GMC Astro 95 and Freuhauf dry van

[novadose71]

I haven't built a bigrig since I was a kid, so when I got a chance to grab the GMC kit from a friends stash in a club collection raid, I couldn't resist.........and with a December deadline I would be forced to finish it. It has to have a trailer so I added the Freuhauf dry van to the build shortly after it was re-released, I'll try to take some pics of that progress early this week. These will be built mostly box stock with some light weathering. I figure I am about halfway done with the whole thing but will be focusing in the tractor to meet the early Dec. deadline ,then I can finish the trailer as time allows.

[Guest Johnny]

The only thing I see wrong, being I'm a retired trucker, is the bunk is way too neat!!!

[bandit1]

i see another issue is your fifth wheel is backwards! lol THIS IS AMERICA BOY! NOT EUROPE! :lol:

[novadose71]

Nothing is glued together yet so take it easy on me.......I just threw it together to get some pics. I did lower the seats this morning....much better. I still need to modify the horn button to represent the GMC wheel, do some more detailing and weather itbefore gluing everything together. You got me thinking on the tires, I tried my Freightliner tires this morning and they look better and actually fit the wheels but I don't wanna rob that kit of it's parts, then I remembered the leftover tires from my ALF Pumper, same as the Astro tires but molded much nicer, so I will use those to replace some of the out of round kit tires and call them good.

I didn't even notice the 5th wheel until someone pointed it out, I know better, just a little spacey lately. I promise it will be turned around before gluing it on

Oh and I'm stealing your blanket idea

Thanks guys

[Dr. Cranky]

Great details and work are going into this model. Excellent.

[novadose71]

I'm a little slow getting pics on the puter so this is where the chassis was as of last weekend

I had her mocked up for a club meeting a couple weeks ago, so I figured I'd get a couple pics. Decals are just paper and two sided tape for mockup, I still need to decide which graphics I want for the trailer so I can have them printed.

With any luck I'll get some more pics up before it's finished

[Sam Cates]

No Schmidt? That looks great so far, I am starting to get back into the big rigs, hoping to gather up a few before the new year.

[David G.]

Wow! Very nice detail and weathering.

David G.

[Wagoneer81]

This is looking really good! I like the decals in the first pic (drivers side) better than the second set but, that's just me...

[Ben]

Wow Rob, your doing a beautiful job on this build!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love that interior!!!!! It looks right out of a dealer brochure.

[RTK434]

I've never built a big rig model but this build is making me want to. Looking sweet!

[scummy]

Does anybody know why GMC had that gap in the middle of the console ? Any way this is looking great so far , great work . Depending on what time zone your building for , i like it with the hat on it .

Edited November 27, 2011 by scummy

[sweeper]

The reason for the gap in the dash was so the driver could look down through the little window in the passenger door and see if there were any cars next to him so he could change lanes. Some trucks also had mirrors on the small windows.

[highway]

I have to say I like the look of this idea too, Rob. Personally, I like the way the signage is one the trailer just the way it is too, it looks like the way a sign would have been bolted onto the sides instead of painted on the trailer itself.

[scummy]

The reason for the gap in the dash was so the driver could look down through the little window in the passenger door and see if there were any cars next to him so he could change lanes. Some trucks also had mirrors on the small windows.

Hey thanks for that info i see now how it lines up with the peep mirror . Most of the coe's here in australia have little mirrors on the door near the peep hole , some even have mirrors above the door to look down beside them on both conv and coes .

[Nick Notarangelo]

ok now that everone is done nit picking,It looks good so far.

[novadose71]

My bench is trashed and I'm really enjoying this build but, man is there a lot to do on this thing. I made a little more progress over last weekend. I finally got the second color on the cab after putting it off for several weeks, then taping and retaping for about 4 hours Saturday night....... the pinstripe gets a little goofy in the corners and up the sides, so a bit of touch-up is in order, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I added some more weathering to and just about finished assembling the chassis/drivetrain bits and pieces.The tanks are next to grime up and hang...and I still need to get back at that interior.

I tried to get the silvery gray color I seem to remember seeing on 1:1 trailers in the past, it's close enough for me. Once I get the roof painted I can glue the box together then grease n grime this thing too.

Thanks for lookin'

[GeeBee]

Cracking build, love the way you've done the cab stripes ....

[novadose71]

take the time to fit and modify the windshield wipers, makes a huge difference in how the finished build will look.

Yeah, looking at those things on the sprue kinda scared me....not too keen on the horns either. Thanks