RoninUtah

Brings back memories! When I was a kid, my parents had a 61 Falcon wagon that exact color blue!

When I did a 3D printed Mack F700 a few months ago (the build is in the under glass section) the inside and the roof of the cab were soft and sticky. I put it aside for a few weeks to finish curing in a dry place and it worked. I wouldn’t recommend soaking in water because 3D prints are porous and can warp. The Mack cab was fine, no warp or sag, but there was a pronounced graininess that required sanding smooth. By the way, I can vouch for Bren’s skill at 3D printing- and his generosity! He’s helping me out with a Freightliner project. Great guy.

Super clean build, awesome detailing, great work!

That looks great, Bren!

Great job, it turned out great! I've built a couple of Frontier kits, but was pretty disappointed; they were crudely cast, and the proportions and some of the details were incorrect. Looks like you did a superb job with this one, though! Well done!

Beautiful build, it turned out perfect! I also like Italeri's Euro trucks; I built a Volvo FH12, also in black, but mine didn't turn out nearly as nice as yours. The kit was molded in black, which limited my color choices. I've built a couple of others as well, and they were all very nicely engineered kits. Well done!

Thanks, Bren, those look great! Nice and smooth, and well detailed. Are you doing the hi-rise sleeper version? I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to add that to my fleet!

Awesome build, it turned out perfect!

Before the mid ’60, a significant percentage of tractor-trailer hauling was done using smaller tractors, most of which were 2 axle and gas powered. Before the development of the Interstate highway system, nearly all hauls were short compared to today, especially considering the incredibly complex bureaucratic process required to obtain operating authorities for each state. A haul from New Jersey to North Carolina and back was a big deal! One of the post popular tractors of its day was the White WC series. Until recently, there weren’t any options for these in 1/24 or 1/25 scale, although a decent version of the iconic round-fronted White 3000 COE has been around for a while. This one is the latest offering from Dans Models, AKA CIP, from Romania. Typical for their products, it is a well detailed 3D print, correctly proportioned and crisply detailed. It was a fairly easy build and everything fir together nicely; my only issue is that some of the smaller parts got lost in the forest of reinforcing “twigs” printed with each part; also, some were so thin (such as the mirror brackets) that they were unusable. I put this one on an AMT White Freightliner SD chassis; it is strictly curbside with no engine. The front wheels are from a Mack and the rears are leftover AITM 6-spoke wheels, maybe a little overscaled for this little truck. The gray and red paint scheme was one of the two standard paint schemes offered by White in 1949 (The other being all red). The trailer is a Herb Deeks resin that I’ve had for years. So, this is pretty representative of what was considered to be a “big rig” in the day of two-lane highways and no power or automatic anything. It would have been powered by a 6-cylinder “Super Power” gas engine through a 5-speed transmission, and maybe with a 3-speed Brownie. It took a tough guy to handle this rig!

Nice! I think I drove the same truck!

Great looking build! You can find scale chain in the jewelry making supplies in Jo-Anne’s or similar craft store!

That’s one helluva model! You should be proud!

So, here is the '60s Ford family in my collection...

Thanks for the kind words! I know I'm far from the most skilled builder on this site, but I'm generally happy with the results and I appreciate your comments!

I would be more than happy to pay someone to print a Cascadia in 1/25! Please contact me if you’re willing to do this.

Thanks, all, for the nice comments! They mean a lot to me. Thanks, Tommy! It looked like at least 75% of the reference photos I looked at showed these trucks with center point steer axles, and when I saw a set of center point wheels on the STS website, I knew I had to grab it for this build! I always like my builds to reflect a typical working truck of its time, so details like that matter. Here is one of those reference photos; when I saw this paint scheme, I thought, "I can do that!" The paints are Tamiya, by the way. I'm working on its baby cousin- Moebius's '65 Ford F-100 utility truck. I'll post a family portrait of all my 60's Fords when it's done.

This time it’s a late-60s- early 70s W-1000 COE. Cab is from TX3D, on an AMT Astro 95 chassis along with a few aftermarket parts and scratch-built things as well. On this one, I learned the hard way that you should NOT soak a 3-D printed model in water to get rid of mold release, etc. like you would a conventionally cast resin piece! First, there is no mold release to get rid of. Second, 3D resin is porous. It soaks up the water and warps. So, the first cab I got warped beyond repair, but Charles of TX3d sold me a replacement at a reasonable price. Not to let even a warped cab go to waste, I paired if with a bunch of parts box stuff to create an old wreck; it’s a hulk of a Ford that had long ago been stripped of its drivetrain and any usable parts and left in a field to rot. Now it’s on the way to a different fate, and as luck would have it, it’s being hauled by its much better cared-for brother. I was very pleased with this conversion kit. It fit pretty nicely on the Astro frame, in fact, it’s one of the few resin COEs I have made that tilts easily! The proportions are correct, the detail is crisp and accurate, and it doesn’t have that annoying graininess that so many 3d prints have. However, like all 3d printed resin, it is very brittle and inflexible. You have to be very careful in removing the rods that are printed in to hold the piece true; work from the front to the back to avoid stressing and cracking the cab. Also, it is printed to tight tolerances, so I had to do some grinding on the interior tub to make it fit easily without flexing and cracking the body. In other words, like all resin conversions, cast or printed, it takes some working and futzing to make them fit. But, I think it’s well worth the effort!

Very nice old F-series! I especially like the way you weathered the exhaust stack. Great work!

Great looking old A-Car. I sure miss dealing with Dave, he was a prince. Between Dave and later, Doug, I think I've built over half the AITM catalogue. Now unbuilt ATIM kits are going for at least twice the price, and that's if you can even find them!

Nice build! Well done!

Awesome build, it looks perfect! I really can’t see any warp in your pics. Great job, and +1 on the White COE as well.

Thanks, Chuck! I know what you mean- my builds are always a conflict between my impatience and my perfectionism. Usually, the former results in compromises that the latter can't stand!

No, but they wouldn’t be hard to make; it’s just “Consolidated Freightways” on two lines, all caps and italic. I’d make them myself but my printer can’t print white.

Thank you all for the positive comments, they are deeply appreciated! I’m still on the fence about stripping and re-doing the grille, though…