olsbooks

I so enjoy your projects. The realism you pull out of your builds and the weathering is just incredible. Notes are being taken!

Looking really good. A 2 cent suggestion. If you have not glued the wheel assemblies in, consider "scuffing" at least the tire treads with some sandpaper to knock off the gloss. Just me, but it was one of those things that I held off doing it for eeeons and after the first time I did it, is now a "must". A little scratching up with rough grit like 180 (or a throw away emory board/nail file and then again with something like 400 does wonders on those hard vinyl AMT tires. The "armor all" effect they have is nice on the sidewalls at times...but to me, not on the treads. I like the green and the whole build. Very well done!

Thanks guys and to Terry, excellent point about "skin grafting" from donors. A buddy and I did the real thing years ago with a Jeep CJ we were restoring. It had a rotted floor pan in a horrible spot by the driver seat base/transmission hump/floor mat area. We cut out a front corner of a hood from an old Ford pickup, flipped it over and it dropped right in slicker than....well, you get the idea. Obviously, despite always trying to repurpose anything/everything I had forgotten that whole aspect. Thanks for the subtle reminder. Stinks getting old....except that I can now hide my own Easter eggs and be amused for a year(s) finding them. Thanks again guys. Lugnut is busy on the job and hope to have some pix in a week or so. Merry CHRISTmas

A request for advice/mentorship from the scratchbuilders and outside the box thinkers. I will post some pix shortly but am really scratching my head on the odd shapes/bends that are going to be required at all 4 cab corners where it rolls into the roof. I am poking around with empty solder tubes for vertical portions which have just the right radius and thickness if I cut them into "quarter rounds". That seems to hold potential Anyhoo, at what amounts to a bent over "Y" at the top/sides of all 4 corners I am really struggling to try and pull off something reasonably clean for a first time. I am toying with virtually any low cost material such as shaping balsa cubes, dense foam, or ?????? I really don't want to go with channel and loading it up with putty. Somebody has been down this rabbit hole before. Just keep in mind my tooling and budget are minimal and this is my first go round at something this complex. JT loaded me up with sheeting (THANKS JT) so trial and error with styrene IS an option. And it might be I just "layer it up" and shape it much like the valve covers I did on the engine. Suggestions and better ideas welcome. Peace and Merry CHRISTmas .

Well done and another fine work. 2 thoughts for your "display". 1) If you get to Home Depot/Lowes or a good hardware store, pick up some of that self adhesive anti slip black traction tape. It comes wide and is usually sold by the foot. Makes a darn nice roadbed.. Then just fling some thick gloss black for tar filled cracks and/or grind in a little dirt with your finger to further dull out the areas worn by tires. 2) Consider a diluted wash of cheap flat black acrylic or black charcoal dust on your peeps and puppies. Nice way to kill the gloss and bring out the detail. A little gentle wiping with a clean, dry Q tip once dry really makes 'em look pretty good. Great job....as usual. You da man! .

You just keep raising the bar don't you! Good on you! A "save". Using coat hanger wire. Kitty litter for load. Great weathering. And a peep and a pup to boot? And of course painted so well in the approaching legendary color of "JT Orange". You are hereby awarded the following with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that go with it.

This is such a great looking old rig. "Fermenting iron" is an art and you have done a super job. Perhaps on the agenda, but consider "denting up" and "chewing up" the deck plate, fenders, and mud flaps. Very realistic!.

My 2 cents worth and admittedly, stolen from someone here on the forum a long time ago... "Treat each part and sub assembly like a model in itself". A good example is if you stick with the supplied tires and wheels. Make them a model in themselves. If you can nail those with a good fit/finish, then you are well on your way to a nice build. When I can stick that in my head as #1 priority, that is when good work comes out. On the kit supplied tires and wheels, it is a good but not impossible challenge. Have fun and welcome.

A most interesting build. I don't always kitbash to this extent, but when I do, YOU have the process and skills down pat to an art. Thanks for the details and inspiration. OR....as it goes on the commercial.......

