Oldmopars

I would also look at Grainger and McMaster Carr. They both have an amazing selection of springs and other hardware of every type

On a resent quest to work on things easier for my arthritic hands, I have gone to some larger scale stuff. 1/8th and 1/16. However when hunting down correct tube/wire to use for ignition wires, heater hoses, etc. it has open my eyes to how often we are way out of scale in these areas. To illustrate this, if you have a V8 engine and upgrade the spark plug wires, you look for 8mm wires. These are the better wires over stock, stock wires will be about 7mm or so. But, to make my point, lets assume that all cars we build have these high performance wires at 8mm. In 1/8th scale that would mean that the tube/wire we use needs to be 1mm (1:8x1mm=8mm in scale), so for 1/16th scale this would be .5mm (1:16x.5mm=8mm). Now, when we get to 1/24 or 1/25 this gets really small. 8mm/25 is only .32mm. In the picture below I found some tube at HL, .5mm, 1mm and about 2mm. They are on a quarter for scale. In my 1/16th scale T-Bird the tube that was included in the kit was at least 2mm, this would be 32mm in scale, or 1.3in. HUGE. What have you all found as correct scale wire or tubes?

For the glass I have also used clear Elmer's glue. Some people call it canopy glue. While it takes a long time for it to dry, if you bungle it, the glue comes off with soap and water and you try again. You can set that window 5 times and just keep cleaning it off and never worry about damage to the glass. I bungle a lot of glass and this has saved me a lot of frustration. Now, HPIGuys Workshop (YouTube) claims that if you coat the glass with Future, you can used CA (super glue) and it will not leave that nasty frosting of the glass that is typical with CA glue. However, I have not tried it, so use at your own risk.

Just a guess, but probably added air flow to the large radiator. Bigger engines needed larger radiators for cooling and the small truck cab design did not really allow for it. So, when they turned it into the "Big Job" sized truck, they needed more air flow. Those 3 holes would have given them that.

That looks great. I love the idea. I had one of these a while back and, long story, it got stolen. But I remember the flash on that kit was terrible. I took it with me to a hotel to work on. I spent hours sanding and cutting all the flash off of the parts. When I left the hotel room it looked like I had a cocaine party! White dust was everywhere. Was yours the same way or have they gotten better?

I like it, it will be a BEAST!

I think its cool. I am looking into building 1/12 scale kits, I would love to get one of those bodies and make a 1/12 scale normal van out of it. As far as I care, its a 1/12 scale van you are building. I used to be really big into the RC car scene. I spent unknown thousands of my hard earned money with nothing to show for it. Back in the late 80's early 90's I used to run an extremely modified RC10 and a heavy modded Kyosho Ultima. I raced in Oregon and Phoenix Az. Good times.

There is a place real close to my house, about 1/2 mile, that buts up to BLM land. People go out there to use their noise sticks and they leave a lot of brass behind. I have gone out and cleaned up a lot of it and I save them. If I need bigger cylinders I have a lot of options. everything from .22 to .45 and even some larger stuff.

The Cylinders are taking shape. I have them installed and they are working. Still some clean up to do, but this is a major hurdle. One more ram that holds up the gooseneck and then I can start making the plumbing to attach it all and make it work. I am going to add a hydraulic tank to the truck and get power from it. I will have to add a PTO to the trans, but that is easy. The Brass was drilled to 5/32 and a 5/32 tube super glued inside. The rams are 1/8in tube with 5/32in ends. The Luger 9mm on the ends of the cylinders are filled and sanded smooth, but because the glue is clear you can still see it in the pictures. Everything works as it would on the real truck. All the geometry worked out and if I could power the cylinders, they would work.

I would love to see more of these, do you have links to any of the builds? I an really interested in the Trans Am and its wheels. You said you make those? They set it off really nice. I would love to get every kit listed by everyone, but I also need to be practical, I only have a small amount of shelf space, so most builds end up going back into a box and packed away. The fun for me is the build, not displaying them.

Well, I have got more done. I needed something to fill in the space between the 2 sides, I beam was the ticket. The beams are all installed and solid. I added the ramps to the front of the trailer that the truck will roll up onto. You may notice that the "wood" area is installed and painted with several colors. I layed down a base of Red Oxide primer followed by some dark brown then light brown, yellow and I touched up a few spots with some brushed on rust/brown. Once this gets color on it I will come back and lightly sand off the top of the color to expose the wood grain under it. Most of these trailers were painted with the wood in place. Or, repainted with the wood on it. I also covered the side rails and the ramps with aluminum tape (thick BMF). It will also get covered with red oxide primer and then color. I will scratch and beat this up just a little to expose the "Metal" below. It is also nice that it is thick as it dents really well giving the effect of ding, dents and gouges. This trailer is not going to be "trashed" or beat up badly, but some light wear like any trailer of this kind would have. In the last picture you will see these little noisy do-dads. I have the proper devise for rapidly removing the rounded ends. (still warm ) These will have the little round deals that start the pop removed and will be drilled out to turn these into hydraulic cylinders for the lifting gooseneck. They happen to be 9mm in diameter so they make some real nice cylinders.

