Chariots of Fire

I have a vacuu-form machine as well. I would sit the buck for the windshield right down on the grill so that when the softened sheet drops over it the rest of it gets pulled down evenly all around. Having the buck raised off the grill may be your problem.

I like it too! Nice color combination. Larger tires and wheels make a nice difference.

Same number of coats on the cab and hood? That happened to me on a small build recently. I should have painted both with the same number of coats on each one. I doubt that the resin has anything to do with it if they were both primed the same and had the same basic starting surfaces. It's looking good though, in spite of the slight shade difference.

That looks nice, though. Are you going to cut through the decal at the door line? Use a fresh blade and then hit it again with Micro-sol.

Try Micro-sol under the decal before you lay it down. It might help with the wrinkle problem. Another bit of it on top afterward is ok too.

Well, "Leaf", those would make ideal images for creating them in 1/25 scale via 3D printing. The only thing you would need to change would be the tire size from 10.00-22 to 9.00-20 for this build.

Progress has been slow on this build but that is ok. I'm in no hurry. It has been somewhat of a challenge, especially for coming up with appropriate springs because of the lack of brass strips of the right size. I have some 1/8" x 1/64 strip stock on order for the fronts but the 5/32 stock just is not available so plan B went into affect. The springs came from another truck kit but have been modified to fit this build. For the front springs I added a short strip of brass with tubing soldered on the ends. That way I can set them in the spring brackets with some strength. The rears will sit on a bracket that is mounted on the center pivot point and with the flat portion of the springs sitting on each axle. Now it's on to the axles themselves. Those "b" shaped brass pieces next to the rear springs are what the torque rods will attach to once they are mounted on each axle.

I have a 1/35 scale kit of a Diamond T tank hauler pulling a trailer. Lots of parts, great tire assortment and all. But I'm sort of stuck on doing one in 1/25 scale!?

Would be nice if it was, Brian! Wish I had a stretch machine that would go from 1/35 to 1/25 scale!!

Maybe I'll build one body of each and switch them off now and then!!?

I've had that problem. Totally depends on the number of coats of paint that are applied. Losing count or leaving parts to paint on another day can result in different shades. So painting the hood with the body makes sense.

Been fiddling around long enough with some small stuff. It's time to get back into something a bit more substantial. This one has been on my mind for a while now and the modeling juices have begun to flow once again. The only question left is whether it will be the wrecker version or another dump truck to fill out the line. There are 5 dumps in the display case and this one would be a unique addition. The frame has been started using brass stock. I had some rectangular tubing that was the correct height for an 8" frame but one side needed to be cut open to form a channel section. That was done with a Dremel and cutting disk. Cross members are a combination of brass and plastic that came from the parts box and seemed to fit the particular need.

He's working in that "other" scale. ?

Terry, that's beautiful! Awesome paint choice!

I'm with Tony on this one. I've used Duplicolor rattle can paints for a long time and swear by them. So why decant them? They are very fine pigmented and go on smoothly. They do need several coats to bring out the particular color but that is the beauty of them. Letting them dry well between first coats will allow for some light sanding and prep work. And in my opinion never need to be clear coated to look natural. The only problem? Less color selection and lack of availability of that nice gray sandable primer.

I just bought a new package of BMF and tried it. The material appears to be as good as the older foil was for adherence and for stretch. That is the good thing about it; that it is malleable enough to stretch around some corners. The adherence problems appear to have been solved. I will say that for some things BMF will not work but a Molotow chrome pen will. And I like both as a means of replicating chrome.

Blending the roof line of the ambulance with the cab is going to be a chore. Be sure and check out several pics of the WC-54 and you will see that the roof rolls inward above of and toward the cab doors. Making the box is easy enough. If you are a mind to, get a copy of the Tankograd WC series for the WC-51 and 52. It will have photos of the ambulance version as well. The ambulance wheelbase is 194-1/2" if that helps. Looking forward to see your work!

No easy fix there. If warm water does not soften the glue so you can remove it, you might be stuck with what you have.

I'll post some pics in the WIP section when I get started.

This project is now finished. I got the cab repainted so that the color matches the body. It didn't take as much work as anticipated but the door handles and such needed to be touched up. I got a new Molotow #1 pen to do the chrome. It came out nice! Door handles, gas cap, rear view mirror all have a great shine. Now it's on to the next save; this time a 1961 Ford pickup that came with the '60 Ford that was just finished. Same process all over again. Wash, pull apart, strip and repaint. Then re-assemble. Fun stuff.

Well, after several attempts to find a paint color that I liked, I settled for the Tamiya 102. It's not exactly what I wanted but it is close enough. The biggest problem right now is that the cab is a shade darker than the body and I need to give the cab one more coat. The problem? Glass and interior tub are glued in!! So there will have to be some fancy masking to get things done. That's a resin cast grill in front of the cab. It was painted with gloss black and then Alclad. The headlights were opened up. Using the grill mold four clear headlight lenses were cast and then inserted in place. Tamiya clear amber was used for the turn signals. Unfortunately, the chrome FORD on the hood sides was not in good condition and there wasn't much I could do about it. Tires are 1/32 scale truck tires and the rims came from the parts box. The grill needs to sit a little higher. It is just in place temporarily in the photo. The tailgate was cut loose and hinged at the bottom. But when I put the bumper in place the license plate blocked the tailgate from opening up. The plate was cut away. The FORD letters were done with white decals. I found a tailgate image on line that I could use to make the letters to the right shape. The letters were copied and printed in white on the ALPS printer. Some small brass strip stock pieces were glued to the tailgate and the body. Wire and bright chain were added. I was able to make a casting of the interior of the FORD so that it looks like the stamped version of the real tailgate. It's a bit on the thick side but not bad when all is said and done. Now to get the cab corrected!!

WOW! What a beautiful build! The tractor and trailer look made for each other. Modifying the hood and fenders to make the wider stance of a heavier truck was really worth the effort. Colors are smashing!!

Well done, my Friend!! That's a pretty combination of orange and white. I like it! GLFD should be along shortly.

Well done! Rear view mirrors can be a real pain, especially when the parts are so out of scale. I found a way to make the brackets using long straight pins and some solder that seems to work pretty well. They can be mounted by drilling small holes the size of the pins in the door.

That's interesting (the UPS part) because you need the images to begin with and if they are not nice and clear, the ALPS will pick up whatever the image is, flaws and all. The cartridges are available but are sometimes hard to come by, especially the white one for undercoating. And that is essential because if you print decals on clear film without it the image will not be opaque. I have not found a driver for much beyond Windows XP and that is one reason why I hold onto the one old computer I have. The design program as well as the ALPS works well on it.