24 replies to this topic

[Jzaaijer]

This is a mock-up of my Open Road Camper, with a 1955 Chevy Cameo in front of it. The original release of the camper kit came with a truck. I believe it was a 1967 Chevy. But the AMT re-release did not come with a truck. It was a 'stand alone' camper. I wanted to connect it to a truck, but found it hard to find a match. As you can see here on the photo, the suspension of the camper is too low. I placed the camper on a sanding stick to verify the difference in hight. I think I need to take the wheels off under the camper and elevate the suspension a bit.

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[sjordan2]

Wow. If that's just a mock-up, I can't wait to see the finished model.

[Jzaaijer]

Wow. If that's just a mock-up, I can't wait to see the finished model.

Thank you Skip! On the photo you can see that the truck sits about a quarter inch lower than the camper. I could try to fix that, but there is not a quarter inch clearing between the truck roof and the camper. Mmmmmm. a challenge. Ideas and suggestions are welcome. :-)

[martinfan5]

Very cool

[pharoah]

Yeah,this was made for the newer model trucks.

You could chop the top.

[Gluhead]

I think I would trim off the bottom of the sides, right at the bottom of the last full "rib" and fill in the remains of the cutout for the wheel. Then I'd replace the area with a new piece and re-cut for the wheel. If you wanted to go all out, you could use strip stock and match the ribbing, but I don't feel it'd be necessary. The front and rear could just be caps to tie the sides together. This would allow you to position the camper body forward and close up the cab/camper gap, take care of the height issue, and let you get your rear wheel looking right in the wheelwell.

 

Just food for thought. Should be an interesting piece when you're done. Btw, any broader shots of your building in the first pic? That looks interesting as well.

[Tom Geiger]

 But the AMT re-release did not come with a truck. It was a 'stand alone' camper. I wanted to connect it to a truck, but found it hard to find a match. As you can see here on the photo, the suspension of the camper is too low.

 

The camper has two options. One is the 'stand alone' camper that you would tow behind something. The other option is to mount it on a pickup chassis. That would then use the pickup chassis suspension and allow you to connect the drive shaft etc.   Check the directions.  You will have to see how the camper fits onto the chassis. You may have to adjust it's wheelbase.

 

The Open Road camper was a specific brand and model that was offered from early to late 1960s, maybe into the 1970s so the '55 Chevy cab wouldn't be period correct.  But that's not saying that someone wouldn't be able to mount the camper from a wrecked truck onto the older Chevy frame.

[pharoah]

This kit was made for the 68-72 Chevy pickups. You can make it fit others.

Not to hijack your thread,but I built mine using a GMC cab. Are you going to weather yours?

 

[Jzaaijer]

@Gluhead: Thank you for your advice. I ilke the idea of raising the camper and instal some shielding around the bottom. I have included a few photos of the scratch built garage. All made out of cardboard, balsa wood and coffee stir sticks. Ultra low budget! :-)

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[Jzaaijer]

[quote name="pharoah" post="855684" time="1358054257"]This kit was made for the 68-72 Chevy pickups. You can make it fit others.
Not to hijack your thread,but I built mine using a GMC cab. Are you going to weather yours?
 
Awesome built Pharoah! Yes that was the truck it came with back then. I admit it looks better than the '55 truck. I was not going to weather it, but you did a fantastic job on it! I might decide on another truck. I like the challenge.

[Jzaaijer]

The Open Road camper was a specific brand and model that was offered from early to late 1960s, maybe into the 1970s so the '55 Chevy cab wouldn't be period correct.  But that's not saying that someone wouldn't be able to mount the camper from a wrecked truck onto the older Chevy frame.

I agree Tom, I'm going to see if I can make it work, but I probably should use a more year appropriate truck. That might explain why it does n't fit, eventhough both are scale 1:25.

[pharoah]

Yeah, I would go with the 55 since you already have it. You can make it work. Just a little chassis adjustment. There's a lot of room for detailing inside the camper too. Use your imagination there.

[Gluhead]

You're welcome. Thanks for the garage pics. That's pretty cool.

 

And yep, the camper is a later design than the pickup, but hey this is America, where redneckineering abounds. Anything is possible with a little duct tape and a bfh.

[diymirage]

it would look really cool if you could weather the truck and leave the camper brand new to emphasize the age difference between the both of them and in this manner pretend you knew what you were doing and this was in fact your plan all along

[Bartster]

lt makes perfect sense for the cab to be older. you'd by the truck before you bought the camper or else you'd have nowhere to put the camper ! So you bought a new camper to put on a 5-10 year old truck that you already had ! Problem solved !

[Jzaaijer]

, but hey this is America, where redneckineering abounds. Anything is possible with a little duct tape and a bfh.

So true Gluhead. I was even thinking of cutting a regular passenger car in half and place it in front of the camper. I saw photos of people who had done that with 1:1 cars. Talk about 'redneckineering'! :-)

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[Jzaaijer]

lt makes perfect sense for the cab to be older. you'd by the truck before you bought the camper or else you'd have nowhere to put the camper ! So you bought a new camper to put on a 5-10 year old truck that you already had ! Problem solved !

Yes, I can see that happening Bartster! :-)

[Edsel-Dan]

Buying this "Camper" loose is Doubtful as this is Not a Camper, but a "Mini-Motor Home"

This would have been sold Complete by some Chevy, etc dealers, but mostly by Open Road dealers

Winnebago sells Mini's like these too and all are ready to go not the bodywork for retro-fit.

 

That is not to say it was not done. If you could find one on a wrecked chassis and mounting it to yours.

Would take extra work, but doable.

 

The Mini-Motor Home kit was originally offered in the MPC 68 Chevy Cheyenne Fleetside kit.

The last issue as a stand alone parts pack allong with the "Racer's Wedge" car carrier

 

Your 55 Chevy cab has a Taller roof thus the difficulty in getting a good attachment.

 

Do you have the 55 Pickup chassis stretched? or are you just butting the 2 together??

Mount the cab to its chassis and test the fit of the Motor home to it. It will need the wheelbase

corrected. That AMT 55 Cameo is a Shortbox/short wheelbase version.

once the frame is corrected, you will likely have to shim between the chassis & Motor-Home

to get it ti sit correctly over the cab roof.

 

I went to look for pic's in my Photobucket of the build I am doing with this Motor Home on

a stretched Revell 65 Chevy, but have not uploaded it yet.

(Lost what I had typed here in a browser reset too)

 

As for the Tag-along parts added to this, I do not know that it would work. 

There is NO chassis frame as port of the body, and the overhang would cause problems too.

[Bartster]

^ That makes sense ! Was MPC's '68 really labelled as a "Cheyenne" ? Chevy didn't introduce the Cheyenne line until '71(?), shouldn't it have been a CST ?
Stretching the frame & shimming the camper up to cab height seems the way to go.
Bart

[pharoah]

I just looked on the bay,and the camper is just called the Open Road Camper.

The Racer's Wedge says '71 Chevrolet.

 

I still think you should ckop the top