Thanks for all the info, this is very helpful. I am really excited about the 1/8 Corvette I got, I built it back in 1985 when it was a ne kit and loved it, but I as a teen and well, it went away. I love VWs, so those are next on the list. My father used to restore Model A Fords and he and I used to build the old Gabriel Metal kits in the 70's as a kid. So, Model A Fords and VWs are a win for me. Porsche classic stuff, 356 etc. is great. As for the Trans Am kit I have. Yes, it lacks some details and is incorrect in a few places, but it gives me the opportunity to fix it and detail it in a scale that I can work with. It makes it more than just a kit to assemble, gives me more to work on. I may try some of the other AMT/R2 kits for this reason, it will take me longer to finish if I have a bunch of things to correct. My hands don't shake, but they lack the fine motor movements I need to really detail the small stuff. My buddy does 1/35 military stuff and war planes. Incredible stuff, I just don't know how he does it. He is a couple years older than I am. While I am not flush with cash, I don't mind spending a little on my hobby. I have no vises (smoking, drinking, gambling), I am not into an other real expensive hobbies ( I do have a motorcycle and a 4x4 Overlander), I don't golf or Ski. I get paid good and make extra money from travel pay I can spend on my hobbies. So, I don't mind spending $100 or maybe a little more for a kit that will provide me with 50-100 (or more) hours of entertainment. I could be spending the same $100 on other entertainment that would not last as long.

As they say, its not the years, its the miles. Well I am still young (50) but the hard miles have taken their toll on my body. I have really bad arthritis in my wrist and hands, my eyes are not what they were and my hands are not as steady as they used to be. For these reasons I have been building truck models for the last number of years. The parts are bigger and the Italeri 1:24 stuff is wonderful and easy to build. However I am looking into 1:16 scale stuff. Round2 has reissued several older kits. They seem like they are just 1:25 scale stuff made bigger, same level of detail. I got the 1:16 Firebird 2 days ago and I like it, but it needs a bit of work to make it right in a few spots. What brands/kits should I look at for good well done kits? I see a lot of old Minicraft Classic cars on the bay. Model A's, Caddy's, etc. R2 is reissuing the 55 Chevy and 55 Nomad, 57 T-Bird and the Firebird. No Corvette as of yet. Revell? Tamiya? Heller? Entex? Fugimi? As a side note, I did score a 1:8 scale Corvette 1985 for a reasonable price. Let me know what you think, what should I look for? I am into anything other than Super Cars (Lambo, Ferrari, etc. ) Porsche is OK.

Looking good. I have a suggestion for the windshield. Get some really thin styrene strip, maybe .010 and 1/8in wide. Glue this with epoxy inside the window frame at 90 degrees to the sheetmetal. Then shape that to the correct peak and then use it to fill in and shape it to the body using Bondo or other putty. No matter what you do, it will be a challenge.

You are right, I forgot that she was not really a blond, she was always just portrayed that way. She was quite something. Catherine Bach was always a class act.

Well this one is finished up. I found out I was missing some engine parts and so I had to rob the parts box for something close. It has an engine in it, but I will not show it as it is not correct or impressive in any way. I will stick to just the finished Jeep. This was a quick build. I really just wanted a shelf display to go with the General Lee. Cooters truck will be next after I complete a few more projects. So, here it is, a quick Daisy Duke Jeep build.

I got a little staled on the trailer this last week because I needed some styrene I beams to connect the 2 halves together. I don't have a LHS in my area and so I need to order on line, or visit one that is 110 miles away. Yes, 110 miles to the closest hobby shop. However, work sent me to Spokane, 200 miles away and they have 2 shops. I did get some work done on the truck. I am calling it 99% finished. I will add glad hands and wire connections once the trailer is finished so I get the length right. I may have said this before, but the kit decals were junk and I had to use some others. I swapped out the kit exhaust pipes for some aluminum tube polished up. I still need some license plates, but will add those in the end when I find the right state. So, here is the tractor for this get up.

The tail lights on these step side beds are the very same tail lights that are included in every AMT truck kit. They come on a red sprue with other lights. I am sure that like me, anyone that builds truck kits has at least a few (dozen) extra sets in the stash. The tail lights used on the original trucks were Grote I think, but were just an aftermarket universal light that was also used on many Big Rig trucks of the era. GM found a way to save a lot of money not reinventing the wheel (or tail light)The first tail light is listed on E-Bay for a 1978 Chevy Stepside, the second picture is from a Ford C600. It is also the very same lights in all AMT truck kits.

