A 1:53 scale model of a road train

A 1:53 scale model of a road train - The construction

    So I needed 2 semi-trailers with the 5th wheel...
    As I said, I started the 2 models from the “1/53RD (O SCALE) DUAL TRAILER W/AXLES AND SUSPENSION ”; these are glued to one end of a pair of aluminium U-shaped profiles (“U” bars), that have the other end cutted in a V shape; the open (lower) side of the bars is closed with a cardboard strip, and the opposite (upper) side is glued to an aluminium plate. This structure forms the trailer's frame .
    This plate is glued to a second, a bit smaller, aluminium plate; the 2 plates form the loading platform of the trailer.
    The other parts are made from various materials, as wooden bars and rods, iron and steel rods, cardboard and plastic strips.
    For all the gluing I used a liquid cyanoachrylic adhesive (Loctite) that proved to be a perfect “soldering tool” for either aluminium to aluminium, or aluminium to other materials (cardboard, wood, plastic, iron).
    I completed the trailers with the above mentioned “AIR HOSE SET”; I glued the ends of every line into a small brass chromed tube , that fits into a short hole drilled into the front of the platform. For the tractor I used its original air hoses, cutting the upper ends off from the back of the sleeper and gluing them into another brass tube.
    There were some parts too difficult to build or carry out, like the holes on the frame, the tail lights and the red side markers. So I made them with a paint program as pictures, that I printed with a color printer - and a suitable reduction factor - on a transparent acetate sheet. I cutted the needed sections and glued them on the model with a double adhesive tape, applied to the printed side of the sheet.
    I made the loads for the 3 trailers with little wooden bars, with a square section of 1 cm (about 0.4 inches); the ropes are made with sewing thread.
    The platform is 19 cm long (about 7.5 inches) and 5 cm wide (about 2 inches); the overall lenght is 24.5 cm (about 9.6 inches), that is - scaled 1:53 - 13 m, or 42.5 feet.
    The total lenght of the road train (tractors + three trailers) is 80 cm (about 31.5 inches), that is - scaled 1:53 - 42.5 m, or 139 feet.

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(The pictures of the model)