"RED RIVER" trailer for the "Blue Mule"?

[Stuntman Mike]

Hey truckers

I´m not into trucks and need a little help to find a trailer that can be used for the hero truck from the movie "White Line Fever". Any suggestions?

This pic is from imcdb.com:

Best regards,

Kevin

Edited May 16, 2014 by Stuntman Mike

[Jim B]

The trailer that I used was the AMT Fruehauf Van Trailer.

[Stuntman Mike]

Thanks James. Just did a search and it seems perfect with some adjustments.

[Petetrucker07]

The amt fruehauf van, not the exterior post trailer, is the closest i think your gonna find. I believe the trailer in the movie is a stoughton, youd have to make decals to make it look authentic to the movie

[Jim B]

You can get the decals from Jerry at Model Truckin'. I think.

[Stuntman Mike]

JBOT has the Red River decals. That´s where I also got the mule decals from.

[Jim B]

Here are some shots of my Red River Shipping trailer. I used the Jbot decals for the trailer. It seems to me that the side logos are a little small.

I have the "Blue Mule" decals as well, just no W9000 to put them on, yet.

[Stuntman Mike]

Very nice job on the trailer, Jim.

I´m using a resin cab from Aussie Resin Models. Are they out of business? Can´t find the site where I ordered the cab...

The decals for the Blue Mule were a nightmare to work with. They are as transparent as the light bar of a Police car. The look good on a white surface, but overlapping is a NO-GO!!! I´ve had to perform some serious cutting with my scalpel when the decals were still wet on the cab. It was the most insane freakjob challenge I have ever encountered in my whole scale modeling life. Also the decals didn´t fit to the cab that I´m using. I had to start applying the decals around the grille and then go ahead and align everything else from there on. I ended up with not having enough room left for the white area on the lower cab sides and the back. But in the end I´m just happy that I didn´t shoot myself while getting the decals done. It took me countless hours, my pulse was 180 and I was sweating like a steelworker. There are about 30 decals on the sheet, but what you see in the following pics was made from about 60-65 pieces due to the cutting. I also had two decal sheets to work with. And I needed the second sheet for all the bits and pieces that had to be cut separately. It would have been 100% impossible to finish the cab that I´m using with only one decal sheet. This was really not funny at all. But I´m happy with the result so far. Still need to do some minor touch-ups with a fine brush and some hand mixed paint here and there.

You might want to take that decal issue into consideration when you finally get a cab and start working on your own Blue Mule.

My "A" was kicked by the BLUE MULE for sure!!

[Old Buckaroo]

Kevin - I have to tell you , your Ford does look nice for all the mental stress it caused you. Did you use an "Astro" frame for it ?

I have a resin W-9000 cab but I have no clue who made mine either. It is different then yours, the windshield slopes back more on mine and no panel lines are scribed on the back. Also the grill is cast on the cab.

I believe mine will get painted a nice color and some stripes as I am getting to old for decal headaches.

Jim - super job on the trailer !

[Stuntman Mike]

Thanks Shaun

Sounds like you have the AITM resin cab. That´s the only other source for the WT9000 cab. Or at least the only one that I´m aware of. I also believe that JBOT´s decals for the Blue Mule were made to fit the AITM cab. So it would be a lot easier with the decals for you if you wanted to build the Blue Mule.

I´m using AMT´s Kenworth K-123 frame for my conversion. I´ve scratchbuilt the rear crossmember and covered the others with tread plates to give the illusion of a Ford frame. There are also some other aftermarket goodies involved in this build. I´ll add a build log and put it in the showroom as soon as it´s finished.

Best regards,

Kevin

[Jim B]

I was unaware that AITM made a W9000 cab. Interesting.

[Petetrucker07]

I think that ford cab is in there printed catalog, its not in the on-line catalog of parts

[Old Buckaroo]

Thanks for the info - as said I am not sure who made it. A friend of mine had it for some time and he knows how much I like the "Ford line of Semi's"

Sorry for the bad pic - sun is actually shining today in the PNW to wash out the white.

Thanks for the info on the frame, that has been my setback trying to figure out what to use and find some reference material.

[Stuntman Mike]

@Jim:

Well, I´ve had this other cab and I´m pretty sure it was AITM who produced it. I got the cab 2nd hand and the guy who originally bought it mentioned that it was indeed not offered online. Just as Clayton said. The cab looked exactly like the cab that is shown on Ben Wicker´s fotki album. I´ve just searched for the resin cab and that´s the only picture I´ve found:

http://public.fotki.com/lotso/ford-wt9000/64025906.html

@Sean:

The Kenworth chassis was what I had in my stash when I started the build. It has the wrong suspension in the rear. As far as I know the closest thing in terms of frame rail shape and crossmember shape would be a Ford L-Series frame. But I don´t know how much work would be involved to make a conversion with such a frame as they are not COE´s.

The guy from Australia (from where I´ve got the cab that I´m actually using) said the GMC Astro or Chevy Titan would be good as a donor kit.

[alangarber]

Man that has been on my want list for yrs. Your doing a great job on it.

[Mackvision]

The 1:1 trailer in the movie is indeed a Fruehauf 40' beaded side dryvan,the AMT kit is pretty much the same trailer seen in the movie...............................Mark

[Petetrucker07]

Heres a couple pics to get you cabover ford model fans to think about for some possible inspiration!

[Danno]

Neat stuff.

[slusher]

Love the truck and the move...

[jacobus]

aussie resin is out of bussines due healt problems

i have also the cab and make him with a gmc donorchassis

never see the resincab on aitm list , lets hope that it wil happened someday

have my build and with some specialmake support for the cab its looks nice [ can see on this forum , only its a way back ]

its stil one of my favorit to have another one [ thats also for the crackerbox ]

jacobus

[Kenny B]

Ken, Is this what you are looking for.

Ken.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Great looking Blue Mule! Spaulding Trading and Shipping used to sell a cab just like Sean's about 16 years ago about the time they sold the White 7000 cab, the cabover Dodge cab, and the Freightliner Powerliner cab, not sure who their supplier was, though I believe it was Hendrix. I had one of each. Built the Ford, and gave it away, and sold the other two. Live and learn. There have been a couple of the Fords on Ebay recently that look like the one that I had. I hoped to get one, and another White 7000 cab of that version, but they sell pretty high. The other version has been on Ebay a lot recently as well.

[Ben]

Those Blue Mule decals were actually designed to fit my cab which is a highly modified version of the Hendrix cab sold by Spaulding Trading and Shipping years ago. The AITM cab is just a direct copy of the Hendrix cab.

I still hope to release my cab one day but I am having a hard time finding the right person to cast it. It is by far the most detailed W9000 ever produced in 1/25. I even completely remade the interior with separate door panels and sleeper walls.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Hope to see that cab available soon Ben. I want one!

[Truck parts]

Ben .Please let us know when the cab is ready to sell and maybe a day cab?