vincen47

Fantastic! What a great project. A lot of work, I’m sure, but it shows.

Thanks! The milk crate is a 3D printed item from eBay, a guy sells them along with other diorama items. Search for 1/24 milk crate. I made the bungee straps using Ben Wicker’s tip of using bicycle inner tube, cut into tiny strips and s-hooks from wire. They actually function by holding the milk crate and Susie coils down on the photo etched deck plate from Czech Truck Models.

Awesome build, I love it! What a backstory, as always. I can only imagine the hot torture that seat and it’s predecessor had to endure. Funny! I like this Jerry guy.

Yeah, it’s kind of a headache rack, figured that’s something someone would do. I wanted to cover up those tab slots in the sleeper wall. Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the kind words. It was an enjoyable build.

Here is a Revell Peterbilt 359, I built as a 1982 Peterbilt 359-119 Farm Truck, still hard at work today. Backstory: The Ol’ Pete spent the first 10 years of its career as a long-haul owner-operator truck, but took up its second life as the primary truck on Hartic Farms’ roster in the early 90’s. Today, she’s been long relegated to secondary duties. However, she is mostly original, very reliable, and still the favorite of the original farmer’s son, who has dreams of resorting her to her former glory. She was the first truck he learned to drive as a kid, and that’s probably the reason she’s still around, now that he has taken over the family business. The engine is a Cat 3406A, non-Aftercooled, 350hp. - originally factory painted white, but re-painted Cat Yellow when it was rebuilt 25 years ago. You can see a bit of the original paint showing as the yellow has chipped and worn off. A remanufactured compressor was put on it a few years ago. The tires are a variety of Moebius, Moluminum, and Double Take Replicas Bridgestone and Michelin steer and drive tires – replaced only as needed to save some cash. They ride on Moebius steer rims, and Double Take Replicas 5- hole Drives & Hubs. When she needed her exhaust replaced, the son put on a set of straight pipes, hoping to boost the power a little, but it also looks and sounds cool. The truck recently got new Earl Miller air and electrical line susie coils, though she still needs a pogo stick or something better to hold them. The back wall of the sleeper was repaired, after a farm mishap many years ago, with steel diamond plate. The original grille was also fixed after a run-in with a piece of farm equipment using Plano Model Products oval photo etch sheet, after the original Revell grille was cut-out and removed. The headlights are from AMT. It sports a Double Take Replicas visor, and ModelTruckin’ stripes, along with miscellaneous kit and homemade decals. It’s still quite dirty from the fall harvest, where she pulled extra-duty subbing for the farms’ much newer primary truck that was in the shop - yet again. I hope you enjoy. Questions, comments, and critiques are welcome.

Unbelievable!

Really impressive, excellent detail. One of my favorite dioramas I’ve seen on here.

Ha! Doc Brown does mention to Marty that you could “witness the birth of Christ” in his demonstration of the time circuits.

Jaime at Moluminum has a photo etch set for the dozer, including the open grille screen. Moluminum.com - email him, it’s not listed on his site.

“...because, well, Jerry has a flair for the dramatic.” You, my friend, have the gift of hilarious story-telling, and a truly unique eye for the unexpected in model building.

There’s a guy on shapeways (gmphnd) that makes the hood, bumper, headlights and grille to convert the Italeri 378 to the Optimus Prime Peterbilt 389. I’m sure you’d also have to extend the frame. To be more accurate, he also has the cab and sleeper you’d need. I found it by searching for 1/24 Peterbilt. Shapeways search function leaves a lot to be desired, so here’s a link to the grille: https://www.shapeways.com/product/WCNLTCMEU/1-24-optimus-prime-grill-part-italeri-peterbilt?optionId=61182443&li=marketplace The parts are not cheap, and they certainly may come with the downside of 3D printing, so I’m not sure how smooth of a finish you’d get. However, you may be ok with the more expensive (smoother) materials, along with sanding and filler primer. I don’t have any experience with 3D parts myself, except for small detail parts. Some guys have used them to make resin masters, and had successful results making good resin parts in the end.

From a design perspective, I too agree this was the best generation of GM trucks. The design was clean and well-proportioned. You could easily dress it down or up and still look great. The extended cabs, crew cabs, and dually versions also had great proportions and didn’t throw the overall design off balance. They looked good right off the assembly line.

That’s absolutely awesome! Love it!

Looking very nice!

If you emailed Jamie at Moluminum jlrahmo@aol.com I bet he’d point you in the right direction. He is a great guy, and he’s very helpful.

I’d post this in the truckstop section, you’ll get a lot more views from the truck builders, and I’m sure they’ll have more info for you.

Neat model. Really cool to see all of the extensive, and accurate modifications done to cars to make them derby-ready. It would make a great load on a trailer, headed to the county fair. I love the foam and the torn up seat. Great details!

I agree. This should be the box art model, not that ugly green monster.

Wow! That’s gorgeous!

I forgot about that one, and yes, this would be the best route. As a bonus, it comes with the cab mounts.

Making one wouldn’t be too hard, but if you’re looking to buy one, Italeri has one in their latest edition of the 378. I’ve seen that particular Italeri part and aftermarket ones on eBay. P&P resin made a 377/378 day cab insert too, still listed on their website for $7, it may still be available. ppvintagekits.com

Nice work!

Plano Model Products may have what you’re looking for. Yeah, using the search function isn’t always helpful. They mostly do model railroad stuff, but they have a section called “scratch builders materials” that is of use to 1/24 and 1/25 truck builders. http://www.planomodelproducts.com/scratch_scq.html

Nice! The LTL 9000 is a great looking truck.