Art Anderson

Making a wood truck bed floor of any size (the example shown here was made in 2004 for converting a Yat Ming '38 Ford Firetruck to a 1.5 ton platform stake truck, but the principles are very much the same as for a wooden pickup truck bed floor). I considered three types of wood for the flooring: Extra-long popsicle sticks, Midwest Model Supply Aircraft-Grade Birch Plywood, and basswood. Popsicle sticks, unfortunately for us, are almost always cut from the cheapest grade of maple, and are subject to warping (the last package of popsicle sticks I bought was nearly useless--over 90% of the sticks were already warped, at least slightly before I even opened the plastic bag!), so I rejected that source. Midwest Model Supply imports and sells the finest grade of miniature plywood around--Danish Birch Plywood, of which the thinnest grades are incredibly fine (try 1/16" 5-ply plywood on for size sometime!), but in the thinner sizes, the plies or so thin they do not stand much sanding without going clear through the upper ply. In addition, thin plywoods are very prone to warping over time. However, this is what I used for the 1.5 ton bed floor, as it was the only type of hobby wood that was wide enough (I know better now though!) For my current truck bed project (1937 Ford 1/2 ton platform stake body) I used 1/16"X3" Midwest basswood. While basswood can and will warp at least some, this thin stock is weak enough that strip styrene cross beams underneath will hold it straight without problems. One thing to consider here when making a truck bed floor: While real ones are made from individual boards, milled so the edges overlap, you cannot see the joints from above, as they are covered by the skid-strips! For my platform stake body that's going on the Revell '37 Ford pickup, since the bottom of the bed floor can be easily seen from below, I was able to leave the basswood sheet smooth on the top side, but grooved the underside with my razor saw to give the effect of individual planks, overlapped. Once I framed up the underside with strip styrene (bear in mind, real wooden pickup bed floors have stringers under the wood, spaced exactly where the bolts for the skid strips will go through them to hold the wood in place over the full length of the bed floor). In the pic, you will notice that I had to make my own skid strips, which wound up looking much more real than anything photoetched, but that is a topic for another post, if anyone is interested. 38 Ford 1.5 ton bed floor: Art

Living in Lafayette IN and working at Purdue University as I do--Neil Armstrong's passing has hit most everyone here in some fashion or another. I grew up within 3 blocks of the Purdue campus, just three blocks from the Phi Delta Theta house where Armstrong was a member. On July 20, 1969, I was in the TV lounge at McArthur Hall at Parsons College out in Iowa, watching, along with all of my dorm-mates, that first step onto the moon, along with at least 600 million others around the world--that "One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind" got peoples' attention all at once, in unison. At that moment, he became the superstar here, of all the aeronautical and astronautical figures who were either associated with, or graduated from, Purdue. It was really poignant, yet heartwarming to watch our local news just now, as the TV reporter interviewed several newly minted freshmen--and to a person, they all expressed their feelings of being impacted by a man they'd heard of, seen in pictures, read about in their history books. Neil Armstrong is immortalized at Purdue, with the College of Engineering's premiere classroom and laboratory building named for him (from funds donated by several of his 1955 classmates--who had to persuade Armstrong to let the university name the building for him!). At the west entrance to Neil Armstrong Hall, seated on a massive limestone bench, is a 4-times larger than life bronze statue of a 24 year old Armstrong, as a student, seated on that bench, gazing off down Engineering Mall. In front of the statue is a set of also-four-times-larger-than-life concrete NASA moon-boot prints, created through the loan of a pair of those boots that went to the moon and returned; replicating Armstrong's first stroll (and the first "jump" by anyone on the moon!). Hardly a day goes by that some child, on campus with his or her parents, hops from one boot-step to the next, leaping just as Armstrong did. When it's impact on ordinary people, 40+ years after the fact--it's IMPACT. Somehow, I like to think that the "Man in the Moon" is pleased that a man came, walked the first steps on his face, becoming his first "house guest". Rest In Peace, Neil Armstrong, BS in Mechanical Engineering, 1955.

