Oldmopars

The combination of my ADHD and the Covid-19 keeping me from traveling, I have been bouncing around a bit on about 4 projects I have going right now. I decided to build the bed for the RV Hauler. I wanted it to look custom and have a fendered look to it. The top is covered with diamond plate and I plan to french in the tail lights. It is a tight fit around the tires, but its all good and I like the way it looks. I need to make the 5th wheel hitch next and it will be recessed into the back.

This build off is not really about "Winning" some prize or even the competition, but about us all building together and encouraging each other to build a great truck and finish it. I see no reason why you can't be included in that also. Late or not, you have started long bofore the deadline. Anyway, looks like you are off to a good start.

I have been following this and you are doing a great job. Scratch building is tedious work and involves a lot of trial and lots of error. You have done a fantastic job on this, can't wait to see the final product.

A little more work done. It is starting to look like something. I have a ton of work left to do on the doom, lot of hoses and plumbing, need to make the inner boom and the basket, etc. At least I can see the vision coming together. The boom swivels and the boom goes up and down. I think I will be building the hyd cylinder today.

I took a short break from the De-Icer to work on my HDT RV hauler. But, I am back at it. I made some progress on the boom and turret. The turret involved several concentric rings to allow it all to hold together and still rotate. I added some bolts/nuts to the upper ring for detail. The boom is also in the works and I have the pivot box built too. I still need to add the hinge bosses and figure that all out, but I have an idea of how that will get there. Still moving forward. I should be able to get more done today. Working from home allows a lot of progress on these projects.

I did end up building one a couple of years ago after I posted this.It can be seen here:

yes, it really pops outside, but inside the lighting is not really showing the metal flake.

Those wheels you have look like they are from a Land Rover. If you want 6 lug, Scenes Unlimited has them, but they are rather narrow, you would need to add some hoops from other wheels. If you want to keep the 5 lugs, the AMT Rescue/Police van has some real nice 5 lug stockers that might work. 8 lug would only be right if you were making a M1008(1 1/4 ton pickup), you are making an M1009(Blazer).

I am glad you are doing this, I will follow. I love the show and have though many times, I should build that. However my current project list is too long. Looks like you are on the way to a great looking truck. BTW, I don't know if you have seen the truck lately, but in a recent episode he had upgraded the wheels to some nice looking 17-18in Corvette rally style wheels. I only got a quick look, but I think that is what they are.

Well as you can imagine with all the down time we all have I was able to make a lot of progress on this truck this weekend. I also worked on my 1:1 truck too, but that is a different forum. My daughter is visiting from Oregon with her husband and we went to the store to get some stuff and we picked out a paint for the truck. Deep Jewel Green Metallic from Dupli-Color. I really like it and it works well with the interior colors. For the lower panels I painted them with a silver wheel paint. I wanted a 2 tone paint job, but did not want to mess with taping off the body, so this was the easy way. I had to modify the supports in the back of the lower panels so that I can add the rear deck. I needed to get the thing this far so I can see what I have to work with for a rear deck. And yes, that is a Peterbilt emblem on the grill of my Ford.

Its kind of a great idea for Full-time RVers. A new Ford/Chevy/Dodge in a 1 ton will set you back $60-90K for a diesel duelly. You can buy a used HDT for $50K with an Automatic and under 400K miles and it will out last any pickup truck by a long shot. Made some progress on the HTD RV. I have the engine and chassis finished for the most part and I am done with the interior. I have the body roughly assembled for a mock up. One of the biggest challenges with this was that I got this kit used from a fellow forum member and it did not come with any decals. Normally this would not be too big of an issue, but the dash is flat with no details and they used a decal. I had to rumage through my decal stash and try to find things that would made it look like it had a dash. I covered the surface with foil and then used what I had. As long as you don't get too close with a magnifying glass you won't be able to tell some of the details are not really from a dash. There is even an emblem in there from a Mini-Cooper. I wanted the interior to have a high end feel, so I added some details to the seats, dash and door panels. For fun, the normal Blue Oval that is on the grill will be replaced with a Peterbilt Red Oval. Anyway, here is the current progress.

I have been very busy lately and while I did post that I was finished, I never posted the final build here. Because this build is a big rig I posted the pictures in the Big Rig Underglass section. Hope you like it.

I have been into all things mechanical for my entire life and I have had a love for RVs from the time I was a young boy. My family used to have several and we would go out in them every years. Lots of fond memories. I too have owned several RVs and currently have a 30ft triple slid Keystone bumper-pull I tow it with a Suburban. With my love of RVs I like everything RV related and even went to the RV Museum in Elkhart IN this last month. While watching YouTube I have seen several videos of what they are calling HDT RV haulers. Heavy Duty Trucks, Class 8 trucks that are being converted to tow 5th wheels or large trailers. Several I have seem include a spot to put a Smart Four2 on the back. I am going to use a Revell/Italeri Ford AeroMax 120 as my start. This is a dream build and not a copy of anything I have seen. More of a combo of everything I have seen. I may someday build a matching 5th wheel to tow behind it, but for now, its just the truck. The SMart car is a 1:24 scale diecast for sale on E-Bay. If anyone knows of a model kit of one, let me know, I could not find one. If it is all I can find, it will go on the back. Here is the idea and where I am at so far.

