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24 Hour Build - Dodge A100 Pickup


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Each year Gary Kulchock and gang from West Virginia host the 24 Hour Build. I believe this was year 8. Gary actually has a bunch of guys at his house, and there are a few other groups around the country, but over 50 modelers built as part of the project. I was one of them, building solo here in Pennsylvania.

The premise is to start a model at noon on Saturday and to work 24 hours, finishing it by noon on Sunday. It's quite a challenge and a lot of fun.

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Here I am right before noon on Saturday. I decided to build a stock A100 pickup, as a stable mate to the A100 van I had recently finished for my Amnesty Project. My own rule for the build is to find a kit that is relatively easy to build that I have multiple copies of so that I can build it for fun without worrying about the end result. I chose this one because I had just built one, so I thought I knew all the little quirks of the kit. Um, I was wrong. This kit was quite a challenge. Aside from what you see here, I had another parts kit just in case I broke a part. I did, and I pulled parts from this kit and will deal with the imperfect ones at a later date. My kits are from the first lot of Lindberg units. I received a half case from them as a thank you because I donated my original issue instruction sheet to them for the new kit.

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Here's where I was about 4pm. I had all the parts I needed off the trees and cleaned up. I had putty on imperfections. This kit was cast in a funky shiny red plastic that was wavy in texture and every piece had a plastic fuzz around all the edges. A lot to clean up. This is where you start to realize how long the different steps of building a kit actually take!

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A dozen hours later I had everything painted and moving ahead. I used Testors Wet Look paint for the first time, and it performed well. Color is Flaming Orange. Another time stealer was that I replaced the front windshield center post. It was just odd on the kit body.

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I also had the chassis up on wheels. I didn't do my usual weathering, I wanted to build a model clean for a change. The engine is done, I didn't need anything up top since you will only see it from the bottom on the finished model.

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And I was as finished as I was gonna get by 6:15 am. Funny thing was that last year I was beyond tired and making mistakes by 5 am, but this year I was just fine. My issue was that while the paint was dry to the touch, it was still soft underneath and started to scratch off in final assembly. So I thought it best to wait a bit until it hardens completely. One thing that slowed me down was that I was fearful of the red plastic, so my paint is Duplicolor gray primer, followed by Duplicolor metallic silver as a barrier, then the Testors paint over that. So while some guys just shot paint onto bare plastic for the build, I had to wait for three different coats to dry.

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And here we are in the morning once I got a bit of sleep. I did get a nice shelf piece to sit with my van. It's a bit different since I usually don't do fun trucks so it's cool.

The overall 24 Hour Build is fun on several levels. First it's a good challenge of your skills and learning to build quickly. I notice that I do build a bit more systematically and get more done since I did it last year. Also, we're all communicating and posting progress photos on the Facebook page all night. There's nothing like posting a 4am progress report and instantly having 6 guys respond. And it's cool knowing there are 50 people out there doing exactly what you are doing in the middle of the night!

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I enjoyed watching the builds on facebook but, I did sleep through the night. The young people won me over for the fact that they all seemed to finish and how sleepy eyed they looked at the end. Nice job on your model Tom, I watched your progress throughout. I've used the Flaming Orange a couple of times myself and received nice compliments on it both times, good choice for you.

Edited by rmvw guy
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Nice going Tom. I will admit it looks better and got farther with that kit than I thought you would. It's a tough little model. : )

Yes that A100 kit has it's challenges! My big problem was the paint that was scratching right down to the primer as I attempted my final assembly. I still had 6.5 hours to go, so I could've finished, but the results would have been poor. The paint is now hard as a rock, but today I chose to give the body and chassis top another coat of color to counter those scratches. I also didn't like the crooked tailgate, so I took another one from my parts kit and sanded it for a better fit (inner and outer shell) this time.

I am quite pleased with the build, it does look so cool in that color! And shiny is a big change for me. Next year I might do an AMT '53 Ford pickup.

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  • 8 months later...

Tom,

(This is crazy) Your name caught my eye. I got to ask, you happen to have gone to Meyersdale High School in PA, by chance?

AND not to mention your building an A100 here.....I'ma Mopar guy so.....

Not me! I went to high school in New Jersey. There is a Tom Geiger in Saylorville, PA who could be your man. The credit agencies keep tangling our credit reports so I've actually spoke to him.

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Thats insane! I can't imagine this but I myself know a Tom Geiger, AND his son Tom as well so....Tom Jr. I thought maybe you were one of them! I can't image there are now 4 Tom Geiger's I know of! LOL Went to school with at least one of them! (Tom Jr.)

Anyway then.....back to the model, any updates?

Edited by 426-Hemi
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Thats insane! I can't imagine this but I myself know a Tom Geiger, AND his son Tom as well so....Tom Jr. I thought maybe you were one of them! I can't image there are now 4 Tom Geiger's I know of! LOL Went to school with at least one of them! (Tom Jr.)

Anyway then.....back to the model, any updates?

