ibj40

Thought I would share my technique for joining the two sets of fenders. First, I place a piece of masking tape under the one that is on the trailer, and then line up the second one as best as I can, and secure them both with the tape. I then liberally apply JB Weld along the seam. After that cured, I removed the masking tape, and applied a second coat along the smooth side of the fenders to hide the seam. I ground away just enough on the underside to clean up any sharp edges and burrs, but not enough, hopefully, that I weaken the joint. Then I tried to clean up the visible side, which may take a couple of coats of JB Weld due to the slight differences cause by putting the two fender pieces together. I attached the trailer runner extensions in much the same way, aligned them the best as I could, grinding away some material to get a close of a matching mating surface as possible, and then applied the JB Weld. With a little luck, maybe a coat of primer this weekend to make it look more homogeneous.

Making some progress, finally, on this one, after spending some of the time over the Holidays doing nothing. Should have taken a couple of in-progress shots, but used my favorite product, JB Weld, to bond the inner and outer fender pieces together from the bottom. Will fill the gap at the outside with JB Weld, as well (will take some pictures tonight and edit this post tomorrow).

Yup, that's what I've got in mind. Going off to my painter next week (he's the same guy who painted the Petty Belvedere). Got some Penske/Sunoco decals as well. Once we get done, I'm thinking it's going to look nice.

Good point, guess I could just stick another Sunoco sticker in the big vacant area at the top back of the box and call it done!

Cut the reliefs in the plastic chassis of the cab, and test fit the two chassis pieces together. Then, I place the cab and box back on their respective chassis' and check for alignment, and then correct that with some shims. As carefully as possible, I then hold the two chassis' together with masking tape. Next, I apply a liberal coat of JB Weld, making sure that it penetrates as deeply and thoroughly as possible. Once it sets up, but while the JB Weld is still a little pliable, I fit the cab and box back to make sure I didn't lose anything in the taping process. The JB Weld will have over 18 hours to cure (since I had to go to work today), but once I get home, I will remove the cab and box, flip the chassis over, and apply another coat of JB Weld in the inside.

With the fuel system done, it was time to button it all together and call this one done. Remember this is what we were going for. And this is what we ended up with.

So, the problem was to connect the arrows with real pieces. And at one time, it was going to look like this. After a great deal of trying and failing, I acquired some new materials. Stainless steel tubing to allow me to get a good, unwrinkled bend, and some ultra-thin wall aluminum to connect the dots. I also had to redrill the opening in the body work (and after it was painted, which was sobering). Here are the final pieces. And here's the final fitment.

Had some free time, so started on locating the rear window braces. Remember that these were scavenged from a Welly '70 Boss 302 Trans Am model. This is where I think they should align. However there appears to be a difference in the size of a '71 rear window and a '70 rear window (of course, the body was substantially altered between the two model years, so no assumption of compatibility was made). My desire would be to have the strap lay flat across the window, so a little more work will be required.

Yeah, these are fun to build. The good news is that the Welly/GMP/ACME Trans Am Mustang chassis is pretty adaptable.

Here's an album of a custom 1/18 scale trailer I built (don't think I was posting on here when I did it). https://flic.kr/s/aHsmbxknRc

I wish we could get trailers like that in 1/18 scale. Of course, then I'd need to knock out a wall to display them. Nice job!

Thanks for the compliment. I really enjoy building them. I've got a couple of 1/18 Anson/JRL Dodge duallys, that are unboxed, might be talked into selling one. PM me.

Wow, didn't realize it had been since September that I updated this thread. Remember, this is what I was trying to replicate: Got the body back from my painter (Thanks, Lee!), but let it sit for several weeks as I worked on a couple of other projects I had started in the interim. Pictures don't do it justice. This was a quick dry fit. Finished up the rolling chassis last night (the supply and overflow hoses for the cell are only on temporarily, they get finalled once the body is on). And here's some body-off pictures. The doors will be SuperGlued on once the body is on the chassis. One more big push, and this one's done!

Nice model. I have one in the box, waiting for me to turn it into a racer.

And then one of the problems I usually have is, what do you do with the pieces you didn't use?

Looks like more of the "Mach" versions competed in Europe than over here. Interesting. Quick update - Added fuel cell and battery to trunk. Next up is braces for the rear window.

