ABC Auto Industry

UPDATE: After some searching, I found a guy on Shapeways who made a few parts for the Mack CF. Granted, it's missing a few things like the interior, the glass and some other bits and bobs, but still better than nothing, I guess. I wonder if any parts for a Mack F would fit the CF. Also, still no Baker Aerialscope in 1/25 scale: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/ssmcollection?section=MACK+CF+cab+(more+scales)&s=0

Hey, does anyone know if anyone's currently offering a Mack CF resin cab/kit in 1/25 scale? I know AITM used to have one, but I can't seem to find any nowadays. I asked the guy at Ralph Ratcliffe Models what scale his was, but unfortunately, it was 1/87 scale, which is too bad because he's the only guy I've seen who does a Mack CF with a Baker Aerialscope.

I'm personally still waiting on some Clark 20-ton or Rockwell PS250 planetary hubs.

Good news: I found a healthy selection of tires. Bad news: I'm not sure how many of those will fit the wheels I want since a lot of them seem to be 22.5" and 24.5" tires and I think the wheels I want may be 20".

Recently, I bought an AMT Peterbilt 359 wrecker and a Peerless logging trailer with the intent of building a Peterbilt 353 logging truck thanks to some parts I purchased from Global Scale Model Trucks. My only problem now is trying to find some off-road/construction tires to match the photos I've seen of the abandoned logging trucks that I'm basing my build on. I know AITM had some while they were still alive, but I can't find any now.

OK, so judging by the responses I'm getting, it seems like he's well worth the dough, which is good because he's the only guy I know of who has Peterbilt 353 parts. Granted, it's only available in an axle-forward version, but that's OK with me.

OK, I was searching around for parts for an Autocar dump truck kit I have (which I plan on building into a cement mixer using parts from the Kenworth/Challenge kit), and I found a website called Global Scale Model Trucks that does 3D-printed resin parts for model truck kits. I've never bought anything from them, but they seem to have stuff that I've been looking for for a while, such as a Peterbilt 353 kit and a Diamond Reo Raider kit, and the parts in the pictures look to be good quality. Plus, judging by reviews I've seen so far, people seem to like the company. Still, I'd like to know if anyone here has had experience with them.

Yeah...I'm gonna have to rule out the Lindberg kit because to me, the kit HAS to be a 1970 model.

I wanna buy a 1970 Dodge Challenger kit as part of a series of models I call "what if Mad Max took place in America?", and I need a car to represent the Nightrider's stolen Pursuit Special. I'm trying to decide between the AMT/Ertl and Revell kits, but I don't know which one is better. However, if anyone knows of any 1970 Challenger kits that are superior, I'm open to suggestions.

Never seen a chromed Federal Signal CJ24 speaker, which is what the kit speaker is supposed to represent, but I do have additional information about variations on kits: There were two different issues of these kits. One issue had a painting of the car in question, the second issue had a picture of the built model among various police accessories such as badges, guns, radios, etc... The second issue kits not only had both the Dodge and Plymouth parts, but also had both light assemblies for the Federal Signal Twin Beacon Ray and TwinSonic. They also had pre-painted bodies. To my knowledge, only the LAPD, CHP and NYPD kits got second issues.

Oh, he has cop car wheels! That's awesome, especially considering a Yodel NY/NJ Port Authority Dodge Monaco kit I bought recently was missing the hubcaps. EDIT: I should also like to add that the latest issue of the MPC Dodge Monaco seems to have wheels with the correct proportions, unlike those "deep dish" wheels shown on the brown unmarked car in av405's post.

For those not in the know, at some point in the 80s, a Japanese kit manufacturer named Yodel made a series of five "American Police" 1977/78 Dodge Monacos/Plymouth Furies, representing the California Highway Patrol, NYPD, LAPD, San Diego County Sheriff's Department and NY/NJ Port Authority Police Department. The CHP, NYPD and LAPD kits got second issues with different box art, more parts and pre-painted bodies. Anyways, recently, seeing as how I had some unbuilt Yodel kits on hand, I decided to compare one to an MPC CHP Dodge Monaco kit I also had. Sure enough, being 1/24 scale to the MPC's 1/25 scale, the Yodel body was slightly larger and also had a differently-shaped roofline, plus different grille and taillight parts, in addition to different police equipment. Personally, I'm not sure which of the two kits would be a more accurate representation of the real steel, but based on the grille and taillights alone, I'm leaning towards the MPC. Still, I believe the Yodel kits are good buys if you can get your hands on them.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, then I just bought it.

Looks good! I can't wait!

A couple of years ago, I bought an MPC 1977-78 Dodge Monaco CHP kit, and I was wondering if anyone made the single round headlight parts that would've been used for the 1975-76 Dodge Coronet, because I'm trying to backdate the kit to that, and the only such source I can find for those parts are the out-of-production MPC 1975 Plymouth Road Runner kits, which are prohibitively expensive.

Awesome sauce! Actually, speaking of Mad Max, I have an old 1977-78 Dodge Monaco police car kit laying around that I had an idea to turn into a "what if Mad Max took place in America?" sort of project.

Oh cool! Never knew this existed. I wonder if the wrecker body would fit on other pickups, because it'd be nice to do a GM version. EDIT: Never mind, I forgot about the Revell wrecker kit.

I still wish someone would do a kit of an XA or XB Falcon so I could make some Mad Max models. I know one company did some resin kits of those decades ago, but I'm talking an actual factory-made kit.

I haven't found any yet, but I'll keep looking. I might just do that. Also, since I've gotten one vote for this, I might just build my 353 as a logging truck, though the idea of building it as a mining truck is still strong in my head, especially considering I recently bought an Autocar dump truck kit and plan on building that one as a mixer using parts from the Kenworth Challenge mixer kit.

Sorry, but I gotta agree with Force: None of those would make a good starting point for me. I'd rather not pay $150 just for a couple of fenders.

1. On second thought, I also found a 3D model that somebody did of a 353 that can be bought as a print-ready model. Problem is, such a model costs like $900, and I don't want to pay that much just to get fenders and a hood. 2. OK, looks like I'll have to mod the hood, then. Based on what you said, it doesn't seem like a gargantuan task, although I'll be honest, I've never attempted this before. On a side note, there's a construction company in my town that still has a black 353 dump truck in its fleet. I don't know what engine it's packing, but I know it has quad round headlights and six-spoke steel wheels.

Which makes me wonder a couple of things: 1. Is the fender angle on the 353 the same or different from the fenders on the Kenworth Alaskan Hauler kit? 2. Could I use the butterfly hood from the Kenworth Alaskan Hauler kit and slap Pete ovals on that? I know Tim Ahlborn once reworked a Pete hood with a Kenworth cab in his youth in an attempt to build a 359 with an 1100 Series cab before AMT actually updated their 359 kit. And yes, I love looking at Tim's Fotki page. I'm especially fond of looking at the old 387s (not to be confused with the new aero 387), and the big bad 397s.

So, one of my planned models is a Peterbilt 353, but due to the difficulty of finding resin parts, I may have to scratchbuild the fenders myself. That aside, I was looking at pictures of old abandoned trucks used in the logging industry, and I'm trying to decide whether to build this truck as a logging truck or a mining dump truck. What do you folks think?

UPDATE: So, last Saturday, I ordered a '70 Firebird kit, which I received today. I opened up the box and looked at the decal sheet, and lo and behold, it had the Trans Am lettering! HUZZAH!

Also, on a semi-related note, I've been doing some research on the Clark 20-ton planetaries, and if I've done my research right, the model number for that particular planetary is BD-71000.