Humor me as I go down amnesia alley..... While they likely used different trucks for the show with different spec's and little emphasis made on technical accuracy, transmissions were usually one of 3 things for standard "over the road owner operator setups".... A main and aux transmission. No air lines/buttons/splitter with 2 sticks. The then new Eaton/Fuller "Roadranger" .Back then they were using model RT125 and RTO125 series (direct or overdrive) in 9,10,13, 15 speeds for big engines. Other than the knob appearance, function stayed pretty much the same well into the 90's. 9 and 10 speeds have a hi/low range selector mounted on the shift lever. 13 and 15's overdrives had a direct/overdrive selector on the knob. Non overdrive 13 and 15 speeds which had 3 position selectors on the knob and no hi/lo range on the lever. Spicer had all kinds of setups with their 14 speed being pretty popular. They were easy to tell by a large blue shift knob with a single select lever on the front of the knob. With KW, you could get all kinds of oddballs if you had the $ and imagination as the option list was as thick as a dictionary. Unlike GM with whom I spent my time, on KW (and others like Pete, Marmon, and Western Star) if you could dream it, they would build it. There were even set ups with Allison automatics AND a 2-3 speed manual auxiliary behind them. These were for some dump truck operators that wanted better slow speed control when dumping asphalt or serious grade issues. Probably the "hottest" setup with owner operators beyond the 5x4, was the RTOO12515. 15 speed double overdrive. If you had the HP, were empty, a fast rear end gear like 2.73, 24.5" tires on flat land, you could fly. 100 mph quite easy.

Wow! And the results show! Watch out show circuit! You will be spanking the judges.....or as we say down south... "that'll make you want to slap your mammy!"

Sharp. I was always thought the John Player Special was a very sharp looking car/paint scheme. Europe's huge "one up" of the Smokey and the Bandit Trans-Am or Dodge Warlock.

A true GOOD old show. The twighlight of the golden age when primetime networks and viewers still had their head screwed on straight and priorities right. QUALITY entertainment extolling some values that matter....... Lost but not totally forgotten. THANK YOU.

VERY interesting. Going by the cars on it, that is a mid/late 80's stuff on board and somebody spent some serious coin getting that Dodge up to snuff. Dodge, Ford, Reo, White, GMC (crackerbox) all had some homely looking cabovers in the mid/late sixties. But Dodge had to take the cake with those dog dish headlight bezels. So ugly they are kind of pretty in an odd sort of way. Obviously the 1000 stylists did not play with, influence, or even talk to the Bighorn hood stylists...or perhaps they were seeking redemption. Thanks for sharing your prototype. I would never have thought such a beast ever existed. Very cool.

Nice job. With the turbine, perhaps the tanker was just an auxiliary fuel tank? Again, very well done!

WOOPS. I stand corrected on the girlie pic. I found it! Seriously...you could probably make a few dollars creating "slums" for scale model railroaders and war diaromas. Rivet counters and people with their underwear in a bunch seldom can pull that kind of stuff off really well, try though they may. No disrespect to the rivet counters....their works are certainly no less impressive. It tells a story and has no prototype. The more I look, the more I find. Captivating. That is an artists touch. "Listening to the voices in my scrap box" might be a good caption. Guess I've made my opinion far too well known. And it is just that...an opinion. Peace

But where is the illudium Q36 space modulator? Oh, that earth creature has it. Absolutely fantastic! Lugnut is over here drooling..... Why do I have this suspicion you have a "full size" rat rod of some sort? If not, I am sure one is rolling around in your dream bucket. Staying within the lines of normalcy? ..... why bother? Far too confining, predictable, and few chances to try, discover, and learn something new. Your workmanship and attention to detail is most impressive. But is a 1980's vintage Snap On Tool calendar on the wall, chrome silhouette girlie mudflap weights or appropriate "nose art" out of the question? Boys will be boys.....remembering what seemed a better time/better place.

VERY sharp!

