1968 Freightliner coe

[Old Buckaroo]

After seeing all the great builds of this kit , I felt the need to build one myself. My version is going back to 1968, Following Q tip's lead I broke out the razor saw and removed the lower half as it is easier to replace then patchwork in pieces. I also removed the dual headlights as to make a single version. The nice thing about the year of this truck - front brakes were not required yet. So narrowing the axle was not a necessity , but I did remove 3/32" just to make the wheels look right to my eye.

Progress so far

I will be removing all the "boiler rivets" on this build also as I just dont care for the look of them.

Thanks for looking

Edited February 2, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[blackbeard]

looking great so far

[Jim B]

Nice mods. I agree with you about the rivets; they always looked out of scale to me.

[Old Buckaroo]

This should be called - How I spent my Sunday ! One of the deciding factors to remove the rivets is I wanted to move the cargo/junk hatch back. I made new ones out of styrene, made brass pull handles (there is where the day went) and a somewhat resemblance of a piano hinge.

Thanks for stopping in

[Mr mopar]

Looks good so far now make it single headlights that would be cool.

[Old Buckaroo]

Added a few extras to the engine like scratch built fuel filter (single) and oil filter. Thinned the 2x4 size belts down also.

Thinking about painting the Transmission maybe Ford Blue or red to make it look like it had been replaced at one time.

Thanks for looking in

[Old Buckaroo]

Check off my biggest obstacle on this build tonight.

Single headlight buckets done except for the backing plate.

[HJK]

Hi Sean,

That looks extremely good to me, I wish I had your abilities in modeling and detailing.

How did you do the piano hinges and the brass handle? (please don't laugh about my questions)

Juergen

[am73grand]

That's really coming along nicely!!! Please keep going with the updates!

[Old Buckaroo]

Howdy Juergon,

thanks for your interest . The "piano hinge" was really simple. I took a piece of scrap sprue and heated it over a candle to stretch it. It took several pieces to get the thickness I wanted (using door hinge for size guide) Once the length was determined and glued in place I took a piece of Tamiya tape on one side and my Zona mm square on the other. Every 2mm I made a cut careful nut to cut the tape on one side or cut across my square.

The handles started as a piece of K&S Brass 1/8" angle. Again using the Tamiya tape I cut strips lengthwise of a piece of tape 1/16" wide. I took these thin strips and laid them along the outside of the angle for a cutting guide. I then sawed lengthwise down the angle to about 5mm long on both sides. That gave me a small angle 5mm long x 1 mm wide. I did one at a time to keep a straight cut. Using a file I rounded the edges for the pull area. To mount it securely (I am pretty clumsy most days) I scribed a channel the same length of the pull and about 1/2 mm deep. After test fitting a drop of gap filling CA glue was used for attachment.

Nothing real hard - just tedious.

These are the tools I use for the majority of my work.

The saw is made by JLC, The blades are thin as a Razor blade of that size and just as sharp. I ordered several spares but have been using this blade for close to 4 years.

http://www.rollmodels.net/ninbox/Tools/JLC%20Ultra%20Fine%20Saw/JLC%20Ultra-Fine%20Razor%20Saw.php

A scribe , mechanical pencil, Zona square , file ,Tamiya tape and a X-acto knife not shown makes the bulk of my tools.

I still cant get the detail of the hinge in a pic without a wash on this white plastic

A tip if you cutting serrations like this or scribing - a touch of liquid cement will dissolve the fuzzys and bring out the detail.

Hope you were able to make sense of all this.

Thanks for looking in and asking.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[Kostas Parchas]

A lot of work put on so far there.

Hope to see a sweet looking rig, can't wait.

Kostas.

[disabled modeler]

Sean... I like it!!! very nice work backdating this old truck. Cant hardly wait to see it when your done...keep up the great work!

[HJK]

Sean,

Thanks for your descriptions - yes, it made sense to me and the outcome is gorgeous.

Thank you also for the info about your tools you mainly use. Especially the razor saw is a really interesting tool, didn't see that so far.

For sure I'll stay tuned for the progress on this.

Until next time with probably (surely?!) more questions,

Juergen

[goodwin3224]

Very nice

[Q tip]

lookin good! it reminds me of a company truck that used to pull a stainless chemical tank. just cant remember the name, although they were dark blue and grey,,keep up the good work.

[Mr mopar]

Now that is cool .................................awesome!

[Old Buckaroo]

Thanks for looking in and commenting.

I am starting to run out of parts on this build. Seems like to me every pipe and tube that connects to this engine had to be modified. I must of really done something somewhere to cause that - but not sure. Oh well, it keeps things interesting. I did have to make a spreader bar for the stacks bracket to keep them in alignment. Still need to paint it.

I painted the frame with semi gloss black then mixed up some thin RLM 66 (German Luftwaffe dark gray color) and sprayed over the frame to where it has an oxidized look. Cant get it to show in pics though , but looks really convincing to the eye.

Need to finish up the interior and prep the cab for paint.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[olsbooks]

Looking really good. Thanks for the tutorial on the piano hinges. Exhaust pipes to the mufflers look really good.

And fit on this kit in particular? A.M.T. = Assured Modification and Tweaking. But will sure it over nothing anyday.

[Old Buckaroo]

A few minor details that will most likely never be seen once assembled - I reworked the dash to resemble the '68. Also I ended up with several of these kits by trading, one will eventually be a day cab - so I robbed the sleeper privacy panels and made a headliner to tidy up the top and help hide the strip of styrene I used on the seam. Yes it fits inside of the cab glass.

And the back of the cab got some reshaping also.

Thanks for looking in and commenting

Edited February 20, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[SuperbirdKing43]

Looks great so far. I will be watching this.

[mistermodel]

nice touch with the headliner

[Old Buckaroo]

Got the second color on today.

Updated pic with black decal border applied. Used the kit decals by cutting into 1mm wide strips.

Thanks for looking in

Edited February 26, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[Badluck 13]

I just flat out love everything you have done,headlamps look perfect and awesome period correct looking color........

[Chariots of Fire]

I found some nice substitutes for rivet detail. Archer makes a sheet with rivet detail in decal form. There are a number of different patterns on the sheet. I bought an O-scale sheet (railroad) to use on my military R-2 rescue. The rivets are small enough that they don't overpower the surface but still show through the paint. I waited to prime the piece before laying on the decals. The decal edge disappeared nicely leaving only the raised rivets showng through.

[Old Buckaroo]

Thanks Mike, I am glad you like the color. For weeks I thought about the exterior color and had decided on this color as it had that vintage look to it. I had also thought about adding another stripe but wanted to keep this truck looking within someones budget at that time. I have updated the pic with a black border stripe.

Thanks Charles for the tip on the rivet decals. I really dont mind them missing from this build. (I think building Aircraft turned me away from rivets ) I have two more of these kits so I might try them out.

Thanks for looking in