Two Reefer Trailers

[Rockford]

Wasn't going to do a WIP on this but here goes. 

Bought a few of these recently and was itching to build one. Took the enforced idleness of the holiday period as a signal to get stuck in. This typifies AMT kits in that it's brilliant and awful at the same time. 

Plenty to correct on these kits. First the ride height needs to be brought down by rebating the slide rails. Levelling up the horrendous rear subframe loses a few more crucial millimetres. Nothing is straight on this kit other than the van moulding, so a lot work filing, fitting etc... but end result is great. Narrowed the track of the rear axles and also the wheelbase. The tyres are too small and are 8mm apart if installed as per instructions, but slid them together slightly and the proportions look much better. Fabbed up the locking mechanism for the tandems. 

 

Usual mudlfaps from insulation tape, cut the kit ones away as they're like paving slabs. Boxed the rear end in to hide the terrible rail ends.  

Landing gear looks like it is made out of cake, so made my own out of square tube and some profiles for the sand shoes and axles. Took the opportunity to make them operable too, so it can stand on it's own two feet when uncoupled. 

Added basic air piping. 

Corrected the taper on the lower edge of the reefer unit. Moved the control panel up and built the casing around it. Built an exhaust pipe with a flapper on the top. Fabbed a battery box and starter cable. Added palm couplings and electrical socket. Also added marker lights. 

 

Just got to wait for decent weather for pain t now, roll on April!

Edited January 15, 2023 by Rockford
Retitled

[Pete68]

Always liked this trailer 

[Gary Chastain]

Nice detail, looks really good. 

[Bills72sj]

Pretty awesome detail on a 1/32 kit. Don't forget the condensate drain tube from the reefer. You may want to consider a fuel tank too.

[Joe Nunes]

This is coming along nicely. Nice detail work. 

Joe

[Rockford]

18 minutes ago, Bills72sj said:

Pretty awesome detail on a 1/32 kit. Don't forget the condensate drain tube from the reefer. You may want to consider a fuel tank too.

Fuel tank is assembled and tidied up ready for installation. I cut the snap-fit location lugs off so it won't stay on until I finally glue it, and I don't want to attach it until it's painted aluminium, well spotted though, and good call n the condensate drains. 

I'm thinking of routing a fuel line from the tank to the reefer. 

[Rockford]

2 hours ago, Pete68 said:

Always liked this trailer 

It's a love-hate thing. It's a fantastic example of what AMT could do but so frustrating at the same time. I do love it though, even the box art. 

[Rockford]

15 minutes ago, Joe Nunes said:

This is coming along nicely. Nice detail work. 

Joe

Thanks a lot 

[Rockford]

2 hours ago, Gary Chastain said:

Nice detail, looks really good. 

Thanks for that. 

[Rockford]

I don't know if it's all these kits but the plastic in the kit is so brittle. Both axles have snapped at each end, the stub axles have snapped too. When you drill anything the exit side of the hole is massive because the plastic spalls off. I've managed with it though, love the kit. Pictorial proof of fuel tank attached. ? I added a fuel filler to the tank.

[chuckyr]

That is not a legal rear bumper in the US..

Looking good so far.

Edited January 2, 2023 by chuckyr

[Ace-Garageguy]

Lots of technical info for those of us who don't know much about rigs like this, but would like to get things right.

Thanks for posting. Looks great.   

[Rockford]

4 hours ago, chuckyr said:

That is not a legal rear bumper in the US..

Looking good so far.

I suppose not but you have to remember it's a 1981 kit. It's old enough to have grandchildren now. 

[Rockford]

3 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Lots of technical info for those of us who don't know much about rigs like this, but would like to get things right.

Thanks for posting. Looks great.   

Thanks. Tbh you can find out most stuff on the interwebs if you roam around. I used to be a truck mechanic so it's part of my DNA. 

[Jim B]

Trailer is looking pretty good so far.  I like the modifications you're doing.

[Oldriginal86]

16 hours ago, chuckyr said:

That is not a legal rear bumper in the US..

Looking good so far.

Thought it was only the 102” wide trailers that needed the full width bumper?

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Excellent work!! Looks Great!! I wish that these were available in 1/25th! I always liked the look of these! The bumper was perfectly fine in 1981 and many years after.

[Rockford]

Added a few details tonight. 

Two condensate drains dangling from the bottom of the unit. You can see the little silver fuel line too. 

I added a set of tell-tale lights that many units had but not all. The driver could check the status of the reefer just by glancing in the mirror but obviously some outfits relied on regular checks. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them so I've just used blue tack for now and I'll see how I feel about them after a while. 

Fitted the fuel tank because I decided it would be the colour of the chassis anyway. 

With a bit of work this has been transformed into an excellent model. It's just a perfect representation of a late 70s trailer. Captures the look exactly. I think I prefer it to the Monogram Fruehauf van kit. 

[Rockford]

Couldn't leave it with no tractor, so I put it behind my Aerodyne I'm in the process of swapping the frame on, forgive me if it looks a little rough around the edges. 

Looks good to me. I like the tell-tale lights when it's hitched up. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by Rockford
Text editing

[Gary Chastain]

Liking the detail

[Bills72sj]

Looks great, cannot wait to see it in color.

[gotnitro?]

Nice changes ! 

[Rockford]

Seeing as I've sorted out the AMT Trailmobile to my satisfaction I thought I'd better have a go at the Monogram Fruehauf van. My previous effort was a compromise and I'm not happy with it. 

The ride height is the main thing, it's far too high. Where is the issue? The slide rails etc... all look the right proportions, unlike the AMT so I had to do my homework. 

First thing, the separation lines on the slide rails are massive. Flattening all these lost 1mm straight away. 

[Rockford]

After much research I worked out that for some unknown reason there's a space added between the axles and the springs. The hangars have then been stretched to accommodate the extra height.

I sliced a section out of the spring assembly, cut the trailing arms off the hangars and reshaped them. I did one axle at a time to keep it square. You can really see the difference in height.

It's a real fiddle to assemble but once it's done all looks good and everything seems to line up like it was meant to be. 

[Rockford]

I piped the braking system and left the tandems to set. 

Looked at the poor execution of the landing legs. Decided to carefully cut the leg off the bracketry and replace it with square tube. I can then use the longer of the two legs in the kit and make the landing gear operational. 

 

You 1/24 guys could do the same just use larger tube. Makes your trailer look better when it's not coupled up. 

Mock-up time. Looks right to me. Now I've got to deal with the box that's been taken out of the mould too soon aand is out of square and one sidewall is all wavy.