Mike77

Nice classic look with updated shoes! Lookin' forward to more pics as you go.

I'm not a huge fan of the "weathered" look but you did an outstanding job on it! I love COEs so you can't go wrong by me.

Great start on your project, love the blue! I found the Moebius Lonestar instructions to be more complicated than necessary, are the Revell ones more straightforward?

Are the molds gone? Is that why the Transtar hasn't been reissued? I know this is an old thread but that's a sharp-looking IH COE. The Transtars are/were my favorite truck kits, I build many of them back in the day.

I built this model about 15 years ago but I thought it could use a thread of it's own since I'm relatively new to the MCM forums. It's a 1/16-scale Peterbilt 359 wrecker based somewhat on the 1/25 Stepp's Towing wrecker. I only have a few in-progress photos, mainly taken when I was waiting for parts to come back from being chromed.

It's very cool to see the work that went into such an awesome-looking wrecker JT. I don't have nearly as many "in-progress" pics of mine so I'll probably put a thread for it in the "Under Glass" section.

Thank you JT! After seeing that 1/16 wrecker of yours and some of your other stuff that's quite a compliment coming from a guy with your talents. I finally found some of the other photos of my 1/16 wrecker build so I may do a separate thread for it as well.

Very nice looking build! I hope you don't mind, I wanted to see some of the detail so I lightened your photo up a bit...

Beautiful clean build, kudos!

Not necessarily lately but this old Hendrickson was at the local car show last fall...

I'd probably have to say my 1/16 4-axle Peterbilt wrecker is still my favorite...

It just had the KW kit engine in it. I don't get hung up on what engines are in which trucks...as long as the rigs looks cool that works for me. The striping is just Pactra trim tape with clear coat over it.

I saw a trailer today with side skirts that extended all the way back, covering the tandems. I didn't catch the name on the trailer though. UPDATE: Saw one today, and it was Nussbaum.

Gorgeous wrecker, awesome work! There's only one glaring problem...it's not in my house!

Interesting, thanks for that info Mark. They did a pretty darn good job of making it look like a single unit.

This sharp-looking COE would be cool as a model, but how in the heck do you do engine maintenance on it? Would it really tilt like a regular COE?

I agree with William, the majority of the cab and interior, as well as the exhaust system, requires scratch building. I did this 1/16 KW Aerodyne years ago but I don't have any in-progress photos of the build...

I did end up putting it on Ebay. I'll probably not get even close to what I have into it but life isn't always about making a profit. I still plan on building model trucks so it's not the end of the world.

I decided to do it as a non-opening model and have painted it red. To avoid the inevitable frame sag I attached the wrecker body to the back of the sleeper, leaving a small gap, and now the wrecker body, sleeper, cab, and hood are all one unit that can be attached to the chassis when the rest of the work is done. I haven't assembled the rotator or any of the tow hardware and I've only put some of the chrome on. Unfortunately for various reasons this project may go the way of my 1/16 wrecker project and get sold or traded off in it's current yet-to-be-finished state. Maybe I just wasn't destined to do a big wrecker in any scale!

The ones you sent me went on the lift axle. I was able to make an axle that adapted perfectly to the backs of them. Thanks again!

After abandoning my 1/16 wrecker project for the 2nd and probably final time, I decided to come back into the 1/25 fold. This is my first 1/25 project in many years, a Revell wrecker body stretched to accept an extra axle. I considered making it a Lone Star but it'll be a Peterbilt. The frame is red and so far I haven't settled on a color for the rest of it. Who knows, it may end up just being a Big Red Truck!

I wonder why, with all the reissues of the old kits over the past few years, the Transtar II hasn't come back out. It seemed to be a very popular kit back in the 70's and when it came back out in the 90's, so I think it'd sell quite well in today's market.

Yeah, I've heard that. Back then there was the GM Foundry, GE, Hyster, etc. Although I have to credit Danville for my interest in models...I used to walk to Kmart, Zayre, and Ayr-Way to buy truck kits for $2.97!

Although I've never built one I like the "something a little different" look of COE wreckers. Yours looks great so far, can't wait to see the finished rig.