RoninUtah

I’m posting this under WIP, although this project is now complete, but I wanted to share the build story. Those of you who have followed my work know that I work exclusively in 1/24 or 1/25 scale. There’s one important exception, though: The trio of 1/48 scale truck models that Revell released in the mid- 1950s. These include a White 3000 tractor, paired with a gas tanker trailer, a 2-ton medium-duty ’55 Chevy, and a Kenworth 3-axle tractor with a dry van (with Bekins graphics). The Chevy was introduced in 1955 and the White gas truck originally came out in 1956; both have been re-popped several times over the years, most recently by Atlantis. The Kenworth first came out with the van trailer in 1956, and was repopped only once, by Revell of Germany in 1980, this time with a flatbed trailer. I think I read somewhere that the molds were damaged, which is why it was never done again. I have all three; my Chevy is a 1995 Revell repop, molded in green, my White is also a 1995 Revell repop, molded in red (both retained the original 1955 and 1956 Revell copyright notices), and my Kenworth was an original 1956 moving van, molded in white. I built the Chevy and White around 25 years ago, and the Kenworth was an eBay find from a few years ago; the decals were unusable so I just painted it white and called it good. They were a neat group of models, and surprisingly detailed, considering the tiny scale. So, a couple of months ago, I was rebuilding my workshop and installing the shelving to display all my models. To protect the Revell trio, I placed them on a completed shelf, figuring they’d be safe there. I was wrong. I was installing a shelf on the adjacent wall, when it slipped and landed on the top shelf over the models. To my horror, the shelves hadn’t been adequately braced, and they collapsed spectacularly. All three models were smashed to smithereens. With tears in my eyes, I picked up and sorted the broken bits and pieces. It was a week or two before I could face them again. I decided to grin and bear it and do what I could to repair them. The Kenworth and the White, in happier times. The White is with its 1/25 big brother, a Jimmy Flintstone resin casting with a IMC/Lindbergh Dodge L700 chassis and interior. The three casualties. First was the White, since it seemed to have suffered the least. The trailer was remarkably unscathed, losing only a wheel in the mishap. The tractor was another story. It had split mostly along the seams, and the cab had a nasty crack right down the center over the windshield. The chassis was okay, losing only a wheel off the steer axle and the fifth wheel. I clamped the cab together, using regular plastic cement along with CA to repair it; the rest of it was relatively easy to repair, using plastic cement and patience. The cab even tilts normally now. Next up was the Kenworth. It had suffered the most damage; the cab had broken in several pieces and the hood split in two; the steer and one of the drive axles broke and the front wheels broke off. I was able to recover most of the parts, except for one of the mirrors and a bit of the cab. Luckily, the trailer survived without any significant damage, for some reason. I started with the cab. The roof had broken off, taking with it the top of the driver’s side door and parts of the pillars, as well as a triangular bit from the left rear corner. I scratched the missing door part and installed it, but then I found the missing original part and substituted it for the scratched part. I used putty to fill in the crack in the hood and the gap where the back corner had broken off and got it close. I scratched a center pillar to replace the one that disappeared and tried to re-align the cab to close a crack in the back of the cab. While that was drying and curing, I repaired the hood and front fenders. I discovered that the entire model had warped with the damage, so I adjusted it as best I could to get it to fit. I created new turn signals out of styrene rods, and my friend Jürgen created an exact replica of the mirror as a 3-D model- Vielen Dank, Jürgen! I printed it up and it fit perfectly. The model is still a little warped, but I filled the gaps with putty and touched up the white paint as best I could. The cab lost its roof, along with some of the plastic supporting it, and the hood was cracked. Here it is mocked up with the fenders. Restoration started. The piece at the top of the door is made from sheet styrene, but I later found the original part and used it instead. Cracks and gap filled with first coat of putty. The cab mostly fixed, the gap between the hood and fender is due to warpage. Last was the Chevy. It had mostly broken along the seams, and the wheels and axles had broken off. This was another glue and clamp exercise; the hood had been lost for some time so I found another on eBay. It was Atlantis blue, so I painted it green; I also painted the top of the cab since it had been badly scratched in the mishap. The paint doesn’t quite match, but I’m kinda okay with that for some reason. So, all three were restored, as best I could. Unfortunately, they’ll never look the same, but at least they look okay on the shelf- from a distance. I still get a lump in my throat when I remember what they looked like before the "accident," but they’re the best I can do. The three restored models on the shelf. They look okay, if you don't look too closely. Thanks for bearing with my sad story!

Very cool, good job "hiding" the print lines! A resin printer would have created a much smoother surface, but I agree about the mess, and mine requires constant maintenance. Even using water washable resin the stuff gets everywhere. Looking forward for further developments!

Thanks! You nailed what I was going after. Ordinary trucks for their day, built and used for hard work with a minimum of frills and nothing fancy.

Power steering and automatic transmissions are for weaklings!

Danish! Of course! I should have known! But in all fairness, pre- Euroband Danish and NL plates were pretty similar. So, I guess your truck is working on a dairy farm!