Okey Spaulding is still online. He's on Facebook under his own name. Art

Bill, I was just covering my bases, as I didn't have time to go digging around, to determine if there were longer pickup boxes for this proposed project or not. Thanks for clearing that up. Art

Yeah, hard as it may be to believe today, those JoHan kits of the 1960's were pretty much at the bottom of the barrel for popularity. I mean, back in those days, very few kids were enamored with Ramblers, Cadillacs, 1st generation (1961-63 Oldsmobile F85's, and most Mopars. Sure, JoHan did have some pretty cool Dodges and Plymouths, but it took until 1963 or so for Chrysler to come up with cars from those marques that excited the kids who built them. At Weber's, we always laid in a stock of those JoHans for our downtown's annual Sidewalk Sale Days, every year, 3rd week in July. Art

I actually made my very first silicone RTV molds from Silicone II sealer. Used 30-minute epoxy to make a set of wheels and tires for a USAC Offy dirt car. it worked very well (1984) even though it took some time to figure out exactly how to make open face molds that would sit flat. As for the air bubbles that got stirred into the epoxy, I learned from a friend, that the CO2 in my breath would pull them to to the surface, so I simply breathed out across the top of the still-liquid epoxy glue, and it worked! Art

Actually, stacking thin strips of styrene for the fins, and wires to replicate the tubes is oh-so-close to how real radiator cores are made. Art

The 2-part putty in those AMT/Ertl Customizing kits of about 1986-87 was A+B Epoxy Putty, which is/was a 2-part epoxy putty intended for sealing plumbing pipe joints. The stuff actually worked very well at the time, in fact, a number of modelers (including Chris Etzel of Etzel's Speed Classics and Medallion Models (1/48 scale aircraft transkits) swore by the stuff. However, it's almost always been a difficult product to find in stores. That old AMT body putty was actually pretty cool--lots of us kids back in the day used it. Not only was it introduced in the Styline Kits of 1961-62, but it was also sold separately, in a tube the size of Testors or Revell Type 'S' plastic model glue. What most of us didn't realize at the time, until someone else showed us, was that AMT's putty needed to be sealed after shaping and sanding, otherwise the paint just soaked into it, at least enough to let us know there was putty and not solid plastic underneath. Art

Unless you are modeling a wood-rimmed steering wheel, why split the rim into halves (half round section). If you have one of the new Revell Kurtis Midget kits, check out how they engineered the PE steering wheel. It uses a one piece rim, notched on one side at 90-degrees apart, into which you put a small drop of epoxy, then lay the PE spoke section into those notches. Open wheel race cars, since the early 1920's have used steering wheels that look very much like steering wheels of today, only the diameter and thickness of the rims will have changed. I built, from brass, a steering wheel for my 1904 Knox Waterless truck project: Of course, since this is a one-off, I simply milled the spokes/center section from sheet brass, then formed the rim in K&S brass rod, annealed (heat the brass rod to red-hot, then allow to cool, it becomes VERY soft, easily bent and formed by your fingers). This sort of wheel rim will be far more stable and sturdy than anything you make from plastic, and surely better over time than an O-ring. I bent the brass rod stock around a piece of scrap aluminum round bar stock that "looked right" to me, but a walk through the plumbing department of any home improvement store should turn up several sizes of short brass or copper pipe that will do the same thing. I would make two brass rims, both the same size, making absolutely sure that I bent the rod stock around whatever I use for a form, so that the circular curve goes past 360-degrees. I'd remove that sort of "coil" from the form, and cut the ring with a Dremel and cutoff wheel (make the piece a bit over-length here, as it will be easier to shorten up one end of your "rim" than to stretch it if you cut it too short. Make sure to get the ends of the bent rod as true and square as you can, and once you are satisfied with two perfect circles of brass rod, solder the ends together (Stay-Bright Silver Solder works very well here). Next, carefully file and sand the joint in each ring so they are smooth and round like the rest of the rod stock. Now, if you are insistent on making the rim split into two parts, each having a half round section, you can do that by rubbing them against fairly coarse sandpaper, until each is cut down to a half-round section. However, I would probably use the rings to make RTV molds, then cast up a few of them in resin--then carefully mark the 90-degree points where you want the spoke unit to attach, and notch those with the very smallest cutter you can find for your Dremel (hint: Ask your dentist if he has any old bits for his belt-drive dental drill laying around--many dentists have been known to save them for modelers who ask--they will be a bit dulled for dental work, but still sharp enough to work very nicely in plastics, resins, even soft metals, in my experience!). If you mess up one of the resin rims, just cast some more, and keep trying, until you get it. The only thing left to do would be to make up, or have a PE shop make up for you, the spoke units. The notched rims that you finally come up with become your new resin masters for casting--just make molds for them, make steering wheel rims to your heart's content! Good luck and happy scratchbuilding on this project! I will be eagerly watching to see what you come up with! Art

