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This is why you don't use Testor's tube glue


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I recently purchased a lot of built-up pickup kits. There were 23 kits in all, in various stages of completeness and broken-ness. From the auction pictures I could tell that in the lot was a GM Action Line pickup (67-72) which is one of my favourite trucks. When the parcel arrived in the mail, I went through it all and noticed that the truck in question seemed like it was a 67-68 Chevrolet due to the way the grille area had extra plastic in it; it looked nothing like the MPC 72 pickup I had, or the AMT 71 GMC Jimmy that was also in the lot. Then I noticed the faint GMC engraving on the front fenders. I thought this was odd as I knew for sure the Jimmy's grille wasn't going to fit on there. I disassembled the truck to prepare for paint stripping.

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Unfortunately the truck didn't have a hood, tailgate or rear bumper. I was going to have to source those from somewhere (Modelhaus probably). Upon stripping the paint, I noticed that the bed sides have 'Sierra Grande' engraved on them; jackpot! Then I got all the paint off the cab....

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Needless to say, those GMC fender emblems are toast. What am I going to do with this basket case? Well, I figure the bed is in great shape, so I'll pick up a newer-issue GMC stepside kit and go from there. As for this cab... the MPC 68 Chevy kits go for so much these days that its probably worth it to smooth this out and build it as a Chevy cab... thoughts?

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I would make my decision dependent on whether photo etch GMC scripts are available (any truck guys in the know?).

Wasn't there someone who makes alphabets in PE in various fonts?

If the GMC scripts are available, there is nothing to keep you away from building a Sierra. The rest looks repairable to me.

Apparently, something like beams were glued to the sides of the cab, maybe beams for a snow plow of some sort?

Oh, and I love tube glue - where you can't see it.

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@62rebel: I wasn't expecting mint built up kits. I bought the lot for other kits in it, not this one. This was a bonus.

@Steve: I plan to use the 69-70 grille on a 72 cab.

I'll probably end up getting the AMT GMC stepside so I can build a Sierra Grande. This particular cab will get smoothed out and built as a Chevy, probably with the stepside bed. My uncle has a 68 C10 body on a 78 Blazer frame that I've been wanting to replicate for many years. :)

Edited by kataranga
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This is why I don't like to buy built models, and why I'd rather pay for an unstarted kit.

True Casey, but sometimes ya just can't buy a new kit of what you want. Take my case for example. If there even IS such a thing as an unbuilt 1960 Ford pickup kit, the price would be astronomical. Hence my decision to use the glue bomb!

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If there even IS such a thing as an unbuilt 1960 Ford pickup kit, the price would be astronomical. Hence my decision to use the glue bomb!

Not exactly the same, but there's an unbuilt 1963 F-100 currently going for $157.50 and there's still 10h left. I was lucky to get my '62 that only had the body painted for what I did...

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Any glue/cement over used will damage the plastic. Some of the best builders I know use tube glue with no problems.

A little goes a long way. I use the old method of putting a little out of the tube on a piece of card stock or scrap plastic and apply it with a toothpick.

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