu]

I love the graveyard videos too. They are really cool and show the trucks as they really were. I watch a lot of these ( probably too many lol)

[Jürgen M.]

Really nice Video! Wouldn't that be a nice build? A truck graveyard? Maybe something for a diorama? 

[Rockford]

27 minutes ago, Jürgen M. said:

Really nice Video! Wouldn't that be a nice build? A truck graveyard? Maybe something for a diorama? 

You've got your next project! 1m x 2m should be enough. ?

[Jürgen M.]

2 minutes ago, Rockford said:

You've got your next project! 1m x 2m should be enough. ?

At least I wouldn't have to improve my surfaces! ?

[Rockford]

Well, who said that the UK isn't a tropical paradise!? Yesterday was just about good enough for paint in the garage (humidity 78%, temp 16C) so I got some colour on the job. I'm not expecting a day this good until next year now. This year I think it was April/May before a useable day came along.

The blue was supposed to be much darker according to the cap, it's a RAL colour but it came out like British Leyland Pageant Blue. It's a great shade of blue either way. Because I don't know when I'll be able to paint I tend to do primer and topcoat on the same day, so I don't get the best finish but it's acceptable, especially for a working truck. On cars I used to let the primer harden then give it a wet sand before topcoat, gave a much better finish. 

Don't ask me why I ended up with these colours, I realised they're almost exactly the same as my 352 but never mind. 

Put a coat of gloss black under the chrome paint, looks better. 

Now I need to LEAVE IT ALONE! For a week to let the paint harden up, so I can work on it without marking the paint. I've already tried putting the stacks on, I just can't help myself. 

Edited October 27, 2024 by Rockford
Text editing

[Jürgen M.]

Looks really good! I'm gonna keep that up too. Great idea!

The colors look very nice! Just put the same decals on them and your fleet begins to grow!

You can make up your own name! Except for the Pete I'm working on, all my corporate decals are fiction.

How about Rockford Trucking corp?

[Rockford]

? I'll think about it.

Just trying some of my schemes. Hard to decide. 

[Rockford]

I made a little engine block out of popsicle sticks that I have in abundance. I suppose you could say it's got a wooden block, wooden heads, wooden pistons, wooden valves, a wooden crank, a wooden cam. When I tried to fire it up it "wooden" run. Old ones are the best. 

[Gary Chastain]

The colors and the decals work good together, gonna be a looker. 

[Biggu]

I agree with Jurgen and Gary , those colors just pop and are very sharp, and Jurgen is right , this is the start of the fleet. And a name that exudes high performance would be “ High Gear Haulers” UK Division. Lol … sharp rigs , I really like them….

Jeff

[Old Buckaroo]

The  wooden engine is great, cover it with some thin styrene and bits to detail more and it would look really convincing. I always enjoy checking out your 1/32 fleet!

I have a set of 10 rubber tires for 1/32 semi, if you can use them pm me. Yes I know you are in the UK

Edited October 27, 2024 by Old Buckaroo

[BK9300]

Fine looking truck, Steve - your paint enhances all the detail work you’ve done so far - great job!

[Rockford]

Thanks for the kind comments.

I didn't have time to mock this one up this morning but these old style paint schemes always do something for me. I'm not sure which to go for. The first two are complex factory ones, but this is the kind of thing that a paint shop would do on a repaint for a truck's second life. I'm really torn. 

[Gary Chastain]

All three decal kits look good, curious to what you decide.

[Biggu]

16 minutes ago, Gary Chastain said:

All three decal kits look good, curious to what you decide.

Steve, for my two pence worth I agree with Gary, no duds there….. now you have a tough job to choose …… we weren't much help were we????

[Randy D]

Always enjoy following along with your builds Steve!

They all look good?

Randy

 

[Rockford]

It's a difficult decision, and then you find photos like this....

What a beautiful brute of a machine. It's even the same colours!!!! No frills except Aircon, so obviously working in a sunny state. I was born at the wrong time in the wrong country. It's too late for this project but the single stripe choice is in the same era and approach. I think I'm settled on a scheme. 

[Rockford]

As you can see my resolve to not touch the Freightliner didn't last. However, I mainly limited myself to assembly, the work was done to the parts I'd taken off, like the stacks- polishing and applying the decals to the heat shields, fitted the logo to the mudflaps and then reworking the front bumper. I realised that I do not have a painted front bumper on any truck. I have now! I carefully removed the lower half and tidied the cut up, then painted it. I think it's really in keeping with the rest of the truck. I also narrowed the little grille above the bumper and blacked the panel behind. 

[Rockford]

[Biggu]

Nice work ,Steve…… hard to believe this is 1/32 scale …. And I’m with you all the way, old iron has the character some of this new cookie cutter units don’t have today……. All plastic, and automatics..? the old iron, no nice high back air ride seats ( that’s why my back hurts ) some had arm strong steering ( manual steering ) , no a/c, two sticks, lousy wipers, mediocre heater, heavy springs or the dreaded rubber block suspension, …. But they had character and you could tell each one apart from the other …. Not so today. They all look a lot alike these days. Your “Freight-shaker” is coming along famously and will be an excellent addition to hour collection and a homage to the old days …. Love what you’re doing with this one…… looking forward to the next update…..

Jeff