Need help...building the new Italeri Freighliner 1/24

[phantomfan]

Hello fellow truckbuilders:

I'm new to truck building and building my first truck kit, the new Italeri Freightliner FLC.

For those who are familiar with the kit, I'm somewhat confused with the front shock and front axle assembly where/how it attaches to the frame.

First of all, the tabs located on the top of the axle, when positioning under the frame, won't allow the axle to sit centered under the frame.....(considering removing the tabs to center the axle under the frame??)

Secondly, I can see where, according to the instructions, the one front shock attaches to the frame on the outside of the frame.....but for the other one, the instructions indicate that the shock goes on the inside of the frame, not outside like the other one....and furthermore, there is no locating pin for the shock to attach to there and yet both shocks are then glued to the axle.

I'm confused about this one......any help to get this right would be greatly appreciated or pictures of it for those who have build this kit.

I hope I've explained it correctly....for those who have the instructions, you see what I'm referring to.

Thanks,

Jeff

[highway]

Well, Jeff, let's see if I can help you out. First off, the one nice thing with Italeri American truck kits is most of them use the same generic frame, about the only exception to this rule is the Peterbilt kits and the newer Volvo trucks. Almost every other kit, regardless of make, builds about the same.

I missed the part about the front axle issue when I first read your post, but I think that the tabs on the front axle locate to a notch that is in the leaf springs on the inner side, but I will check on of my unbuilt kits in a bit for you to make sure.

As for the front shocks, your shocks should have a hole in the top portion like these that I pointed out with the tip of my knife.

These holes will slide over the pins on the frame rail that are at the tip of my knife. This is the inner on for the drivers side shock...

...and this is how the passenger side mount should look.

You should be able to slide the top hole in the shocks over those, then I would suggest just let the shock rotate down until the mounting pad at the bottom touches the front axle, and glue it in place. I hope this helps, and like I said, I'll check on the front axle for you, too.

[cam]

Matt , your killing me here. I shouldn't be able to see the knife point thru the monster mounted between the frame rails.

[highway]

Matt , your killing me here. I shouldn't be able to see the knife point thru the monster mounted between the frame rails.

It would help if that monster was even built yet!

[phantomfan]

It would help if that monster was even built yet!

Thanks Matt for the help on the shock placement locations.....I'm not actually a moron(ha, ha). Interestingly though, my kit does not have that inner pin on the frame (driver side)......who knows, maybe I accidently cut it off when cleaning up the frame.....its certainly not there and that's what threw me off. The passager side one is there though. I'll have to make a pin with some sprue.....weird!

I'll see if I can explain this correctly: As far as the axle mounting to the two front springs, that still stumps me...the tabs look like they "should" be able to go either outside or inside of the springs, but because they are positioned directly under the springs, they don't position without moving the axle either to the left or right which does not allow the axle to be centered between the frame rails. (Hope that makes sense) It doesn't appear that the tabs should just sit under the springs, as this would lower the front axle. Let me know what you think.

Thanks a bunch!

Jeff

[highway]

Thanks Matt for the help on the shock placement locations.....I'm not actually a moron(ha, ha). Interestingly though, my kit does not have that inner pin on the frame (driver side)......who knows, maybe I accidently cut it off when cleaning up the frame.....its certainly not there and that's what threw me off. The passager side one is there though. I'll have to make a pin with some sprue.....weird!

I'll see if I can explain this correctly: As far as the axle mounting to the two front springs, that still stumps me...the tabs look like they "should" be able to go either outside or inside of the springs, but because they are positioned directly under the springs, they don't position without moving the axle either to the left or right which does not allow the axle to be centered between the frame rails. (Hope that makes sense) It doesn't appear that the tabs should just sit under the springs, as this would lower the front axle. Let me know what you think.

Thanks a bunch!

Jeff

No problem Jeff, I like helping out whenever I can, and I never thought that about you! At least the inner pin is the one you accidently cut off or whatever happened to it, because once you get the engine installed, you will barely be able to see the fix anyway. That is the bad thing about Italeri kits for a new truck builder, they can get tricky at times, but the nice thing is after you do build one or two, since most have the same frame, they get easier and easier. I'm sure when I build my first one about 20 years ago, which just so happened to be a version of this same Freightliner, I'm sure mine had issues, too.

Anyway, I do get the idea of what you're trying to say with the front axle, and the easiest way I've found to install it, and the way I did the green frame in my pics from yesterday, is glue the springs to the frame rails first, then I glue the axle to them. This should help line up the axle better, and the tabs on the axle...

...should line up with both inner notches on the springs.

That should help in getting the axle centered better and also gives you a better chance that your springs will be square to the axle as well. I started doing it this way because I have had a couple where I glued the axles to the springs first and the spings didn't set right and twisted while the glue dried.

One other thing that may be effecting the way everything is sitting too is the frame itself. If you have it glued already and it is not square, it will throw the alignment of everything else off. I usually use something with a smooth edge like the side of the hutch on my model desk to square it up before the glue sets. I hope this helps getting the axle in for you, and if not, don't be worried to ask more questions, I'll try my best to help you through it.

[phantomfan]

Thanks again Matt for the info and pics, they are useful. I'll re-examine my work and see what I can do to make it right. I'll make another pin for the inner shock to attach to on the frame and position the axle accordingly. As far as the tabs on the axle, I may have to remove one of them, square and position appropriately using just one as a guide.

Jeff