Scale model building

[Sparky-(Admin) 24,668]

Looking good. 
  This guys photobombing face made me laugh 

 

[ebinmaine 77,544]

2 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Looking good. 

 

Thanks! 

2 minutes ago, Sparky said:

  This guys photobombing face made me laugh 

 

Good eye!!

 

 

I'll claim that's a box of dog toys but .....

[ebinmaine 77,544]

Couple coats of primer on.  

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 77,544]

 

I BOUGHT the green & red International truck that's on top of the black trailer. 

 

Didn't build it.  

 

This will be similar to the one I do build for the tanker and help me visualize the process.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also been watching fleeebay for inexpensive trailers and parts piles. 

 

This livestock trailer needs only a small amount of work to be finished up and painted.  The tanker will need more....

In the box by the tanker you can see a bag of red and orange. A bunch of tiny light lenses.  

 

 

[ebinmaine 77,544]

Sprayed the silver paint over the kast several days. 

Looks very good.  

 

There are a few areas that are a small nicks or dents.  

I'm leaving them alone on purpose because this model will be weathered. 

I'll call out the imperfections later in the build.  

I can also still see the original casting mold lines through the primer and paint. 

I left them alone asnwell because they actually look like the full scale version of tank divider or reinforcement lines.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 77,544]

Years ago I read a magazine article about weathering certain aspects of a model. I've also seen other build articles mentioning the following trick...

 

 

 

 

Scale model tires are molded just like most other parts. That process leaves lines and dots. Real tires obviously don't have either so to increase realism I remove them. Sanding works. But this rotational tool method is neat too. I'll be switching to a more powerful drill but the pics show the idea.  

 

 

On the rear section, one of the many modifications to this trailer is to move the entire rear suspension back several scale feet.  On the full sized trailers the back tires were actually setting past the back of the tank body.  

To help strengthen the model as a whole I decided to add a plate between the suspension frame and tanker body. I used black sheet styrene cut to fit. 

The sheet styrene adds to the total glued area by having the cross members involved all the way across. 

 

 

 

 

Same basic idea for the landing gear. I widened it and set it on a similar plate. 

After painting it'll look like a standard full sized trailer modification done by a cheap boss looking for a strong functional piece that didn't have to be sent out to a fabrication company.  

 

The landing wheel's axle was actually broken in the kit so I figured,  what better place to add the wider section. 

To create the addition my intention was to add a piece of tube styrene over the axle.... but it hasn't arrived yet. Could I wait? Absolutely. Would a real world company wait? No. 

So I made a repair addition section by slicing (carefully) a piece of C channel into an angle. Glued the whole assembly together.  When dry, I'll paint it and install the assembly.  

 

 

[ebinmaine 77,544]

Another new experience today. 

I used a razor saw to cut the black cross members for the scratch built trailer frame.  See the black handled tool close up.