Casey

I would use brass if it needs to bear weight. The main part looks like a relatively flat platform, so you could clamp the brass tubes as you solder them, minimizing your frustration. Add some rod inside the tubes for reinforcement at the joints...piece of cake.

Like this?:

The cab was scrubbed with Barkeeper's Friend, rinsed, then sprayed with Duplicolor's High Build Grey Primer: I did some minimal scribing around and under the wiper arms, but I think I will just leave them as they are, and go all out with photoetched replacements on the next C-series I build: There is a little more work to do on the nose area, but it's close to done: I have something in mind for filling the single headlight bucket holes, but all the medium-sized googly eyes in the house have been used up. The door handle mounting nub holes will be covered by the handles, even though I did a poor job of measuring twice before I drilled once...then twice...then a third time on an angle to widen the hole...you get the idea.

I found some good reference pics of a Super Duty engine (link in C-series Truck Reference thread), and the orange arrow below points to the water pump outlet: Here's a topside shot of the engine so far, with the Carter AFB-style carb (I think it was from the AMT '71 Charger R/T) pinned in place. I lost the governor at some point, and whatever I have in it's place right now (I think that was the kit-supplied distributor) is a little too large in diameter, so it's only temporary: It's too late to change now, but I assumed that round tube running from the rear of the water pump to the intake manifold was a hard coolant line of some type...turns out it's a rubber coolant (bypass?) line. It makes no sense why the hole in the back of the water pump is so large, but again, I'll correct that on the next one I build. Moving forward to today's progress, I cleaned up the fuel tank brackets, trimmed all of their legs to length, and installed all four brackets on the truck's frame: I'm not sure if the filler neck for each tank is supposed to be located at one end or the other, so I can flip them side-to-side if need be. I will probably place them in the forward position unless that's a major no-no?: I made a new P/S pump and a new reservoir out of aluminum tubing for added strength, then wrapped the copper coil in the correct direction. I still need to cut the main pump body to length, add a little detail piece on the right side, then make a cap for the reservoir, but so far so good. I didn't want to get into running the hardline to the steering box on this build, so I terminated the wrapper coil and tucked the loose end inside the aluminum tubing: You can see how the lowest coil isn't snug to the tubing, so again, I will make a mental note and use brass tubing next time, soldering the lower end in place from the start. I sprayed some primer on the grille, too:

Found some clear images of the Super Duty gasoline engine, this one with the intake manifold removed: http://www.fordmods.com/ford-v8-f2/now-here-s-a-big-ford-engine-t45332.html

Go directly to Round2 and ask them via e-mail: info@round2models.com

Here's the link to the existing topic in the Dioramas section: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=27452

Thanks, Dennis. I figured it came off the water pump's lower right corner, but still haven't found a clear, right side image of the Super Duty engine. I can see the hose peeking out in this drawing, so that should get me close enough: And not that custom.

Kinda looks like Roth's Wishbone, but uglier. More discussion about this particular kit found here: http://coffincorner.proboards.com/thread/7629

Immediately after I noticed the bent bumper I looked up to see if a tail light was broken. Nice work, Arnd.

I decided to scrap the fuel tank brackets I previously made and replace them with some beefier brackets, and remembered the Lindberg Dodge A-100 pickup's frame consisted of T-shaped framerails, so I cut up sections of it to form the L-shaped tank brackets, like so: I also rounded the top edges of and added filler necks to both tanks, so once the brackets are fully cured I will cut each leg to the proper length, add some straps, and install the brackets onto the truck's frame. The kit-stock power steering pump/reservoir was not pretty, and looking at reference pics I figured I would try to come up with something better. I found some copper wire, drilled a hole in a piece of 1/8"(?) styrene tubing, inserted one end of the wire into the hole, then, with one finger holding the starting end of the wire in place, twisted the tubing and wrapped the copper wire around, leaving the end long and, for now, loose: I'm assuming the wrapped tubing on the real thing is for cooling purposes, as I've seen the same thing done on severe service P/S pumps on police cars, so it should work. I need to make sure it isn't too large, though, as it would interfere with the upper radiator hose's path between the intake manifold and radiator. Here's a reference pic which shows the P/S pump/reservoir with the wrapped fluid line, though I think this is mounted to an FE-series engine?: Yes, I wrapped it the wrong direction. Speaking of the radiator, I added an outlet, so now there's a place to attach the forward end of the upper radiator hose. I still need to look over the reference pics a bit more and determine how/where the lower radiator hose runs, as there is no lower hose in the kit. I had forgotten how much fun it is to drill out a distributor cap, too.