Dry fit complete, lots of grinding and cutting (and planning). Spent several hours this afternoon, and calling it a day. Here's some detailed pictures of where the cuts of the respective chassis' occurred. This is the back of the ACME chassis, have to cut an extension off the casting for the cab, as well as the molding for the interior. Unfortunately, messes up the paint on the back of the cab, but that will be hidden with the close fit of the box. The next step is to cut channels in the ACME plastic floor pan, and then JB Weld the resin chassis of the box in.

Couple of articles for reference: Penske Team Restores Hauler for Captain's Birthday / Team Penske 1972 International Hauler I think, by now, you are familiar with my variety of projects to create custom haulers out of different donor sources. The recent plethora of ACME Ramp Back Haulers has provided an excellent platform, and I have used the bed of the hauler for a number of customs. I have also had limited access to the Premium Classixx Mercedes Benz Porsche Box truck, and have used it to make a couple of others. This will be the first time I put the Premium Classixx box behind the ACME hauler cab. This project is to blend the two into a semi-iconic hauler, created using the source donors I have access to, and requesting a little bit of license from the viewer. Here are a couple of reference pictures from the articles referenced above. And here are our victims, er donors. And yes, this represents, at retail, close to $400 worth of models. At issue will be where to make the sacrifices, in terms of what primary chassis to use, which wheels to use, etc. Plus, whenever I have used the Premium Classixx box chassis, I have had to create a custom driveshaft to complete the drive train. Here are some pictures of the visualization of the project. And a couple, post dissection, for closer scrutiny of where to make the major cuts. I will rely on my good buddy, Lea Rilea to match the paint on the box to the cab, and already got some decals on order which hopefully will give me some good graphics. Stay Tuned!

Thanks for the pictures! I've seen the Tope version, who/what is the #27?

I did a "more or less" version of the Tope car. Similar construction, using some of those techniques on this build. I like building these as a "what if" exercise had Ford maintained their factory involvement in the Trans Am series.

SunStar body and Welly chassis really mate well. Had to make a few Dremel adjustments, but all in all, a nice fit. Still need to finish up the interior, the side door bars from the Welly chassis are too long when you place the interior into the SunStar body and dashboard. Did my "magic" on the engine compartment, swapping in a Swede70 carburetor to take the place of the mess that Welly/ACME sustain until this day. Also added in a Swede70 export brace to the engine compartment, painted the tops of the shocks red to match the red color of those on the rear suspension (supposed to be Koni's), as well as a Swede70 Harrison oil cooler. Might fabricate a sheet styrene cover for the gap between the front of the body and the radiator support, which, of course, will hide the oil cooler. Couple of photo reminders of what you start with, and what I change. Nice stance, but going to need stiff shocks and springs to keep that spoiler intact. Probably going to throw a GMP Trans Am Camaro fuel cell and filler neck into the back. The Welly Trans Am Boss 302 trunk lid is fixed, so no details there.

Taking my inspiration from this recent 1/18 scale diecast from ACME, using a little bit of license since the model is already painted green. Already found a decal set that should work, just got to get it in hand.

Blending a first generation Welly '70 Boss 302 chassis and drive train with a '71 SunStar body. Details to follow.

We do what we have to do to be satisfied with a model when we display it. Mike - Your attention to detail is incredible, such that the model is going into someone's 1:1 collection for posterity. As compared to your's truly, who takes them just up to the racer level, with so many details begging to be taken care of, but knowing that the 1:1 would have been ready to compete, regardless of finish quality. My racing partner was Mike-like, in that our cars were always detailed, including pin stripping. Me, I used to bug the BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH out of him, telling him that in a wiring bundle under the dash (where he couldn't reach) there was a zip tie that I had not cut the remnant pig tail off. The car was competitive nonetheless. Cheers to the Master Craftsman among us, Mike, you are the best!

It's a pity that we have to go to these lengths to make simple corrections to models. Clearly, since we know of the details, the diecast manufacturers should be able to acquire the same knowledge. I wonder how much attention they pay to critiques and commentary on message boards such as this, or is their focus simply on producing the lowest common denominator and letting the money flow to the bottom line.