highway

It will be a "showy" working truck, not dedicated show truck, not run on the mill work truck. I will probably have some chrome panels on the frame, as well as light panels along the bottom of the cab and sleeper. One color I have been thinking is a "chrome" looking DupliColor paint called Metalcast that I've seen in red, blue and purple. It would be similar to Tamiya Clear colors on chrome.

You've asked for them, here are (finally) some pics of the truck WITH PAINT ON IT!!! Like I said with the test body, these pics don't do this paint justice, it is simply amazing. In the sun I was even getting teal and gold, but for some reason on the desk what shows the most is blue and purple. I'll take some outside pics when I'm near finished or when it is done. Anyway, enough babble, here's the pic, ENJOY!! With Flash: Without Flash: A couple more different angles: By the way, I'm still not completely finished with the paint job yet, I have to get another can so I can put some more coats on it. The can says the more coats, the more dramatic the effect, so I will probably add another 2 or 3 coats of color to the two coats already on it, and then clearcoat. I'm also still trying to figure out a color for the frame, since this is definitely not a fleet truck, I don't want basic black. I'm either thinking the same as the truck, but I really don't want the frame "blending in", or a contasting color that would still complement the cab color. Any suggestions??

RATS!!!! You finally got me, Harry!! Oh well, with a 6 win and 1 loss record, I could have still won the Stanley Cup!!!

I like it!!

Thanks for posting the link, Skip. I haven't seen Gary for a while, and it was interesting to see he has added some more beautifully weathered models to the collection! By the way, the one I was talking about is the one listed as the Beverly Hillbillies TV truck, I have never seen the other Der Barvarian Hillbillies halftrack, but I sure got a kick out of it!

Yes, and I noticed Rick mentioned Bill Borgan as well. I've had the pleasure of judging his work at the contest the former local club I was in held, and that was real work! The closer you looked, the more detail you found! I also have had the pleasure of judging Gary Kulchock's work as well, and also know him personally. His paint work and customizing skills are spectacular, and I nearly passed out when he bought his Beverly Hillbillies truck to our show. We all knew his wonerful customs, and were shocked to see him bring something without a mile deep gleaming paint job! He even made a faded weathered paint job look nice!

Even though I know most of the people who have posted are mostly car modelers, I'm surprised no one (HARRY!) mentioned our own Model Trucks section moderator mackinac359, Tim Ahlborn! Yes, everyone else mentioned so far is great in their respective specialties, as Tim is in trucks. I wish I could build trucks just half as nice as he does!

I agree with Michael, this guy is great to deal with! I bought 3 Caddy engines from him.

Sounds about like mine, sometimes it will, sometimes it doesn't.

Same here! I'm sure we could fit a lot of models in my F350 to move to WV....er, your new house!

It looks like you are off to a great start. I have one question, though. It looks like in one pic, the front of the cab is tilting forward slightly, are you having problems with the cab and hood lining up correctly, too? I'm building a Ford LTL 9000 currently as well with a custom sleeper, and with the cab taped to the front sleeper wall the way everything is supposed to be lined up, the cab and hood line up perfectly, but the interior does not sit on the frame mounts. If I just have the cab and hood with the interior mounts sitting on the frame, the cab nose dives and does not line up with the hood. Are you having similar problems?

There is a 1:1 Reference thread in both the car section and the truck section.

Nice pic, and if the interest in the cabs and decals are anything to go by, I hope you get that match soon!

That looks nice, I like the Italeri front bumper on that. It sets the rest of the truck off well.

There are some nice kits by both, but come on! There are a lot of, especially AMT, reissues that were not worth the 1-2 dollar price tag 30 and 40 years ago! If you want to waste $20 or more on some of that junk, go for it, but I have better kits to spend money on!

I'd take the subscription and the tote bag, but I'm not that sure about the date with Gregg!! Does the date come with free airfare!?!?

I wouldn't know about that, it's not my style of music, but I know this thread is turning into a great

Ok, alright, there will be some coming!! I've been busy the past couple days, my better half's uncle past away, and Monday and today we've been at the funeral home for the visitation and today the burial. Tomorrow I hope to get the paint job started, but there are rain and thunderstorms forecast, and if that happens, it will be on hold till Thursday. I have no place in the house to spray paint, so I have the weather to deal with. I do promise you will get some pics soon, just please stay tuned!

There is NOTHING WRONG with either straight or modified reissues, and if I had a problem with them, I WOULDN'T BE BUILDING!!! I was simply explaining to Darin most (and I did say MOST in the post you quoted) are based on old molds, they are not new kits. If I had a problem with reissues, I would have neither the 70 Boss 429 (early 2000s issue) or the "new" 70 Mach 1 Mustang, because I have been in the hobby long enough to see from the box art photos that this Mustang was the same is the original 1980s Boss 429 I received as a birthday present at 10 years old in 1986! I loved the kit then, and still love it today!