We're more common than you'd think. Years ago I had a vendor who called on me at work who was also Tom Geiger. It would flip out security when he showed up "Tom Geiger to see Tom Geiger!"

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This was the easiest kit I've ever done.

I need to pick up a few more :)

The chassis just falls together, no real need for plug wires, no hood, a mainly square body... ?

This is true, UNLESS you modify the top of the "Dog House" by adding glass, THEN you can see the engine under it....I plan to go through and "hinge" those I am doing withthe dog house in place for viewing purposes! BECAUSE, remember the doors also open as well to flip open the dog house (Even tho in real life, it had pressure clips that held the whole works in place for easy removal to maintenance the engine under it!)

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We're more common than you'd think. Years ago I had a vendor who called on me at work who was also Tom Geiger. It would flip out security when he showed up "Tom Geiger to see Tom Geiger!"

I guess.....Can't be no worse them me, there are a few of me around in the same city I live, one with the EXACT same name including middle name as well, the other 2, spell their last names with an "e" not an "o" so.........

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This is true, UNLESS you modify the top of the "Dog House" by adding glass, THEN you can see the engine under it....I plan to go through and "hinge" those I am doing withthe dog house in place for viewing purposes! BECAUSE, remember the doors also open as well to flip open the dog house (Even tho in real life, it had pressure clips that held the whole works in place for easy removal to maintenance the engine under it!)

Beware of those friggin doors.. The hinges are so huge and out of scale that I finally decided just to glue them in place. I cut off the hinges and made scale ones from Evergreen rod. I followed the example of my Jimmy Flintstone A100 resin van body and how they did that.

A few shortcomings of the A100 kit... it's missing the "Dodge" emblems on the doors. Many years ago a resin caster offered doors that had the scripts on them. I believe they came from the larger IMC Dodge truck kit. I had made decals of the scripts, but opted to just live without them on my build.

Second issue is that the gas cap is missing from the left rear fender. I drilled out and added one.

And yes, I glued the engine cover in place between the seats so there was no reason to detail the top end of the engine at all. I put the stock small V8 in the pickup and actually fit a slant six in the van

Edited by Tom Geiger
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WELL there ARE A FEW reasons things are missing!!!!!

REMEMBER this A100 is for the Little Red Wagon, RACE truck~! They removed MOST of the emblems to lighten it for speed, This meaning the doors, on the REAL one were FIBERGLASS and had no "DODGE" emblems!

ALSO why it has no gas tank fill cap....The fuel tank was not in the race truck, the "stock" versions has a tank yes, but this kit was designed strictly for the race version for Bill Golden's truck. remember this truck
ALSO was changed 3 times over a span of almost 4 decades from 1964 to 2001 when it was retired....The engine too changed....it began as a cross ram intake, then to a hillborn injected intake to the last and final one it was supercharged....

So please, understand this model was created around a race truck, NOT a stock model as it should have been!

WHY however the doors hinges are so big is easy........... the design, to make the model is really old, back then when it was a BRAND NEW model first offered for sale the opening doors then, gave it an even stronger sales pitch...BUT the crude design had to be strong to with stand children handling them, and thats why the hinges are so bit....HOWEVER the correct tools can make them work in scale, as I plan to on mine! Using the same factory given materials!

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WELL there ARE A FEW reasons things are missing!!!!!

REMEMBER this A100 is for the Little Red Wagon, RACE truck~! They removed MOST of the emblems to lighten it for speed, This meaning the doors, on the REAL one were FIBERGLASS and had no "DODGE" emblems!

ALSO why it has no gas tank fill cap....The fuel tank was not in the race truck, the "stock" versions has a tank yes, but this kit was designed strictly for the race version for Bill Golden's truck. remember this truck

ALSO was changed 3 times over a span of almost 4 decades from 1964 to 2001 when it was retired....The engine too changed....it began as a cross ram intake, then to a hillborn injected intake to the last and final one it was supercharged....

So please, understand this model was created around a race truck, NOT a stock model as it should have been!

WHY however the doors hinges are so big is easy........... the design, to make the model is really old, back then when it was a BRAND NEW model first offered for sale the opening doors then, gave it an even stronger sales pitch...BUT the crude design had to be strong to with stand children handling them, and thats why the hinges are so bit....HOWEVER the correct tools can make them work in scale, as I plan to on mine! Using the same factory given materials!

I know all about the Little Red Wagon. I date back to that era! And I've seen the real truck in person, spoke with Bill Maverick and even have autographed photos and t-shirt! And know that the primary buyers of kits back then were kids, so perfect detail wasn't a major thing like it is today. I merely posted to the modelers of today the few shortcomings and how to fix them. I know guys who built replica stock or light commercial trucks and didn't catch this until they were finished.

Oh and while at it, the center post in the split windshield isn't exactly centered and the gasket detail is different on either side. I took mine out and replaced with Evergreen plastic.

They could've put in the instructions on how to make a stock version... Like "drill here and add part number (gas cap)" and "use part number (stock doors) for non-drag version..."

Bingo.

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