AMT Flatbed (new release)

[studioman3]

I started the AMT Flatbed trailer (new release), and thought I would share my progress with you.

It is a very simple model to build, I had it completed and ready for paint in about 4 hrs. Part of this is due to the lack of optional parts such as, any chrome parts, or lights. The tail lights are formed in and must be painted .

Other than that, it is real nice, the parts are all very clean and required very little sanding, and there are some very good detail molded in such as the wood bed, and the lines and hook ups for the air tanks.

I used a fine line black marker to go down all the cracks on the bed (between boards), and then followed that up with two differant shades of stain markers follow by a coat of acrylic weathering. (two parts water, one part mud, one half part grime black. I am happy with the looks of the deck, but it is still a little shiny .

I am going to turn this into a covered wagon to pull behind my WF, and will keep you posted on the progress.

Heres what I have so far.

Tim

[mackinac359]

Tim

Looks good so far.

Tim

[scummy]

G,day , the trailer's turned out good ,we have waited a long time for this kit to come back out without payin mega on evilbay . Maybe a lite brush of dull cote will take the shine off the wood paneling ? Cheer's mark.

Edited December 17, 2009 by scummy

[Jim B]

Looks very clean. Nice build. Yes, Dul-Coat might do the trick.

[studioman3]

Thanks guys, I don't have any dull coat, but maybe another coat of the weathering will tone it down some more.

Here's an update already, I have finished the sides and made all of the tarp support poles, (I'll need to straiten them out a little to make them more uniform), but I'm not sure my tarp material is plyable enough to give me the right look, this is a piece of weed block cut down and ironed. I took a shot of it (with the WF), with the tarp just laying on top to get the feel of things.

What is a good medium for making tarps? Does anyone have a success story?

Tim

[Kostas Parchas]

Nice trailer you have there!!

Keep us posted.

I have never seen this kit in real, so could you please tell tell me if this kit can be extended adding in the middle a section from a second kit in order to make a modern 53'' flatbed?

Kostas.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Kostas

[Simon]

The tail lights are formed in and must be painted

If you look around your local hobby and craft centre, you might find packs of small round self-adhesive gem stones in various colours, usually white, amber, red and various others. These might be just the thing to improve those moulded-in lights.

Looks a nice trailer, very nice build.

[Jason]

Hey, The trailer looks great! I made a covered wagon and used just standard fabric. i chose the "shiny" black covering to represent the tarp.

worked out pretty good for me. I also used thread to tie it down to the sides.

[RyanSilva]

You can use nose tissue/kleenex for tarps. You can tea dye it using some water, with some tea bags steeped into the water till it turns a amber color. Let the tissues soak in it briefely and allow to dry, they are surprisingly pretty soft and hold the color well. (like a canvas)

[Jim B]

Kostas,

Try here: http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thsca...jan_1995_conve/ This article should give you some ideas on converting the trailer into a 53ft trailer.

[Brizio]

Nice job done!

[Kostas Parchas]

Hey Jim B,

thanks you, that was very helpfull !

Kostas.

[studioman3]

Thanks guys,

Simon, I have some gem stones that I normally use, but the way these are molded, I would have to drill them out so they don't stick way out. I might go ahead and do that though,as it would look much better.

Ryan, I thought about Kleenex in a bath of water/Elmers/black paint, but unfortunately, they are too short and I'm not sure I could make the seam look right.

Guess I'll make a trip to Joann Fabrics to see if I can find something that will work better.

Tim

[Jim B]

Isn't Joann Fabrics great! A member on another board used 2 mil vinyl to make his tarp for his covered wagon.

Oh, Kostas, one thing to consider. The AMT flatbed is from about 1975 or so, and the width laws were different then. The AMT trailer is 96" wide, where most of the newer 53ft trailers are 102" wide. Food for thought.

[scummy]

G,day Tim , what about some tissue paper from a gift wrapping shop , easy to shape and work around the bars . Cheers .

[SpreadAxle]

Nice work so far.

[Aaronw]

Nice work so far, it is great seeing all these re-issues already showing up on peoples benches.

What might work to spice up the tail lights, is some thin clear plastic discs. Paint the lens then drop the clear disk over that.

You can get a leather punch to make different sized discs in plastic at most good hardware stores for less than $20. These are a great tool for scratchbuilding so everyone should have one. It looks kind of like a pair of pliers with a star shaped head on one side.

Another possibility would be to get the right size punch (looks like a chisel but has a round hollow end), those are usually like $4 for the size you would need.

[Aaronw]

As good as anywhere, if you haven't already seen it (like I hadn't) Flatbed KW has two posts in the 1-1 section that are very worthwhile for this trailer.

Flatbed conversions

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22503

Flatbed loads

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20027

[studioman3]

Mark, thanks for the idea, I had some wrapping tissue out for the holidays, and it worked fine,( with a little bit of trial and error). I just need to add some straps and fix a few tares. Here is a pic, (its still drying).

Arron, thanks for the tip on the hole punch and clear plastic, I will give that a try, and I hadn't seen those articles thanks for putting up the link, and thanks Ray for posting them, I really wanted to do the spread axle, but didn't have a clue where to start. Now I know.

Tim

sorry, its a little blury

Edited December 20, 2009 by studioman3

[Jim B]

Tarp looks pretty good. What are you going to use for grommets?

[SpreadAxle]

Glad to help. Your trailer turned out nice.

[studioman3]

Thanks Ray,

James, I don't know yet, any ideas? Also, how many and what kind of straps are used to hold these tarps on? Bungee?

Ratchet? ????

[Jim B]

I'm thinking they are bungeed on, but I could be wrong. I don't thing you'd ratchet them down, they're only cloth.

Here's a good article on making tarps: Realistic Tarps from Armorama. Those armor guys have all sorts of crazy ideas!

[studioman3]

Thats a great article Jim, thanks, I think I'll try their method and make another tarp this week, I started making bungee chords today using small strips of black balloons and inserting pins at either end, then bending them into S hooks and snipping off the excess. This is going to be very time consuming, but they actualy work.

Tim

[studioman3]

Ok, here's an update on the straps and eyelets, I took the same aluminum tubing i used for the tarp supports, and sliced off thin pieces, maybe 1/32", then flattened them with some plyers and drilled the holes a little bigger. After gluing these onto the tarp, I drilled through the tarp, (and the wood sides for support ) to add the S hooks from the bungee chords, then pulled them down to the rub rails. 4 down, 18 to go