highway

Yeah Bob and Gary, I seen one or two Hueys on skateboards in my days pushing the old diesel down the highway, too! I've even seen small aircraft like Cessnas and pieces of larger planes on a few. As for the tanks, Lee, I have seen a couple of the tanks you mentioned. I just wish I could afford them and there could be something modern like an A1 or A2 from today.

A face only a mother could love!?!?

Wow, I never knew a 1/24 scale Huey was ever made! It would make a great load on a tractor trailer!!!

Revell has a 1939 Chevy Coupe hot rod, I don't know if it would work for you or not. Here's a pic of it from Revell's website. If I remember correctly, it has a 427 Big Block Chevy engine and no stock engine or wheels, but it might be a start if the 40 is similar.

Alright, I haven't been working on anything, shame on me , but everyone who has is showing we are going to have a nice selection of trucks and equipment sitting in the MCM Truckstop parking lot. Stewart has the shop's race team coming along great with their double duty service van and I think some of those boys in the shop better get back to working on the rigs instead of the race car! At least they'll have a fine service van for calls, the MCM Truckstop roadservice crew will be known across the country for the fine ride! Anyway, I think I have the entry list up to date, I've been up to my rear in taking my better half to work, trying to get some good weather to work on the 1:1, and working on about at least half a dozen computers or getting my more knowledgeable friend to fix what I can't, including when I got a virus in mine and he had to completely erade everything and restart it! On top of that, my blood pressure decided to go haywire again, and I've been to the doctor's office three times this month alone and two adjustments to my blood pressure medication and another prescription as well! In addition, I had to renew my license on my birthday, which meant a DOT physical, and that was when I found out the blood pressure was going up and down, but the good thing is I passed the physical and still have a CDL, but still no job to use it in! At least something good is also coming out of all this, I'm in the process of going back to school for, of all things, computers! I would have been back in school this week starting on a degree in computer science and another for computer forensics IF I wouldn't have found out the school I enrolled in didn't forget I was going to go there 17 years ago like I did! Ironicly enough, I was going to take up computers then, too, but I found I must have enrolled and never went, because now I have to pay that bill off before I start now for classes I never started! Ok, enough about me and back to the build, and if there are any builds I missed or anyone that wants to enter I don't have updated on the list on page 1, please let me know either here or by PM. Also, if you have submitted your starting pictures and there is not an * by your build, let me know I missed your pics! If you haven't gotten pics in for your build yet, post them! Also, if you have your build in another WIP thread, please post some pics here, too! Don't be afraid to share your progress! EDIT: By the way, if you made it this far through all my rambling, if I do start back to school the way I plan in late June or early July when the next quarter starts, expect an extension on the ending date!

Mike, we do have a section for those on this board, the "Other Models" section. You'd be surprised how many of us don't build just cars! I even have a train posted in that section.

Sergey, your attention to detail is amazing! The battery box looks like it's ready to go on a real Mack, but there is one suggestion I have for you on it. You might want to research the way that box opens, because at least on later model Macks that I have driven, the battery box is not hinged, the top just lifts off from the base. There are two "L" shaped brackets on the rear sides of the bottom half that catch brackets on the top half. I'm not sure if in the old days it was different and hinged, but the newer ones don't have a hinge.

HELP, I NEED A CRANE TO PICK ME UP OFF THE FLOOR!!! I fell out of my chair laughing so hard!!!!

What can brown do for you?? DELAY YOUR FED EX PACKAGE!!!

Ken, that is the January issue #156 I mentioned that I picked up yesterday, too.

I've had a few cases where friends in the frozen north were faced with outragous shipping costs, and I just don't understand it. I had friend on another forum looking for a tow truck bed from the Midnight Cowboy wrecker that lives in Edmonton, and I pointed on out on Ebay and he said the shipping cost was keeping him from buying it. It was $25 to ship to him, where shipping to me here in the states was $6! It was only about another $5 for me to ship the bed to him, and I had almost the same amount in a COMPLETE KIT shipped to me and the bed shipped to him than he would have had in just the shipping on a bed alone!

