Longbox55

I think only the body, basic chassis, and interior tub are the same on those kits, Greg. Under the red one, you can see the IFS under it, rather than the beam axle under the yellow kit. I have the yellow one, it did not have any IFS option in it, only a dropped beam axle. Edit, just checked on the DPMC instruction site, it confirmed that those are the only common parts.

This is what the hinges look like on the 1:1. Note how the door swings out past the fender, rather than tucking in.

After seeing this, I don't feel so bad about buying that warped '57 Chevy 4 door wagon promo a while back. But I only gave $6 for this one.

Durability was one reason. The other reason was for ease of repair. If a board got damaged, you could easily remove the board and replace it. I don't know about Dodge, but GM offered a wood floor option on the Fleetside trucks all the way up to '87, and it was standard in all Stepside trucks until the Stepside bed was discontinued in '87.

From what I could find, the bed floor on Dodges was painted body color, including the skid strips.

The Citadel line, I like those, too. I've seen them at some Hobbytown USA stores, plus a few hobby shops that have the role playing games in stock like Warhammer 40K. If you cant find them at a hobby shop, look for a gaming store that carries GW games. The line is pretty extensive, and has everything from high pigment base colors (like a primer) to washes, dry brushing paints (very thick), special effects paints (they have a couple of "corrosion" paints I'm going to try), texture paints for bases, and even a brushable version of their Green Stuff putty. They are a little pricey, but well worth it.http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Painting-Modelling?N=102355+4294966611&Nu=product.repositoryId&qty=12&sorting=phl&view=table

The first things that caught my eye are the bed floor and interior colors. A factory truck would have had a flat black bed floor, both For the interior on a '55 2nd, the main interior color would be a light tan, with either dark brown or satin black on the dash top, and brown for the seat. The optional door upholstery would also be brown. There are a few smaller details that are not accurate to a original, too. The turn signals should be clear, the hood ornament has a black surround in the area around the Bowtie, fender badges should be all chrome with no paint. While I do like the doorlatches you made, they look more like the modern bear claw latches rather than the OEM type. Otherwise, you pretty much hit it with accuracy.

No. Opel designed their own engines. It's a very common misconception that the Opel trucks were simply US Chevy or GMC trucks with an Opel body on them. Not very much really is the same between them.

Nice build. I wouldn't call it a factory stock replica, though. It's more like a modern restoration than what the truck would be factory. Not trying to be a rivet counter, I'm just very familiar with these trucks.

If you're talking about the one from Early Years Resin, item # GM6, that's a Chevrolet engine, not a GMC. Specifically, it's the one from the AMT '37 Chevy.

I'll just throw this out there, if you do manage to find one of the conversions, or someone can offer one, the US GMC trucks had a different engine from the Chevrolet. That also meant a different radiator core support and bracing due to the extra length of the GMC engine. To my knowledge, there is no kit or resin source for the GMC engine. There are a few 1/24 die casts that have it, but they are somewhat pricey.

Round 2 somewhat does that on the bottom of their boxes, Harry. Granted, it's only a black layout of what the trees look like and what is on them, rather than an actual photograph of the trees, but it's a step in the right direction. One thing I always liked on older MPC box art was the picture on the side of the box of the actual assembled kit showing what the size of it is assembled.

Armstrong is still around. They got sold to Pirelli back in '88. They now produce mainly ag and industrial tires, along with light truck/SUV tires.

Well, I'm not saying they look bad, some of them are downright pretty. But pretty doesn't necessarily mean strong. Having been around it all my life (confession time, I can't weld for spit), I've seen it all, from the very best to the absolute worst bubble gum welds.

Eh, I've seen better.

Funny, I always though FIAT stood for "Fix It Again Tony" !

I've never had a problem with it, though I do know that Dupli Color will blush if the humidity is high. If have an airbrush, you might consider their Paint Shop clear. It comes premixed ready to spray in quart cans. I've tested it over most of the common finishes that are used in the hobby, so far I have yet to see a bad reaction. Another alternative, Dupli Color also has a acrylic lacquer clear that sprays very nice, and dries faster than any clear I've used before. I haven't tried on hobby finishes, yet, but intend to.

I don't have a Micheal's locally, but there is one in Champaign, about 40 miles from me. While I don't generally buy any kits there (poor selection), I do like to go there for non-model products that I can use. They do have a good assortment of metallic powders that I've been experimenting with, and they're the only place locally that still carries the "Make It Rust" line of patina paints. They also carry some items for making "Steampunk" themed art, mostly gears, which come in handy for making truck loads. Other than that, I prefer Hobby Lobby (for me, also located in Champaign), but really prefer hitting the hobby shop for getting kits.

It's ok, but comes off as a bit toylike overall out of the box. The front suspension, doors, and front seats are probably the worst parts. As far as I know, there is no aftermarket for this kit. Also, unlike the AMT 1/25 scale Nomad, the rear liftgate and tailgate does not open, but the doors and hood do. It also does not have the poseable steering like the smaller kit, and uses a 1/8" steel rod to mount the front wheels, same as the 1/16 scale Mustang kit. I built one about 25 years ago when I was in high school, I didn't think it was too bad overall.

I would go the other way around, Tamiya clear yellow with a little orange, as the lenses look more yellow in color than orange to me. Another option would be to use Testors Turn Signal Amber, which is available in 2 different enamel versions and an acrylic. All 3 have slightly different shades, with the Model Master Enamel being the darkest.

I can think of one that's just as bad as the car brand arguments, perhaps even worse, the gaming console wars. Playstation vs xBox.

Something that could be an issue is what year of truck you're wanting to build. Pretty much anything mid '90s or older will not be an issue, since the basic sheet metal for 1/2 through 1 ton is the same. Once you hit the mid '90s, the manufacturers started using different sheet metal for the heavier trucks. In some cases, it's just the front clip (GM/Dodge), but in others, the entire body of the truck is different (Ford). As far as I know, the Meng F350 is the only late model HD truck kit out there. I have seen a few resin bodies for the 3500 HD Chevrolet, but you still run into issues with an incorrect chassis.

you might be able to hit the big box hardware stores (Menard's for sure). They do sell the leftover bits from custom countertops. Usually, they're over in the shelving area, usually about $2 for a 3 foot length.

They're also built in Princeton and Lafayette (shared plant with Subaru), Indiana, Blue Springs, Mississippi, and San Antonio, Texas.

That's what I've seen in the reports about it, that the core support got shoved back far enough to get into the block. I saw something similar happen to a '71 'Cuda convertible 383 car. Head on into a telephone pole. Not sure how much damage the engine took, but the impact cracked the trans case and bent the rear axle. Car was total loss.