Pete 359 tanker with trailer

[Jürgen M.]

Got the spare mounted!

[Biggu]

Holy …. I go away for a few minutes to work on my kit and come back to a major update !!! You are ripping along with this rebuild … the tank looks great, I think your extra work in smoothing it out will be well worth every minute spent on that task. And I am REALLY impressed with the spare tire holder , you did a great job on that, again, something I never would have come up with, this is a real interesting rebuild and coming together really well, I am looking forward to what you do next ….. keep going buddy

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks Jeff!

Didn't have the feeling that I made that much progress!

Glad you like the spare holder! I came up with that idea a while ago when I saw a similar thing on an old Volvo truck. 

Thought it might be a nice feature on a build someday. Didn't think it would happen so soon though!

[Jürgen M.]

The fenders are attached to the chassis. I think I mentioned that they're from a Volvo F12 Globetrotter (Italeri) which I disassembled a few months ago.

The outside wheels will be chromed therefore it'll be a single track for while!

The a/c box on the roof is not glued yet. Didn't have a grille for that so I had to design and print one which is in the paint shop at the time!

[Jürgen M.]

Today I hope to sand the tank. Got 2.500 grain sand paper. Even 3.000 but that might be like using regular paper. 

I'll see if there's progress with the 2.500 and maybe I'll go down to 1.200. I know, normally you go the other way but sanding and polishing a surface to be chromed should be approached carefully!

Considering it's a quite old truck I was thinking of putting one or the other scratch and dent into the tank before applying the chrome! 

[Rockford]

16 hours ago, Jürgen M. said:

Got the spare mounted!

I used to wrestle with them. There's no room for a spare on modern chassis. Very well done, as usual. Jurgen the Unstoppable!

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks Steve!

Usually, as far as I know, the spares today, if existent, are mounted underneath the chassis. 

On older American trucks I have actually never noticed a spare except maybe on a wrecker or some other special vehicle. 

I just thought a tanker shouldn't be standing on the road side too long without a spare! 😊

[Jürgen M.]

Got the second layer of base coat on after carefully sanding the first one. 

I was a sissy and actually begann with a 3.000 grain. Thank God for that! Even with hardly any pressure and wet standing the first layer became almost transparent. The grey primer showed through immediately.

I polished it a bit by hand with a wound compress and polishing cream for soft clear coats. 

Then I put another coat of blue on. It's still not exactly a mirror but it looks better!

I'm thinking of putting a clear coat on before spraying the chrome! At least a clear coat can be polished better than a 1-component gloss base coat.

[Rockford]

Good abrasives have more of an effect than you think. Well done on wet sanding too. I was taught to always wet sand when I did days in the paint shop. You'll reap the benefits at the final paint stage. 

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks Steve, I Hope so! 

The chrome will show every little dust grain.

[Jürgen M.]

By the way, since I'm building this truck with a hitched up trailer I have a question:

Are there different names/terms for these two types of rigs?

In German there are specific names for each type of truck and trailer. Ones with a fifth wheel, ones with a hitch and the matching trailers!

I'm just curious if it's the same in English! 

[Jürgen M.]

As you can see I had the thread title changed.

I thought it's time to adjust the title to the main theme of my build!

Thanks to Stitchdup for his help!

[Rockford]

1 hour ago, Jürgen M. said:

By the way, since I'm building this truck with a hitched up trailer I have a question:

Are there different names/terms for these two types of rigs?

In German there are specific names for each type of truck and trailer. Ones with a fifth wheel, ones with a hitch and the matching trailers!

I'm just curious if it's the same in English! 

The top truck would be a "24 ton rigid" or a "six wheeler" or us old fellas might say "class 2 work" because that was the licence you needed. If it had the type of trailer you're building it would be a "drawbar unit", or in slang for us old blokes a "wagon and drag".

The bottom truck is just an "artic" shortened from articulated vehicle, the type of trailer just gets added after : artic tanker/ artic flat/ artic fridge etc...

I know the German for tractor unit translates as a wagon with a saddle on its back. I used to work for one of the first Mercedes-Benz truck dealers in the UK. We were dealer number 00002!

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks Steve! Again I learned more about trucks and improved my English vocabulary! 😊 

Yes, a fifth wheel tractor would be a "saddle dragger" if translated directly. 

The fifth wheel is referred to as a "saddle hitch"!

 

[BK9300]

Great idea with the spare tire!  In the 70’s, a pickup my Dad had at work had a spare tire held up underneath the back end by small chain and bracket.  Was not fun getting the tire out on the side of the road!

[Jürgen M.]

I can imagine! I drove a Mercedes 7.5 ton truck with a trailer once and had a flat at night, it was pouring and of course it was the rear inside tire on the drivers side! The spare was completely rusted tight to the frame and cars and trucks speeding away behind my back! 

Edited November 24, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[Jürgen M.]

A little bit of progress!

The sleeper is ready for mounting and decals! The white stripe has to be continued.

I'll put a clear coat on the tank before applying chrome. I hope it'll help smoothen the surface. 

[Jürgen M.]

The sleeper still need some attention. I´ll do that tomorrow as well as the clear coat.

[Rockford]

Your patience will pay dividends.

[Jürgen M.]

Another mock-up:

Next steps are clear coat on the tank, then masking of the tank end covers, painting the ladder, chrome on the tank and wheels, corrections on the sleeper, ...!

Edited November 26, 2024 by Jürgen M.

[BK9300]

Tremendous progress, Jürgen - every day on your bench is another day closer to completion - very methodical!

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks! I very much appreciate your opinion. Never thought it would be that methodical. Wow!

I wish I had more time for the bench but I've got to earn my paycheck and that takes 40hrs per week plus driving time.

So often I'm actually too tired to do anything after work and I don't want to ruin anything because of inattention.

I planned to apply the chrome today but I haven't even put on the clear coat. Maybe I'll accomplish at least that today!

 

[Biggu]

This is turning out to be a really cool build, the tank idea is spot on and changes the look of this truck completely , I really like this. Keep going JM …! 

[Jürgen M.]

Thanks! Hope it turns out good! Hiding the printing lines is the biggest challenge!

We'll see how the chrome looks!

[Biggu]

I think if you make a tridem pup tanker trailer to sit behind this it would be super cool….. there is a set up like that, goes by my house at least once a week to refuel a local ferry …  talk about a mega Beer Keg!