oh,goody..a minority of one?
for further realism, those crash bars down the sides of vehicles or trailers really need to be bent and distorted a bit.........long gashes filled with rust need to be prominent.....curtain sides really either need to be bulging here and there, or bearing signs of many repairs.....and I challenge ANY driver to park their vehicle with their front [steering] wheels absolutely dead ahead......without guidance from outside.
clean wagons only exist imediately outside a truck wash....[how long does your car remain pristine?]
then there are those horrible dangly thingies tha infest lorry driver's windscreens?
for the YuK, consider whether one's modelled lorry[artic] is actually fully, partially or lightly loaded? This decision dictates whether the prime mover's pair of rear axles are both on the ground, or whether one is actually raised up?
so if they're both down , all the tyres must show the effects of bearing a huge weight?
then there are teh Special Types General Orders regulations? [EU-wide] [why can I never type ''the''? it always comes out as ''teh?'']
These [STGO] regulations concern the actual weight of the vehicle combination with its load, as it stands......at present the maximum permitted weight in the YuK for a vehicle/trailer combo is 44 tonnes[ and has risen steadily over the years, from 32, to 38 tons, then went metric so acquired tonnes instead....etc]....if the gross weight exceeds this figure then teh vehicle and its driver come under STGO regulations........cat 1 has all but disappeared....Cat 2 is very common..[a weight of between 46 and 80 tonnes]....Cat3 is sometimes seen too [80 tonnes to, I beleive, 250 tonnes]......
what this means to you finescale modellers is......thsoe fancy low loader outfits with a niftily-detailed piece of Wiking plant chained down on the back, are actually likely to come under STGO Cat2....
[this has nothing to do with ''wide'' or ''overly long'' loads, they have different regulations]
after all teh above, the physical manifestation is.................................... a small black plate on hte cab front, with STGO and CAt 2 letters in white.
for those rivet counters amongst you...as it is a 'legally required' plate....it has legally defined dimensions...just like a registration number....the size is as follows
length 400mm, width 250mm, letter size, ''STGO'' in white, 105mm high, ''Cat 2'' in white,75mm high.... [[scale as you will]...........further information available in Croner's Road Transport guide....but concerns speed limits...[legal speed limit on a motorway, 40 MPH......to surprise those of you who model more than they drive]
amber flishy-flashy things are optional depending on ego.....
have a look out next time you're out on the roads, and pass a plant-hire low loader....often the drivers just leave the plate displayed on the front permanently...
oh, adn next time you lot model a bus from teh 70's, DON'T forget the driver's cup of tea perched on the dashboard front!
