Volvo FH12 6x2/4 500 Globetrotter XL, Sweet Candy, Scale 1:13



Motivation

This is my second truck in this large scale 1:13, the idea to create the truck came up a while after I finished my first truck. In the same time I had discovered Bricklink, and constructions were now only limited by the fantasy (and the amount of money) instead of my current stock of bricks.

I also found it interesting to try some of the new colors that have been added to the LEGO system in the last years, and by this model it would be possible to use both orange and purple. Later I found out that it is not always that easy to built with the 'new' colors, since they are not all complete, that means, with the same amount of different types of bricks, compared to the 'old' colors.

The Original Truck

The truck is owned by the hauling company, Henrik Guldager, in Aalborg, Denmark. The truck is made as a 6x2/4 combination, primarily for international transport, i.a. Spain.
It is equipped with a D12D 500 engine, 12.1 liter, straight 6, turbocompund and intercooler. Effect 500 HP at 1600-1800 rpm. and torque 2400 Nm at 1000-1300 rpm.
The gearbox is of the type I-shift, (computercontrolled gearshift) 12 gears, range/split.
On the rear end is mount a 'Jost' adjustable fifth wheel.

Right Right

The Hauler

The truck is owned by the hauler Henrik Guldager, who have made a lot of the equipment on the truck by himself. It is the 13th in a row of custom made trucks from Henrik Guldager, of course the number 13 is not printet on the truck since it is normally a number of bad luck. Henrik Guldager created his first truck when he was only 17 years old, and won a nice trophy for the job. After that he had taken 7 wins with other trucks in the nordic competition, Nordic Trophy.

Equipment

The truck is equipped with a all kind of equipment a driver could wish, among others: Telephone, FAX, navigationprogram Volvo Dynafleet, DVD, Rockford MP3 stereo of 1500 Watt, with Bang & Olufsen loudspeakers. In the rear of the cabin, a 15" widescreen TV is mount, and in the front a smaller 7" screen is mount. Inside, the light can be dimmed, and outside 78 light emitting diodes are placed under the truck. The cabin is upholstered with 19m2 leather in Chesterfield style. Outside the truck is equipped with a lot of homemade stainless steel details, in the rear bumper you will find BMW taillights. The truck is painted in 7 layers, and the Finn, Simo Riikonen has created all the beautifull motifs around the trucks. At last the color and motifs are sealed with 10 layers of lacquer.
Below some details of the real truck is showned.

Right Right Rear Rear Drivers-cabin
Source: TRAILER nr. 9/2002. TRAILER-MAGAZINE

Data

The data of the original truck.


Drivers-cabin

Length

6.5m

Load

17 tons

Total weight

26 tons

Engine

Volvo D12D, straight 6 , 500 HP

Gearbox

12 speed, range/split, I-shift



LEGO model

This truck, which is the second in my collection of scale 1:13, were actually a lot easyer to built than the first model, since a lot of the chassis parts are alike. And with that kind of experience, I could concentrate on the special outside of this truck, to match the real truck. As mentioned earlier, one of the tricky parts were the construction in the 'new' colors, since they are not complete. Both regarding orange and purple it is primarily the 'even' bricks which are represented, that means, 1x2, 1x4, etc. 1x1 and 1x3 are hard to find, and tiles (smooth bricks) are not made in 'odd' sizes.
The necessary data for construction of the model, I have gathered both from some of my own digital photos from the first time the truck was shown public at Elmia, Sweden 2002, but also from a very fine report in the sweedish magazine TRAILER from nr. 9/2002.

The truck is built on a 6x2/4 chassis, called pusher- or twinsteer-chassis, the rear axle is driven, and the two front axles are steared. The drivers cabin is a L2H3 cabin, also named, Globetrotter XL, the largest of Volvo's drivers cabins.

Chassis

The chassis is built of to longtitudinal frame sections, with supports in between. The frontaxle is made as the original with airsuspension and shock absorbers, the front wheels can turn and they are equipped with an Ackermann connection to turn the innermost wheel more than the outer to give the right direction when turning.
The middle axle is also equipped with airsuspension and a pneumatic cylinder to be able to lift it from the ground. In my model I have placed an aircompressor in the fuel tank on the left side of the truck, and a batteribox in one of the lockers for tools on the right side. The rear axle is equipped with airsuspension, a working differential and propeller shaft to the gearbox.

