erichevy

Woah! Love it!

Very slow going... Since I'm in Michigan, indoor activities (like model building) take place during the cold months. When it's warm here, I need to take advantage and get outdoor projects done. Anyway.... This is as far as I got with the door frames so far.

I think I'm already pushing my limits on skill level, lol. We shall see how it ends up.

Had to do some work on the cab corners. They are pretty bad out of the box. I glued the 2 cabs together finally. I still need to work on building the front of the rear door window frames, then it'll be ready for some filler and primer.

Still need to work on connecting the 2 cabs and adding some roof/rear door material. Got the bed assembled today. Starting to look like a truck.

No turning back now! The hardest part is to get started sometimes.... Took measurements off my real truck. It's nice to have a full size reference.

This will be my first thread and first project. I thought I would document and share my progress. It will probably move slow since I have limited "spare" time. I started building models around age 5 or 6 I'm guessing (1978-ish). I was always obsessed with cars so it seemed natural. The last model I built had to be in the late 80's. I was always the kind of builder that just built it straight out of the box... maybe paint the engine and chassis and that's about it. I never attempted to scratch build or modify or anything like that. This build will be a learning experience to say the least. This idea recently came about because I have a 1:1 '86 GMC Crew Cab and a '79 GMC Service truck. I have had the '79 Service truck for years and use it regularly. As a family, we often need to take 2 different vehicles when we go to our property or the local Home Depot since there is no room in the single cab for passengers. I purchased the Crew Cab with the idea of swapping my service bed over and make room for the entire family. It will be another year I think before I begin the 1:1 project, so I thought I'd build a scale replica of my vision.... It just might give me inspiration or spark different ideas. This is what I have so far for the build.... The other pics are of my 1:1 project(s).

Great job on the crew cab. I am planning something similar on a Deserter. Just out looking for inspiration

This thing turned out amazing. The level of detail blows me away!

Thanks for all the kind welcomes.... Here is my stash of unbuilt models. Apparently I have a "thing" for Camaros.

Hi there, I'm Erich. I am about to turn 50 in about 10 days. I started building model cars around age 5 I'm guessing, so that's about 1978 or so. I have built a few dozen kits in my time, but have not put together a model since about 1988 or 1989. Once I got a driver's license and a real car (1972 Nova), the toy cars came to an end. Funny thing is I have continued to buy model kits over the years, but never took them out of the box. I have a dozen or so, new in box, never started. I recently started thinking about building a custom model of my real life 1986 GMC Crew Cab from a "Deserter" kit my kid bought for me last Father's Day. That is how I discovered this site (thanks Google!). I have never attempted any custom work before, just built kits as is, out of the box. This site looks like an excellent resource for tips and tricks. I wish I had kept all the models I built as a kid. I did manage to hold on to a couple (pictured below, complete with 30 years of dust). I have also included a picture of an altered wheel base Nova and 65 El Camino that my step dad built back in the 70's. I'd like to "restore" those if that's even possible. If I start on any projects, I'll be sure to share.