Longbox55

I've seen the Caprice in person. It is about the same width and hight as the Charger, but is about 12' longer overall length. When it goes into full production, it will be built in Canada.

I beleive that's the reason they never built the G8 Sport Truck, not enough market for it in North America. However, the way I understand it, the line caould easily be setup to make any vehicle built on the same platform. As far as the Caprice goes, I've been told by a GM rep that there will not be a civilian version, but they may produce a Taxi variant using the same lengthned wheelbase and a detuned engine. The Commodore/SS (or whatever they finaly deside to call it) will be the civvie version.

From what I understand, there's already a second line that was built into the Camaro plant to build the Ute version of that platform back when they were considering the "G8 Sport truck".

Test it first on some scrap. My experience with most Rustoleum products, particularly on mid-'80s AMT kits, will craze styrene.

Sweptline was the Dodge name, starting in 1960. The Sweptsides were built from '57-'59 as an anwer to the Chevrolet Cameo/GMC Town & Country trucks. Dodge went with a different route, essentially using Dodge Passenger car rear quarters on a narrowed standard bed. When the Swepline started in '60, the standard bed became the Utiline.

Technically, those are not true "cabovers". GM called them Low Cab Forward, somewhat of an in between of a conventional and a true cabover. You get the short wheelbase and in city manueverability of the cabover, but the ease of routine maintainance (checking fluids, oil changes) of a conventional. I know GM produced those style trucks well into the '70s. As to whey they went away? I'm not really sure.

That's pretty much how the tattoos work.

I've been experimenting with some myself, so far, they seem to be workng ok. I did a test peice using a "voodoo skull" design I got out of the vending machine at the grocery store. The sheet styrene was prepped and painted as normal, Duplicolor primer polished out to 12000 grit, then Tamiya Pearl white for the base. It went on just fine, no problems with tearing or the design not sticking. I did let it sit for a few days to make sure all the water was dried out of it before I cleared it. I used Tamiya clear. I will admit, there isn't much gloss over the design itself, and it does look a bit "rough" in spots as Shane mentions in his post. I didn't have any issues with crazing though. I'm still working on testing them, I'm possibly going to try one on a textured surface, like a semi trailer side, to see if it will work, as I have a Celtic Cross design that would look killer as a trucking company logo. Mike, most of the ones I have seen are not truly a dry transfer. The first step is very similar to applying a dry tansfer, a backer is removed, then the design is burnished down, but the second step is more like a tradional water slide decal. The card that has the design on it needs to wetted down to release the design. That's something that has ket me from trying to apply them to tradional decal paper.

Same here, when I do get the chance to watch them ( I work most weekends). Trucks and Horsepower just haven't been the same since Stacey and Chuck left.

I find that very hard to believe. A tire on a correct width wheel will outperform one on a too wide or too narrow wheel any day.

Might just be in mockup stage, why mess up good paint if you're going to take it back apart?

Eaton did the same thing with the center sections for the '55-'64 Chevrolet Passenger rearend, even the same color. '55-'62 Truck 1/2 ton rearends (also supplied by Eaton) were generally an almost Allis-Chalmers orange color.

The Danbury Mint tow truck (the one with the yellow wheels) is a 3800 series 1 ton, note the 8 lug wheels and standard truck doghouse. The 4100 was a 1 1/2 ton, and would have the wider front fenders, longer hood, and 5 lug front and 10 lug rear 20" wheels.

The Revell '99 Chevy has the round cover 10 bolt, which date back to the '88 Chevrolet and GMC 1/2 tons. That rear would be incorrect for a '70s truck. To my knowledge, there has never been an accurate Truck 12 bolt (it is different from the Passenger version) in 1:24 scale. In 1:25, there have been several, including the Revell '64/65 Chevies, as well as the afore mentioned MPC Chevy/GMC kits.

Roger, I have one each of of the Delivery and Sedan kits, you won't be disappointed with the Coupe. The molding quality is at the same level as Tamiya and Fujimi kits. Very crisp. Only complaints I can make is that the doghouse assembly is a little finicky to fit, and the optional metal transfer trim for the fenders does not mount very easily to the curved fenders.

If they do them like the Aerosedan and Sedan Delivery kits, they should be able to be built as '46, '47, and '48, as the only main differences were in the grille and minor trim changes. The chassis and engine should be the same as the earlier kits, as the 1:1 used the shame chassis for all bodies.

