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Another great gas station diorama Ed. It is well crafted and well engineered as always. I take it that this was an independent gas station and not a gas company owned one. Good to see you back Ed. carl

There are lots of great construction subjects that would make great models. The Euclid TC12 twin engine bulldozer, Any make motor scraper or cable operated pan scraper, Any make road grader ( I would prefer a Champion...now called a Volvo), Any make front end loader and the list goes on and on. I would settle for anything that looks right in construction yellow. Carl

I did a few cars this year and these trucks Just the auto rack and Louisville. The Cars were previously built IWhen I checked through my build log I was suprised by the number of builds that I did complete this year Thanks Carl

I would say that it might be a good time to but a lottery ticket. Luck seems to be with you. What a great steal! And where are you going with it? Carl

Hi Ben It appears that i skipped some of the build and jumped directly from here to the Under Glass Section. Here is a link http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83486&hl=%20hess%20%20van it turned out not badly if I do say so myself. Thanks Carl

Thanks Guys for all the kind words. I'm a bit lost when it comes to European autos. I figured that if it was to be a pickup it should be based on the front doors from a four door so I just shortened the door by 6mm and stuck that into the body behind the B post to keep the wheel base constant. If it wasn't for the incentive of a club theme I probably would never build this kit Thanks again Carl

Excellent build , George. It certainly looks like some of the old blowers that we had around here. Nice job on the weathering. The flights on the augers must have been a pain to make and install? Well done Carl

Every year the model club that I belong to has a build theme lottery were everyone throws their best ideas into a hat and one is chosen as a group build.This years theme was "Rancheros, El Caminos or similar phantoms. I figured that starting with a station wagon would be the easiest way to go. However a quick check of my stash only came up with a WV Golf hatchback. I had won this kit as a door prize and had no plans to build it so I was quite willing to sacrifice it to a razor saw. The major conversion work consisted of shortening the door length and stretching the truck bed by the same amount so that the chassis pan would stay the same. A Dodge VTS kit donated box bed and bulkhead parts. The Wheels and tires came from a fujimi tire kit The paint is Crimson nail polish. the truck bed scratch build. The inner door panels also came from the VTS kit and this is how it turned out Thanks for looking Carl

Italeri has some truck drivers in their accessory kits These could be adjusted to fit other vehicles carl

nice rookie rods on the back corners Carl

My former dentist (now retired) used to save picks and drill bits for me, His replacement is not nearly as into models as the old one. Carl

This is a what if project. B/A was an important oil company in earl 20th century Canada. It was gobbled up by Gulf in the late 60's. If it had survived this is a possable b/B tank truck. I started with the RoG centipede tanker. I didn't like the look of the 6 axle setup so I removed the front 2 axles and shortened the fenders to match. I have yet to build a tractor for this trailer however I did stick an old gluebomb Mack under it and have decided that a COE tractor looks right. more to come Thanks for looking Carl

I use glass stain for lenses. |t works well over chrome lenses and over silver paint otherwise. I mix yellow- orange for amber. Carl

This is a recently completed project. The RofG auto rack was an unpainted but well built glue bomb that I acquired several ears ago. The tractor in an AMT LNT8000 kit. The only mods to the trailer was to improve the rear axles and add break drums. Also modified the hydraulic plumbing. The tractor was repowered with a Cummins out of the Autocar dump truck. I built the head rack to carry another vehicle. It is not easy to paint this trailer after it is built. lots of corners that an airbrush won't reach This model allows me to display up to 7 model vehicles in a small area. I still have to do some tractor to trailer plumbing and to install tie downs once i decide on the cargo to display Thanks for loooing Carl

I have one of those Unimat 1 lathes. They are OK for plastic or wood but forget about metal turning. They are a bit of a pain to convert to various tools. I use mine mainly for cutting round stock and truing up ends, I've had mine for 20+ years but I wouldn't buy another. Carl

Thanks Gus for all the kind words. There is not much of a back story to this build. A while ago I built a backdrop display to photograph mainly construction models. I hung a sign on the door for Big Tom's track works. Tom is a diecast dealer who has separated me from many a dollar over the years. Table top industries is another display dio. The family connection is purely fictional. But I'm glad you liked the story. I made it up to justify the creation of a dumb model. Thanks Carl

A very impressive fleet you have there JT. You are going to have to expand your parking lot soon. The idea of a truck stop diorama has merit. Also you could go with a DOT inspection station or a ferry dock. I really like your orange fleet. carl

Sorry about the links and not the actual photos. I think Photobucket is playing games with me. Carl Edit to the edit had to redo the original url's directly into the post. had previously written it in Word then pasted the whole thing. It always worked before.

I'm with you Jason. I tried to post using the Url method that always worked and got rejected. I redid everything by copying direct image and now you have to chase down photobucket to see the images. I'm not sure that this is an improvement. carl

The Saga of the Yard Goat Over at Tabletop Industries, The owner who is big Tom cheap brother-in-law decided that they needed a shunt truck to handle the congestion in their shipping and receiving yard. So he asked Tom if he could put something together for him. Since things were winding down for the winter, Tom agreed to have the boys in the shop could probably build something. His back lot was full of junked equipment. So with a deal in place both Tom and Sid headed off to warmer climes and left the build to the boys in the shop. Tom’s instructions before he left was to build a yard goat from parts that they could scrounge from the scrap yard out back, but to make it look good or his sister would wreak havoc on him. So before the snow got too deep the boys dragged a bunch of stuff into the shop and started cutting and welding. In order to build a yard goat you should probably start with a goat. They found and old Dodge L700 glider. This was there starting point. Needing a power train they found most of it in a wrecked Louisville. A 3208 Cat and an Allison auto tranny. Some frame splicing was required to get the correct wheelbase. The rear axle was mounted rigidly to the frame and the truck was converted to air brakes After shoehorning the power train into the frame, the boys then fabricated a hydraulic lift for the 5th wheel, custom built and exhaust system from Italeri parts, converted the fuel tanks into step tanks for easier access to the rear deck and found an old Euclid air cleaner Rather than buy custom rads, they just piggy backed some extra rad cores onto the original Dodge rad. This also included power steering cooling because the power steering pump was modified to run the hydraulics as well The rolling chassis was almost complete Most of the trailer hookup stuff was derived from Italeri Accessory packs. And finally as spring approaches the Yard Goat is rolled out the door. Inside the cab a new consul was built to house controls for the auto trans, 5th wheel lift and the new air brake controls including a trailer brake spike. Thanks for looking Carl

Purple, dark green then Construction yellow are the dominant colours in my collection. followed by a mix of everything else. carl

Over the years I have bought several glass display cases from stores closing. I also have models in a 100 gal aquarium. some of them I put casters under to make them easier to move around. I have a large highway diorama to display several of my truck and car models. And still I don't have enough room. Carl

My Lombard log hauler is based on a old glue bomb version of the MPC General. Scale 1/25 Carl

Hi Ewan Good to have another Ontario Truck builder on board. What part of the province are you from? Carl

Great build, Danno!!. The scary thing is that I remember watching that show way back when. it was all in glorious black and white. Butt the details are all lost in time. The scratch building on the rear doors looks good. That must have been a bit of a head scratcher. How's the hand post surgery? I've been there too and I think its working better than ever for fine stuff but have lost some grip strength. Carl