Great Dane Extended Flatbed

Bill Newcomer
My black and gold Freightliner needs its own trailer. I am going to build AMT's Extendable Flat Bed for it. It will be black with some gold touches to match. I have some mods planned for it as well. Follow along if you wish.

Treehugger
Will you put anything onto the trailer?

Nigel Chapman
Any lights?

Bill Newcomer
Treehugger, Yes Plymouth Superbirds and Dodge Daytona Chargers, (Of course I have to build some Superbirds).

Bill Newcomer
Nigel. Not going with "working" lights. The kit comes with all clear lenses for some reason. Fortunately I have a stash of red and amber lenses in my parts box.

Brandon H
Nice! Following this one

Bill Newcomer
Brandon, welcome to the adventure.

Bill Newcomer
Stuffed the tires with backer rod to keep AMT's wimpy tires full in the rims. Sanded the tread for a touch of realism. Painted the brake drums gold for a subtle hint of color. Added tag axle wheels from the parts box. However, I am now one tire short for the spare rim.

Bill Newcomer
Made my first modification. I was not sure if I wanted to utilize the front bulkhead or not. If I glue it then i can't remove it. If I want it on for display, it just falls over. I could figured out some method of pegging it but I found a better way. I still had leftover magnets from my diorama. I simply added some C-channel to the inside base of the bulkhead and glued magnets to that and the underside of the deck. Now I can take it off without marring the finish or put it on with always perfect alignment. Easy peasy.

Nigel Chapman
Clever

Bill Newcomer
I am going to utilize the tag axle suspension I got from Auslowe last year. I do need to figure out exactly where to locate it. Maybe all the way to the rear, maybe in between the sliding tandem rack or further forward. I am not sure. I'll know better once some of the other chassis pieces are in place.

Bill Newcomer
Onto the next modification. I wanted to take advantage of the extendability of the frame and increase the deck length to accommodate 3 long cars. I have the floor from a parted out short hauler that even has a woodgrain pattern. The width was really close and I shortened each end right up to the nearest crossmember. I fabricated a perimeter frame with some Evergreen C-channel. I made two tracks to locate the deck on the extended trailer frame from some Plastruct I-beam. Once the perimeter was complete I fabricated tie-down rails from some more Evergreen styrene. I got them to match pretty close to the kit's tie-down rails.

Bozzer
I'll keep an eye on this. I have one in my stash. I also have some interesting pictures of a flatbed, with cargo. I was thinking about doing mine as a spread axle trailer though, with tool boxes, between the two axles? That's way in the future though. Keep up the good work Bill

Brandon H
That deck came out really nice!

Bill Newcomer
Bozzer, If I had an extra suspension truck I would add it in and make a 4 axle trailer. If you want a spread axle trailer, get the new one from Moebius.

48' Flatbed Trailer (Moebius Models 1304, 1:25)

Bill Newcomer
Got most all of the pieces painted. Fast drying rattle can paint means I should be able to start assembly sooner.

Bill Newcomer
I got most of the frame parts assembled. The instructions want you to glue the frame to the deck(s) first then put everything else on. My decks are not ready yet. Besides there is some play on the mating of them. I want to take advantage of that for best alignment.

Brandon H
Wow, you're ripping right through this! Looking good so far.

Bill Newcomer
Thank you Brandon. With two major sub assemblies to work on, this kit is pretty easy.

Bill Newcomer
Painted my decks with flat tan to simulate wood. I debated with myself as to whether on not to highlight the molded in woodgrain for more realism like I did my lowboy. The challenge was the differences in how the woodgrain was embossed onto the parts. The front and rear decks have the detail indented into the deck. The added-in deckplate has the woodgrain detail raised. After determining that two different techniques were required and the trial and (and mostly) error that would likely result, I decided to forgo the attempt. So... I masked off the pieces and sprayed the mostly gloss black onto the underside and perimeter of the decks. I also sprayed some matt gloss onto the mud flaps. It sprayed like doodoo but still gave the effect of mudflaps made from recycled rubber.

Nigel Chapman
The decks look great

Bill Newcomer
Thank you Nigel.

Bill Newcomer
Major subassemblies nearly finished. Almost done!

Bill Newcomer
Unmasked and decaled the last piece of the puzzle. After the touch up paint dries, I can clear coat it and call this one done.

Bill Newcomer
Finished it yesterday. I got a break in the weather and took it outside for some pics. Comments welcome.

Bozzer
Mate, another stunning build! She looks like she's about to hit the road! Well done buddy, she's beautiful!!! 👍

Bob Hall
And what is the projected load ?

Bill Newcomer
Bozzer, Thank you. 🙂
Bob, a combination of Plymouth Superbirds and Dodge Daytonas.
Though I need to build them.

Nigel Chapman
That looks superb!

Neuling
Nigel is right. 👍

Brandon H
Nice trailer. Looks right at home behind that FLA!

Jarrett
Superb! Love the wood on the trailer and American muscle!

Bill Newcomer
Thank you guys! 🙂