Snowman's Truck?

[neilc69]

Just a few pictures of my latest build. Its a Revell Kenworth W900

The chassis and sleeper pod have been shortened by about 19mm to create a short frame truck

The engine is built straight from the box with a little paint detailing

The steps have been altered and clad in KFS brass chequer plate. I think they look much better.

The interior has been painted and some detail added. The CB is from a police car kit that I have on the go as well!

Sorry about the picture quality, they will get better!

Cab interior fitted and started to apply the decals.

There is a trailer to go with it. This one started life as a Great Dane dry van trailer.

There has been major surgery and reconstruction of the rear end.

The fridge unit is scratch built with the grille coming from an old truck radiator

The truck and trailer so far

I will post more pictures soon

[Nick Belbin]

A very nice clean build that. Subject matter's a bit different which makes a pleasant change.

Great stuff!

Nick

[mrcooljules]

just like me, its looking good!

[davidelvy]

Presumably there is a refrigeration unit in the cab so that the "snowman" doesn't melt while he's driving.

[neilc69]

Nah. He's just a cool dude anyway! lol

[Smiffy]

You gonna put a miniature Fred in the cab, too?.

[neilc69]

I would have loved to put Fred in there but I couldn't find anything suitable.

[Rishi]

Hi Neil,

Nice build so far. How many paint cans for the great dane??? The cab decals are they metal foil??? I wish there should be Kenworth Oilfield trucks in much reasonable priced plastic kits.

Cheers,

rishi

[neilc69]

I had to buy 2 cans of paint for the truck and the trailer and still have about half a can left over.

Not sure what the decals are made of but I got them from a guy in America. They are very good quality.

http://modeltruckin.com/

The large picture down the side of the trailer came from a guy on e-bay.

More pictures soon

[borz666]

Looking good Neil and one of my favorite subjects! and you got the coffee colur spot on!!

Just a small word of warning before you go any further, Snowmans Kenny was infact a short hood w900. The Revell kit is the long hood version.

I do have a spare short hood from an AMT kit. Its a bit warped mind, but PM me if want it.

Chris

[neilc69]

Thanks for that guys

I never realised that there were different hood lengths to be had!!

If the hood is shorter, does that mean that the chassis etc. will be too long?

How much of a job is it to alter things? Do I need a smaller engine?

Perhaps I can always use this one as a practice run and build another one even better!!

I would be grateful for any feedback/comments

Thanks

Neil

[borz666]

Thinking about it, yes the chassis is still too long. The Cat V8 is correct though.

By all means use this one as a dry run as it would be difficult to rectify it at this stage.

The kit for the correct truck is the AMT W925 Kenworth.

This has been long out of production but I belive Round2 will be rereleasing it in the near future!

All you need is the engine from the Revell kit!

HTH

Chris

[neilc69]

Thanks for that. I shall be watching out for one of those kits.

The V8 is going to be a tight squeeze in a shorter truck though!!

I think this one is going to be a test run though as there are a few bits that haven't turned out as I would like but are too late to change now.

Thanks

Neil

[neilc69]

The latest update on my progress.

The trailer decals have been applied and other bits and pieces finished off so it is virtually finished.

The truck still needs exhaust stacks, front grille and air horns painting and spraying with Alclad. I have had a go at scratch building a front bumper which will be chromed as well. More pics soon

[GRIM REAPER]

Could you please tell me how you achieved such a good base coat of the gloss black? I just had to strip mine off after the fifth time. Thank you.

RYAN.

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

"East bound and down

Loaded up and Truckin'

We gonna do what they say can't be done...."

Thanks, now I have that song stuck in my haed

..Oh and you rig looks great Neil!

Edited November 25, 2010 by TrojanThunder

[Muller]

Fantastic build

Now you need a Trans-Am to go with it!

[neilc69]

Thanks for the comments guys.

There is a Trans-Am currently being built to go with the truck, but I haven't taken any photos of it yet. Will post some up soon.

@Grim

The paint is actually Halfords Peugeot Cafe Noir and is a dark brown. All that I have done is to lightly sand the model, with very fine wet & dry, under the tap and wash it down between paint coats. If you sand it right, the model should feel as smooth as glass.

I have used rattle cans for the primer and the top coats. I always make sure that the model and the paint are kept in the same warm room for at least 24 hours before spraying to ensure a constant temperature. I never spray models when it is cold or windy outside as this will affect the paint finish. Sometimes I spray them in the garage, but always bring them straight back into the same warm room to dry.It is the warmth that helps the paint dry with a good shine. This is especially important when you put a clear lacquer coat on, otherwise it will end up with a dull or cloudy finish. Don't be tempted to put too much paint on in one go, just enough to get an even coverage and don't try to rush the job either. Take time and it will work for you.

Hope this helps

Neil

[Rishi]

Hi Neil,

I have not seen the movie 'Smokey and the bandit'. But need to ask u - does this tractor trailer snowman's truck come from the movie. waiting to see ur trans am build. I have one MPC kit of 1977 trans am blackbird in shipping.

Very well done till now.

Cheers,

rishi.

[neilc69]

Rishi

The truck is from the film, as is the car. If you go to YouTube and do a search for Smokey and the Bandit there are some movie clips from the film.

I think that the film has got to be a real classic. They did make three films altogether but the first one is the best. that is the one that this truck is based on.

Neil

[neilc69]

OK guys it is finished at last!

Have a look and see what you think.

I did the Trans Am to go with it as well

Thanks

Neil

[Rishi]

Hi Neil,

Fantastic job. I like the mural decal on trailer - right size. Did u use PE heat shields for exhaust muffler or made them? I was eagerly waiting for ur next post to show up with the 77 SE Firebird . Is that a MPC kit. Did u dechrome the gold on alloy wheels?

I am in the process of test fits, filing, adding extras(firebird kit). The kit is simple but requires a lot of work. There are large area left open on chassis etc etc. I will soon post my WIP.

Cheers,

rishi

[neilc69]

Rishi

The exhaust mufflers are the original ones supplied with the Revell kit with curved pipes at the top from the spares box.

I have de-chromed them, drilled every hole out (all 1250 of them!!) and re-chromed with Alclad chrome spray paint. I would have used PE ones but they were not available at the time.

The wheels were just painted straight over the chrome with flat aluminium and picked out with gold after. A long job but worth it!!

I am looking forward to seeing your WIP !!

Neil

[Smiffy]

They both came out looking great, didn't they.

Top job.