Q tip

Here is the latest update on this Project. As everyone has seen this truck has taken turns from road tractor to heavy hauler to winch truck to now a full wrecker. I have added a extendable boom and a side pull unit loosely based on a SP 850. I've got a ways to go yet. More winches,D-rings ect. Hope you like were this is going. As always comments and suggestions are more than welcome! ........john

i'd say follow the wisdom the "Tim the tool man".........MORE POWER OH OH OH OH OH !

sad to say the sleeper isn't going to happen. BUT , went to the hobby shop today to get more supplies,( and take my wife garage saleing, just happened to end up near the shop , I think she was on to me ) anyway back to work and I will post new pics in the morning........thanks john

the key is not to get frustrated and give up. if this is your first then I would suggest using acrl. paints.( model master ) these paints can be cleaned up with soap and water , and thinned with 92% alcohol.(proper thinner is the best ). don't jump into a double action to soon , some are tough to work with , clean and dial in. I have 3 doubles and an old paashe h , and I prefer the single action. heck, 98% of what I paint, cars trucks or ww2 aircraft is done with it. be patient and learn how to mix the paint ratios....best of luck........john

sweet ride, are you going to use grab handle and steps from the aerodyne kit? cant wait to see it finished!

Thanks for all the great comments. Started on the body this morning and this is what I have so far. Just making it up as I go. What I'm after is a towing and winch machine, not a full wrecker cause I didn't build a boom. Thanks.......Q!

my dad worked on trucks back in the 70's before driving so I grew up in what was then a white freightliner dealer. used to play in those old cabovers , yours "fit the bill" of what I remember. cant wait to see the cab. great work !!!!!!! Q

Help! I can stop building this, a small idea has turned into a whole new project. It gonna be worth it though. Every thing you see is scratch built except the cable shives. Enjoy and thanks for looking......john

since im in the towing industry and we have a full fleet ranging from a 1 ton up to a 50 ton rotator including 3 different quick swaps I figured I would mix match and create my own.

While the forum was down a lot has changed on this build.first the bare metal sleeper had a book accidently dropped on it, so I went with a smaller box.bad paint reaction. So.....on to a different route. Heavy haul, as normal the razor knife came out and went to work . enjoy...john

talked with brian at chrome shop / nation wide truck sales / . he seems pretty excited about having model trucks along side of the 1:1 show trucks. he said he will be getting in contact with phils in fort wayne to display fliers. if you know of anyone or clubs that are interested you can contact them via phone or email from their web site........john

man, its good to have the fourm back online. almost felt like I was cheatin' on MCM surfin' around looking at other sights for my fix! anyway right to the point. any builders around the northeast part of Indiana (fremont), take notice, chrome shop is having their yearly truck show the end of august. I have talked to them and they want truck modelers to display their creations. tried to explain the hobby and they thought I was from mars until I showed them pics and guided the boys to the internet sights. hook line and sinker, their onboard with both feet...........Q tip

I chose to leave the sleeper in bare metal form just for kind of a wow factor. I've seen pics and I've seen in person these old mercury sleepers left with a shiny finish. First its different then the main stream plus their just neat looking. Q

Finally played down some paint on hood and cab.duplicolor primer chased with aluminum base coat and followed with purple pearl. Used the kit supplied decal stripes and added extras to the fenders.

Now with the chassis together,axles and suspension go on. Kit bashing the IH 4300 for the front and axle stubs for the rear, I ended up narrowing the front by an 1/8 inch so it would fit under the fenders. The rears went on as normal.After that was done,its time to start a mock up and figure out where fuel tanks etc, will be placed....thanks ,looking forward to comments.......Q

using the straight edge and the back side of my xacto knife I scribed panel lines to break up the emptiness of the sleeper sides and then used the pin vise to make rivet dents. since i'm running twin air cleaners I choose to stick with the square ones just because they go along with the boxyness of the truck itself. I had to rework the one for the left side by cutting and regluing the intake on the back side next to the cowling. now the frame. with just the hood and cab setting next to the kit chassis, i can kind of ballpark the stretch i'm looking for. for extra frame rails, I used square stock and cut it in half. find a spot on the stock rails and cut. I try to find a spot that can be consealed if need to be. use angle on the inside for support, and walla! shes straight and square............enjoy Q.

well I have a nice v8 cat I have been looking at. im building this truck kind of backwards. I wanted to get the body the way I want it and kind of build around that platform. does that make any sense? one thing I have decided on was the color.

high speed internet, bi-focals and super glue debonder

picked up a second one. its a great kit, the extra parts they give you for the tractor makes it worth it alone

I would like to see round 2 re-issue the r model mack.

thank you for the comments. just finished the tank trailer for it. will get pics. asap. working on the western star project now. tring to get things done, I believe I have gotten the truck show guys here to have model truck show also.

the stock sleeper looked as if it needed lifted to match the cab , but that's how they were made.hence the phrase coffin sleeper. wheel base is way to short for my taste.

I told myself I was going to build a nice little day cab out of this kit,but that idea lasted about two seconds after opening the box! Opened a port on the drivers side to take a second air cleaner and extended the hood somewhere around one scale foot. The sleeper was a chore, used two and a half standered sleepers to make this box. Filler putty comes next to clean up the gaps. Comments are more than welcome......thanks Q!

looks good to me.thats the best part of this hobby. grab a razor saw and fix what the designers didn't.

marmons were so ugly that they were cool. they , like many others of the day just screamed American muscle!