Metalbeast

Well... Kinda. The Longhorn bed was longer overall. The Ford Super Camper bed was still 8' but the wheel opening was about 10 inches further back than on a regular 8' bed.

I spent 15 years as a forklift operator and let me tell you, you got the aging perfect. Where I worked a brand new machine would look like that in about six months.

Great resto! A buddy of mine had one in the same colors as your model but his was a GMC. it was also a lot less shiny and a lot more rough, lol!

I don't have experience with this seller but I've seen something similar with resin parts whrew the resin is mixed with metal filing. I want to say Model Car garage used to sell things like carbs cast with real metal filing. A somebody who's never gotten the hang of simulating rust with paint I'm intrigued!

Love them all, especially the Firebird. I think I went to high school with that guy, lol.

It is much closer to 1/20 scale than 24. That is a beautiful buildup! Probably better than that kit deserves, lol! You're making me regret giving away the one I had in the 90s.

AMT kits run the full spectrum. Just depends on what era. 90s era AMT was about as good as things got. The older stuff takes a little more effort but you have to consider the origin, the model kit market at that time, and such. I'll say that if an old tool AMT big rig gives you fits then you definitely do t want to try an early Revell or Lindberg either.

All I did was take off the chrome and use a file and sanding to remove the rub strip from the front bumper. I think I used Testors silver enamel with a dull clear coat.

Wow... seamless combination! Everything looks exactly like it belongs. I really like the weathered tone you got on the exhaust system. I may have to take a crack at this combination.

I knew a guy with a Sky and he put all the Opel trim on it. He also had a GTO with all the Holden badges on it. That got sold traded in on a Chevrolet SS which, you guessed it, ended up with Holden badges because I guess an SS alone wasn't obscure enough. I told him he could have at least tried some Vauxhall markings on the SS, lol.

May be a simple model but trucks were simple things back then, too. I love it! The photos look like ones of a real truck!

I love everything about it except the name. Sheila is my ex-wife's name, lol! I passed on this at the hobby shop thinking it was a rebox of the old '56 with opening doors but I might need to check it out.

Thank you! Yeah. I always thought it was odd she ordered it with stuff like the running lights, but not the hitch. The hitch was an aftermarket Reese that didn't look like it had been on the truck very long when I got it. Thanks! I won't drive anything but a lower trimmed truck. I see trucks as work vehicls first and foremost. Maybe I'm old school. I just don't get why you'd want to spend 60 grand on a truck with all the trimmings of a Lincoln when it's just going to get used up and dirty. I still might try that crazy intake, lol! I'd really like to do a model of my '93 with an engine some day. There was no 4.9 six in a model when I built this, but a couple of the Moebius kits have a 240/300 that could be updated to what I'd need. Theoretically at least, lol!

I've worked around rubber and plastic, in some cases rubber/plastic/or silicone with an insert. For example, a rubber donut isolator with a steel tube molded into it. I'm more familiar with rubber as I worked in that side of the industry longer. I've only ever seen the repairs to the molds after the fact. Never saw it while it was being done. Unless you were the diesetter you pretty much weren't allowed into the machine shop. Unless he was OK with you being in there or he was training you. Even the tools for the parts without inserts would wear, but if the operator wasn't paying attention and closed a mold on an insert that wasn't centered. You wouldn't think a solid steel die like that could be damaged, but it certainly can. Sometimes quite severely!

I don't see how it could be low injection pressure. But I could certainly see it happening with low clamping pressure. I used to work at an injection molding facility. But I will admit it has been a while and my memory may not be too clear. There's normally no reason to turn down the injection speed unless it was mistaeknly set too low to begin with. Low clamping pressure would lead to a gap in the mold surfaces that wouldn't normally be there. Well, it would always be there but the gap would be wider due to the loss of clamping pressure. I've seen it where the material would sloosh out of the mold halves like frosting being squeezed from a piping bag! We would often turn up the injection speed to clear a plugged head in the press but once things were flowing the way they were supposed to be it was set back to the proper setting. But, people are people and mistakes do happen.