Chuck Most

Danbury Mint did a really nice diecast 1:24 pickup in the late '90's, but I've never seen one in resin, and there isn't one in 1:25 plastic- I seem to remember seeing some small (HO-scale perhaps) examples.

Uptown won't be selling any of their castings for the forseeable future- he's in the process of moving and recently lost his resin guy, so between that he has so far been unable to offer any of his resin products, and hasn't been able to update the site yet.

I didn't know such a thing existed until a few minutes ago, and now I want one!

I'll be watching this! Believe it or not it's been tried in full scale- http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/1-painless-way-to-a-roadster-pickup/

That's why I'm building this thing as a Large Car. The kit has a leaf spring/walking beam setup out back, and the standard parallel leaf spring/solid axle setup up front. No brakes on the front axle if I recall- another clue to the '70's origin of the chassis.

A guy named Sebastien Lebeau used to cast dually bedsides for the longbed version of this kit, but they are no longer in production. Can't tell if those are his bed sides or not. Anyway- love that model! Before the '99 Super Duties came out, this is pretty much what people assumed they were to look like.

That's the great thing about Dean's- he gets a little bit of everything in stock, and doesn't gouge you for it. Love the fact it's only a half-hour drive from my house!

Bandit Resins still shows the '76-77 grille on their site, but I've heard it's OOP for mold repair at the moment. Better get with Kenny for the details on that...

Bingo. Honestly, the price doesn't bother me all that much. This just won't be one of those "buy five at a time" kits for me, personally. It sure beats paying on a 1:1 example if you're looking at it purely from an economics standpoint...

Fit is generally good overall- just make sure you install the dash tilted slightly forward, because it "fits" that way or vertically into the interior tub- when you get the kit and see the mounting surfaces you'll see what I mean. The engine is a Cummins NTA 370 with turbo, and the transmission is a Spicer with an auxillary box. The chassis from this is actually from a '70's AMT KW kit. The Canepa version has different side skirts, and wheel covers which go over the plated Alcoa wheels used in both versions- I think the Canepa wheel covers are in the box in the regular version but not mentioned anywhere.

Thanks for clearing that up! I thought they might have been the ten hole alloys, but for some reason I was thinking they were not plated. Possible? Well, perhaps, but it would be a TON of work. I'd just go with a resin cab, like the Modelhaus or Motor City Resin casters kits.

And the box art clearly shows the rear door open- though no inner door panel detail of any kind is provided in the kit if you wanted to do so.

At least this will have the correct chassis. I'd gladly pay more for a kit that actually represents its subject matter than one produced by a company that apparently thinks North American truck modelers are gullible oafs.

I was looking for pics of another truck, and stumbled across this... http://rmsresins.com/race-transporter.html

That cab is a '61 or '62 going by the door emblem design. That's exactly what the teardrop-shaped thing under the door handle is- it rolls aside to uncover the lock cylinder.The C-series doors used that setup for years.

Studebaker 289, not a Ford. Completely different engines. That '60 Chevy bench looks pretty good once it's adapted to its new home... gonna have to file that one away for future use.

They're the plated wagon wheels from the Model King reissue- the Bronco kits had five-lug hubs and (IIRC) were not plated.

Looks like I should have removed the rub strips on the one I just painted...

Just in time for my tax returns to get back. This just keeps getting better!

Might want to plan on doubling up on those if you're planning on a dark color- I've noticed a lot of the Round 2 script and emblem decals lately will just disappear over a dark shade of paint.

Love both of them! Odd how this thread resurfaced just now, as I am currently working on two Dodge Magnum conversions of my own- a 2-door sedan delivery and a ute! Gotta ask- is that crew cab Cadillac pickup one of yours, too?

The big block was mentioned... The engine block appears to be oversized for a small block- so I would think that using some big block heads, intake, and front cover would go a long way into converting the kit engine into a big block, though to be fair, the thing is pretty much impossible once the van is built either way.

You don't say...

I'd say to avoid the '88 version on account of that weird molded-in rearview mirror, as Art mentioned. Other than that, any would be a good base with which to start.