Ol' Lugnut went into a manic phase and got BUSY... While not as clean as I would like, for this serious of a kitbash, it will fly. We are just happier than a pig in slop over the lugnut cover fuel tanks. We used flat black on the "straps" and then went over them with black automotive pinstrip to give a bit of the metal over rubber appearance. The brackets themselves are semi gloss black. We forgot to take pix of it but actually assembled the brackets and straps like a "cage" for easy painting and then slid the tanks in. We got some tricks up our sleeve for the steps. After sniffing massive quantities of glue, Lugnut wanted a true psychodelic trip. So he hit the silver paint on the engine again. We just were not satisfied despite glue and paint fumes with the scratchwork for the lettering or the dog chasing its tail logo (the two arrows in a circle arrangement) on the rocker covers and are going to hold out for something legible. Lessons learned? Well, I surely wish we would have done something to run full length straight frame rails and put the steering box up front. It has kept us from mounting the battery box closer to the tire and I got a feeling it is going to haunt us again before this project is done. The decision whether to go day cab or double bunk is still out there. We are holding out for a double bunk but hacking about 60" out of the frame is still quite possible.. Soon the fun will really begin. Probably will start with a cab floor and then take a stab at a superstructure sort of like that on the 1/16 gold nugget project after paint attacked the plastic and new cab sides and doors had to be made.. Hacking and bashing are Lugnut's history but starting a potentially complex build like this will take more than one deep breath. Peace Now to the band of experts out there, we got an "aw crud" to overcome. For those that have done these kits and are familiar with how the front wheels are secured to the axle, we have a problem. I use Tenax 7R glue and when I slid the front wheels onto the "spindles", I failed to get one full seated about 1/8' inch. since this thing is now set up to steer, the strength to play gorilla and rip it off is gone. Any suggestions on what I can use to soften up this glue even if just for a few seconds?

Well, the powers in cyberland blame my IE browser as the root cause. Whatever. Well here we go with Firefox and Fotki for a trial. I will try it for a bit and see. Here is our first attempt with a finished off battery box assembly. "Sit on it Lugnut!" The majority is just sheet plastic. The latches are actually an unused set of horns from a 1/25 Revell W900 with just a little sanding. The grip tape is "scrap book" paper that I often use for mudflaps or floor mats. It has a bit of a texture but is quite thin so a bit of diluted white glue gets it to stick down just fine. A good warmup if we are going to tackle an almost scratchbuilt hood and cab. Here is the prototype for the tank and bat box configuration. Also, we are playing around with more lugnut and frame bolt covers. While a bit long compared to standard on GMC's, we might try this for the air cleaner. That IS possible with another set. though 1/4" smaller O.D. would be nice. The "large" cap is a sample of a typical frame bolt cover I am working with and would work real nice for "tank ends" on 1/25 tanks for those that use PVC tubing. As it is, it would work nice on the old winter weather version air cleaner with inside/oustide/inside ducting. But that is for another project and was never offered as an option by GMC if I recall though they did offer a "severe duty" version that had a raised cap somewhat like very early Mack R and DM's.. But for you guys wanting a couple of big hooters hanging in the breeze on your Pete or KW in 1/16 it is something to keep in mind. Cost? 1.59.

Very sharp!

Thanks Jeff. PM sent.

Nice job and clever kitbashing!

If you got a couple of bucks and a way to get to a hardware store or Hobby Lobby, consider a set of tiny hinges like those used on doll houses or a jewelry box. Set the cab down on its "nose" on your work bench. Line up the bumper and place the hinges. Make sure they are either inside or outside the frame rails. Also, make sure you got the hinges mounted so they will tilt the correct way. (Been there, done that). Some thick CA or similar and let it set for a day. Scuffing up the brass or chrome finish on the hinges will help the glue hold better and with a set of wire cutters, you can trim the excess mounting tabs of the hinges before you glue them for a better fit . Go back with a little paint on the visible parts. Then just make sure you get that bumper glued to the frame real good and it has set fully before trying to tilt it. viola. There is a section on my 1/16 KW gold nugget in the workbench section on how I did this using these materials. Find the page(s) dealing with the cab. You nail this one and you are well on your way to having cab doors open and close! Good luck. Keep us posted!

Lugnut lives up to his name. Seems while poking around he found some chrome lugnut and frame bolt covers at the local truck stop. Well, for $3, this is what we get. No nasty seams like in the kit and a FAR better finish. We just need to make the joint where the two are glued together under a strap. These things were plastic and I just zipped them with the Dremel. There are enough size varieties to work for 1/16 tanks and air cleaners. Probably could do 1/25 tanks as well. Now we don't have the expense or hassle of BMF or Alclad for such a large surface. While I really like the beautiful workmanship in some of the aluminum ones you guys have and put out there, it was just out of my budget. Took almost 2 years to figure this one out but we finally got a solution. When there is a will, there is a way. Patience and trial and error. . Also taking a first stab at battery box scratchbuilding... so here is sort of how it will look.. The straps are just black automotive pinstripe laid on for effect only at this point and everything is just set loose. Anyway, here is round 1.