doing the p&o trailer....

[Chad]

hey guys, I'm doing up the italeri p&o trailer.... I realized how crappy the kit was until I started to americanize the trailer....it looks REALLY good as an american style trailer which does take some work. I'm looking for some ideas on how to beat up the connex box to make it look legitimately old without RUINING the kit. also some ideas for beating up the frame as well. any help is greatly appreciated.

Chad

[BigBad]

Of course, you'll have to show some pics first...

[ARTEMIS1759]

Military wise let me see wht I got for pics. Slight heat to put dimples in the flats and some in the ribs will do for military dents.

Here you go:

Edited August 15, 2012 by ARTEMIS1759

[Ben]

Paint the container with shades of rust, browns and tans and then either do the salt trick where you sprinkle salt on the surface to "mask" tiny spots or you can paint tiny specks of rubber cement instead. Ater that dries, paint the container the color you want it to be. When dry, rub of the salt or rubber cement and you'll have lots of "paint chipped areas" Then you can further weather the container using very thinned out gray and tan paint lightly misted on. You can also use a flat aluminum or silver and very lightly dry brush areas where the container would make contact with other things and around the rear doors, etc.

[Chad]

So i did the weathering....now im trying to set the decals how would i go about this with the contours of the connex box?

Chad

[Ben]

Lots of patience and decal setting solution. After they dry real good, chip them up a bit and weather over them as well.

[Chad]

well I used the decal set solution and was able to get them to set really nicely. after I let them dry nicely I put some rustall on the decals to kind of beat them up a bit....today after work I'm going to chip them up a bit and make them look messed up.

here are some pictures of the current progress... still deciding on a color for the frame, I know I DON'T want it to match at all. I also decided to black mark the trailer using just the yellow portion of the flame from the lighter and kind of "burnt it" and melted the rear frame of the trailer like someone backed into a pole or something similar....it's a pretty beat up trailer to be honest. but it looks cool. I also dry brushed over all the areas that were "sideswiped" against something and also "bent in" the lower rub rails to make them look like they'd been bashed into a guard rail or a car. everything has been rusted as well.

Chad

[Chad]

I'm also thinking about "tagging it" with some graphiti just trying to figure out how to do it without it looking like freehand brushing.

Chad

[59 Impala]

Man, when I saw this pic it brought back many great memories for me. I worked at CONEX control on Okinawa when I was in the Army back in 67-70. Thanks for the memories ARTEMIS1759.

By the way, your trailer looks great Chad. Dan

[Chad]

Thanks Dan. after I'm totally done weathering this I want to spray some flat clear on it to give it an old nasty grimy look... what would be the best choice for flat clear spray paint to use? and also any ideas on the graphiti of the trailer?

Chad

[Ben]

Lookin great Chad!! Like you said, it really needs a good coat of flat clear to get rid of the shine. I would suggest some more light gray and tan (very thin) misted over it as well to make it a little more dirty. That Pete is pretty sweet too!!

[Chuck Most]

A thin coat or two of Testors Dullcote should kill off any remaining shine.

Looks great, Chad!

[Chad]

Thank you guys. Im going tomorrow to get the testors dull coat and ive actually got some leather brown im going to use as mud....but what im going to do is actually mist dirt over it after i dull coat it. It worked great on a tank i did in Afghanistan. Thanks Ben on the pete. Its a griffendesigns 379 with normal italeris stretched to a 310; wb. Italeri wheels with lonestar tires on it and a few other goodies.

[BigBad]

Lookin' good Chad! i like that weathering. I see you removed the fenders and changed the wheels. Did you have to do other stuff to americanise the trailer? Nice 379 too... Too bad this trailer kit isn't available anymore just like the Volvo 670-780 and the Freightliner FLD.

Edited August 18, 2012 by BigBad

[Chad]

I actually had to do a little more than just the tires remove the fenders... All in all i moved the kingoin forward, sectioned the suspension, mpved the landing gear forward and did a little work to the rear bumper. I was actually lucky enough to pick up 3 of these trailers at 20/kit...

Chad

[Chris guthro]

nice job on both the truck and trailer chad! the trailer looks like something youd see on a shipyard down here!

[kilrathy10]

Go to http://www.theplasticcrafters.proboards.com and check in "Trailers Showroom" for a thread called "Chassis and Container" and I'm sure this will help...He really did a good job on this one....

[chuckyr]

Italeri will be offering the containers as a separate kit.