The whole area around the fifth wheel is a little special, since the original is equipped with handmade plates of stainless steel, and the closest for that in LEGO is Chrome tiles, sadly they are only made in 1x2, which was quite a challenge to make fit in around the mudgards, lights etc., the result can be seen below, 498 tiles were used for the truck.
The rear bumper are made primarily of those chromed tiles, in both sides it is equipped with 'BMW' taillights, and in the middle below the licenceplate a little locker for different eqippment is placed. In the bottom are all width mudflaps, with the inscription: 'VOLVO', 'Guldager', 'a strong Team', 'VOLVO'.
On the right side of the truck there are two lockers, containing refrigerator and toolbox. On the left side the fuel tank is found behind the sidecover.
Both the fifth wheel, and the structure for airhoses and electric for the trailer are also made of chromed tiles.

Right Right Left Left
Rear Rear Rear-top Rear-top

Engine

The engine is made of 3 parts, the block with gearbox, inlet- and outletsystem.
The engine is a straight 6 with working crankshaft and pistons. On the rear is the gearbox, where the rotation from the propeller shaft is directed to the crankshaft. The engineblock is equipped with cooler, intercooler, manifold (inlet and outlet) and a turbocompound system.
The inlet system, begins from above the drivers cabin, through a long channel behind the cabin, to the airfilter behind the left front wheel, and from the airfilter to the inlet-side of the turbo. The exhaustsystem consists of pipes from the outlet-side of the turbo, to the two vertical silencers behind the right side of the drivers cabin.

Engine-left Engine-right Inlet Exhaust

Drivers Cabin - Outside

In the front of the frame the front bumper is placed, on the front bottom of that, two mudflaps and a licenseplate is mount.
On the bumper is also mount a wildbar, also in the colors orange in the lowerpart and red in the top. On the top of the wildbar 4 spotlights are mount. The wildbar can be lowered when the cabin is tilted for engine service.
The main headlights are mount in the bumper, on the original they contains both, low- and high beam, fog lights and turn signals, all in one unit. It was a bit tricky to get the bricks fit together since reversed slopes are hard to find in the orange color.
In both sides there are the front part of the mudguards, and 3 chromed steps for entering the cabin.
The cabin is mount on a junction in the front, and supported by airsuspension in the front- and rear end. In the front there is a large leaf, to enter the engine from the front, to refill water, oil. etc. This leaf has to be opened if the cabin is tilted for engine-service. In each side the doors can be opened. They are equipped with mirrors, two in the left side, and two in the right side + the near-sight mirror.
In each side of the cabin behind the doors is also a small locker for tools and other equipment.
Over the front windshield the sun visor with 5 top marking lights and 2 spotlights are mount. On the roof of the cabin there are 2 top marking lights and a bar with 6 spotligths. Behind those, an all width warning light, antennas and compressor horn is mount. In between the warning light and the roofspoiler there is a small sunroof. On the rear of the cabin, you will find working lights and the inlet for the engine.

Mudflaps Wildbar Wildbar Frontleaf
Right-door Right-door Left-door Right-door
Sunvisor Roof Roof Rear

Drivers Cabin - Inside

Inside the drivers cabin, I have also placed a lot of details to match the original as much as possible. The seats are equipped with arm rests, microphone in the drivers chair, and black color like the leather on the original, and the bottom parts are orange. The dashboard is black, with a silver line and orange tiling on top.
In the rear, you will find the lower bed, placed in an office configuration, that means, with a chair in both sides and a small table in the middle, eqipped with a bottle of wine and to glasses, like the original at displays. The upper bed is equipped with a large mirror on the down side and made in purple leather. Above the windshield there is small TV screen, sun visors which can be lowered independenly, and a small locker.
In the ceiling and rear wall there are several lamps and mirrors. Inside, the walls are made like orange leather in the bottom, and purple leather from the top of the windows to the roof.

Inside Inside Inside Inside
Inside Inside Inside Inside

Various

Logos Logos The model is equipped with a lot of stripes, motifs and logoes, I have made on my computer. Some of them are homemade, others are made from photes I could retouche. The stickers are made on an inkjetprinter on white labels. To the right I have placed a few examples.

Data

The final data of the LEGO model.


Finished

Length

50.2 cm

Width

19.2 cm

Height

30.7 cm

Wheelbase

21.1 + 10.7 cm

Construction time

Around 100 hours

Date

December 2004 - Januar 2005


Conclusion

A little conclusion on the project. It is my second 1:13 model, but absolutely not the last one, I have had a lot of fun constructing the truck, and I guess the future will bring more 1:13 models to my collection. Using the 'new' colors appear to be rather tricky, probably the hardest part of the project. Also I found the Volvo model is a hard truck to reproduce in LEGO, since there is a lot of round corners, and sloping lines. But anyway I am rather satisfied with the model.

I have a lot of pictures of the model, below I have put a few of them. If you like to see more of the model or the original truck, dont hesitate to contact me.

SweetCandy SweetCandy SweetCandy SweetCandy
SweetCandy SweetCandy SweetCandy SweetCandy