Crafting Quine: June 2020

Hiya, Are you looking for a fun gift idea for Father's Day? If so you've found it with the Vintage Flatbed Truck cutting file from Simply Crafty SVGs. I added a couple of extra steps to allow the truck to carry single can of beer or soda as a special Father's Day treat; a rack (to prevent the can rolling around) and a strengthener (to take some of the extra weight). I'll describe how to do these together with some extra ideas for personalising the truck. Assembly of this 3D file takes a little longer than some, but is easily completed by following Simply Crafty SVG's Vintage Flatbed Truck Assembly video instructions, and is definitely time well spent!

Materials Used:
American Crafts Medium Weight Textured Cardstock
Medium-weight Smooth Kraft Cardstock
Silver Metallic Cardstock
Silver Glitter Cardstock
Manual Embossing Machine & Woodgrain Embossing Folder
Walnut Distress Ink Pad and Ink Blending Applicator
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Silhouette Cameo + Designer Edition Software (or other digital cutter)
Self-Adhesive Embellishments
Dimensional Foam Pads or Tape (Black, if you have it)

File Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Vintage Flatbed Truck

ADAPTATIONS

Can Rack
I made a simple rack to hold the can on the flat bed of the truck. It consists of two 3d rectangles adhered to a small flat rectangle of cardstock.

The 3d rectangles were made by simply resizing one of the axel pieces. It was lengthened until it was just slightly shorter than the interior length of the flat bed, and the height was reduced to be slightly smaller than the height of the lowest part of the flatbed wall (compare the sizes of the pieces on the virtual mat in your software). Two copies were cut from kraft cardstock to match the flatbed and with a rectangle of the same length and approximately half the width of the flat bed.

Before assembly the pieces were run through a manual embossing machine and then some walnut brown ink was blended onto the edges and folds to give some extra realism.

The 3d pieces were then adhered to the long edges of the rectangle and the whole thing added to the centre of the flatbed. You could adhere it, but I didn't think it was necessary.

Strengthener

I made a simple 3D triangle shape from black cardstock of the same length as the back axel. I cut this with scissors and made the height of each face of the triangle slightly different so I could rotate it for different heights (a bit of trial and error comes in to play). I placed it as close to the back axel as possible. If you look closely you can see it on the picture below.

Dashboard

The dashboard pattern piece can be found in the 'Extra' folder. I cut it from black cardstock. I also hand cut a very small version to allow the steering wheel (is it called a steering column?) to be mounted proud of the dashboard. I added tabs at either end and when folded down gave a surface for gluing the steering wheel to one end, and for adhering them to the dashboard.

Fender/Bumper and Number Plate

The fender for the front of the vehicle is included with the regular black cutting pieces. I made an extra slightly longer one to go onto the rear of the vehicle. I then made number plates from rounded rectangles drawn in the software, adding text and an interior offset. I used a sketch pen to draw on the details prior to sending them to cut.

The fenders were then mounted to the completed vehicle using dimensional foam pads. I used three stacked on top of each other at either end of each fender to mount it proud of the vehicle. I recommend that you use black dimensional pads if you have them as they are much better disguised than white ones

Adding the Can

A soda or beer can was placed on the custom rack in the flatbed once the vehicle was complete. This makes a fun Father's Day gift, or at any time of the year. It's fun to match the vehicle to the recipient's favourite brew.