So, please excuse my ignorance when it comes to NASCAR kits, I like NASCAR, but never followed it or know that much about it. I build a lot of trucks and other big 1/25-1/24 stuff. I was recently at an Antique store and found several kits for rather cheap, all NASCAR. So I bought 3 of them thinking I could trade them for something else. Well, I guess these kit are not too desirable as I had no takers. Anyway, I decided to build one of the #40 Dirt Devil Pontiacs. Are all of the Monogram NASCAR kits the same chassis? I looks like they make one chassis and just put different bodies in the different kits. How do I know what color to paint the interior? What about the chassis/bottom of the car? As for the interior, dash, chassis, should these be glossy, semi gloss, flat? Any other info would be great. There are several more kits there and they are cheap. These are kind of fun kits and I may build a few more. I travel a lot and I can work on these in the hotel room to keep my hands and mind busy. I may build a truck with a car hauler filled with "retired" 80-90's NASCAR cars. This would be a cheap way to fill the car hauler.

We have the show on DVD, I have watched every episode at least 2 times and I never remember them opening the hood of the Jeep. At this point the kit has the 304, so it is correct for the era and "could" have been what it had. The was likely more than one Jeep and so both may have been used. For me, that is good enough. I will assume that it was the 304 as the Golden Eagle was a high optioned package and that is what the "Dixie" Jeep was before the decal change by the studio.

Thanks. I did get more done, details, decals, etc. However I am missing part of the engine. So, I need to look through my parts box and see what I can find. It is the Timing cover and belts/pulleys. As I am not really going for a show car, anything that looks the part will do. I have not found any info anywhere that even tells me that engine her jeep had anyway. A Daisy Duke figure would be cool, maybe the Ashioma kits have something that would look the part. Any blond in tiny shorts would work.

My wife and I have always been big fans of the Dukes of Hazard TV Show. About 15 years ago I build a correct General Lee. I had to ditch the AMT kit and chose a Monogram Master builder kit. Now I wanted to do Daisy's Jeep, but again the AMT kit is pure poo. It is a CJ-5, not a CJ-7 and it is just junk. I found a Monogram CJ-7 kit in an Antique store, it had been started and had some broken parts, but I was able to fix them. I still have the decals from the AMT kit and they will go on this kit. Much more to go, but this is the start.

When I was younger my Father worked for a Chevrolet dealer in the body shop. He was the local expert on Corvettes and restored many. So, I have a long love affair with Vette's. When the 84/5 Corvettes came out I got the 1985 1/8 scale Corvette. However 35 years later it is long gone. I recently found a kit for a reasonable price and now I was hoping to see some good detailed builds. If anyone has pictures of a nice detailed build of the 1/8 scale 1985 Corvette, please post them. As for the question, nearly all the pictures of real cars are from the top, inside or engine, but none of the bottom of the body/chassis. I need to know how that was painted, body color or black.

Very nice. This will be a great build. I was in the Air Force and we had a WT2206 Snow Plow from Oshkosh. However it was a refurbished unit and all the parts were really old and impossible to find. It sat for almost a year while we tried to find brake parts for it. Kind of turned me off of the old Oshkosh trucks.

Well, this weekends update is here. I have made more progress on the trailer. The detachable gooseneck was causing my head to hurt. It required a lot of just trial and error to get it to this point. However I think I have something that is acceptable for now. I wanted it to be functional and not just static. So, I copied the real thing as much as I could. In the end, it works and I am happy with it in the rough state. I have more clean up and details to add, but the rough goose neck in there. I put the Paystar on it and I can see that when it is on the shelf, I am going to have to put some supports under it, it is a lot of weight and over time I think it will sag, but it does support it without. I fixed the front axle on the tractor, I had to move it forward. I also finished the interior. I still need to put the glass in, but its ready to go together once the glass is in. I added some decals to the cab. I wanted to use the kit decals, but they were just too old. When I tried to use them, the glue had turned white and chalky. This made them look terrible. So I trashed them and found some from a new kit, the Autocar I did a few months back. Not what I had originally planned for, but I like them, so they will stay. The truck is still just mocked up, lots more to do. No progress on the Paystar 350, but I will get to it next weekend, still debating on if I like the yellow paint I got, or if I want to get something different before I paint the whole thing and hate it. It is a bit more Canary Yellow and I think it needs to be more Orange like a Caterpillar Yellow. I have heard Cub Cadet Yellow is a good match also. Anyway, till next weekend.