Well here is my OTR entry. Won this Titan off Ebay for $12.00. The plan is to cut the sleeper off, shorten the frame and make a yardbird truck out of her. Jim B sent me a complete step by step instruction manual on how to do this conversion along with the correct rear springs. Don't know what the paint scheme will be yet but I may make her into a local short haul truck.

The truck:


And what she'll hopefully look like in a few months:



I have plenty of odd decals to work with and a few ideas so stay tuned and we'll see what happens.



Hermon

Up and down our street next to the plant there's a truck tire shop and I've seen plenty of shorty singles and even more transfer trucks. Nothing like the sound of a wound out transfer truck doing 30-35mph. The vast majority are plain white, but that doesn't mean you have to play by those rules...stripe her up or whatever. Make the one you thought should be on the road...or yard.

Good luck, Hermon. I'm keeping my eye on this one as I'm hoping to do this too, but I think I'll use an Astro.

Jim

That's going to be quiet a conversion.
Can't wait to see the progress.

Erikssson.

Always good to see the older kits dragged out of hiding, dusted off and built .
Would look good as a bruised and battered yard dog.
Best of luck with the "cut'n'shut".

Roger.

I gotta ask hermon, how are you going to do the back window{s}...single center- large, 3 piece, or small center?

Dunno yet Bob. Part of me wants a single small window, and then again a solid back with a big flag decal or something would be cool.

Yeah, well here is a start......if ya'll wanna call it that. I have the cab marked and will cut out the "X" section (1-1/4") tomorrow. If everything matches up OK I'll glue the front and rear sections back together, putty and sand it all and presto!.....a day cab.





As per Jims' directions, I removed a 2-3/16" section of the frames starting exactly 1" from the rear of the frames. The pic below shows the original frame on top and the shortened frame on the bottom.





I think I'm gonna work on the major modifications for right now. I'll save the engine, wheels, etc. for later on. Besides this project I also have 3 airplane campaigns going, a 60 hour per week job, a 2 acre garden to work in, 2 kids to raise, 3000 ft. of fence to build cause my cows and donkey keep getting into the neighbors pasture, and a wife to keep happy.


Hermon

Take care of that last one, Herman, and the rest will take care of themselves!

Grubby.

Very true...the saying around these parts is, "if mamma ain't happy, then nobody is happy."
Hermon, watch that side cut near the door latch, you don't want to cut the the latch and have to repair it later. When I made my daycab I moved the verticle cut line back just behind the latch, all the way up and down from there.....this will save the latch and give you a tiny amount of sandability before hitting the rivets there. Food for thought.

Yep, already ahead of ya Bob. The black lines were just something to go by when I layed the tape out. I put guide tape about 1/8" further to the rear and took up the slack in the rear of the cab. Besides the door latch, this also saves me from loosing all the rivet detail on the sides and top. Pic's coming in a day or so.

Hermon

Day cab! All I's gotta did now is sand it, fill it again, sand it some more and paint it up real purty.




After reading the instructions MORE CLEARLY this time.....I noticed that the wheelbase I chose requires the shorty, rounded fuel tanks. I ain't got any so I'm gonna cut down the kit ones to fit the new cab dimentions.


Hermon

This is going to be a cool build. The cab is coming along. Now spend less time talking on line and more build time!!!

Looking great Hermon (I'm allowed to be nice to you here in truck central). I'm looking forward to following your progress here. Those "shorty" cab-overs always look like they will tip over forwards if you hit the anchors too hard !!

Cheers, D

........Must......resist...........reverse psychology........
Uh, thanks?



Hermon

Enjoy it hermon...he'll make up for it on that other build!

Hey, is this per the jensen book build?

Easy, Hermon. Deep breaths. You'll be fine.

Your daycab cam out nicely.

Jim

Quick update.
I have not touched plastic, glue, paint, etc. in going on 3 weeks now. I'm gonna have to start calling in sick to work just so I can get back to building.


Bob, yup, this is per the Jensen book build. Though, by the time it's finished Mr. Jensen may sue me for torturing one of his ideas to death.


Hermon

I wouldn't worry about it. Jensen's been dead for 15 or 20 years.

Jim

I wanna see hermon build the last one shown in the book!

You mean the little Dodge L700?

Jim

Lindberg does have a kit of the Dodge L-700, in combination with a trailer.
Kit nr. 73068.
It's a special little truck.

Erikssson.

Just so you guys don't think I've fallen off the face of the earth, here's a little update. I have swept the cobwebs off the workbench and at last some progress is being made.





There's still a load of work to do to the engine and chassis but they're starting to take shape.



Hermon

Looking good.

Jim

Well it's about time seeing some in progress pics again. OK less talking and more building...

Yes Sir!

I'm having camera issues but you can see the color on the frame is Model Masters turquoise. The engine is sitting in the frame but not glued down yet. It's been drybrushed with some flat silver and had a black wash to tone it all down.





Thinking of going with the turquoise color on the cab with a wide white stripe and some gold pinstripes. Any thoughts?


Hermon