Italeri Volvo VN780 and car carrier trailer

This build is going to take quite a while but basically the idea is to have a semi trailer car carrier full of mini's . I have a few mini'e already built that need to be displayed somehow and several more to build and I'll be able to fit 8 or 9 on this combo . Huge thank's to Kynan for the trailer



A quick mockup ,



Some mini's to go on it I found in a box recently that I had forgotten about that will go on this too when built ...



I have never built a truck before so have a few questions if anyone can help , I've been looking at trucks on the highway working out colour schemes but am at a bit of an impasse . I have a rattle can of a nice red that I'll decant and put through the airbrush for the cab and bodywork but am not sure on the rest . I was thinking flat or satin black for the chassis (not gloss at least) of the truck and a flat light to mid grey for the trailer chassis with flat red for the rest of the trailer . What are peoples suggestions or ideas as this is going to be huge (around a metre long all up , check out the rough mockup above for size) and I want it to look good without being too shiny and overpowering the mini's on it .

Like were you are going with this one,chassis can be painted semi gloss or flat.

Got some time to get the chassis assembled last night , first time I've done a truck and I've got to say , there's a hell of a lot more to paint on it than a car model





Now waiting for some sunny days to paint the body

did you get a RHD for,looking good so far.

Bloody Volvo builders...

zenrat wrote:Bloody Volvo builders...

I'm trying to find a scale bowls hat to put on the table in the sleeper to complete the image ....

Yes thank's Allan , auslowe do make one and I should have it soon

Ditch the Ovlov body and stretch a mini shell over the truck chassis...

Hmmm. maybe for later eh?

Don't give me ideas Fred , I was looking at that Truck hot rod in Model art the other day thinking ....

what colour you going with,have always thought about building a mini primer mover,

How about towing an old skool caravan behind it and changing the gearing so it will max out at 80km/h to go along with the bowling hat. Being a volvo and all... lol

Looking good so far mate!

Looking great so far. We get heaps of car transporters up here so I will take some pictures for you if you like. The Toll are the Toll orange NQX are the NQX slime blue/ green. Some others are red and one of the others that I see a bit are a dark green. A few of them run a covers on the sides that looks quite good that are use to help protect the cars as well as to streamline it a bit. Maybe you could look at making the covers for one side and put some mini logo's on it so when its viewed from one side you see all the Mini's from the other side you can only see bits of the Mini's between the covers. I reckon that would look cool.

Not a bad idea Kynan , but I think I'll leave it open to show them off (plus to stay within my skill levels ....)

Had a nice sunny day today without the boys here and wasn't working (very rare thing nowdays) so got some more colour on the body parts . This was my first time using one of those small (50 ml ???) tins of enamel from supercheap thinned and put through the airbrush . I had already painted some parts with a red rattle can that ran out , the finer coat from the airbrush has showed some flaws through from the other paint so will be getting a good rub back once it's hardened but so far it's looking good , except for the dust specs on the bit you can see ...



Also got some paint on some of the trailer , except I ran out after this (Tamiya paint jars are just too small for something this size ... Anyone know of any little tins of flat red enamel ???

looking good,you can get auto paint made up as a flat colour in rattle cans or small tins,any auto part shops near you that make up paint ask then or smash repair shops asked them.or you can put gloss on and put a coat of dull coat on it.

Well there has been some more progress on this one while I've been offline , but I am finding it hard to keep motivated with such a large build , how do the guy's who build trucks regularly do this ?

Anyway , the Volvo is now about 90% finished after more paint drama's and rubbing back again ,



Auslowe RHD dash was very nice to use and Auslowe very easy to deal with (I don't have a credit card but was able to direct deposit the $$$ and it was sent quickly) .



Still got the extra fairing's on the back to fit and the front bumper and sun visor when I have rubbed them back AGAIN and repainted them .....



The trailers coming together nicely , camera flash tends to wash the colour from the flat red paintwork , looks much deeper in person .



Auslowe wheels now ready to fit (only sitting under guards for the photo)



And a quick mockup with 8 mini's to see how it will look together (ok , this was a motivational shot to get myself enthused to start on the Fujimi mini's ...)

looking good so far.

Nice build sports, It's coming up a treat.

[quote="sports850"]I am finding it hard to keep motivated with such a large build , how do the guy's who build trucks regularly do this ?
[quote]

I could answer this question, but if I showed you my WIP I could put you off truck building for life.

keep it up chap, tis looking good so far

Looking good Ian.

How about we keep you motivated?
FInish this soon or Paul will start posting you used nappies, Tezza will photoshop you into embarrassing situations and i'll drink all your tea and eat all your biscuits...

Hmmm , well fred , I already have enough used nappies from my own 2 year old munchkin , Terry couldn't photoshop me into anything worse than what I wore for my 40th party (seems pink isn't my colour after all , not even with fishnet stockings) and if you can find any bikkies after my kids have been here for the weekend you're doing better than I can . You're welcome to the teabags though , they are around 1989 vintage so should have matured nicely by now

Thank's Guys

The truck is going to be decalled with logo's from the Australian mini magazine "the Mini Experience" (as I have some left over from the monaro off road racer) for it to be on the lines of a magazine sponsored road show . The only thing is it needs a scale version of Watto , the magazine's owner and editor . A constant source of annoyance and embarrassment for Watto is a thread over on Ausmini of people getting photo's of watto from behind without him knowing and posting them so rather than trying to find a figure that looks like Watto I want a standing figure that's bent over that I can position as if he was looking at something on the truck as a vuisual "private joke" . I've looked at some of the figures in the Tamiya sets in stock at Scale Automobilia but there wasn't anything bending over , Does anyone know of such a figure and where I could get one ?

you could try the fujimi garage and tools series mechanic kit # 11003, that has a fellow in a bending pose as if he were working under a car bonnet

Thank's Harley fan , I'll have a look at that one .

Great looking model sports...I might have to up size my scale soon and get into the big rigs

lol i know how you feel mate im building the italeri western star and boy there fidgety ive got most it done, love this build did u have any complecations with the cab and sleeper putting them together?

Well , I've had a bit of time to get back to this one lately (having a hobby understanding girlfriend helps ) and have basically finished it now . Still have a couple of decals to put on it yet when I find them again , I think I know where they are ....

Just cannot get the passenger side windscreen wiper to sit straight





Finished the trailer too and put it together , just need to unpack all the tamiya mini's I've built and put them on it (when I find which tub they are in , I have more than 700 litres of diecast and plastic models in the spare room in tubs) ,



Very hard to get a clear photo of it considering the total length ...



Next is to get a flatbed front B double trailer (or modify a normal flatbed to be a B double) so I can fit the next mini model project onto it ...




Wonder what it could be