redneckrigger

I blew my back out in 1990 and have had 8 operations on it, and found that building was a great therapy as well. I have only recently discovered the benefits of building as therapy for my arthritic hands. Great work!!!!

After more than a year and numerous revisions, my Super Transtar is finally done. It is built as a retired oil field style truck that is now being used as a heavy hauler. I started with an Ertl CO4070A kit with a modified cab to replicate the Super Transtar. The frame was modified at the front with straight frame rails to add a powered front axle from Mark Savage, after a conversation with Gatormarcincebu.......THANK YOU for the inspiration!. The engine is a combination of a Sauerkraut and a Moluminum with plenty of kitbashing to make it into a Detroit 12V71TT. The Alpine Green paint is actually the result of what COULD have been a big screw-up................I accidentally mixed Model Master Acrylic and Enamel paint together to get this color, (old eyes never saw the Acrylic labeling), but it worked great, though the left over paint turned into Play-Doh about a day later! The pusher axle was adapted from the 4070 kit. The rear body was built from plastic stock. The half baked effort at brake piping is from telephone wire. The winch is a hydraulic model from johnnytech10 on eBay. The exhaust stacks and headache rack are from rhino9905 on eBay. The front and rear drive tires and all wheels are resin from Mark Savage. The pintle hitch is from Class A Resin. The chain binders are also from Mark Savage. The grille is scratched from Evergreen strip. Many tiny details and more are from the parts box and my imagination. The tool box is from AITM. The paint is PPG Shop Line enamels. The air lines are from Earl Miller, with a little tighter winding given them. The detail decals are from Modeltruckin. The only thing I need to do now is add the logo decals which a fellow member has generously offered to help me with. This was a very profitable build in that it got me back into the hobby and provided me with therapy for my ever increasing arthritis in my hands. It also allowed me to meet and get to know so many fellow builders on this forum, a benefit that has been priceless. I even took it to NNL East and was asked to allow it to be photographed, for which I was amazed! So, into the display case it goes and on to bigger and better things!!! Picked up a lowboy kit from DoubleTake this weekend, and I have a couple First Gear folding neck lowboys to put on her as well as a very neat all metal detachable neck lowboy found on eBay a few years ago. Thanks to all for the great words and encouragement given to me!!!!

Haven't searched for any of these for years, but back in the 80's and early 90's when I was buying, selling, and collecting, and traveling to Toledo three times a year to the show there, I found the following were next to impossible to find: 1. 68 AMT Chevelle 2. 68 MPC Firebird 3. 64 AMT GTO 4. 66 AMT Impala 5. 61 SMP Impala 6. 64 MPC Corvette 7. 73 AMT Corvette Coupe 8. Johan 70 Rebel Machine 9. MPC 70 Trans Am 10. MPC 68 Camaro Back in those days, I had anywhere from 3500 to 4000 kits in my basement..............and NEVER was I able to find more than one or two of the above listed at any time.

Absolutely STUNNING!!!!!!! And being originally from Massachusetts and having seen and worked with these type of rigs, it is dead nuts on!!!

Getting close now! Need to finish the grille which has to be extended lower for the 4090, add the winch cable, neaten up the air and electric lines, put on all the chains and binders, do some more minor weathering, a few tiny details, and touch ups and I'm gonna stick a fork in it and call it done, at least until I get some custom logo decals made up for her.

Holy COW! That is not only wonderful work, it makes my eyes bleed just THINKING about trying to do the same! I am totally awed and jealous!

I tried doing that for about 30 years of my life..................and my garage and yard resembled a large junkyard! Yes, there were many old friends interred there but then when we moved eleven years ago, it was even HARDER to let them go. Fortunately, many of them found good homes!

Super pics!!!

Nice paint and love the stovebolt!

Looking awesome! And it's nice to see a Detroit in something OTHER than Driptroit green!

ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Jamie is a superb guy as I have also gotten items from him, and not only is he very affordable, his quality beats that of those who charge more, and are also shall we say, "difficult" to deal with. 5 stars all the way!!!

Back in the late 90's when I was running my bodyshop, the worst one we had was a '66 Olds 442 convertible with the 3x2 carb setup that came to us for a paint job. We had the best paint booth in the area at the time, a SprayBake full downdraft baking booth, and this guy had just had the bodywork done for BIG bucks but wanted it painted in our booth. I took one look at it when it was off loaded from the roll back and saw that the right side rear quarter was at least 1 1/2" out of whack. Putting a straight edge down the top accent line proved it even worse at about 2" off in the middle. I told the guy I would not paint it unless he let us fix it. He got totally PO'd at me, and not a word was said about the hack that did the work. After telling him to get it out of the shop, he finally decided to have us fix the job, which required total removal of the quarter and putting a new one on, which about doubled the cost of the paint job. It IS totally amazing at the quality of work foisted off on people by some so called professionals.

Nice custom touches!

Hey, Angel, no problem, happy to help! Looking good!

Jaw dropping!

Very nice detailing on the vans as well as the layout, from what we can see. I have always wanted to do a railroad layout but lacked both the space and the eyesight! The Transit looks pretty nice, but I have never been in one. We used to run a Mercedes Sprinter van as an ambulance in the service where I was a paramedic. It was the heavy duty one with dual rear wheels. That thing rode like a tank, and the sliding rear door had a mind of it's own, literally falling off the thing one time during a cardiac arrest we were working. Add to that the fact that the Ford based ambulances almost 99.9% of the services around me used at the time were VERY different in the controls......(hit the wipers and the cruise control flips on, etc.,), and suffice it to say it was a HAPPY day when the Clown Car went down the road in favor of a new Ford E Series rig. But, the Transit looks nice from what I have seen, imagine it will only be a matter of time before THEY arrive on the EMS scene. Keep photos of that layout coming. Love it!

It never ceases to amaze me that there is such a superb wealth of knowledge on this forum. Not only do we get to see super builds like these cruisers, but we are blessed with the accrued knowledge of the wide array of members out there. I thought that the base looked a bit high, and different from similar lights I have seen, but NEVER in a million years would have known why THANKS!

Nice to see someone doing modern stuff. Keep us advised as to availability!

Nice building! It looks every bit the part of it's 1:1 counterpart! Only way it could be better is if it was pulled by and carrying CHEVY! Lol....just kidding, VERY nice work!

That is stunning! Nice work and nice weathering, not over done but just right! WOW!

Very nice craftsmanship, and I also like the use of the shrink tube...............gonna have to try that!

Outstanding review Tim...good work! And NOW I'm pumped to get one!

VERY nice paint work and details..........it DOES look like a 1:1 car!