A couple of observations here, if I may: 1) I researched doing this pickup box in resin 22 years ago, as part of a crew cab conversion. In doing so, I picked up one each of every example of this vintage Chevy/GMC pickup. Here's what I found: a. MPC produced just one with a fleetside box, the Fall Guys truck. In addition, MPC also produced a '77 Chevy short stepside in 1/25 scale as a s snap kit, and a '78 Chevy Blazer, also a snapper. MPC also produced a variety of 1981-82 4X4 stepside versions. All of these are 1/25 scale. b. Revell, in 1977, produced a '76 Chevy short box stepside, originally produced as "Billy Carter's" (Billy, the brother of Pres. Carter) pickup, in 1/25 scale. c. Monogram produced a couple of 1/24 scale Chevy/GMC pickups of about 1978/79 vintage. Of all these kits, the MPC series of trucks had the most accurate bodywork by far and away. Revell's Jimmy Carter pickup is probably the worst of the bunch, a lot of body shape and contour issues there. Monogram's had some errors in shapes, mostly due to their then-penchant for making automotive body shells more than a bit too "squareish", almost blocky looking. So, the MPC Fall Guy got the call here (at the time, I had 3 or 4 original issue kits, they were the stuff of Dollar Stores in the 80's, so I got them at very good prices). Regardless of whose kit one uses for this conversion, the dimensional changes to the pickup box will be the same: Chevy/GMC fleetside pickup boxes came in two standard sizes (save for say, Camper Specials which may be longer still); 78" (6.5') long inside (from the inside of the front wall to the inside of the closed tailgate), and 96" (8') also inside dimension. The difference between the short and long boxes is divided, 12" forward of the rear wheel arch, and 6" behind the rear wheel arch (fender opening). Regardless of whose Fleetside box one uses, it will take two of them to make this pair of stretches. In addition, given the ribbed bed flooring, I found it much easier, and better looking, to replace the MPC bed floor with Evergreen ribbed sheet styrene. I simply cut the original bed floor away, being careful to preserve the inner bed side panels, and the wheel wells. It goes without saying that when cutting and stretching a body part like this, all cuts need to be straight and true, perfectly right angle figured from the TOP edge of the bed sides, and the sides much match exactly in length side-to-side, or the box will not be square. The only other thing that will have to be stretched, is the chassis, regardless of whose kit gets used. The stretch (I got this from GM Truck literature) in front of the rear axle was right behind the cab, again 12", and behind the rear axle, 6". Both are on the flat, not in the rear axle kickup. Hope this helps! Art

IMO, most "concept" (or dream cars as we knew them decades ago) are and were, just that, concepts ,meant to gauge the public's acceptance of their "look" and perhaps their potential. That said, the vast majority of concept cars done over the years since the very first one, the Buick Y-Job of 1939 were never produced, but rather, they lent their lines, or at least some detail features to cars that eventually did see the light of day at the end of an assembly line. This was particularly true of many GM Dream Cars from the 50's even into the 60's. However, many so-called dream cars or concept cars likely would not have succeeded in production as built simply due to impracticality For example, several GM dream cars of the middle 1950's were simply way too low overall, lacked a lot in the way of interior room--all of that, but they sure did turn heads at the Motorama's, and several did contribute their styling cues and such to later production Chevies, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs. There was one dream car from GM that did see production virtually as originally displayed, becoming the "father" of a long running and still popular series--the Corvette. Another concept car that made it to production, the Dodge Viper, went to assembly almost exactly as first shown, and that almost exactly 40 years after that first production Vette. Even the 60's vintage Pontiac Banshee found its way into a ton of influence on the 1970 Firebird and Camaro. Also, witness the Millennium Volkswagen--at least a couple of million VW New Beetles are on the road as a result, same with the Chrysler PT--another production car, and one that was quite popular also stemmed directly from a concept car. Would the Aerovette have made it as a production car? I wonder, given that it most likely could never have shared much beyond say, it's engine and perhaps a transmission, but by the time this concept car was shown, neither did any production Corvette use much of anything outside of the engine bay with any other Chevrolet. At the worst, it could well have made every other previous Corvette look as old as one's 100-yr old grandmother, and done that in the space of just a few months. But, given GM's experience with other less-than-conventional cars (Corvair?) I suspect it was a big question mark. Still though, concept cars tend to keep us looking, even hoping! Art

