Backdate the 1/24 Italleri Freightliner FLC

[Johnny Red]

, Backdating the hood on this kit isn't as tough as one might think. With the proper tools, and a little patience, this conversion is quite simple. First is to prime the hood to see the markings for the cuts, I drilled two holes in the top of the fenders for corner location. The first cut with a razor saw was along the hood upright on an angle to the bottom of the headlight buckets. Second cut came in from the side, at this point you should be meeting with the drilled holes. Now that both buckets are gone I lined the inside of the fenders with sheet styrene cut to fit, this creates a foundation for the putty to lay on. Everyone has their favorite brand, mine just seems to be squadron green and white. Starting with the green, put more than enough on and go past the ground zero, this will help in the end results. After the green is sanded off, you should have noticeable low spots. Now comes the white, I'm using two colors as a guide to see how deep I'm going into the fender. Once this is sanded off, do a quick mock up to check your work. At this point more primer will be applied and small defects will be cared for prior to paint. 

[trucker]

very nice work ! have this on the to do list.    thanks for posting !

[EvanH]

By filling in the square space left from removing the headlight surround with sheet styrene, one can minimize the amount of filler needed.  I'm leery of Squadron putties, and they will shrink over time.  I suggest superglue plus baking powder, or a two-part polyester putty like Evercoat.

[dsldriver]

I did the same thing to a real KW W900B back in my body shop days!

[NAVY]

Sweet trick. I love that old school freight shaker look. The conv from the seventies along with the Peterbilts where some of the best looking trucks every made.  I will give this a go. Thanks for the post.