Freightliner complete

The Freightliner is now complete with the boom from Italeri mounted behind the cab.

The Italeri kit includes a great set of add-ons for any serious modeler of Class 8 trucks. Apart from the boom, there are deck plates, exhaust systems and step plates galore. The boom is the only component requiring assembly, and it goes together well, with one caveat: each component sockets into the next, so the order of assembly is critical and is not reflected in the sheet, which is simply an exploded drawing. Start with the hook at the end of the boom and work your way back to the mounting structure and hydraulic tank, and there should be no problem. Pay particular attention to the lovely 4-bar mechanism before gluing any bits together here.

The photo below shows the Freightliner and the Unimog, both with Italeri booms; this is where the difference between 1/24 and 1/25 becomes obvious as the Freightliner (in 1/25) seems small next to the Unimog (in 1/24). In both cases the boom is quite large compared to the cab, and I have a feeling the true 1:1 unit is a better fit between the mirrors.

So this finishes off a series of relatively quick builds required to complete stuff I had started over the last couple of years prior to retirement.

One of my better builds, you ask? Not really, as I was in a hurry to clear some of the opened boxes, and the arrival of the SD chassis, with its short day cab, allowed me to build the utility vehicle you see here. So close examination will reveal some sloppy paint and glue lines. Also the Tamiya yellow is pretty pale next to the bright yellow of the Italeri components.

What's next, you ask? A difficult decision. The list of started but incomplete stuff includes mainstream styrene racers (Tamiya 956, Revell BRE 240Z), custom builds requiring further planning (Freightliner Allison hot rod, 956 pickup truck), and resin (MFH 908/03, and DBR1, Renault NM Record and Audi S1 from Profil 24). There are also a number of items that are stalled, and probably for good reason. Certainly the 956 and 240Z should be relatively quick, but quite frankly I have been avoiding the resin and perhaps I need to get back to this before clearing kits becomes a chore. With one complete resin/multimedia kit under my belt (the Abarth), I can see that they are not impossible, just different; a different mindset is needed.

Meanwhile I need to rearrange the display cabinet, as the Freightliner and Mog are taking up an entire shelf all by themselves. This is called playing with my toys ...