lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Alright, this is my 3rd build since getting back into the hobby after years of not building . I wanted to try out some things I've saw on the boards. I've never been one to build anything other than box stock, but this is not going to be near box stock for sure. The build started out with an old AMT 55 Cameo kit which had been hiding in my closet since it was released. I decided to do this truck with a pro touring look. So that said, I wanted it low down with a nice set of staggered wheels, disc brakes, and an LS engine. I sourced an LS2 from an SSR kit, used a resin oil pan from the Clearly Scale LS Engine kit, filed the front crossmember, and cut the trans mount and raised it so the engine would actually fit and have the correct angle.. I wanted this truck to have no chrome around the windows and doors, so I shaved all of the chrome on the cab, cut the vent window posts out, shaved the wipers and filled the cowl, as well as shaved the door handles. I also filled the emblem hole on the hood, filled the gas cap, filled in the rear bumper holes for the bumper guards ( for that nice smooth look,) smoothed the inner front fenders, and filled in the molds on the inner bedsides. Next I started working on the stance, so I had to do some lowering.... another thing I've never done before. I picked up some awesome wheels from Steve Zimmerman, and had to do a little more cutting when they arrived. So the bed is being mini tubbed. Brakes were sourced from a Tamiya FD RX-7. This is my first go at this, so go easy on me please, haha. I still have to make the wheel tubs, so I picked up various sizes of styrene sheets for this over Christmas vacation. Any tips on the mini tubs will be greatly appreciated. Also, the color will be Tamiya TS92 Metallic Orange tipped with TS13 Clear. Thanks for stopping by to check out my build...hopefully one day I'll get as good as all you guys on here. Scott Edited February 24, 2016 by lghtngyello03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) This is the look I am going for, except for in Tamiya TS92 Metallic Orange. Going to have to dump my front a little lower. Edited January 10, 2016 by lghtngyello03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeCee Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 This kit does make a great pro touring platform. I have done one, and it can be sat pretty low with the right amount of mods. ( there are many ways, none are the correct or incorrect way either.)As for the mini tubs, depending on the wheel size, as in how wide they are, all i did was remove some material from around the top of the inner tray and litterally lifted the floor up higher,and got a set of Pegasus wheels in there no trouble, as there are no wheel arches in the tray on this kit, you might not need to make them.Just play around, you will find a solution mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) I'll have to check the width of the wheels, but the rears are pretty wide for the height I'm aiming for, as I am wanting the rears tucked up nice and tight. So I just chopped the bed sides and floor after flipping the mounting side for the rear leaf springs. Thinking I'm going to have to go lower on the front now that I habe the wheels I'm going to use instead of the tall stock wheels and tires. Edited January 5, 2016 by lghtngyello03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vc273 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Hi Scott one way of making the wheel tubs is using and old medicine (capsule/tablet) bottle then cut the base,then cut it through the middle and you have two wheel tubs. Then is just a matter of thinning it down to the size you need. Hope this helps as its a real pain trying to keep the stryrene to keep its shape. Also if you can try to get the whole thing down as low as you can go but that's just my preference. Will be watching this one as I have a dodge pick-up that I am building along the same lines. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTJUNIOR Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Nice work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 A few things about this kit... check the fit of your glass now. There's another thread here about that issue. Also, put the interior tub in the body and you'll see that there is no step down detail. Just a hole on three sides that you can see up into the doors. It's pretty easy to add the steps with some Evergreen plastic. I've done so on those I've built. Ignore the rust and mud! Note how I added in the steps. It may not be 100% correct here, but much better than AMT gave us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Hi Scott one way of making the wheel tubs is using and old medicine (capsule/tablet) bottle then cut the base,then cut it through the middle and you have two wheel tubs. Then is just a matter of thinning it down to the size you need. Hope this helps as its a real pain trying to keep the stryrene to keep its shape. Also if you can try to get the whole thing down as low as you can go but that's just my preference. Will be watching this one as I have a dodge pick-up that I am building along the same lines. Cheers Thank you Steve. I think I may have a couple of old bottles lying around to give this a go. Would be a heck of a lot easier to keep their shape. A few things about this kit... check the fit of your glass now. There's another thread here about that issue. Also, put the interior tub in the body and you'll see that there is no step down detail. Just a hole on three sides that you can see up into the doors. It's pretty easy to add the steps with some Evergreen plastic. I've done so on those I've built. Ignore the rust and mud! Note how I added in the steps. It may not be 100% correct here, but much better than AMT gave us. Thanks for the heads up Tom! I haven't even taken the interior tub off of the tree yet. I will do that and test my skills at fabbing up some step downs like you have shown with some evergreen. Nice work so far. Thanks, first time doing something this modded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geemoney Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 looking good!consider ditching the beam axle front?I always felt AMT got the side window openings wrong at the