Very cool build, Jürgen! I like the Dutch plates! Even though DAF is owned by Paccar, along with Peterbilt and Kenworth, they’re virtually unknown in North America except for some Class 4 and 5 COEs that are branded as Kenworth and Peterbilt (although they are really DAF models.)

I usually post over in the Big Rigs section, this is my first time posting here. From the days when 1 ½ to 3 ton trucks were the norm, here are 1/25 representations of what Detroit’s big three automakers had to offer back in the day. I just finished the Ford; it’s a Jimmy Flintstone resin cab, with 3D printed frame, flatbed body and wheels from various designers; interior and glass are from the old Lindbergh pickup kit. The “Job Rated” Dodge is also recent; the cab is 3-D printed from files by Ditomaso147 on Cults; the body and wheels are from other designers and partly scratchbuilt. The Chevy is an old Ron Cash resin kit I built about 20 years ago, with parts from a donor ERTL (now AMT/ERTL) pickup kit. Gotta love them old cabovers!

Most of it would turn black eventually anyway!

Yeah, one time I slipped off a roller and landed on my chin on the pavement and a mild concussion. Needed a few stitches... No OSHA reporting in those days!

I can't wait to see this thing painted, and spots of black goo on the appropriate places! When I worked on an asphalt crew, we would pull the fuel truck up next to our equipment to wash it down with raw diesel fuel. It did a great job as a solvent for liquid asphalt. That was over 50 years ago, I don't think you could do that today!

I made mine simply by painting it flat black and then going over the edges and stripes with body color with a super fine brush. It turned out okay but a decal would have been better. I make my license plates the same way Jurgen suggested. I’ve been collecting plates for years and I’m a member of a couple of world-wide collector clubs, so I have access to a lot of resources. North American plates are 6”x 12” so I just scale the photo to 1/2”’wide and it’s accurate to 1/24 scale.

Amazing results, I’m always blown away by how much detail you put into those little 1/32 trucks to make them look realistic!

This is such a cool build, it’s fun to see it progress. I happened upon a very different Ford C600 today, in Murray, Utah: Can’t recall the last time I saw a box truck with a sleeper!

Yeah, it’s amazing how much 3-D printing has opened up the field. Over the last year, I’ve probably built a dozen models of trucks that I never dreamed that I’d be building… and it feels like I’ve barely scratched the surface! And yes, that cab is basically the 1955 Dodge pickup cab that for some reason, Dodge kept alive in their medium and heavy truck line for a couple of decades afterwards.

Thanks, Alan!

Thanks, Larry!

Thanks, Brian! When I looked at all the reference photos, that's the one that jumped out at me. That rig actually had a two-tone stripe; orange on top and dark red below, but I decided just to do it all red for simplicity's sake. It actually looks orange against the gold background anyway!

Yeah, the Big Horn is such an iconic American truck, I'm surprised that AMT didn't cover it back in the day. I agree about the tires... 11 X 22s always look better. My touch-up list for this build includes swapping the wheels out for bigger ones, widening the track of the steer axle, and finding better headlight lenses than those cloudy parts-box ones I found. And when I get done with those, there will be more...

Thanks, Jeff, I appreciate it! Now I have to build more shelves...

Thanks, Steve!

Thanks, David!

Among old-truck nerds, the Dodge Big Horn has a special mystique. I don’t mean the trim package on the Ram pickup, I mean the big one: The last (and least successful) semi tractor that Dodge built. It was in production for only three years (1973-75) and only 261 units were ever built. A surprising number survive today, and they are much sought-after by truck collectors. They looked odd indeed, with a tiny ‘50s Dodge pickup cab mounted high above an enormous hood and grille, making the whole rig look even more massive than it really was. I’ve always wanted to do a model of it, but the only cast resin conversion kit I’ve seen wasn’t very authentically detailed and the proportions looked off, so I passed. One of my favorite 3D Truck designers goes by the handle Ditimaso147 on Cults, AKA Nahuel Customs. I’ve printed and built three of his designs so far, although the others were small in scale compared to this one. When I saw he had designed a Big Horn, It wasn’t a hard decision to try it out. I downloaded the files and printed them; after a few issues with warpage he agreed to reinforce the back of the grille, and I was happy with the result. Like most 3D designs, the interior is pretty basic, but it seems accurate, which is good enough for me. For a donor, I used an incomplete AMT/Ertl GMC General kit that I had gotten for cheap on eBay, along with a smattering of parts-box parts here and there. I used some very thin clear sheet plastic for the windshield, creased to form the wrap-around curves. The plastic clouded a little on the crease lines, but it blends in with the reflection and isn’t so noticeable. The paint scheme is a reference to Dodge’s Big Horn ads of the 70. This is a curbside model with a closed hood and no engine; there are some flaws as you can see, but I’m happy with it and it fills that formerly big hole in my truck collection!

Nice! Gotta love a Pete COE wrecker!👍

Beautiful build, this cab looks even better than the AITM cab IMHO. The B-61 was always my favorite Mack, and this one shows why!

Nice! I've got one in my to-do pile, now I'm inspired to move it to the top of this list! Great sleeper-to-daycab conversion, it looks flawless. Great work!