modelercarl

Received the bcs-trading 1 ton dump bed and am in the process of building a landscape company version with the Monogram F-350 Dually pickup. Got everything primed and did a mockup to double check how it will look for compatibility.......

I tend to agree with this comment.....everything posted above makes sense if you just leave off "point".

I appreciate the info but the article's "factual accuracy is disputed". Noted in the header....

What's a price point?

Been following this build and have been in complete awe as each step in the process gets more impressive....building to a stunning finished model! You obviously make a plan and stick to that plan while completing a project. I can't find a word that adequately describes this model, it is without a doubt the most impressive model I have ever seen. Kudos to you sir!

Been driving this for two years now. This has been one of the best vehicles I have ever had....Had a couple other Explorers and a couple of Fusions in the last 10 years. Before it was GMC Envoys, a Tahoe and Chevys. As I have been retired for 15 years now and 14 years ago bought a condo within walking distance of the grocery store, bank, gym and barber shop I only drive about 4,000 miles/year. Any long range trips I rely on my kids or grandkids chauffeuring. I get my Ford vehicles on a 2 year lease through one of my kids who is a manager at Ford. I have to make a decision pretty soon on a new lease vehicle but I am strongly considering purchasing this one, I enjoy driving it so much........I feel a lot safer in it also, it is a good defense against "distracted" drivers.

Excellent post! My only comment on this subject would be that when I compare the car model kits available today against kits from 20 or more years a go is that the progress made in detail and accuracy is outstanding. The issues of warpage and misalignment are frustrating and one would think easily remedied, but I personally have only experienced a couple of these issues (mis-alignment) in all the kits that I have built and they were easily fixed. When I think about "the model car kit industry" I wonder why they even bother manufacturing kits anymore. The market pretty much dictates that cost of the kit is number one priority and that factor drives all decisions made during development. When you consider that $35.00 for a kit is considered "on the high end" and the average production run is 5,000 kits I don't see much money in this endeavor. My estimate: $20.00 profit x 5,000 kits= $100,000 profit. Plus the BMW factor!

Beautiful build!!

I think you might be right Rob. I showed the pictures to a son-in-law who works at the proving grounds and he said it is chrome wrap, that they use it sometimes for cars in presentations to the brass and some shows. They even have different colors/shades of the stuff, very time consuming to apply. He is surprised that this car is privately licensed, thinks maybe the owner did it on his own as GM does not let these cars out for private ownership.

Saw this stainless steel Cadillac this afternoon while out shopping. I see it pretty regularly around town but never parked where I had a chance to get pictures. Waited about 15 minutes for the driver to return so I could ask questions (bet he/she is tired of that!) but gave up as I had some frozen frozen items and had to get them home. We are only about 15 miles from the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, MI. so I suspect this belongs to someone connected to GM. Sometimes in the summer sun when this goes by it is blinding and hurts your eyes to look at it......

Your message indicates that someone has/is stealing his personal possessions......contact the police, let them do what is necessary.

The GM switch fiasco was caused by an engineer who changed the spring plunger that held the switch in position to a weaker spring (thus creating a defective switch assembly), and NOT changing the part number which would have alerted someone to a significant change in the assembly. It was not "a string of poor engineering and management decisions" trying to save 25 cents.

I have built a couple of these and the only problem I encountered was the side window glass. It is too tall and will not let the interior bucket and frame install at the proper position. My solution was to hold the glass in position at the top of the windows and use a scriber to scratch a cut line in the glass using the bottom edge of the openings as a guide. Then using an exacto saw blade, cut off the excess stock along the bottom edge (if I remember correctly it was just under 1/8"), and file the cut edge to clean it up and finish assembly per the instructions. It really goes together very well and makes a good looking display model......fits are very good on everything else.

If you have, or can get pictures of what you want showing the detail send them to Thomas Logan at speedwaydecals@yahoo.com. He has done custom decals (including fire truck) for me and does a great job. He has a day job so it might take a couple of days to get back to you with an answer but he is very easy to deal with......excellent decals, reasonable cost and quick delivery.

I am 76 and enjoy relatively good health, have a few ongoing issues like knees and hips that can aggravate me now and then, but not serious enough to keep from doing pretty much whatever I want to do. Have bi-annual physicals to make sure nothing "sneaks" up on me and so far these show me to be in "very good" physical condition. My Medicare supplement insurance pays for the monthly fee for membership at a local gym and I go at least 3 times a week for about 45 minutes of exercise on cardiovascular machines and free weights. I walk frequently, not a planned exercise program, but I don't hesitate to park at the far corner of parking lots or a block or two away from a store. I could do better about my diet but at the same time I don't indulge in high calorie or high fat food. Used to have about 12 classmates that got together once a month but in the last 5 years or so we have become a group of 4 and I don't have much hope of that lasting much longer. I see people in my kid's generation that are so far out of shape, overweight and generally inactive that I find it hard to believe that actuarial tables indicate that "we are living longer"....... and around here it is commonplace to see some 40 year old to pop out of a vehicle parked in handicapped parking right in front of a store and stroll inside. I still enjoy building car and truck kits very much but do find that it takes me a little longer as my attention span seems to have shortened.

Thanks for the info...

What is the name of "the one from Japan"? Steve's link does not open.

One of these (a white one) was my first car after getting out of the army in August 1964 and it had these whitewalls on it.... remember scrubbing them with Brillo pads to get them white. I don't remember when "skinny" whitewalls came on the scene but it was a few years later.

Never happen in 20 years, if ever. We can't even get good roads in many locales.....the major cities in the world are struggling to provide transportation for the population now with the revenue that they capture through taxes, etc. so where is the money going to come from for all the new infrastructure. The change from horses to automobiles (and trucks) was easier to accomplish because they both basically used the same road system for their needs......this would require ALL NEW systems to become widely accepted. Just another Bob Lutz pipe dream.......this kind of stuff is why he has bounced around the auto industry for years, never had any really sound approaches to problems facing the auto industry.

I have built a couple of these....you have to trim about 3/32" off the bottom of the side glass because it interferes with the interior bucket during final assembly. Everything will fit fine after doing that.

All of this just confirms what I said.....GM realized they were not going to be competitive and got out of the business, Caterpillar (already a more successful builder/supplier in this market) bought the assets and eventually adopted the product improvements that General Electric had and started producing more competitive engines.

The reason General Motors got out of the business is General Electric. If GM was making any money with their locomotives, it wasn't enough, and when GE started expanding their offerings, with better product, GM realized they were not going to be competitive in the market and dropped out.

Wow! So realistic, very well done.......this build brings back bad memories for me. For about 5 years I lived in Saline, MI. and we had a Roadway terminal a couple miles from town and they had a couple of these rigs for local deliveries. I don't think they ever got over 25-30 MPH at ANY time, everybody hated being trapped behind one because the roads and traffic in the area prevented anyone from being able to pass and some areas had 45 MPH speed limits. They could put you in a bad mood real quick. They both looked just like your model!!!

Very nice build, excellent attention to detail, great colors......best build of this kit yet.

In a way I am fortunate that my slow building pace means that I don't have a large number of models for display. I have models of the first 4 cars I ever owned that I display in a china cabinet in the dining room, the rest of my models are displayed in acrylic cases I built that have "interference" fit front covers to keep the dust out. I do open them randomly for and hour or two to allow gases to escape.