highway

Thanks, guys, and for you Bradley, the best motivation I can send you on your KW is GET BACK TO WORK ON IT!!! Of course, I have to do the same for my T-Bird in the community build!

By the way, here is the link to Western Star's homepage http://www.westernstartrucks.com/default.asp

I'm pretty sure the cabs are all aluminum as well as the sleepers. Here is a link to Western Star's website section called "Star Facts" http://www.westernstartrucks.com/StarFacts.asp It will give you all the info you need. I just checked it while posting this, and quickly found the cab and sleeper are aluminum and hoods are fiberglass.

Thanks for all the ideas and kind words, guys! I have a little mini update on the bumper, and I found I had my answer sitting in front of me the whole time!! As you probably could already tell by my avatar and profile pic, I'm a huge fan of the Speed TV series, "Wrecked". I have the same pic of their truck named "Mistress" as my desktop background photo on both my main machine and the model desk laptop, and was staring into space (what's new!!) when I looked at the front bumper of the Mistress. I thought (which is rare for me ), "THAT'S IT!!! THAT'S THE LOOK I WANT!!", so I started boxing the stock Ford front bumper. I'm contouring the back of the bumper to follow the stock Ford's profile. I think boxing the bumper makes it look better with the roo bumper.

I think it's looking nice so far. The visor and the Texas bumper really sets the black off nicely, I think if you add any other color, I would just add it to the boxes under the sleeper and maybe the front fenders as a contrast.

Looking good, Nick!!

Cam, if you try photobucket, there is no upload quota, even though I think the mods prefer no more than five pics per post.

Falcongeorge, see my post above, post #28.

I agree, and I think it was ALREADY in the crusher!!!!

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot, nice work on both trucks!

What do you mean "size the pictures"? If you mean how to get larger pictures that are not attachments, the easiest way is download them from a photo sharing site like photobucket. It's easy, free, and your pictures will be much larger, like this one from my photobucket of my 1:1 Ford F350. All you have to do is create a photobucket acoount @ photobucket.com and after you have done that, download the pictures you want, then, as a default in photobucket, when you move your cursor over a picture, a dropdown menu will appear. In the dropdown menu, you will see four options, go to the one that reads "IMG Code", select that, turning the address in the box next to it blue, move your cursor to the code in that (now blue with white lettering) box and click you right mouse button. That will bring up a box where you will see the word "Copy", left click on copy. Then come back to the window you have the post open in, right click again to bring up the box again, select "Paste", then left click. You will then see something similar to this: [img photobucket.com/albums/yourusernamehere/yourpicturehere.jpg /IMG] That is the IMG Code for your picture at photobucket. A couple of pointers, have the forum open in one window, then open photobucket in another window or tab, if you try to do it in one window, when you go to photobucket for your picture, you will lose everything you have already written in your post. Also, the way I posted the sample IMG Code, hit enter two times to put a space between what you have written and the picture, then again hit enter twice again after the IMG Code, that way your words are not bunched up against your picture. I hope this may help answer your size question, and has not confused you!

By the way, if you would like some pics of both the AMT F&F Camaro and Revell Yenko to compare, I have both kits. I (unfortunately) won the F&F Camaro at a show, I would have never spent good money on it!!

If you have ever had an older issue of an MPC/AMT Camaro or Pontiac Trans Am kit, that is what you can expect from the Fast and Furious issue Camaro. If you want to build a nice F&F Yenko Camaro, get the Revell Yenko Camaro kit!

In the world of truck engines, give me and old clattering DETROIT any day!! I drove for one of the big trucking firms that have two tone blue trucks and the name kinda sounds like "wenie", and my Freightliner Classic XL with a 470 HP Detroit Series 60 would outpull any of the Peterbilt 379's running a 550 HP (if I remember correctly) Kitty Cat any day! My Freightshaker made those yellow bellied Petes GREEN with envy!! Plus, what we are all forgetting, CAT doesn't even have a truck diesel anymore, they can't make one clean enough to meet the new on road emmisions standards. By the way, Jim, I would assume the AMT kit falcongeorge was referring to was the CAT D-8 Dozer, and it was reissued the last time in around 2002-2004, falcongeorge. The kicker of that, that issue in the blue (I think) box HAS NO CAT MARKING DECALS!!! The only way to get the decals is to get one of the earlier issues where it is actually marked as a CAT D-8 on the box. The no CAT markings in the latest issue is why I never bought one!!! I have wanted to build a Mack pulling a lowboy with the D-8 on the deck since I was a kid, I had the original D-8 and lowboy, but no Mack. I lost the originals in a house fire in 1997, I now have the Mack and lowboy, but no dozer because I refused to buy the reissue I mentioned solely because there were no CAT decals!

