maxwell48098

Outstanding build. I remember being a teenager and riding in my uncle Henry's white '64 Galaxie 50XL. The interior in his was red and it also had a 427!

Having been building model cars and trucks since 1958, then using resin conversion parts/kits, one thing I learned was that when you saw a resin item you liked, you bought it then because it may not be available months or years later. I've seen the same thing with some 3D suppliers. My first AIM resin conversions and parts were purchase in 1982. I still have some of those old, brittle, heavy fiberglass resin castings A.J.

The only problem with producing in China is that the tools, once sent there, can't be taken out. If my memory serves me correctly, based on a conversation with a former colleague who worked for Walmart back then,Walmart was the one who drove model companies to have their kits produced in China instead of US, using "Walmart approved" companies so that the wholesale prices would be low enough to maintain Walmart margins. Walmart also got the first containers of the new products. (This didn't make hobby shop owners happy.) As it turned out, several years later, Walmart dumped models altogether. Walmart did the same with other folks like Black and Decker where the B&D products sold at Walmart had their own, lower "Walmart" specs. Those lower spec B&D tools didn't last, and hurt the B&D brand as well. A.J.

I've had very good luck on some of my Franklin Mint die casts that used real rubber of soaking the tires in Armour-All. Then I let then air dry for a couple of days. I now will check annually if any of the tires are getting hard again and apply Armour-All using a Q-tip. A.J.

Another fun fact is that the wrecker body from the old Revell Midnite Cowboy tow truck literally drops right on the short F350 4X4 chassis. A.J.

Interesting that only F350's had dual rear wheels ans only the long bed or cab and chassis. But with a little work, you can turn them into something like this mini-pumper. A.J.

Great work. The March/April issue of Vintage Truck has an article on a beautiful, restored 1964 El Camino. A.J.

I think that the ambo body is a great idea. Where I live in SE MI, there were several local fire departments that had Ford F350 (both 4 and 2WD) Pierce mini-pumpers. They all used the same Ford chassis that the current Ford wrecker kits use. I used one of the wrecker bodies and put it on a '74 Dodge D series chassis. I'm considering using the Ford chassis for a mini-pumper or lite rescue. A.J.

I did my own version, minus the optional side tool cabinets. A.J.

I used to work for Chrysler and had a '74 Trail Duster as a company "car". The unique thing about the '74's was that there was not upper door frame on the door. For those Trail Dusters and Ramchargers equipped with the optional hard top, the door frames were actually attached to the roof. The problem with that turned out to be lots of water leaks at the "A" post-to-door frame joint, and at the upper door frame-to-door joint. This was corrected for '75 and later model years where to doors were from the D-series pickups with better weatherstripping around the entire door. FWI The product planners thought that customers that got the convertible topS would not like the upper metal door frame when the top was down or removed. Actual use proved them wrong. HaHa! A.J.

Thanks for your comment. It is actually is and easy conversion. I used a 1974 Dodge W100 chassis with the front 2WD suspension for the 1978 D100 Little Red Express slightly modified to a heavy duty D300 configuration. The rear axle/suspension had to be moved back about 1/8th inch to increase the wheelbase to 135 inches. This required a similar addition to the driveshaft. A PTO was added to the transmission, and new, longer PTO drive shaft made from Evergreen rod of connect to the chain drive for the winch. The MOPAR and side stripes are from the '74 Dodge Pickup. A.J.

I worked at a full-line Ford dealership from 1966-1972 while in high school and junior college. I started just washing and cleaning up new vehicles for delivery, then graduated to prepping vehicles for delivery. Our dealership general manager had a relative who worked for Ernest Holmes company on Chattanooga, TN and our dealership ordered all of their Ford chassis and had them dropped shipped at Holmes for completion. Our dealership had three Holmes wreckers from light duty F-series to N-series heavy duty, and we delivered probably 2 dozen Holmes wreckers per year. When Moebius announced Ford tow truck kit I was pretty excited, and now realize that my excitement was justified. The Moebius kit is extremely close to the Holmes 440 4 ton wrecker introduced in 1966. I remember these like it was yesterday having prepped many over the years. The 440 bed has two styles, the high side "deluxe" as represented by the current kits, and the low side "West Coast" body which I've heard Moebius will also be releasing. The storage compartments on the kit body were one of dozens of options. As soon as the kit came out, I bought 6 planning to build several variations used not only the Ford F350 4X4, but also two wheel drive, and using other truck brands as well, Below, are some images of the versions that I built so far. I'll have more detailed images on each one later. Thanks for looking, 1972 Ford F350 4X4 Holmes Tow Truck 1966 Ford F350 4X4 Holmes Tow Truck 1966 Ford F350 Holmes 440 Tow Truck 1968 Chevrolet K30 Holmes 440 Tow Truck 1968 Ford F350 Holmes 440 Tow Truck 1974 Dodge D300 Holmes 440

In Europe Chrysler sold a Chrysler 300 wagon just as you've pictured. One of the engine choices was a 3.0L diesel combined with a manual transaxle. Turn off the tractor control, and the diesel would break the front tires loose. A very fun vehicle to drive. A.J.

