71 Freightliner

[freytshaker]

here is a freightliner built many years ago. it has been rebuilt a few times over the years.

the last being two years ago when I lowered the headlights without destroying the paint work.

the paint scheme came from and old brochure I used to have and was one of my first airbrush attempts.

I used 3M pinstriping tape to mask out the green and red.     thanks for looking !

[tufftin]

Always find multi colored paint to be a true work of art.

[Deleted]

That's really nice. How did you lower the headlights?

[freytshaker]

thanks for the kind words !

I cut the ends off the buckets with a straight razor.

fill in the original bucket recess, then cut in the new ones lower.

I use the grille as a guide, the third horizontal bar up from the bottom. the headlights should be at, or just under.

put a piece in the opening from behind keeping in mind that the headlights should be about even with the face of the cab.

the kit headlights stick out too much. last is reinstalling the two little fairing ends I cut off in the beginning.

hope this helps!      I will post this with pics when the freightliner day cab SD is reissued in the upcoming months.

I plan on getting several of these for different projects I want to do. 

I also have a grille mod that I do and will post this up in the future.

[tj]

nice rebuild, I like the touch of the rubber flair of wheel wells

[freytshaker]

thanks tj !

I used rubber o rings. I used to use electrical wire for this but found the o rings look better.

[crackerboxkid]

You did it again! Another thing I've noticed you do with your F-Liner masterpieces is that you narrow the tread width of your front axles somehow. The full-size Freightliners had narrower cabs than most of the other brand's, but AMT used full-width front axles in their kits. Consequently, when built box-stock, the front wheels on those Freighliner models hang out too far. The front wheels on your models are tucked inside the lower cab skirting, and REALLY add to looks of your creations. NICE WORK!

[freytshaker]

Jul 10, 2016 20:54:03 GMT -5 crackerboxkid said:

You did it again! Another thing I've noticed you do with your F-Liner masterpieces is that you narrow the tread width of your front axles somehow. The full-size Freightliners had narrower cabs than most of the other brand's, but AMT used full-width front axles in their kits. Consequently, when built box-stock, the front wheels on those Freighliner models hang out too far. The front wheels on your models are tucked inside the lower cab skirting, and REALLY add to looks of your creations. NICE WORK!

thanks for the kind words !

I always end up using the front steer setup from the revell snap kits (kw/peterbilt) .

after having tried many different combos but the revell setup looks the best to me.

cut the axle in half, then shave it down to the width I want, then glue it back together.

also glue two pieces of plastic in the front, back, and bottom on the outside for some strength.

obviously one must shorten the tie rod too . 

  if using the kit front axle, omit the brake drums and the front wheels won't stick out so much.

[drinkone2]

That is sharp! I sure do miss the classic paint schemes of the 60's and 70's compared to the generic boring single colors of today!

Jim