Thanks Dennis! It is still going to be a little while till I need them, I'm still finishing the body work and haven't even started on the engine, yet. I haven't thought about rounding the corners of the mural, but that sounds like a good idea, that was just a rough paper mock up of the mural, anyway, not the finished product. I figure some of the colors will (hopefully) blend into the final paint job as well. It will be painted Duplicolor Mirage Purple/Red flip flop. The rounded corners will probably soften it some when the red is the shade showing.

Thanks for the help so far guys, and I like the body color idea on the uprights, Wagoneer! I noticed the quite heavy mold seam, and that was going to be the next thing I was going to tackle! I already have some K&S aluminum tubing to replace the kit's bars, too. The mural is also getting reworked slightly, it will be a little longer and a little thinner in height. By the way, Kostas, the two square tanks I was planning on using are for the sleeper water storage, and the biggest problem I have is a very limited truck parts box, so I had to use the tanks from two Italeri truck accessories sets! I would liked to have them all round, but it's all I got!!

Thanks so far guys, and maybe the pics I just posted of the bumper mocked up may help everyones opinions even more!

Here are a couple quick mock up pics with the bumper so far on the truck to help you all out with your opinions I asked for.

Ok, I need some helpful opinions!! I showed in my last post I'm putting a moose (roo) bar on the front, and recently got a much better roo bar from the Revell AG Kenworth Australian kit in a trade with rronning84 (Ryan). The size of it fits the look I'm trying to get much better, but was slightly shorter widthwise and blocked the outer headlights. I started reworking the kit bumper last night and the roo bar to widen it, and laminated so flat sheet and sanded the front even with the center section of the bumper. I cut the main section of the roo bar bumper where the supports for the cross bars locate. I still have to add extenstion pieces in the widened sections, but this is what I have so far. I problem is this, should I build the rest of the stock bumper out to meet the roo bar's bumper? One of the features I have always loved of the Ford's stock bumper is the four driving/fog lights, so this feature HAS TO STAY! If I do box the rest of the bumper to match the roo bar's bumper, should I leave the lights where they are and add a screen panel level with the boxed section or move them level with the boxed section? Or, should I throw it out and just use a new stock bumper and scratchbuild a new moose bar more like a pickup's brush guard? Please help, I'm stuck! PLEASE, HELPFUL REPLIES ONLY!!!!

Hey, at least it looks like it's happy!!!

I'm not sure, Jim, but the way it looks like to me, the "View New Content" appears to reload for the present day.

It may not be the frame, Ryan, it may be the cab itself. I found with my Italeri Ford LTL 9000 I'm putting the custom sleeper on, the cab pins that mount the cab to the frame are too short. That tilts the whole cab forward to the point where the hood and sleeper do not line up right with the cab.

Thanks for the info, Marty. Old or new color, both look nice!

Nice job, Marty. Is the Highland Green the factory color of the original 68? Bullitt Mustang, or is it a newer color? It looks like a nice shade of green, and I usually don't care for green cars, but it suits the Mustang nicely.

Evilone, I think by starting this thread, maybe you should consider a new screenname! It looks like you may have a soft spot! Seriously, though, I'm happy to see that most members here, including me, can see Nick's improvment he has shown in some of his later builds, and believe the thread Mark Taylor is doing on basic construction will help Nick even more. The members whom I have seen bashing his work need to learn the fine art of constructive critisism, not the bashing critisism they give him. I have, in Nick's threads and in PMs, have praised Nick for the improvement in his builds. Nick shows passion for building, and that is rare for teenagers these days. I don't see many other teenagers posting here like he is, most are probably too busy with their video games. I feel as Nick grows, his builds will grow with him, and when he has the experience others here have, I feel his builds will be among some of the finest here! The passion that I have seen Nick have for his builds now, that will also grow with him, and I would not be surprised if we see some of his builds in the magazine in the future. I have been modeling for over 20 years, and I know it has taken much work and passion, not to mention guts in the case of my current project where I'm trying things I have never done before, to reach my current level of building. I know at his age, I was far from a great builder, I still do not consider myself a great or pro builder, but it is what I enjoy. I did not even know about seam lines, sink marks, etc., and did not know about them until I joined the now extinct Ohio Valley Scale Modelers club. I was about Nick's age when I joined, and the membership offered me much constructive critisism, which I absorbed like a sponge. By the time I was 16, I was building and winning in the Senior (or teen, whatever classification you wish to use for the 13-adult group) classes, I even won a best in division trophy once. I now consider this forum my "model club", and as such, feel it is only right to help younger builders the way the members of O.V.S.M. helped me become a better builder. The club motto of O.V.S.M. was "We Stick Together", and, even though through members lives outside modeling ultimately led to declines in membership and meeting attendance, we did always stick together to help each other. I'm happy to see there are members here committed to helping Nick improve, and the old O.V.S.M. motto is alive and well! To all the members here who feel they have to bash Nick's work and progress, I say this on behalf of all the members who are encouraging Nick to do better and are seeing his improving skills, "WE STICK TOGETHER"!!!! P.S.: Sorry for the long winded post, but I feel as much passion in seeing Nick improve as he does for his builds!