I started building model cars (with a few side trips into Revell ships, HO Model railroading (in a very weak moment!) and a ton of 1/72nd scale aircraft, but cars have always been my main thrust. As a kid, I built like a kid, of course, but somewhere in my early 20's (back in the 60's, I started building replica's, as accurately as I knew how back then. So, I suppose I figured out that this could be an adult hobby some 45yrs ago, and I've never looked back. Art

Jackson goes back several years now, is the resident supervisor of CanAm Garage, which is located on the Vermont/Quebec border. He's quite the traveler, and has been to that Peterbilt "addict's" shop a couple of times. he's been on just about every continent now except for Antarctica, (not very model builders down there), being hosted by modelers, who have shown him the sights--been to numerous model car contests and NNL's in the bargain. Jackson usually hangs out over on the Spotlight Hobbies Message Board, but does visit here sometimes. Art

Look for "Lewis Red Devil Lye". It will be in a small (about pint size) plastic cannister, white, with red and blue lettering on it. I always find it at my supermarket here, right in with laundry detergent, dishwashing liquids; you know, cleaning supplies. Art

Will you be making stake fences and the stake pockets to hold them? Art

Proctor-Keefe crew cab conversion most likely. Art

OK, I've said this so many times, it's burned into my memory banks: "Chrome" plating on model car parts is actually vacuum-metalized ALUMINUM. Now, anything that will dissolve aluminum will dissolve that plating in a NY Second (it's only a few molecules thick). Oven cleaners and drain openers almost universally contain LYE (Chemical name: Sodium Hydroxide), which is death to aluminum. In addition, Sodium Hydroxide will lift most air-dry paints in a matter of minutes, and considering that the clear coat used before the vacuum metalizing process (that gives the wet look finish which makes your plated parts sparkle) and the clear top coat which is necessary to protect and preserve the plating is almost always an airdry non-penetrating lacquer, LYE works very quickly, and it's less expensive to buy than say, LYE containing products such as Easy Off or Liquid Plumr. Look for Lewis Red Devil Lye at your favorite supermarket, it will be in the cleaning supplies section. It's in crystal form, you add it to water (never add water to lye crystals, nasty things can happen). Now, anything that will strip "chrome" from plastic model parts is hazardous--ALWAYS use PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) which in this case means protective gloves (Nitrile exam gloves are in virtually every pharmacy in the US, and are both non-allergenic and inexpensive) and eye protection (beyond even eyeglasses (every product mentioned in threads such as this one will damage your eyes irreparably if splashed into them). But in the end, my experience has been, LYE works the best, and the quickest, and will remove not only the plating, but all clear coats as well, leaving the original highly detailed parts. Art

Actually, Balsa Foam is very porous (for light weight) and as such, it very much replicates the softness and porosity of balsa wood. I'd recommend going with RenShape. Having used this stuff (and Chris Etzel, owner of the former Etzel's Speed Classics did almost all of his mastering from RenShape, Art

I know! I suggested that very subject at more than one Johnny Lightning Product Committee meeting, got shot down every time, both in 1/64 and 1/24 scales. Also put it on a hot list I was asked to write up for another plastic model company--got shot down there too. Art

NICE!

I've forgotten the number for it, but the grade of RenShape that most have used for model car purposes is the slightly reddish-brown variety. It cuts, sands and carves like basswood or clear white pine, but is also hard enough to actually be machined. Art

'50 Olds Business Coupe! Couple of friends had those when I was in HS. V8 and stick shift--you didn't want to tangle with them at the stoplight drags in say, 1960! Art

Another inexpensive material is K&S music wire! Music wire (also called piano wire) is the same stuff as guitar strings, and comes in all sizes, down to at least .015" diameter. Check the RC department of any hobby shop. It's also a lot cheaper than guitar string. Art

Methinks that you could work with underside pics of any stock (or correctly restored) Mustang 1965-72 as a guide, given that neither the platform, suspension, nor assembly plant practices changed very much over those years, in my opinion. Art

I second that! Did that for the first time about 10yrs ago, only just a regular straight pin--little drop of epoxy on the point, painted it silver. Art