J&F #61 - a trailer for #119

[rnagle]

This project has been on the go for the past month +, been keeping it a secret as I wanted it to be a "surprise" entry in a contest hosted by the Great Lakes Truck Club. Better photos to follow when some good outdoor picture taking weather arrives, for now some indoor snapshots.

#61 was an old 40' steel trailer in J&F's fleet, I took a couple photos of it hooked to tractor #119 in late autumn 1993 with a load of crushed cars on. A common backhaul for us then, I hated hauling the things as a driver although almost two decades later they are quite interesting as a model subject!

AMT's kit provided an excellent starting point, 9' "Michigan spread" made using parts from second kit for suspension brackets and styrene strip equalizer bars.

Headboard made from Evergreen styrene angle and K&S expanded metal mesh. Tarps rolled from thin packing paper, bungee cords are black electrical tape with 24 gauge craft wire hooks:


Masking tape straps, chains are A-Line products 27 links per inch (model railroading item) which works out very close to 5/16" chain that J&F used. Hooks and tail chain attachment to strap are .020 brass wire:


Mismatched mudflaps & light lenses per one photo I had of the real #61:


Strap winders made from styrene strip & rod with gears cast in resin - I present no threat to the established resin casters in the business! I needed 8 gears and cast a lot more than that.......

[Muleskinner]

Great lookin trailer and load. Are the crushed autos oven made or are they the old Lindberg cars from the trailer they had with crushed cars on it? Either way it makes for a great lookin haul back load and presented very realisticly.

[rnagle]

Thanks William, cars warmed up with heat gun and crushed using two pieces of plywood - along with a lot of trial & error and a few burnt fingertips! Two of them are Lindbergh kits, that oddball 1/20 scale "Gremlin Grabber". A 1/20 small car worked out OK as a full size 1/25 one.

One thing I learned is to leave the seats out, sometimes that meant cutting them out of one piece interior such as on those 1/20 Gremlins. Same with side walls of interior tub, by the time seat and interior are soft enough to form easily the outer "sheet metal" was a little too soft to work with.

In the end, though this was a challenging project it was a lot of fun to build.

[Ryan Rønning]

Good looking work.

[slurrydog]

Great job Robert. Great detail, looks very real.
Dave

[tufftin]

That's neat and to leave the seats out is a good tip.
Mike

[gator]

Now, that is cool! I understand the idea of not wanting to haul a load like that. however I agree with you about representing it in model form! great job.


Gator

[dptydawg]

Interesting project, Robert. Lots of neat details added to hi-lite the quality of your build.
carl

[rnagle]

Many thanks everyone! Today we had good weather so was able to grab a few snapshots of the completed rig:

[slurrydog]

Looks great Robert. Looks very real.
Dave

[tufftin]

Hey! That's outstanding.
Mike

[loghauler70]

Great model I love the crushed cars

Mark

[ap40rocktruck]

superb detail, very realistic & accurate chain down & strap tie downs! As for casting in resin the strap "gears" send me a PM.

Ap40

[rnagle]

Thanks everyone! One of the photos posted earlier was inspired by a snapshot I took of the real rig back in late 1993:


Did a "retake" today to attempt closer match to that photo. Still not 100% but closer, one "issue" with earlier attempt was shiny pavement surface. A bit of real dirt solved that!

[Muleskinner]

which is the 1:1? Cool shots and the matching is great.