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As Pete used to say in their ads back in the day...."class". Nice color combo and mods.

What about those "wraps" being used on so many trucks and busses now? That just popped into mind but that could bring some real interesting things into the mix. Dont know anything about it other than it is thin, can be fit around most anything and is unlimited in terms of graphics potential.

Gonna be sharp! Are you going to put in a big side window like on the photo you snagged?

Got any plans for it?

Nice job. Yellow was perfect for this thing. That was always my favorite rig. Thanks for posting.

Clever! I am heavy a combo "paper/plastic" project right now on some upholstery work. You put some ideas in my head to try...dangerous thing. What do you use for adhesives and paper if you are willing to share. Thanks for posting!

That is going to be sharp!

This is VERY cool. Just a thought....the little Dodge or Ford cabovers made into a tandem rig.....since you are hauling "gassers". I think the curved cutouts really make this thing. Very old school......when styling still mattered and was built in instead of added on. Will be interested to see what you decide on.

Those signs are great sources for sheet plastic. Hobby shops (RC cars, trains and RC planes) usually sell the expensive stuff that is top notch. But try thinking outside the box too. If you have a flea market, garage sale, or a something like that, poke around. Look for the shapes. Cheap/broken toys, the guts in older desktop computers/electronics, shelf "knick knacks", womens cosmetics and christmas decorations are a great way to pick up stuff dirt cheap. The key is to look for the shape/size you want buried in the item and then just take your time to hack it out. This works out good for getting a good bargain on many little tools too. Yeah, it may not be as perfect as a show winner, but as long as you enjoyed building it, that is what matters most.. Good luck. Keep us posted!

Welcome. You will find people very encouraging and helpful here. Kinda curious though. What happened to the suspension that was supplied? Or are you trying to create a "lo-rider"?

So very cool to see these rebuilds. Always nice to have a second chance in better hands. .

One of the most amazing jobs I have seen. Surely you have done many military trucks and tanks. I have never seen a "civilian" truck model beat up like this...only military models. Absolutely amazing blend of both worlds. And the idea of "salvaging" a prebuilt model always worried me for the very reasons you have overcome. I had been toying with it but you have inspired me to go this route next time. Thank you so much for sharing.

Those fuel tanks really make it all fit together. Gotta remember that one for the future. Nice job. For what it is worth, there is a low cost model railroaders recipe using a mixture of steel wool and vinegar aged in a glass jar for a week or so until the steel wool basically dissolves. Just brush it on the wood and in a few minutes it gives it an incredible weathered effect with just the right colors. I have not done it in decades so you might look into the specifics but the effects beat anything I have ever seen. I used it for doing flooring in boxcars and loading docks. I used it on just about all kinds of wood with real good results.

Have so enjoyed reading this whole story. Be safe and hope to see more from you and Thunderstuck soon.

Never knew there was such a kit. Have seen the real one a few times. Interesting to say the least. Check it out on youtube if you haven't already. Good luck with it!

Cool and for the price, you cant lose! Just an FYI that many of you may already know, if you want lots of variety, go to a serious model train shop and look at the G scale stuff. That is 1/22.5 to 1/24 scale. Everything people wise (and I do mean everything) is available both painted and unpainted. The military modelers got some great forums on detailing people. Got a buddy really into it. Talk about OCD when they have forums on how to do tattoos, a tear in a sleeve and making tour patches. THANKS!

Fascinating! Thanks for the history lesson and sharing your work of art! A day where you dont learn something is a day wasted.....well, today certainly was not wasted.

Very cool! Like the gun shifter a lot! Clever. Maybe use horse tack/cowboy stuff for some interior stuff like spurs, bits, bridles, and that sort of thing? For what it is worth, I picked up a spray can of Krylon "brown boots" satin finish. Has a nice leather like finish.

I like! Always like the weathered look.

Impressive! One thing to be careful of is to make sure the butterfly side panels will clear the fenders. I am amazed at your workmanship. Way out of my league, but I am trying. Fantastic job!

Just incredible!

Here is a good one to help you with dimensions.... Use 1/24. It and 1/25 are so close it wont make a noticable difference. http://scale-models.nl/scalc.html If this is your first build, you might want to tackle a kit first like the AMT tanker trailer. It will give you a good feel plus give you many parts that you could use for your dump trailer. Good luck.

Thanks Danno. I honestly could not recall seeing any production info on this thing. Hype and rumors (mostly at new truck shows for dealers) about it coming but quietly died. I didn't know if they did anything like a joint venture with a common carrier that was out of dealers hands. I am curious if GM ever used them in any regular service even if it was done "in house" like when GM used to do their own trucking from auto plant to plant. A great deal of oddballs and shakedowns occurred in this to get real world testing. I remember visits to Michican where I-75 from Saginaw to Detroit were just loaded with GM owned trucks hauling components from plant to plant and they were not always your run of the mill Astros, Generals, or Brigadiers.

Not a biggie, but I beg to differ regarding the bus mirrors on Chevy vs GMC. I was spec'ing out GMC's for a dealer at that time. Both Chevy and GMC had bus style mirrors available (actually the bus style was standard for the first few years when the then new" cab style first came out. The so called "west coast" mirrors were an RPO (regular production option). The bus style faded out quickly (obviously) but remained available as an SPO (special production option) for many years. GMC and Chevy used the same "spec book" with the same option codes, etc throughout their runs (all medium and heavy duty models). My OPINION was they used them because they were far cheaper and with GMC/Chevy being so aggressive with IH, Ford, and others in the day, they wanted to have an ultra low cost "base price" model. Loss leaders....and then sock you on upgrades. It was always comical when we would occasionally get in a GMC brand new from the factory with a Chevy steering wheel or other "bowtie" trim piece put in by mistake. GM truck quality on fit/trim/finish was not much better than their cars during this time....but they did the job quite well and were priced right. Later on, every once in a while they would throw an oddball out like the Aero Astro (a joke) or the Astro SS (collectors dream), but that was rare and usually priced way out of sight for what it was. These oddballs stood to really mess up up the production sequence and often wound up going to the "modification bays" or even offsite where they would handle goofy options largely as "rework" (hence the big pricetag). Other good examples would be items such as UPS's special cosmetic quirks and Roadway's insistance on air start but if there was enough volume in a huge order, then it was not so bad on price. Never saw the turbine in person.... I suspect it was handled as a SPO type option with lots of hype for the big dealers/fleets. I honestly had forgotton about it. Thanks for the trip down amnesia lane!