Welcome Gary, and I agree with Donald 100%! I've never given up modeling since I started building at around 8 years old almost 25 years ago, so I really can't offer anything better than what Donald said knowing he is in your shoes, so to speak. However, being a modeler that used to compete in shows quite regularly years ago, I can tell you that when you start sweating over every little detail, it starts taking the fun out of the hobby. I had gotten to the point where every seam had to be fixed, every nut and bolt had to be detailed, and everything had to be correct, and I was to the point I never wanted to work on anything again and give up the hobby I love. The best advice I can think of is take baby steps and enjoy building! Anyway, on to your questions and since it is a truck you're working on, who better than a truck fanatic to help out! 1. The way I do the fuel tanks on my trucks is just like you said, I'll glue them together then I'll sand the seams and if that does not eliminate the seam, I'll go over it with some putty. As for the coloring, if you want the chrome look, the best way is to wrap the tank in Bare Metal foil or even some aluminum foil from the kitchen with adhesive applied to it as long as it does hide any details. I used aluminum foil applied with a sprayable craft glue to make this trailer look like a stainless steel trailer. You can also use the "Chrome" paints like you said, and that does give a more natural aluminum look to the tanks, and I've found DupliColor Chrome spray is the closest to a shiny chrome. Even though this is not the greatest picture, the fenders on the back of this tractor were painted with the DupliColor Chrome, where the trailer was painted with Krylon "Make it Chrome", and the Krylon is just not as shiny. 2. I will, at least when it comes to truck models, assemble the entire suspension then paint as a unit, and either leave the things I don't want to be the same color like shocks off until after. The parts I can either not assemble after painting or molded to another part I want painted the same as the frame I'll carefully paint after painting the frame. 3. The handling time differs by what tpye of paint it is, I've had some I can handle after an hour or two and some that takes a day or two before safe handling. I tried latex gloves one time, and the heat built up from my hands being in the gloves ended up burning my fingerprints into the paint THROUGH the gloves! 4. I would say, like the example you gave for a stretched truck, a plan is important to have an idea to get the finished product you have in mind. Some test fitting and measuring is also important with that, just like with the drop axle you mentioned. Try to picture how you want the truck to look in your mind and maybe even some rough drawings would help to get the finished truck. In the build of the cattle truck I posted the pic of, I knew I wanted the sleeper to be a scale 180 inch sleeper, so I built it first and I also knew I wanted the trailer postioned a certain way so it was not close to the sleeper, and I stretched the frame using the sleeper and the trailer position as guides for the stretch. If you want to see more of that build and how I did some of the stretch, here is a link to it in the trucks section here on the forum. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=28849 I hope this helps you out and was not too much to absorb in the process, but I do tend to get "talky" sometimes!

Yep, read my edit to my post, I was just a little slow figuring it out!!!

Ok, so what happened to issue #s 157, 158, and 159???? I just picked up January's issue #156 yesterday at my LHS. EDIT:Wait a minute, I'm smelly something fishy, and it ain't dinner!!! I think this is an APRIL FOOLS!!!!

Sure thing, here they are. Sorry the bumpers aren't on, but I just got my Charger yesterday! As for the Tahoe, AMT has not had it out since around the late 90s, but you my be able to find one on Ebay or emodelcars.com, or maybe someone has a few extras to part with here. I'd offer you this one, but I have plans for a law enforcement Tahoe myself.

I don't know if it does it in all the different skins or not, but at least in the "Comfy" skin, mine also shows the "+" sign in a green background and the " - " sign in a red background. It also shows as I mouse over the friends button "Add as friend" or "Remove friend" depending on the friend status of the member.

The "+" is shown for people you have not added as a friend yet, and likewise the "-" is to remove someone who is already on your friends list.

I don't have the Welly Tahoe, but I do have the 1/25 scale AMT Snap Tahoe. Would a pic of those together work?

I think Bradley might be right, at least from the picture Robert posted. I have some loose HO scale wheels and some dually wheels similar to the ones in the pic, if you would like I could sit them side by side and take a picture for you to compare them and see what you think.

Yep, can't beat free! They should both be fine, like I said I have dremels and the yet unused airbrush, along with some other tools from these travelling tool distributors, and they get quite regular use. I just wouldn't buy any mechanic tools from them again!

I don't know if Cummins has anything to do with the diesel engine manufacturer, Cummins Industrial Tools is a travelling tool supplier that goes around selling products wholesale out of tractor trailers. If you have ever heard of Homier Distribution, they also travel around the country and sell out of their trucks, too. I bought an airbrush set from Homier and have never used it yet, either, but for a beginner in the airbrush world, that set should do good for you. By the way, tools like the airbrushes and dremels (I have a cheap one I got at a Homier stop, too) are great for the price IF you don't demand it to do heavy work. I've also bought a few hand tools from them just because I might not have needed them for much while working on a vehicle, and you get what you pay for in that respect. A couple of pieces broke the first time I used them! The mechanic tools from either place STINK!!

Happy birthday Big Kahuna!!

You know Josh, that is not something to laugh at and I pray you never have to live through it like I have! In 1997, I had that very nightmare come true, and not only did I lose my home, which was not insured at the time, but everything INCLUDING my approximately 250 to 300 kit collection that I had built since I started building at age 8. I still to this day almost 15 years later am trying to replace some of the more rare kits from that collection I would like to have again. EDIT: By the way, to answer Dave's question, it feels like _____!

Thanks for the correction, Dave. I knew the Mom & Pops car, which is the one I have the decals for, had an Earnhardt connection, but didn't remember that it was actually a Childress ride.

If it's some of the custom parts it needs, I might have some extras.