bottom, does anybody agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 looking good!consider ditching the beam axle front?I always felt AMT got the side window openings wrong at the bottom, does anybody agree?Thanks man! I'd love to ditch that beam axle. I don't know what I'd do to replace it though. Any suggestions? And I do agree with the window openings, they're angled on the backside where they shouldn't be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Great looking subject, as others have pointed out there are several items you're going to want to address. One thought on the front suspension, since you already raided the SSR kit for the engine you might think about using the front suspension also. If you have any other coil spring suspension system in you spare parts box you could use that also. Just as the Pro Touring trucks in 1:1 use independent front suspension it is the easiest way to go. The window fitment is a real problem for the windshield. I fought it for a while until I saw where others here were making a small molding around the opening to fill the gaps. This will give you something for the windshield to rest upon and looks very realistic. The side window openings are just wrong. Not hard to correct though. I really like the picture of the truck your using for your inspiration, if I had the ware with all that's what I would do. I look forward to your build on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Great looking subject, as others have pointed out there are several items you're going to want to address. One thought on the front suspension, since you already raided the SSR kit for the engine you might think about using the front suspension also. If you have any other coil spring suspension system in you spare parts box you could use that also. Just as the Pro Touring trucks in 1:1 use independent front suspension it is the easiest way to go. The window fitment is a real problem for the windshield. I fought it for a while until I saw where others here were making a small molding around the opening to fill the gaps. This will give you something for the windshield to rest upon and looks very realistic. The side window openings are just wrong. Not hard to correct though. I really like the picture of the truck your using for your inspiration, if I had the ware with all that's what I would do. I look forward to your build on this. Thanks David. I sourced the SSR engine through a member on here I believe. So, no suspension to use on that, so I'll search Ebay or throw up a wanted ad on here. I do have a junk 69 Charger R/T kit that I may could rob the front suspension from. Thanks for the tips on the windshield, I haven't been able to see anything on here besides cutting the roof off to fix the side window openings. I shouldn't have to cut the roof since I am ditching the vent windows anyways. I may try just taking a sanding stick or small file to shape the side windows. Edited January 5, 2016 by lghtngyello03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I wouldn't remove the roof. If you look at your picture you can see that the side window could be corrected by trimming the front part of the opening and adding just a little bit to the rear of the opening. This sort splits the difference so that it matches the alignment with the rear and front windows. If you have one of the Revell California Wheels kits they usually have both a stock and lowered suspension for the front and the rear. That way you could still build the donor kit as well. If you got say the '56 or '57 Chevy you could use the rear also since the differential is mounted above the leaf springs. You may have to notch the rear frame for clearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 I wouldn't remove the roof. If you look at your picture you can see that the side window could be corrected by trimming the front part of the opening and adding just a little bit to the rear of the opening. This sort splits the difference so that it matches the alignment with the rear and front windows. If you have one of the Revell California Wheels kits they usually have both a stock and lowered suspension for the front and the rear. That way you could still build the donor kit as well. If you got say the '56 or '57 Chevy you could use the rear also since the differential is mounted above the leaf springs. You may have to notch the rear frame for clearance. No, no....I didn't plan on cutting the roof. What you are suggesting is what I planned on doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Great start Scott,this will look sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Great start Scott,this will look sweet. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Got some time this evening after work to make up some rear tubs. I used an old medicine bottle and cut some .040 styrene to take the gap from the bottom away. I still have to put the putty on and smooth em out. But here is a rough mock up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 The medicine bottle idea for the wheel tubs is INSPIRED! Great build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Real nice work. I like the pro touring look... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 The medicine bottle idea for the wheel tubs is INSPIRED! Great build!Real nice work. I like the pro touring look... Thank you guys! Really enjoying this build so far. Haven't had much time this week to work on it, but am going to try to get some more done this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Think I'm going to go with this color combo instead of TS93 Metallic orange. This is Tamiya TS76 Mica Silver with Tamiya TS73 Clear Orange sprayed over top of it. It looks killer in the sun light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 nice ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lghtngyello03 Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) Window openings corrected. Edited January 11, 2016 by lghtngyello03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 That colour looks good enough to eat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Love the color choice, the side windows now look perfect. Looking to see how this turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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