Unboxing the Trailer Parts

This is the first part of the AMT Fruehauf FB 40 Foot Reefer Trailer Watkins 1/25 Scale 1421

The Fruehauf company was started by August Fruehauf in Michigan. A blacksmith and carriage builder, he was commissioned in 1914 to build a trailer for a Ford Model T. That first trailer led to a huge demand for custom trailers, and soon Fruehauf was building for a wide variety of clients across America.

Through the 1940s-60s Fruehauf kept building custom trailers. Their popularity was gained due to their sturdy designs and details for each customer’s needs. They were very inventive, creating trailers and flat decks for forestry trucks. The dairy industry, and many more. In fact, a lot of trailers that we take for granted today were initially thought up or refined at Fruehauf. Throughout the 70s and 90s, Fruehauf started making standard-designed trailers for shipping fleets, but they still kept on with their tradition of custom trailers.

AMT originally released this kit back in 1970, and it’s gone through several boxing over the years. In 2024, Round 2 released this kit again, going back to its classic original style packaging.

The parts are mostly molded in a nice dull white styrene. The main sections of the trailer are quite thick, with nice details on both the exterior and interior. In this picture is the lower inner floor featuring a nice woodgrain texture.

The exterior side walls have an excellent corrugated texture and some small raised rivets throughout. The insides are detailed as well, but there are some large ejector pin marks that will have to be addressed later on.

Here are some of the rear axle details. There are some smaller ejector pin marks and some flash, but this is expected given the age of the kit, and it won’t take too long to clean up most of the parts.

More parts for the underside, including the rims for the tires and the star-shaped hubcaps.

This is the refrigerator unit that is mounted on the front of the trailer. Since I’m building this as a standard hauling trailer, I won’t be using most of these parts.

I did find out that converting older reefer trailers into standard shipping trailers is a common practice. The reefer trailers’ walls are a bit thicker and insulated, making the unit more sturdy. Even today, a lot of reefer trailers are sought after to convert into mobile homes.

This is the front of the trailer, as well as the outer doors, which can be opened and closed.

A few chromed parts are included. These will be stripped and repainted later on to match the chrome on the recently completed Kenworth Aerodyne Supercab.

Metal axle rods are included, which will help the wheels turn easily. And some plastic hose for the air lines on the underside.

In a separate bag were 10 rubber tires. These are the same ones that came with the AMT Kenworth Aerodyne. I had an easy time adding those tires to the model, so I’m looking forward to using them again.

A large poster sheet contains all of the instructions. They look nice and easy to read, and all of the part names are identified. The PDF instructions are available for download:AMT Fruehauf Reefer Trailer Instructions 1421

Something I’ve never seen before with a model kit is this extra inclusion of a sheet of styrene. This is included as an option for you to cut out and build your own license plate holder to the rear of the trailer. I think this is a pretty neat addition for AMT to have included.

Lastly, a large decal sheet is included with the Watkins logos. The printing of the decals is beautiful, and there are a lot of extra decals included as options should the modeler wish to add them.

I’m really looking forward to this project and adding on some extra details to the kit. It looks like it’s going to be very fun, but like the Aerodyne, this kit will need a bit of extra attention cleaning the extra flash and sink marks. However, this isn’t too bad, and I don’t think it will really interfere with the building process.

And thanks to all of you who voted, I get to build this in a Sunward Hobbies livery. I can’t thank you all enough for that, as I was hoping it would win the vote. It’s going to be fun transforming this refrigerated trailer into a shipping trailer, bringing kits coast to coast and all over Canada!

To be continued…

About the Author:

Jared Demes is a modeler from southern Alberta. He has been building models since he was 4 years old when his Dad first introduced him to the hobby. He has written for several magazines including, Fine Scale Modeler, Scale Aircraft Modeling, Phoenix Scale Models, and others. He has an interest in all modeling subjects, with a focus on WWII Japanese aircraft and Science Fiction.

Jared has won several IPMS awards for his modeling, and currently operates his YouTube channel rebelsatcloudnine, where he showcases model builds and product demonstrations.

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