AMT Fruehauf Breaded Van Trailer kit. 1:25

[richellis]

Fruehauf Breaded Van Trailer

1:25 kit by AMT from Round2 models

Fruehauf corporation was an American company that built truck trailers from its headquarters in Detroit, it was founded by August Charles Fruehauf in 1914, and continued building trailers until the company fell bankrupt in 1997. The company’s assets where brought and trailers are still being built around the world under the Fruehauf name.

AMT issued a number of trailer kits and now Round2 are re-releasing some of these classic kits and the next kit on the review bench is the Fruehauf Breaded Van, I would date this style and model of trailer to the 1970, but I have seen photos of this style trailer still in use very recently, so will hitch behind plenty of tractor units.

The kit comes in a long thin box (please note Italeri and Revell) that allows the sides, roof and floor to be cast in a single length saving the need to remove joins, and thank goodness that they are in one part as this kit has fine ribs running the length of the trailer and wrap around the front bulkhead. The parts are nicely cast and the rivet and ribs are finely cast as can be seen in a close up below.

The parts are nice and straight on my review sample but this is an older kit so there is some flash and ejector pins that will require attention.

The floor and roof also come in single lengths, with nice detail. The floor has cross member detail underneath and looking at the kit and photos of the real trailer it doesn’t have a full chassis as you would expect, it appears to me a monocoque structure.

The final parts to the box body is the front bulkhead, this has the rib detail on the upper ¾ that mirrors the detail on the side panels, the lower part has a plate for the suzie connections. There is some basic cast detail but you will probably want to add connectors and more detail to this area. There is also a breast plate to fit under the front of the chassis and the kingpin fits onto this part.

Finally are the rear doors, they again have some basic detail for the locking bars and handles, but I would sand them off and make more realistic parts from scratch, not a hard job with some rod and plastic. They can be made to function with an internal section that will clamp the doors to the hinge on the side.

This shot shows the detail on the bulkhead, and the rear doors. As I stated this is a re-issue of an older kit so there is flash on the parts, and this can also be seen.

Once we have the box body made we can move onto the chassis and axle bogie. The kit is a twin axle trailer with a slider bogie, this allows the trailer to be tuned for different loads and to allow the trailer to cross state boarders and comply with the differing loading, and wheelbase rules. As I said above there isn’t a chassis as such on this trailer, there are 2 short sections (top parts on the picture) that glue under the trailer floor, you the build up a bogie assembly that can slide on these rails and locks in various positions. The main rails and suspension mountings are shown in the picture above.

The suspension for the trailer is multi leaf springs. They come with the inner mounting plate’s in-situ and will mate with the plated moulded on the bogie rails. There is some nice detail but there are some tricky ejection pins to remove from between the moulded axle U bolts as can be seen below. These need to be glued onto the rails before any cross members are added.

The sprue below contains the cross members for the axle bogie, the wheel centres and the landing leg/ support leg assembly. Some care will be needed when removing and cleaning the parts to ensure the axle assembly is square when built.

The landing leg assembly needs to be built up and added to the underside of the floor, the location for this is vague but there are some very faint pips on the cross members’ hints to the correct location. Take care and look at some references to be sure.

The centre drum for the trailer wheels come on this sprue, and they need an inner ring adding sandwiching the tyre for the inner of the duel wheels. The radius rods and axles are also found on here. The axles are in two parts and could be replaced with some tube if required for aftermarket wheels and hubs.

The final parts are the large mud flaps that fix behind the rear axles. No elaborate spray suppression or guards as required toady, just simple flaps with the Fruehauf ‘Anti-sail’ logos moulded on. They look a little thick and heavy to my eye so I will remove the flap from the mounting, and replace with some thin plasticard. On the centre of the sprue is the locking mechanism for the sliding bogie assembly and on the top left a support for the airlines that are included.

There is a single chrome sprue, there are 8 rings for the inner and outer wheels, along with chrome brake chambers and slack adjusters. I’m not sure why they are chrome, Id strip them and paint the colour of the chassis. Lastly are two backing plates for the rear lamps. Personally I will strip the chrome and repaint a mix of the chassis colour and maybe some Alcad.

There is a nice length of vinyl hose for the airlines, and these can be linked from the tractor, via a relay and the air tank to the brake chambers. There is a selection of clear red and amber lenses for the trailer, check your references and the local regulations for correct placement. 2 metal axles are included to allow the trailer wheels to rotate (off the shelf normally!) but I glue mine solid.

8 soft rubber tyres are included. They carry the Goodyear name and have good sidewall and tread detail, maybe a little heavy in places but a rub with sandpaper will give a nice worn look.

AMT and Round2 have included a printed card, when folded and inserted into the trailer should give the impression of a load of kits being delivered to a model shop!

There is a nice set of decals, it includes various Fruehauf logos, licence plates and legal lettering for both the trailer and the tractor unit us build to pull it, along with some colourful decals for AMT, Round2 and Autoworld, and I guess they are fictional liveries.

Conclusion

This is a welcome reissue of an old kit and will be welcomed by modellers. But being an older kit there is issues with flash and ejection pins and as such one for the more experienced modeller. I have made a start on this kit and it does need work to get it together and get the box square.

A welcome re-issue from Round2!

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for