Dodge L-700 with short flatbed trailer

[Plastheniker]

Hi,

As far as I know this Dodge L-700 was the very first truck kit. Since the latter was issued in the sixties by an almost forgotten manufacturer named IMC it should be no surprise that probably this truck kit requires most time, effort and skills to make a model withstanding the scrutiny of today’s modelers.

I found the following major problems:

• In those days opening doors were standard on car models. Fortunately this was dropped in the eighties and nineties. I say “fortunately” because many well-built models were spoilt by opening doors which didn’t fit properly when closed: Door gaps were varying and way too large, and often these doors didn’t even follow the shape of the body. Also the doors of this Dodge kit fit very poorly. Since there isn’t even a door stop you can peep through the wide door gaps. Moreover the clumsy (working) door hinges are completely out of scale. In my oppinion the only solution is adding door stops, making equal door gaps, gluing the doors well-aligned into the door openings, and replacing the monstrous hinges.
• The mirror braces are way too thick. I replaced them by self-made units from hypodermic needles.
• The windscreen rubber seals are not replicated. This makes the windscreens look so odd that the seals must be added.
• If you build OOB the alignment cab/bumper will go wrong. This becomes evident by an unrealistic huge gap between cab and bumper.
• The trailer bed was extremely warped. I had to mill down the underside of of the bed completely. After gluing on a fitting sheet of thick styrene the bed was plane and the missing details could be restored .
• There were numberless minor fit and cast problems which, however, were easy to fix by comparison.

Finally I found that the result repaid all the pains, because this kit made a really unique and attractive model at a favourable price.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2017 by Plastheniker
Fotki links replace PB

[Bennyg]

Great work as usual.

Ben

[cobraman]

You did a nice job on what I would call a tough kit.

[Monty]

I love it when an accomplished modeler refuses to settle for "good enough". Fixing all those issues must've been time consuming, but as we can see, the payoff is a much better build. Thanks for listing your solutions, Jürgen. I'm sure they'll benefit others who'd like to address those same issues.

[tbill]

that looks fantastic!

[slusher]

Very sharp L-700.

[Danno]

Nice.

[ChrisR]

Very nice!!!!

[PappyD340]

Most EXCELLENT build Jurgen!!

[37 caddy]

Very nice job on that one,this is one of my favorite kits,I just wish IMC had made the bigger cabover when they had planned too,their kits were very nicely detailed for the time. Harvey

[Ridgeback]

Superb build.

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for your comments so far!

[Harry P.]

I have never seen a better example of this model. Very nice.

[peekay]

I agree, never seen this model look so good.

[Plastheniker]

Harry, Peter, thanks a lot!

[hotrod59f100]

I love it. I like the color combo

[Trailking120]

WOW you did a great job with this one.

[Kostas Parchas]

Nice and clean build.

Kostas.

[BigBad]

Another outstanding and realistic build! I haven't seen this one until today. The cab is straight and level, it has the right look. While I ususally don't pay much attention to these trucks, I am truly impressed by this one. You have one terrific fleet Jurgen!

[72 Charger]

Great work again . What did you have to do to get the cab to sit correctly ? (ie loose the gaping hole at the front)

[Mopar - D]

Great job on the Dodge.

[kilrathy10]

Very nice work....I thought I had commented on this, but I guess not.....This is a marvelous rendition....Very clean and tidy.....The mirrors are my favorite part.....Very nice work to get that done.....And the doors look great, and the winch on the trailer, along with the ramps make it work....The truck on the back ain't too shabby, either....

[Tom Geiger]

Great work Jürgen! You did the right thing by gluing those doors shut. Above are my two IMC / Lindberg A100s. The van is a resin body that had the doors molded shut so I didn't know just how bad those doors were until I did the pickup. I've just given up on hinging them with the kit hinges and am gluing them shut! I do want to build one of those L-700s to complete my set!

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for the further replies!

Great work again . What did you have to do to get the cab to sit correctly ? (ie loose the gaping hole at the front)

David, I am sorry, I pondered what I did exactly but then forgot to answer.

I am quite sure that I eliminated the kit tilt hinges. Instead I built two supports and glued the cab onto them, i. e. the cab cannot be tilted. I can't remember, however, if the kit's rear cab suppor had to be modified to make the cab sit correctly.

I am also quite sure that after aligning the cab the bumper had to be repositioned to reduce the huge gap between cab and bumper.

Some good pictures of the 1:1 vehicle are indispensable for achieving a realistc look.

Great work Jürgen! You did the right thing by gluing those doors shut. Above are my two IMC / Lindberg A100s. The van is a resin body that had the doors molded shut so I didn't know just how bad those doors were until I did the pickup. I've just given up on hinging them with the kit hinges and am gluing them shut! I do want to build one of those L-700s to complete my set!

The whole line is nice and really worth the effort!

[Old Albion]

Very impressive clean build.