Nice job on the second one, too! If you do want info on any specific cars, let me know, I'll be happy to help. I have quite a bit of reference on not only the cars, but Dale himself. I have a rather large collection of models to be built, as well a many diecasts.

That's kinda cool, I just wish people would learn there is no "U" in Peterbilt, it should have been "BillBilt"! I seen something similar at the local truck show a few years back, but it was a cut down cab and hood to fit a Ford F350 frame. I think it was either a Peterbilt or Kenworth cut down to pickup size.

Ok, there is a reason I quoted both of these posts, first is I feel everyone is entitled to their opinion, and should be able to voice that opinion. Mark, I feel your reply to Darin was a little harsh, especically the "Can I only say what you are comfy with, Darin?" part. Of course, Darin's "I hate Revell" remark to you was harsh as well. If Darin likes Revell kits, that is his choice, if you like the Japanese kits, that is your choice. I personally prefer both the American and the foreign manufacturers, and that is my choice. I personally have everything from Lindberg, Revell/Monogram, AMT, and even some junkers from Testors to Italeri, Revell AG, Fujimi, Tamiya, Aoshima, and Trumpeter. Now for my two cents. First, Darin, do you not relize that most of Revell's "Special Edition" "All New Tooling" kits are nothing but MODIFIED REISSUED kits? The only one I know for sure that isn't is the 09 Challenger, and if they had something they could have reissued for that, they probably would have done it on that kit, too. Yes, in Revell's defense, they DID put some new parts in the kits, but most, if not all of them are based on the 1980'S MOLDS!! For example, I have both the 1970 Boss 429 Mustang and the "new" 1970 Mach 1 Mustang, and guess what, with the exception of the Mach 1 parts, IT IS THE SAME OLD 1980S KIT!!! The same also goes for the 32 Ford, same old kit with some new parts. I don't even want to get started on the 1970 Challenger, I have the diecast verison (thankfully I found it at Big Lots for 2 or 3 bucks), and as much of a pile of **** (insert favorite four letter word here) as the diecast is, I would never buy the plastic kit, I would (and did) buy the 1980s mold kit first! That is just like the new Charger, I had to have Revell's when they first came out, and I think it is junk, too. I think Lindberg's SRT8 Super Bee blows Revell's out of the water! Ok, moving on. Second, Mark, I agree with you that, hands down, the foreign companies blow the American kits out of the water detail wise, but they have some junk as well, and when was the last time you seen a 66 Charger like you are building in the "Back To Basics" tutorial from the likes of Tamiya or Fujimi? I know I never have, so who do we have to buy nice American Muscle from but AMT and Revell. I'm sure if Tamiya would tool a classic American muscle car, they would fly off the shelves, but I see that about as likely as AMT or Revell tooling a Nissan Skyline. The major drawback is the fact many on the foreign kits are curbsides, and I like to open the hood now and then. I'm not saying I don't have my share of foreign kits, but most are tractor trailers or Nissan Skylines. This brings me to the junk ones. I have one pile of **** (again insert favorite four letter word here) from Fujimi I would not wish on my worst enemy, a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am. The best of this model of car, in my opinion, was Monogram's 1/8 scale verison, I consider all AMT/MPC 79-81 Trans Ams junk, but they are even better than the Fujimi kit. I spent 25 bucks on this junker, not knowing it was a former motorized toy. If I would have known that, I would never have bought it, but I seen 1979 Trans Am and Fujimi, and thought I finally had a nice 1/25 scale 1979 Trans Am to add to my Trans Am collection. WRONG!!! The other big disappointment on the foreign front I have is Revell AG's Peterbilt "Can Do" wrecker, which sold for $125 when I bought it many years ago, and around $200 on ebay today. Granted, it is a great kit, and well worth the money, but it has so many inaccuracies, you can't build the correct 1:1 prototype pictured on the box. Everything from the wrecker bed forward is incorrect for the 1:1 prototype, including the engine! This kit would need probably about another $100 invested in resin to build the correct 1:1 prototype pictured on the box in scale. The kit Revell AG based this kit on is a 70's era truck no where near the 90's model the 1:1 prototype is. Anyway, this is my two cents and my opinion, and in closing, just build what you want, not what others want you to build!

I'm working on it, Ryan, I'm working on it!!

I agree with Mark! If your interests are only 49 Mercs (this is only for example), that's your choice. I, like Mark sounds, have a very wide aray of kits in my collection, from muscle cars to street cars, pickup trucks to big rigs, quite a varied aray of racing vehicle, military kits from tanks to ships, and even military and commercial planes to a few trains.

YES, I'm watching!!