Wagoneer81

That's the plan, Mark! I have a rebuildable TranstarII that's going to end up fleet white with Cates Trucking markings. dad said that that white International was the roughest riding truck he had EVER driven... I'll do the R models once Round2 reissues the R685 kit.... Give it a year or so, I think we'll see it. I have a K-123 that a WIP that I think will get stripped and repainted black to model the one I don't have any pictures of... I can see, eventually, building each of these trucks. My way of saying, "Thanks Dad, for everything."

That T-600 did have a nice interior in it. Quite a few driver amenities compared to his earlier trucks. The last truck he drove, before he retired, was about a '94 W-900L. Forest Green Metallic with the aerodyne bunk. I can't find any pictures of that one, either. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of the T600.

The T-600's were still a fairly new design when J-trans started leasing them... What I don't have any pictures of is the black K-123 that Dad drove after he left Cates and went to work for J-Trans... It won't be a difficult one to replicate, though... Black cab, black steel drive wheels and aluminum steers...

SO THAT'S why I hung on to that spare F-1 cab... I've never seen these before, Chuck. Thanks for sharing them!

Ok, fellers! Thanks to a little help from Dynomight and Kilrathy10, I am now able to post pictures again. It was as simple as 'flipping a switch...' I mentioned earlier that I wanted to build an R Model pulling a Pabst Blue Ribbon billboard trailer as a memorial for my Dad who passed away back in September. This is the Mack that I want to build. Dad drove it for several years, back in the '80's. He mostly ran the East Coast, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York City and such... That's a young me hanging off the side of the truck... I also just noticed the black, electrical tape X's on the headlights... Evidently, it had been foggy when he was coming home. He would do that to cut the light beam and help it penetrate the fog better. I've actually used that trick and, believe it or not, it makes a noticeable difference! They're not pictured but I remember this truck having grey painted, two-hole steel drive wheels... I should remember that because every weekend that it was warm enough, I was washing this truck for Dad on Saturday morning...

Very nice! I have one of these and a 1909 Thomas Flyer that I really need to build... I'm with you, I love the early 20th Century 'Brass Era' autos.

Perfect! Very well done!

Mark, you have the basic idea! I'd post a picture of the truck but, for some reason, I can no longer copy and paste or upload photos in any fashion to this site. Evidently the old way no longer works. I click to 'paste' and nothing happens... nothing appears after the prompt... I've even tried using the photo icon in the tool bar... All that does is locks the page... I've tried Tinypic, I've tried Fotki... Even started a new Fotki account. No luck.... I've been trying different methods for an hour and a half now... Still can't post pics... Can someone help me out, here? I'm just about over it... Sean, yes, that one does scream, "BUILD ME!!!"

I want to do a tribute build for my Dad, who passed away back on Sept. 1st... Back in the early '80's, when he started driving OTR again, he started out in a red R model Mack with a silver Mercury bunk. His beer of preference, back in the day, before he quit drinking was PBR, soo..... I want to build a red R685 with sleeper pulling a 40' PBR billboard trailer. What's stopping me, right now, is the cost of the R model kit. Being that the DM kit is being reissued, maybe we'll see the R reissued as well... Here's hoping.

Thanks for the answer! That would be a unique restoration project. I'd never seen or heard of this type of drive system...

"Belt-Drive rear ends"... That's a new one on me. Could someone explain that one for me, please? That is a cool looking old truck...

I remember that, when I was a kid, there was a Lawson's in Delaware, Ohio, Had the best French onion chip dip. EVER. And who could forget their "Chip-chopped" ham from the deli? After my sister moved to Indiana in '79, she'd have Mom and Dad bring 2 or 3 tubs of dip when we'd come to visit... Until she discovered Best Ever Dairy... I was just a little guy, 6, maybe 7 years old but I remember the store, very well. Sorry about rattling on but this just resurrected several pleasant old family memories... Now, as for the truck.... It looks like a blue and white Kenworth K-123 with 5-spoke steel wheels. AMT's K123 kit will work for a starting point. It's a good kit. You'd have to steal the 5-spoke cast steel wheels and tires from, say, the AMT Chevy Titan 90 kit or purchase a full set from a resin dealer, Maybe AITM Find a set of Salem Stripes from Model Truckin' or Jbots and that'll set you on the right path. I'm not sure of the make of the trailer... If It were me, I'd start with AMT's gasoline tanker trailer and modify it to represent the OJ tanker. Leave off the top rib and scratch build the single manhole... scratch up a couple of side mount ladders, etc... You'd have to make up your own decals but that can be done with an inexpensive graphics program like Print Shop, a printer and some good, blank decal sheet. Or, I'm sure there's a custom decal maker that'd do them for a fee. I'm sure (I hope) others will chime in on this with more information. Good luck! I hope you find the info you need. Keep us posted!