All the Monogram GM trucks, including the Blazer/Jimmy, have the same differentials front and rear. The rear is incorrect for a 1/2 ton, and does resemble a 14 bolt more than the correct 12 bolt.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1948_51truck/index.htm Here's some more research material you might find handy

The truck shown in the first post, which is a Welly, and the Danbury are both 3800 1 tons. I can't speak for the accuracy of the Danbury as far as wheel dimensions, but the Welly does measure out to be accurate for the 18" wheel with a 7.00-18 tire that the Advanced Design dual wheel 1 tons used. As Art mentions, though, most tow trucks from that era were built on at least a 1.5 ton truck, sometimes even 2 ton trucks were used. A 1 ton would be the absolute minimum size truck you would want to use, even then, you don't really see two trucks that small until the '60s. Here's the specifications for the 1950 Chevrolet truck line, covering all models from 1/2 through 2 ton. http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/docs/Chevrolet-Trucks/1950-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf I would like to point out a few things about using the Blitz for a 1.5 or 2 ton conversion, as it is not a straight up chassis swap. As mntioned, the front fenders will need to be widened, as well as lengthened with the hood. I beleive the dimension is about 4" wider, and roughly the same for length. The frame and running gear from the Blitz, while similar in basic design, is different from the US market trucks. There is a difference in wheelbase, with the Blitz fitting in between the shortest Chevrolet 4100/6100 (130 inch) and the longer 4400/6400 (154 inch). The steering box is also in the wrong place for a Chevrolet. Opel mounts it ahead of the axle, GM put it behind the axle. The wheels are also have the incorrect bolt pattern, the have a very large 8 lug pattern. The US trucks used a 5 lug on front, 10 on rear (the wheels all have 10 lug holes). All of these are easy to correct.

Thanks for the input, guys. It sounds like it was a good idea to aks before i jumped in and really messed things up. I do have a good scanner and a laser printer, I may just apply them to peice of flat sheet plastic for scanning and convert them to a regular decal. Besides, that'll allow me to makes smaller versions to go on the truck doors .

That kit has its roots in the original MPC '78 Chevy C10 (only time the 2wd was produced) and the later K10 shortbed variants. There are actually 3 different cabs used with that kit. The original '73-'80 cab with Scottsdale trim, the '81-'87 cab with Chevrolet Custom deluxe trim, and one used for the GMC kits with no trim. While I will agree 100% that the MPC is a superior kit, the drivetrain for the '81 and later trucks is actually wrong, and there is a glaring error in the '78-'80 version. The drivetrain in those kits is the 350 2bbl V8 with the TH350 trans and an NP203 full time T-case in the 4x4s. On the original 3wd kit, the 2bbl V8 would be correct for a base V8 truck, but the 350 in the 4x4 with the full time T-case virtually always was a 4 bbl (I've never seen them any other way). On the subject of transfer cases, the NP203 would only be correct for the '78/'79, '80 should have had an NP205 part time case w/manual lockouts, and the '81-'84 should have the NP208 with either manual lockouts or the automatic hubs (the NP205 was optional in 1/2 tons in those years). Personally, I would love to see Round 2 reissue those kits in their original form, without the Fall Guy lift and oversized wheels.

I've recently found some with patterns I really like, and I know that there's a few builders that have used them successfully on models. I'm looking for any tips or issues i need to look out for. Particularly if I wanted to clearcoat them, as well as applying them to an uneven surface. One the designs I have would make a great trucking logo, I'm considering using it on the sides of the Mobeus Great dane trailer when i get one to with my Loanstar. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I don't get it either. Putting tires on wheels that are too wide for them is inviting all kinds of handling issues and premature tire failure due to the lack od bead support. It's worse than putting a wide tire on a rim that's too narrow, which also creates its own set of handling issues.

What you really need to look for are Wire Gauge drill bits, also commonly called Pin Drills. Most sets run from #61 (.039" ) to #80 (.013" ). A well stocked hobby shop should have them, Zona makes a very nice set, as does Exel. You can also find them at any hardware store. BTW, 1/32" is .0313, which is equivalent to a #68 drill.

After reading Chucks original post, I made sure to get out and start taking pix of some of the local old building s, especially old gas stations. One in particular is this old gas station in Westville Illinois. While it's no longer an operation gas station (hasn't as long as I can remember), it is stil being used for storage. There's a '62/63 1 1/2 ton Chevy in the back, and a late '60s Ford tractor more toward the front of the building. Other than a few broken window panes, the building is in very good shape. I'm not sure what the building next to it is