Old Buckaroo

Very nice additions everyone. Bill - is that a "porta potty" in the upper right hand of your display case? Terry - You can never have to many snap KW's!

That '57 Ford Wagon is a real beauty!

That is a really sharp paint job , Wow! Very nice looking with the mockup with the tires.

Very nice , really adds the finishing touch to the stacks.

Dennis and Terry this last picture is for you The kit cb was basically a faceplate, I used some styrene scrap to give it a body. Found a piece of p/e fret and cut a mounting strap. There happened to be a stretched piece of sprue within reach of the bench and I cut off half a dozen bits trying to get a flat cut instead of angled for the bracket knobs. Thanks for looking in

Ray - Thank you, perhaps this picture will help out. Starting with two visors I marked the lower one just past the center cab mount on the right hand side - that is the cut line. The piece of the right is discarded. The upper visor has a cut line 3mm left of the center cab mount that will be the other cut line. The piece on the left is discarded. When the two halves are joined there are two center visor supports. I marked the cab mounts with a drawn arrow in case they do not show well in the picture. Mark - I would love to see you pull out that daycab and work on it. Gator - That is Tom's new and improved fancy smancy suspension. My driver does not get those kind of luxuries. Dan - Thank you, I am going to attempt adding the kit cb also. Ken - This truck needs to go to your paintshop.

Dan do you have a set of punches ? I punched a disk out of .010" styrene and cut another piece for the hinge piece. A thin strip of Tamiya tape made the bracket around the stack.

Jim - that is really nice, great color choice I like your suspension. Do you have a build thread on this truck ?

Michael, so sorry to hear of your family loss. That is the toughest thing I have ever dealt with. The ol' Bullnose looks really fabulous with the new and improved grill work! Sergey - Wow, those pictures and truck are top notch. I wish I could read the text.

Thank you guys, Doug - dont go making trouble for me I dont even think I have one of those kits to rob parts from. Chu - I hope the modifications I have done works out. If not I will try again on my next Astro or Titan Some interior work, how about that yummy color Thanks for looking in

Every time I look at this truck, I think the Interior picture was borrowed from a brochure. Very nice work!

Travis , I had missed your updates. I thought maybe you were picking blueberries or something. Take care of yourself.

Ken that is the best description ever ! Kevin, you most likely are correct. I thought the grill surround was way to thick. I cut a piece of tape 2mm and made a border from the front and removed the rest with a file to get it closer to the cab. James those are KJ's wheels and hubs from Double Take Replicas Thank you everyone for looking in and commenting - all tips and hints are appreciated

Brian - Very nice Mobile Home toter. Did you make it to where the mirrors extend out also ? Great scratch building and the Pilot car/truck really adds to it.

I built my first GMC Astro at the age of 15. Boy was I proud of that truck, it out shined my BJ McKay, Movin On and White Western Star. Which means one thing - those trucks must of looked terrible as this kit has given me a real challenge. This is an old vintage "Miller High Life " truck. Nice old plastic with minimal flash. I have also built two other of the same frames for resin conversions. But - I cleaned off the exterior frame of all the handy mounting assist location tabs. I should of done the same with this one and it would of been smooth sailing. The challenges - round fuel tanks and three mounting brackets. The frame is right on being square and level with the assistance of my 1" grid work mat and two 1lb weights. The mounting tabs did not line up or fit their counterpart very well at all - notch A does not match notch B. I fixed that issue with various shims and blocks of styrene and chiseling the offending mounting tab away. Next Challenge - The cab sits way high. This truck would be a technicians "cabover dream" as you would never need to jack the cab to access the engine. Just crawl right through. I dropped the cab 4 mm which I know will cause the domino effect on something further down the assembly. I notched out the rear mounts to lower them on the frame instead of cutting the spring pad. And then the visor, I now know why I got six visors in a trade - they do not fit. Unless you want it facing down like these modern trucks dragging the pavement. I sectioned in a piece 3mm long to get that classic 1970's visor look. This post is not a gripe about inaccuracies but how I can make this the best out of the box Astro yet, and possibly assist the next person who dives into this kit. I plan on building another one real soon with the modern wider grill (before I forget all the gremlins) The pictures Modified visor Narrower cab to frame gap Thanks for looking in

Tom - that is the most tragic model related story ever. You are probably dead on with that, the model is listed at a place that sells lots of lawnmower parts. Maybe it was on display in the shop. The location is in one of the driest state I have ever been in. (Kansas) The bright side is there is not much chrome to have to strip.

I borrowed this picture from an ebay auction. What could possibly eat the chrome off a model like this? At first I would thought it had a bath in Simple Green or similar but the decals are still intact. That is the craziest thing I have seen on a model.

That bunk looks comfortable enough to take a long nap in!

The stacks look right on for this truck, nice job!

This is a very sharp looking truck and it fits your era perfectly. If I had not seen the before pics of this I would of not believed it to be 1/32. Never underestimate the handiness of drywall mud. Oh hey, welcome to the forum!

Just keep scrolling down under your post as there are multiple post on aftermarket items.

This is a great thread of information due to all the posted pictures and reference's thank you for all the contributions. Gator - Tamiya Nato black is an excellent color for tires and airbags. Mark - If I was to do it again I would find a R model and scratch build the hood and other items. Terry - I really liked the movie truck , but not so much the model as it is really hard to give so much black definition without it looking like a black blob. Chris - Thank you for the trailer specs. I am still making forward progress, the cab is painted black and drying which seems to take forever as it shows any flaw - smudge, fingerprint way more then any color. Thank you all for input and comments

Wow, those beads are a fabulous idea, one of those -"why didn't I think of that"! I make grab handles all the time and the base is the biggest challenge for me. I am excited to watch this truck progress, on of my favorite KW's also. Very nice work

Here is a topic with the "Master List of Engines"

Yes, that what I think also.