I make sure to remove and clean the spray paint can nozzle using 1:1 auto parts cleaner with those tiny wands in their nozzle after EVERY time I use them. The wand fits right into the paint nozzle and cleans out any buildup that could occur and plug them up. I also store my spray paint cans upside down so the tick paint doesn't buildup in the bottom of the spray can. Warming the paint cans up and shaking them for a couple of minutes has yet to fail me. A.J.

The difference between the F350 chassis and the other Ford 100-250 chassis is the wheelbase. The F350 has a longer wheelbase by about 6 inches when you set the two side by side. I used modelers license to relocate the rear suspension from the 1968 F250 2wd back about .25 inches. Hope this helps. A.J.

One thing to keep in mind when taking images via phone, turn the phone horizontally to get wide shots instead of backing away from the model while taking images with the phone positioned vertically. A.J.

I have been v..e...r....y lucky to have not had a can of Rust-oleum plug up on me. I do store my spray cans in an unusual fashion, up side down. I've had cans that are nearly 40 years old that still spray after being stored this way. I always heat the cans and shake them for a couple of minutes before using. In addition to the heat increasing the propellant pressure, I also think it helps the paint inside the can mix better. I also think that storing the cans inverted helps prevent propellant leaks. I've been doing this for at least for the past 45 - 50 years. I've also been given, or bought cheap, old spray paint from fellow modelers. On these, I'll invert the can to see if propellant comes out. If not, what I'll do is to heat the can hotter than normal, remove the nozzle and see if it is plugged. Then I'll use an old nozzle that I've removed the spray tip from so that it has a big opening on the nozzle. Also without fail, thick paint will come out first before the regular paint shoots out, and then we're in business. One final word on spray can nozzle care. EVERY time I use some spray can paint, I remove the nozzle from the can and clean it by spraying aerosol 1:1 automotive carb/brake parts cleaner through the paint nozzle. That little spray tube on the parts fits perfectly inside nearly every spray paint nozzle. A quick blast or two will clean the inside of the paint nozzle out. FYI - Always save the spray paint nozzles when you finish up the paint. They can usually be used on other spray paint cans using the same type of nozzle, and often provide different spray patterns. Just my 2 cents. A.J.

I have the entire series of these books, including the fire apparatus ones. They're always a good source for inspiration and reference. A.J.

I would really like to see a '57 Chevy Pickup. I think the last reissue was back in the '90's. Plenty of reissues of the '55, but not the '57. A.J.

I was hoping that the second release would be of the more common (at least where I live) four door. A friend who works at the local Ford dealership said that at their location the ratio of four door vs two door sales is about 5:1! I wonder if we'll ever see a four door version? A.J.

I use spray cans almost exclusively as well. When it do 2-tone paint jobs, I always spray a quick light coat of the base color along the masking edges so that in the event the masking isn't tight, the base color is what seeps underneath the masking. Then I apply the second color, and remove the masking as soon as the second color is almost dry. I've done this for at least 40 years, and I've avoided the touch-up blues.

The use of bucket seats for these vehicles was meant to lower the vehicle weight for drag racing. Cars that didn't have bucket seats as an option used the bucket seats out of the manufacturers' compact truck line, which are smaller and lighter than comparable car bucket seats. Most also used aluminum brackets to attach them to the floor pans instead of traditional steel seat adjusters, again as a way to cut weight. Keep in mind that each race car usually had the same driver, so having the seat mounting bracket bolted directly to the floor in the correct driving position for that specific driver. A.J.

Ironic for the past two years, or longer, Canada has had wildfires burning unabated dumping millions of tons of toxins and carbon into the atmosphere, but Tamiya spray paints are dangerous! Where I live in the lower 48, we've even been blessed by the smoke from these Canadian fires resulting in air quality alerts and warnings, and we worry about global warming and mandating EVs? politics in place of actual science is always dangerous for the guy on the bottom, but never the politicians. Weird world we live in.

I have an Epson all-in-one eco-tank photo printer. One of the reasons I bought this particular printer is that it actually has two different black tanks and inks; one for ordinary, day to day document printing, and a second for photos. The photo black is deeper than the document black which is great when printing decals on ink jet decal paper. As a test, when I first got it, I printed out an old decal that initially made as a Word document, the the same decal that I had converted to JPEG photo. The black in the JPEG version was BLACK, while the black in the doc version was a very dark gray. A.J.

I've always preferred long bed pickups as the long beds are easier to shorten than it is to lengthen and short bed. But obviously, short beds are less costly to produce. So I guess we're forced to accept short beds or no kit at all. A.J.