With those Alaska trucks being nearly all custom built, I think you could get away with and justify almost anything. On that note, I like the large sleeper, but the 36in is good too. If I ever got stuck out on the Haul Road, I would be glad to have the extra space and storage of the bigger sleeper.

OK, this project got really stalled for a while. My issue was the wheels/tires. The kit stuff just did not work and I had trouble finding the right wheels. Well I ordered some wheels and tires from Fireball and the wheels are great. The tires are really nice too, but did not fit the wheels. I have a set of Scenes Unlimited tires from another model I made and I robbed them to use with this. I really want it to have that "Base" model look that all GOV agencies get. Now that I have the wheels sorted, I need to get the decals ordered. I have not given up on this, but lack of correct wheels delayed it a bit.

I have never bought one, but can see that if you needed a tipper, roll off or something else it would easy to buy one and then use an Italeri kit to finish it off. Would save many hours of scratch building.

I solved the issue of the seat with 4 kit seats. I cut the sides off of 2 of the seats, and 1 side off 2 seats and glued them all together to create one bench seat. I then puttied it up and sanded it so that the surfaces would be smooth and then applied some masking tape before painting it black. I plan to rub it down with either some oil or future to add just a little shine. By doing it this way I was able to keep the seat the stock size and have it fit the cab correctly. As you can see from the picture I posted above, the seats were never very tall or thick. Using stock kit seats helped me maintain the original size ratio.

I spent many hour in the same trucks. We just called them the "Expiditor" truck. Most of the ones that we had were 90's Chevy van fronts with a box on the back with a side man door. I may build one of those someday too. Early 2000's when the GSA contract was in force, we got Gruman bread trucks. They were every color made. They were bigger, but I liked the old Chevys.

One of the issues with this seat is that the base needs to be fairly thin. The pick-up seats sat on tracks on the floor, the C series trucks had a high raised area due to it being over the engine. So, if you use a pick-up or car seat, you will need to cut a fair bit off the bottom to get it to be the right height. However, that should be easier than fabricating a new seat. I'm still working on using 4 kit seats to make one bench for my TM1800

Funny thing is, they do have stabilizers, but they are "Spring Locks". The was a switch on the control panel that caused these locks to come down on the springs and lock them in place. So, even when they are deployed you can't see them. I may try to replicate them on this build.

It seems that my pictures are always a little behind what I have actually done. I have more done, but this gives an idea where I am at. I have the "Box" together, however it is still open on the top. I am working on other details that I need to and so the top will remain open for a little while more. This does give you an idea of where I am going with it. I have made some adjustments to level out the truck. I may still lift the front some. I have added some vents and made a hose reel, but those will be in the next pictures.

Very nice, I love Suburbans. You did a great job. My daily driver and pride and joy is a 1991 Suburban. 3/4 ton 4x4.

Here is what the bench seat should look like. I am building a C800 also and having the same issue with the seats. As of right now I have used several kit seats and cut them apart, glued them together to make a "Bench seat", but I am still working to make it look correct. It will take a minimum of 4 kit seats to make a full bench like the one shown.

As you can see these are great kits and with some added details they can be made into some real stunning trucks. I almost always see them for about $25, so small investment. The biggest downside to these kits is the wheels/tires. Just plan to replace them right from the start, lots of options. I did a KW DD day cab for a future fruit hauler I have planned. I used wheels and tires from an AMT kit for the rear. Best thing about these kits is that doing mock ups is super easy, they snap together and snap back apart.

I'm calling this one done. Because this years Cannonball run was a movie truck, and I needed a truck fro the BRBO, this seemed like a great truck to do. While my wife and daughter are bigger fans of the show than I am, I enjoyed last season because this truck was a big part of it. There are a few minor details that are slightly off, but for the most part it is as close as I could get to the TV truck. Most scenes do not show the truck with mirrors, but I put them on as that rules for the Cannonball run say the vehicle needs to be "Street legal". In the show they are off because they got in the way of the actors and the cameras. This started as an Italeri Pete 378, I cut the hood apart, extended it and moved the cab back to make it a 379. The trailer was an Italeri 53 foot, but the show it is only 40 foot, so I cut it down and turned it inside out as the show truck is smooth sided, not ribbed like the kit. Lots of details that were all scratch built and even cut on the waterjets I work on. The front fenders are covered with tracks from a 1/35 M1A1 tank sent to me by a friend that does armor. First picture is from the TV show, the rest are my truck. Enjoy.