Andria H

appreciate it! Will have to get me one

thank you!

Didn't get a chance to snap a pic yet... but I found a great condition original issue AMT T521 Double Header Trailmobile van trailer set & converter dolly with no missing/broken parts and lots of stuff still bagged and a nice box for $25 plus a donation to a veterans' fundraiser at a thrift shop. Am going to make this 2 separate 27ft vans for 2 separate big rigs, one of which is going to be an AMT Autocar made to look like an old Roseburg Forest Products unit, since I do not want to use up space on a double trailer unit, but will build the dolly as well so I can use it as a wiggle wagon with 1 truck or as 2 separate trucks' loads.

thank you!

Wheels are severely distressed, fitted with mismatched truck tires up front/WWII era "G.I. surplus" truck tires in back, original tires & whitewall inserts inside the truck tires to make a tube and a set of widowmaker-style split rims. The fenders have been banged up a bit and given a nice coat of faux rust, soft top is given a faux fabric effect and extreme deterioration/discoloration simulated on top of that, the color/texture of aging vulcanized rubber is drybrushed onto the floormat, the wood bed floor is made to look worn/aged and stained up, the Rajah central lubrication system reservoir/lines on the firewall are all made to look leaky and distressed, as is the steering column end casing. The Marine Blue body paint is drybrushed over with a realistic looking patina of surface rust and fade/oxidation with oil/gas seepage where it makes sense, the wood dashboard with nickel plated upper trim rail is detailed with the detailed instruments yet to go in & a detailed aged teak finish will go on the steering wheel with nickel finish hardware. All nickel plate is made to look rusty/pitted, and the engine will be made to look recently serviced to go with the aged short block & sump and such. Safety markings are added to the back with a center mount stoplight and license plate plinth and places for 2 more taillights, a scratchbuilt "fabricated steel" front bumper is fitted to the front frame horns, engine block/transmission/final drive are in, front steering/all 4 wheels are static, and I will be fabricating a manual crank-operated tow boom from tow truck model kit/diecast parts and working on the remainder of the parts, including the hood and radiator/grille shell and lights & a smattering of accessories, maybe even a driver figure in a straw boater hat and some kind of historical outfit.

Fresh paintwork. Bed floor is not finalized. Paint isn't perfect, which is not a huge deal since I was just gonna rough it up with steel wool and drybrush it. See the next post for the end results.

In primer, playing with tow boom designs. Some of these had an early hand cranked crane in the bed, others had a 2-wheeled tow dolly, others had no towing gear at all and had a body more like a fire engine.

Basically, it is inspired by this, as well as with a buddy of mine's build of a pristine V16 Cadillac wrecker conversion off a JoHan gluebomb. A few details are different, owing to this being a '28 instead of a '23 as seen in the pic, aswell as to my signature style of aged finish. Obtained from a local buddy's sale pile

I'll have to dig through some things and see what you might want. Thanks

The Mack, Duster, Pontiac, MALCO Gasser, Barracuda, and Chevy finned longroof will be going home with me.

I almost bought this 1/1 '77 Rally Wagon in the Portland area a few years ago. GMC offered both chromed and painted bits on vans in this era, so a builder can technically make a "whiteout" van

'71-'72, '73-75 and '76-77 G-van dashes are all different as well. Doghouse covers vary in size between inline six or V8 or Oldsmobile 350 Diesel vans iirc.

I owned one too ('74 Chevy G10 Contempo conversion) and almost owned a '77 GMC Rally Wagon 1-ton work van and a couple different Dodge vans at different times. Am semi serious about replacing my Subaru with a '95 E250 Glaval conversion van too. This is a nice example that custom builders/painters will eat up like, well, "free candy". The AMT kit is a '71-'72 and this looks like a '73-'75 GMC VanDura which there are no good replicas of.

The AMT '77 Ford Econoline and 1/20 MPC '74 Ford Econoline, and I think the 1/16 Revell vans, do have opening front hoods, the Lindberg Lil Red Wagon in stock form is a van-based pickup but has a removable doghouse too. But as a former owner of a '74 G10 in real life, what the heck is there to see under the front lid other than battery, master cylinder, radiator, and a few reservoirs?

thanks all! Andy, I had no trouble at all with it.

I am in for a bunch of these. I don't care for the AMT G30 much and the Monogram G10 shorty is hard to find/expensive.

thanks Stuart. it's a nice kit, I am thinking about using the frame rails (shared with the MPC modified racers and Double Flip F100) front/rear suspension that uses the same/similar rails, as well as a lot of other parts, from another one on a 3D printed Kellison J4 at some point. A few old-school hot rodder friends born in the 1930s/40s on back to the early 1920s had told me that tri-5 Chevy and corresponding year Pontiac frames were popular to build specials or racers off of, hence MPCs widespread use of it I am sure

thank you Doug!

thank you!

The '60 Nomad looks great, the Python and T seem nice too.

Mostly out of box build with a few things added/changed on the MPC 'Spirit of '57' kit. This was smooth and enjoyable build, I am excited to try the '53 F100 based on many of the same bits.

If anyone wants to part with an AMT "Beetle Bus" shorty VW kombi dragster, I'd love to have a chance at it and build it my way.

thank you!

thank you Jon!