ibj40

As usual, walking a modeling tightrope without a net, and successfully navigating across the chasm. Great work, My Friend!

Got the trailer parts back from Kenny, plus acquired a tool box from one of my favorite eBay custom parts vendors. Here's the mock up. Will probably JB Weld the ramp extensions this weekend.

Yeah, that was my inspiration. Back in the day, I bought an IMSA Corvette body and chassis from Baird and Trivette in Atlanta. It was advertised as coming with a trailer with a tire rack installed. When we got to Atlanta, there sat the Corvette, on this rusted up single axle short tongue trailer, with a custom-made aluminum tire rack bolted to it. From looking at the fabrication detail, the rack must have been worth more than the trailer. When we got it all back to Dallas, we took off the tire rack and mounted it in the back of our dually, with holes cut through the bed and bolts extending down into the truck frame rails. We junked the trailer, it was a traffic hazard. Looked kind of like this one I made for myself out of a GMP trailer tire rack. The other racers nicknamed our truck "Bullwinkle".

Going to need to clean up some of the chassis non-detail, as shown in the last picture above, and better here. So I fabricated some panels out of 0.30" styrene sheet, and painted them flat black, and just SuperGlued them on. Nothing fancy, but did the job. I took the trailer pieces by Kenny's house yesterday. He has a shop where he restores 1:1's, so has access to strippers and beed blasters. I should get them back next week. Put the original ramper body loosely back on the chassis. Wow, the rear track to clear the trailer wheel arches is going to be WIDE!

Back in the day, before the construction of haulers became big business, we saw lots of cobbled together, backyard specials showing up at the race tracks. This will be my effort to replicate a fantasy version. The donors are the tried and true ACME Chevy ramp back hauler, less ramp back (that has been repurposed to another project) and the older version of the GMP race trailer, with some pieces from another trailer that was a donor for another project. Here are some early pictures, with stuff just hung together, lots of fabrication in the future.

Wrapping this one up with a little bit of bling for the custom trailer. Added a toolbox (appropriately repainted gold), a couple of jerry cans, and a spare set of wheels and tires.

Artistry!

Don't feel lonely, tough for me to make out, as well.

Houston, the Ramper has landed! Really satisfying build, love the way they both came out. Here are the Siamese Twins. And here are three treatments on the same chassis, the original is in front, this ramper in the middle, and a box truck in back. Thanks for your support and encouragement!

The first image that came to mind when I took this picture was that of the face of someone who just had a nose job. Plus, if you look at the angle between the bed and the cab, I was a little worried that something was amiss. And here's what you get when you take off all the bandages. And then after some Dremel and paint pin work, and installation of the now painted gloss black chassis connector. Might be a couple more details required here, but I really like how it came together. But once I had it all cleaned up, and into final assembly . . . Here it sits next to its donor. And now, put to work. Next up, the Chevy Club Cab Ramp Back Hauler.

This post reminds me of those old problem-solving flow charts. It was going to be a simple fix, grind off the lip, shorten the brass rails, and Bingo, we're done. Right! I did all that, and it didn't look right, so I f**ked with it, and then it really didn't look right. So, back to tried and true JB Weld technology. Taped it back together as best as I could, plus the tape keeps the JB Weld from dropping through onto my workbench. And this is pass Number One. I will turn it over, retape, and make another JB Weld pass on the other side. Pass Number Two is curing right now, maybe more progress pictures tomorrow.

Just a quick update. It appears my mechanical solution to tie the two chassis pieces together is going to be successful. Need to close the gap, which will require grinding away the lip at the back of the cab, and then shortening the chassis connector by about 5/16".

Watching him build this brings back fond memories of my participation in building this.

Made a little progress Monday night (while the wife was watching Dancing with the Stars and I couldn't watch the football game). This is how I am maintaining chassis alignment (and no, the cardboard is not a mock up for a headache rack). The plan is to add one more set of screws into the front chassis, right next to where the notch in the brass angle is, and then screw and glue the angle to the front of the truck, making it removable (if necessary) by taking out the two rear screws.

Decided to start on the short wheelbase version, since I've already done one of the long wheelbase conversions, and know exactly what I need to do. I had hoped that, miraculously, this one might be a bolt together, using the rear tongue coming off the cab, maybe matching up with the bed. No such luck, so had to remove that tongue and proceed to build a connector for the two dissimilar chassis. Began by using masking tape to get everything relative. And then the chassis rails don't line up between the two chassis. And then there's these kick-downs on the bed chassis. I figured that I would use brass angle to connect the two chassis. Got the back connected, pretty easy since the bed chassis is plastic. Notched the brass to allow for the misalignment of the two chassis rails, probably reinforce that point with JB Weld at final assembly. I can clean up this slump when I do the final. Looks good from above.

