vincen47

Extremely realistic textures, colors, and sheen. I swear the best backdrops are like this one - utilizing the “mundane” features of our everyday world. A background, that by itself, most people wouldn’t photograph unless there was an object, like a car, you wanted to take a picture of, say, as you pass by it. A simple, mostly featureless (until you give it a second look) urban landscape. A perfect approach!

Very slick. I like the paint colors, exhaust, and the sleeper swap.

Fantastic! Some of the most realistic figures I’ve seen.

X2! He does a great job.

I’d love to see the aftermarket bring us some goodies for the k3500. The front driveline, suspension, and the proper tow mirrors and fender flares.

Neat build. The Keystone body looks like it builds up well. You’ve done a beautiful job with it. Great idea on skinning it with thin sheet. I have one of these bodies myself. Glad I got it when I did. One thing I’ve learned is grab the aftermarket stuff when it’s available.

That’s an interesting purpose-built vehicle, for sure. An incredibly unique model. I like the “Tawas” markings. Going for a Lake Huron vibe? Makes it even more unique and cool.

Thanks for posting this information.

Love how so much of the snow weathering on the truck is an incredibly realistic grayish mix.

To you, and all of the other great contributors to our hobby, thank you. Your hard work and effort is appreciated. If this is the reason Doug is out too, then it’s even more upsetting. I’m sorry that shameless crooks caused so much understandable frustration for you, and ruined the satisfaction of helping to provide others with a rewarding hobby.

Excellent weathering. Looks like a Michigan truck, for sure. Love the fender rust.

Glad to see his product line continue. I’ve had good experiences with STS so far, and though the shipping hasn’t been super cheap, I don’t think it’s been too bad. Shipping has been pretty quick too, but some of that is luck. Funny how SU continues to get further away from me. Years ago, Dan was just a couple miles down the road. Then, he moved a couple states away. Now, his products are in Canada. ?

This is unfortunate. By his statement above, we can assume it wasn’t a pleasant experience for him, at least recently. I was a happy customer, and I’m sure most people were too. I’d like to thank him for his contribution to our hobby, and I hope he considers selling his product line to keep it going.

A very cool project that I’ll be following!

X2, Keystone would probably be the place to go for the Brockway. They are getting a new website. If it’s not up and running yet, it should be soon.

I agree with what’s been said so far. There’s not a whole lot of missing gaps in the most common heavy truck engines. But I very much appreciate your willingness to look into some projects. Funny, just a few years back, I would have been screaming for a ISX15 or a C15, but the aftermarket has come through for most of the modern and common heavy truck engines. The MaxxForce 13 would be a nice replacement for the 15 in the Prostar and Lonestar kits. The 15 was a dud and very few 1:1 trucks had them. Like others have said, modern Detroits are also lacking, like the DD13, DD15, and DD16. I’d grab up a couple of those, though I can’t imagine they would be super popular because of the general lack of modern trucks to put them in. I have a A&N Coronado one of those would be perfect for, but again, not a common kit. However, I bet it won’t take long for the 3d printers to start creating trucks that would be ideal candidates for the modern Detroits. Kootenay, for example will probably be making a Coronado soon, according to his latest FB post. Speaking of Detroits, a more modern 8v92 would be good, as you said. The Auslowe N14 looks pretty accurate to me, but I’m sure there’s always room for more detail. The new Paccar engines are also not produced. I can’t imagine they’d be popular amongst modelers, but I suppose some guys like myself would certainly grab one for variety sake, and pop it into a resin 389 conversion.

If you don’t mind making the frame rails yourself, check with Plastruct or Evergreen for suitable lengths of styrene. I imagine with their vast selection that you’d find the length and width and thickness you’d need for the side, top , and bottom of the c-channel. Glue together, and sand the outside edges to shape. But, if you’re looking for off-the-shelf styrene c-channel, I don’t believe they or anyone else makes it in the size we need for 1/24 or 1/25 trucks. However, Ryan from Rhino Model Truck Parts makes nice frame rails for custom builds from styrene in 24” lengths (using the method described above), and he will probably do other sizes, too. His main business now is aluminum parts, but he still makes the frame rails. The set I bought closely matches the Italeri Peterbilt frame rails in height, but they’re really designed to be used as the rails for the entire build, rather than as extensions for a frame stretch (in that case, you’re wise to instead use additional sections from a matching kit). You can find him on eBay as rhino9905 and contact him there or at rmlynek6@gmail.com

Only Facebook? Any other way to see his parts offering?

Now that it’s being reissued…

Excellent! This is exciting news. I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ve had an AAM crew cab dually in the stash for, well, let’s see…30 years, along with a 454 ss. This new release will most likely supply some (better) parts to complete it.

Wonder if Texas 3d Customs would be willing to offer some grille options now that it’s being reissued?

True. You’d really need the complete wheel set, not just the hubs. I’ve used the Auslowe caps to dress up the kit wheels and make the hubs look larger and more dome-like.

M&R Wheels makes several styles of hubs in real aluminum, along with tons of different wheels in both 1/24 and 1/25 scales. On the pricey side, compared to Moebius and kit wheels, but far above in looks and quality. Here’s a link to the large 1/25 “dome” drive hubs: https://www.mandrwheels.com/hubs-drums-studs-tools#/truck-drive-axle-hub/ if you’re only in need of the caps themselves, Auslowe makes really nice metal ones in two sizes: https://www.auslowe.com.au/shop/category/hubcaps/390

Such an impressive display. Ultra-realistic, especially with the lighting. Can’t help but think how fantastic it would be in 1/25 scale as a backdrop diorama for photos of big rig models. Of course, it would be huge, but incredibly useful for a display.

Simply beautiful!