Warren D

I hope to do it justice. Looks like a brand new kit. I got mine from the auction site, came from Taiwan. I have a few more GT's in the stash and will be working on them as time allows. Coming up are: Wolfman (M151), Black Widow, Satan's Little Angel, Bounty Hunter (M54 w/quad 50's), Nancy, Untouchable, Eve of Destruction and an M-37 version that may be of my own tribute M-37 GT. There may also be a deuce and a half (name TBD).

Recently, I started getting back into the 'Nam gun trucks. I'm finishing off one I started 15 years ago and then this new one popped up. AFV Club does it's usual fine job, lots of detail (maybe too much as the parts are getting very small!) This is based on a M51A2 5 ton dump truck (the more common M54 gun trucks were converted cargo trucks). At the end of this build I'll be listing the errata in the instructions, there have been a few errors I've found so far. I started with the dump body and gun box which went together well, working on the chassis next. I build in large sub-units, basically everything that I can paint as a unit.

And then when I don't get to building everything they hopefully get back into circulation.

Last I read, he was still re-doing his garage space to accomodate stock etc. He works full time so who knows. He had indicated to me last year he had planned to have stock around the end of first quarter but we all know things can and do change.

A moldelling tip for the GT crowd; GT's were kept very clean. The only time they were dirty was when they had just come back from a convoy escort. The GT crews were all volunteers from within the Transportation unit and they all took pride in their Guntruck and kept it as clean as possible. They would often wipe them down with diesel fuel, which would in turn attract more dirt/dust but you use what you can find!

The James Lytle series of books on the Vietnam Gun Trucks are a great reference. I have a few AFV truck kits with Real Model resin GT conversions that I'll get around to someday before I die (I better get crackin'!) I drove 5 hrs to a convention of the Gun Truckers a decade ago (maybe more) where there were several replicas in 5 ton, deuce and a half and even M151. I have each truck in it's own gallery: https://pbase.com/baywing/gun_truck_gathering I have built my own tribute GT from an M37 in 12"=1' scale....

Good job, I never knew the kit nor the prototype existed. I wonder if it ever got off the ground, literally speaking

Looks great, nice job on the Holmes!

Looks good Charles, glad to hear you're on the mend.

Thanks! I got to run the real one last year, was good to crank the handle again, it's been many years.

Thanks, I did this as it was delivered, it looks a bit different today (not sure why) Thank you

Finished painting another HO Scale brass trolley. This is the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway #10. The prototype is the only survivor of this line, built in 1896 by Wason in Springfield Ma and is on display at the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum in MA. This brass model from Fomras dates back at least 25 years and is one of very few made (I'm thinking no more than 50, possibly 20-25). Decals were tough, the files I had access to were pixelated but did the best I could.

Would need to be from scratch. Thanks Thanks Thanks, I wish my hands were as steady as they were 40 years ago...... Thanks

This is a brass trolley made by Fomras many years ago. It is painted as the prototype (which is at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in Branford, CT) and decalled using the decals provided. Probably the most amazing thing is that the decals were still viable after over 20 years.

Great looking build and good photos, too!

Sorry to hear that Charles, hope you heal quickly.

Looks good. I'm not sure if I still have my first issue build, if so, it's long overdue for a refresh.

More great info on the foil. Do you use the regular aluminum foil or the thicker stuff? Reynolds makes both......

I find that resin is ok to work with, it's softer than styrene so you have to use some care not to over-do the filing/sanding. The biggest thing is to make sure any mold release is removed. A good primer also helps, since I can't get Mr. Resin primer anymore, I just use standard auto primer (Rustoleum). Light coats work best. The hardest part of resin cab builds for me is fitting to the chassis. If it's a cab without interior that adds to the build time. I'm not wild about the resin that 3D printers use, it's extremely hard and brittle. The cast resin is better, at least in MHO and YMMV.

Nice job with the detail on the wood deck.

Very well executed!

Well done. We never had pups in Southern New England when I was growing up, streets are too tight.

I think Charles has illustrated a great point in this last post; a thorough knowledge of your subject allows the level of detail that results in accurate models of exceptional quality!

Nice looking rig!

Nice job combining the kits.