Still on a tear with these ACME Rampers. Got one more, intact in the box after I do these two customs. Here's what we're starting with, the ACME White Chevy Ramper and an Anson White Chevy Club Cab dually. The dually has some issues, no mirrors, and the tailgate is dented. Same drill as before, used a Dremel to cut the Ramper chassis apart (God Bless ACME for their design and construction of these, they make customizing so much easier than having to build my own chassis). And then the dually. Start with removing the bed, and then grabbed a jeweler's saw to parse the plastic chassis. Club Cab Mock-up And then I was standing there, admiring my handywork, sipping on the last of my 16 oz Lone Star Light, and it hit me: I've still got two pieces of truck remaining. Tonight there will be some more Dremel work, cutting out the plastic on the Club Cab to slot the Ramper chassis into.

Nice work on the cage, among other details.

Collection Video This is a little dated, but might give you an idea.

With close to 600 1/18 scale diecast on the shelves, and another 300 or so in storage, not sure I'm going to join you. ? But I do appreciate what you are doing, and am well aware of the expense involved. I think I could have two quite nice real cars sitting in my garage for what I have invested. I collect racers, so your collection's focus really doesn't appeal to me as a collector, but that's what makes the world go 'round. I say keep it up, got no issues from me.

Keep it up Mike!

Been on a roll lately making custom 1/18 scale trucks, and here are the two latest. The donor for the box bed is a Premium Classixxs Mercedes Benz/Porsche Racing resin model. These are pretty fragile and get damaged in shipping frequently, so they can be acquired at a reasonable price. The box, with no opening features, is solid resin and sits on the bed attached with four screws. The chassis is resin, as well, and can be cut with a Jeweler's saw. The two chassis donors are both from Anson, one is a Dodge single cab, the other a Chevrolet Club Cab. Both of the donor chassis had some kind of distress when I acquired them, frequently they lack outside rear view mirrors, or have damaged tail gates. The technology used to create the chassis was essentially the same that I used on creating the custom rampers, in that I "machine" the splice by trimming both chassis to match up, and then join them with JB Weld. Dodge Chevy One of the features that I add back in once the chassis pieces are solidified is an exhaust and a driveshaft. I plan a separate posting on how I build the driveshafts. Dodge (Here I could actually re-use the stock exhaust system, with a little bit of fine tuning) Chevy (Here I had to fabricate a replacement exhaust using some aluminum tubing) Then I put the original cabs onto the front and attach the resin box to its original chassis, as well. I also use the Premium Classixxs wheels and tires (I think the maroon looks good against both the blue and black) I have a good friend who repaints the boxes for me, and does a really nice job color matching when necessary.

I had hoped to put the gold rear wheels on the rear axle of the hauler, but as most of us are aware, there is no common element between and among diecast manufacturers. How wheels and tires are attached is just scratching the surface of the other details we have to work around when we are mixing two (or more) manufacturers. Now, if I could find some gold chrome paint, doing the rear wheels of the hauler might be possible, as the wheel outer comes off pretty easily. I'll put that on the list. Thanks, All!

So, what do you do with the bed of a pickup that you just scavenged the chassis and cab from? Well, if you are lucky (and no, I didn't buy a lottery ticket on the same day), you find a replacement chassis on eBay, and get to work. I had cut the front hitch off one of the 1/18 scale GMP trailers, which I used for another project, and with some styrene sheet and angle, produced a new trailer tongue. Top Bottom Then bolted it all back together. Looks pretty cool behind the ramp back hauler.

Buttoned it all back up yesterday, and found something to pose it with. Seemed appropriate that a Hemi Under Glass Barracuda might fit. Still have a little bit of detailing to do, but this one, for all intents and purposes, is done.

Using the same technique I used on the prior custom ramper, taking advantage of the diecast ladder frame of the donor ACME ramper. Ground away all the conflicting plastic on the Warlock chassis, trimmed the ACME ladder frame to the proper length, taped the two components together, applied JB Weld, and prayed. Removed the bandages this morning, and it looks like the surgery was a success. If I can get enough JB Weld to wind its way around and through the two components, I get a good connection. And a sneak preview. Some assembly still required.