Now that's a nice, Plain-Jane freight hauler... Looks like what I'd be driving. I like a no nonsense workhorse...

I try to stay with one painting system during a project. If my base coat is Testors enamel, I use Testors clear coats. Their clear lacquer is "cool" enough, being specially formulated for models, that it can be sprayed over Testors enamel paint without harm. If you use Duplicolor, I'd use their clear as well... The only thing to look out for is that in Duplicolors' line, It's my understanding that their truck and van paint is lacquer based but their automotive colors are enamel... Confused yet? If you want a surefire gloss clear coat that will go over almost ANY paint, get a bottle of Pledge with Future Shine, floor polish. The stuff is pure acrylic clear coat and will shine up nicely and protect and seal decals without issue. I've used it over lacquer and enamel and never had any issues.

Ditto, that. The K-123 or the Chevy Titan 90/GMC Astro 95 buildup fairly easily compared to some other offerings. Just keep test fitting and take your time... If you want a medium duty COE, the ford C-series cab-overs are pretty nice, too. They are less temperamental to build than the Lindberg Dodge L-700's BUT... The 700 will build into a nice truck with a little extra attention and patience. Clear as mud, now? ;^)

Sweet! Saved this video to my favorites. Thanks for sharing... what a great find!

Sweet! This is great news.

Ertl International 4070A Transtar and 4070B Transtar II COE's... Was lucky enough to find both, worse for the wear, in a junkyard lot, a few years ago.

I've heard that shade of green refered to as 'Sea Mist Green' and 'Seafoam Green'...

Here's a tip: If you want it to look like unpolished aluminum, spray the chrome sleeper with Dullcoat... I do this with chrome wheels to make them 'aluminum', all the time.

Terryk2003: My High School ride was also a '67... An F-250 Camper Special, 390, FMX automatic. Same color as the box art truck. Wish I still had it.

Yeah, that was worth a trip across Indiana... The long way.... Great score!

I will post an update, soon, Gents. Within the week, The ship IS complete, I just finished the two float planes up a few days ago and mounted them on their catapults on Thursday.. I'm just waiting to give her an overall airbrushing of dull coat to even out some shiny areas and then I'll do the glamour shots. I am now taking care of my father who, back in January, was diagnosed with stage four, small cell cancer. It hasn't been an easy road and it seems to be getting rougher... This is one of the reasons that this beast was delayed. Life does have a way of going off the plotted course... I spent several months, very angry... Mad at the entire universe because of where life was taking us. I didn't even look at a piece of plastic... considered selling the entire stash. I mean, what was the point, anything outside of raw,basic survival was futile and pointless, right? Now, I've started wrapping my mind around the facts and accepting what life is handing me and have started to take comfort, again, in the old friend that model building always has been. So, having said that.... I'll post a final update on this build, soon. Thanks!

Never "grow-up"... Some of the most boring people I know are self-proclaimed "grown ups"... I don't care if a person licks windows in their spare time, as long as you enjoy what you're doing and it doesn't harm others, then go for it. A pox and a plague on those who demand that someone stuffs themselves into a certain mold, clique, group, etc.... What you do, what you like, how you treat others, your hobbies, the kind of music you love, these all define the person you are. There are 7 billion people on this planet and no two people are exactly alike and that's how it should be. To The Burning Nethers with anyone who says you need to be, "this way"... and if they take exception to the person that you are, then they are NOT worth knowing. Some people would do great to mind their own business and stop judging others over what is really minor stuff...