Ben

Thought I'd share some pics of my 76 Ford LTL9000 that I'm building to look like the one on one of Ford's brochure covers. I made the longer, corrected hood and cab and Eric (Porky) casts and sells them. I also had the decals made to produce this paint scheme but the red didn't come out the way I had hoped so the only decals on mine are the pin stripes, air intake grills on the hood sides and the owner operator badges under the door windows. The white, red and black are all paint. As some know, I can't stand the painting part (I'm afraid I'll mess it up! LOL)so I sent it to a friend, David Guerrero to paint it for me. He did a really nice job! I still need to add more black pinstripes and finish the black on the windshield cowl. There are some tiny overspray areas that need to be cleaned up as well. I just have it mocked up in these pics. I'm building an accurate Ford chassis and it will have a set of the real aluminum split rim ten hole wheels that Jim Littiken made.

Your in luck! Revell made some race cars, there were a couple different versions and these cars used a wheel very similar to that. It even has a separate hub/spoke section. I used them on the toter I built years ago. I think they're your best bet without having to make one from scratch. You can see pics of my International S series toter in my Fotki albums: http://www.public.fotki.com/lotso The pics are in the "some in progess models" folder.

And, if you do decide to clear over your decals, be sure to spray a "test" decal from the same sheet to see if the clear will harm it!!!! Trust me, I just had 150.00 worth of custom decals ruined due to the clear attacking them.

Uh oh.......... I found a major flaw with your model, John!!!! I noticed that my shelf is not underneath it!!!!!!!!

LOL, I have had ex girlfriends ask, "you payed how much for that!!??????" I always tell them, "look how much you'd pay for a nice diamond ring and it's basically a hyped up piece of dirt!" LOL

Whew, I'm glad I'm not guilty of any of these things so far! LOL When I build a model, I look at each piece as being it's own little model. First all mold seams and edges are cleaned up, then, if there are reliefs for holes,(like in brackets, vents, etc.) those are opened so the part looks more realistic. To me, kit parts are just a "suggestion". It's up to the builder to make that part look accurate. The more accurate the parts are, the better the completed model will look. Also, whenever you have two parts that are meant to be glued together and one side has the locating pins and the other has the holes, cut the pins off and place the part on a sanding block and sand the mating surface flat, do this with the opposite side as well and then glue the pieces together using the outside edge as your guide. This will give you a much better fit and much less of a seam needing to be filled.

I'm not familiar with any from the Model Maker Shop? Harald Weber in Germany made a very nice, very complete set specifically for the AMT White Freightliner kits. It is very advanced and requires soldering on the grill, side steps and some other items. I have pics of the photo etch frets on my Fotki site. http://www.public.fotki.com/lotso

That's the duck's guts mate!!!!!!!!! (SWEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!)

Man, sweet, pretty AND builds models?!?!?! I'm jealous!!!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sanford-Poster-Paint-Markers-Fine-Nontoxic-White-/110683922913?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c546a1e1 Hey Rob,is this the one your using? I noticed that Sharpie sells an oil based pen as well as this one? I just want to be sure to get the correct one that won't rub off.

Man, the word "cool" just doesn't do it justice!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUTFRIGGINSTANDING!!!!!!! Yeah, That's better!!!!!!

Hey Rob, where's a good place to find one of those Sharpie paint pens?

Cool! Thanks guys!!!!! I'll pick up some acrylic flat white! That Sharpie paint pen sounds like a good idea too!!!!

Hello all, I was wondering, what is currently the best thing to use to paint the raised letters on hard vinyl tires to where the paint won't rub off when you touch it? I had heard to use Liquid Paper but that was years ago. Just wondering if there's something better now? Thanks in advance!

Coooool!!!!!!!! I love the "action" shot!

If your building the square headlight version with the headlights mounted in the fenders, the light harness will run from the back of the headlights and rest tight against the inside of the fender, going from the lights toward the grill where they will run along the frame rail to the cab where each side may go to a separate relay or both sides may go to one relay (not sure how Freightliner does theirs) Remember to leave a small "service loop" where the wiring leaves the hood and enters the from so the hood can tilt and not pull the wires.

Wow! Nice restoration!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it looks great! Put it on the shelf and then, when your ready, clean, assemble and detail the parts needed to complete it and then when your ready, grab the truck from the shelf and finish her up!

How could that be looked at as being incorrect? Maybe on that day, the owner of that "pro street" took his car to the track to see how well it would do. Swapping the street tires for slicks and running open exhaust is very common in that scenario.

Outstanding work as usual John!!!!!!!!

Hey Tim, the hose or pipe that runs from one tank to the other has to run straight across. If it were to go up between the tanks, fuel would not transfer from the reserve tank to the main tank. I have seen steel pipe used between the tanks as well as rubber hose. Sometimes there is a steel "loop" that hangs down from the chassis and the line is hung along the bottom of this loop.

Preetttty smart idea Romell! The little wheels look perfect! I would have probably robbed the tiny wheels from one of those "finger" skate boards. I wonder if they have translucent wheels on those?

Wow Chris, really sorry to see all that! It looks like it was a good little truck with a lot of life left in it! Thank goodness you weren't moving the truck at the time!!!!

Hey Dennis, if you shave the lug nuts off the AMT wheel, the tophats will fit in them. The tophats have a very thin "ring" that the lug nuts sit on top of. I made another post here showing exactly what they look like.

I'd be happy to get any version of the Lindberg Charger Police car at that price!!!!!