I think so. $16.99 is really at the low end, lower than those Testors propellant powered plastic airbrushes. $100 seems to be about right for a good quality airbrush, so save your pennies, and keep an eye out at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or at online retailers. Definitely check out this site, too: https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/

I believe so, as it has the "Silver Screen Machines" label on it. It was found on eBay.

Welcome to the forum, Doug. Please post specific questions in the Model Building Questions and Answers section. As for the disc wheel covers (commonly called "Moon discs", after Moon Equipment company, who created the original 1:1 parts), I recommend Parts by Parks Moon discs. I bought a set years ago and they are excellent, so I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set. They don't have a website where you can buy direct, but you can find them on eBay, local hobby shops, or other online vendors via a Google search. I believe they come in 14", 15", and 16" diameters in 1/25 scale.

Thanks, JC, but I'll warn you-- these C-series Fords can be addictive. I decided to finish the belt and pulley piece today, mostly to see how thin I could get the belts without any breakage: The macro setting is not my friend. It looked better with the naked eye. I took care of a few other details, such as the too short driveshaft, to which I simply replaced a section with a piece of brass tubing to allow me to fine tune the length: I robbed another C-series kit for the steering linkage, installed that, then added a square tube crossmember to the front of the frame and a small bracket on the body support to mount the surge tank. I didn't like how the tank rested on the intake manifold and I wanted a little more clearance around the carburetor, so, fixed: I also got the rear axle tubes and leaf springs pinned together for easier final assembly, primed some other parts, and treated the cab to more bodywork. Hopefully everything will be in primer by week's end.

Here's the A-Team GMC based body, with the full length roof ribs, as well as the (added in '78?) lower beltline rib:

Looks like we're about to find out, as the reissue is due to arrive very soon:

I'll see if I can find the window sticker for my '95 Astro LT tomorrow, but my van is still rockin' the top-of-the-line auto reverse tape deck with five-band graphic equalizer.

Is that mix tape?? Interesting how the tape deck is separate from the radio, yet it appears to be a a Delco tape player.

Try sending him a PM, as he was logged in as recently as yesterday: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showuser=659

I think there are two separate inserts(?) for the AMT GM G-vans, or maybe multiple inserts, due to the differences between the GMC A-Team and other Chevy kits. I can't honestly see any reason why the roof ribs would be added then removed, so maybe the body cavity for the GMC version is different? At any rate, you can kinda-sorta make out the roof ribs on the '72 Beauville, and see how they don't extend over the cab area:

In all fairness, Round2 is doing a lot of that, too. '65 Chevelle Wagon, '72 Nova, '70 Chevelle SS, Petty Sportsman, '51 Chevy, 50 Ford Convertible, etc. Just about every kit released under the "Millennium" label has been reissued by Round2 within the last few years, so they are also taking advantage of what is already at the mold facility in China. That said, Round2 should get some kudos for investing money to repair or replace missing inserts for various molds, as well as doing general cleanup on most kits, instead of simply using them as is, something RC2 seemed to have no qualms about doing.

I've wondered the same thing about the ten tires, especially since all ten are the same and each group consists of five tires. The skeg is part of the board:

Oops, missed the redline part completely.