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Johnny M

Wilson flatbed upgrade

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Here's the new floor installed on my sectioned Wilson flatbed. I went with the hardwood flooring because that's more like what they used back in the day and also to cover up the joint where I removed the 13 foot section from the original 53' trailer. Feel free to ignore what's left of the joint 'cuz we won't be able to see it after I get the trailer loaded. I think I'm gonna go with a load of steel tubes chained down without a tarp for now, I was planning on steel coils with tarps, but I'll have to work on that later in my spare time since I haven't been able to figure the tarps out yet.

That's the tape I used to cover the floor. I got it from Amazon, and it works great. The tape is very thin and it conforms to the surface of whatever you stick it on, plus it's not peel and stick -- it just unrolls like duct tape. I haven't tried to age or weather it yet; I'll save that for another day.

Johnny

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Tarps can be easy to make using some 2 ply facial tissue with no imprint and some 50/50 white glue and water.  Here are examples of what I did for two WC trucks of WW II.

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Tissue laid in place and "painted with white glue/water mix.

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Tissue rolled up and glued in place.  Spray painted with Testors Olive Drab and then weathered.

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Similar rig but with a larger tarp to make.

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In place with an added piece over the drivers compartment.  The straps are made of brown paper bag strips and brass wire.  Again weathering was done using Tamiya chalks.

The trick is to simply lay the tissue over what you want to cover and let gravity and the glue/water mix do its thing.  After it dries you can shape it to fit the coils you are thinking about.

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OH wow, thanks so much for that info and the pictures. Yours are beautiful!

I'm going to start playing with that TODAY. It's gonna be a fun learning curve. I totally get it now. 

Thanks again,

Johnny

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WooHoo -- finally got a load!

Finally got a load for my now 40' Wilson flatbed. I don't know what these things are -- some kind of coils on frames or platforms, maybe generators or something. I found them on another model, already tarped and chained, so I'm like "That'll work!".

They came with these long black bungee cords with hooks, I guess to keep the tarps from moving around in the wind, so I shortened them and put them on there too.

This is all in 1:64 btw.

Johnny

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Thanks, Bob.

Wish I'd had a trailer this nice back in the day.  I think I  would have been OK with those polished alloy wheels and the toolboxes in between the spreads.

My own trailers -- not so much, but hey, run what you brung, right?

Johnny

 

 

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Thanks, Mark.

I like those smaller sizes mostly because they take up less room 😋, plus you can get away with of with a lot of detail stuff -- like in the interiors -- 'cuz people can't see inside. That's a plus for some older model builders (not saying who) who don't have a steady hand.

I guess 1;43 is my favorite because it's kind of right in the middle. All those trucks up on the shelf there are 1:43s, as well as way too many others.

Johnny

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