highway

Yeah Mike, I know they take a LOT of space to display, and especially the one I had when I was a kid I'm basing this build on because I had the Freuhauf flatbed to go with it! I just wish I still had the original, I lost it in a fire in 1997, because I would have both it and this build displayed together. Oh, and thanks for showing me some of my other ideas! I had been planning on picking up one of the flat tops for a "Movin On" truck and was throwing around the idea of a custom too. I also think I have made the decision on whether or not I was going to leave the air cleaners painted or do them in a nice, shiny shade of Alclad. Y'all are just going to have to keep following my progress to find out what they will be!

Thanks everyone. Thank you, I'm just wishing I would have started using an airbrush years ago. I'm hoping the clear has as good results with the other metal shades like the chrome and stainless steel. I've had chrome for about 10 years and never used it, and going to be doing a lot more Alclad shopping soon, I like shiny stuff!

Thank you Rick and Gator. Gator, the mock up with the stacks is my B.R.B.O. "BJ & the Bear" custom, but was considering getting a different set of stacks (still a large diameter for the huge engine that is going to be in it but a set with elbows at the bottom and a little more length) for it and using those to replace kit stacks for this from the muffler up. Those are 8 inch in 1/25th scale, but since this build is 1/16th scale, they should be close to a 5 inch stock pipe for this truck, just changing the stack top from a miter cut to a curved tip.

Thanks Dan, I've used hangers for many years in some way for painting. I used them and a 2x4 block for paint stands, cutting the long pieces from the bottoms of the hanger and putting in holes drilled in the 2x4 for painting car bodies, bending the hangers in half for quickie hanging paint stands like I did for the hood for my other project I'm also working on right now and even had some here thinking I had magical powers because of the "floating" engine on the right side of this pic of my work area from years ago. It looks like it's floating because I used a hanger stuck into the back of the transmission (it's from a 1/8 scale Trans Am) as a paint stand! These for the trailer parts are just simply the way you would hang them in the closet with wide masking tape all the way along the bottom of the hanger and around the curves where the hanger arms bend to go to the top and about an inch or two past the ends of the hanger on each side. The only downfall with the way I do it is be prepared to get overspray on your hand if you are using regular spray cans like I did for painting the black, my thumbnail still looks like I had black nailpolish on it! As for an update on the trailer, I decided to get a little color on the parts last night, even with my current cheapy airbrush! I still need to finish up the floor, because I know new all the center crossmembers are a nice shiny aluminum too, though I'm not sure if I'm going to worry about painting the rear and front crossmembers that are steel and painted black on a new 1:1, I'm probably going to just paint everything the same. That is one advantage of working with these trailers in the 1:1 world everyday, I know what everything underneath looks like too! I don't have the floor finished because I'm now, due in part to experimenting and part to probably still not being that good with an airbrush yet, out of the Alclad Polished Aluminum. I had just enough to finish the ICC bumper and side rails of the floor after doing the roof and the lower sides of the walls. The Alclad has given me the look of shiny, new aluminum I want though as the Duplicolor "Chrome" did, but will be a color I can protect through mock up and building. I also have the fuel tank done and not only painted with the Alclad, but with the Alclad Clear coat as well. The clear does not effect the color, as a comparison the cleared tank is on the right and the one for my Ford is on the left still without clear.

Brian, I have found that the lightest touch, and even from dusting, will make the Duplicolor Chrome dull. It is what I used on my trailer for my B.R.B.O. build and my custom Ford. The most of the dulling issue for mine is from mock up handling, but even just trying to dust the top of my Ford's trailer with a soft cloth has dulled some of the shine. Dan, do not, and I repeat, DO NOT clear the Duplicolor Chrome!!! I experimented with clearing some small parts after spraying them with the chrome to try to protect my roof and floor for my projects, and clear instantly turns it to a dull, flat silver. Since your tanks shouldn't be very visible because they are behind the fairings, you shouldn't have a problem with them keeping their shine as Brian and I have encountered, they shouldn't get very dusty and just take care when mounting them and you should still have bright, shiny tanks. If you do get an opportunity to get an airbrush, you'll like it. It has taken me to be in this build off to finally try my little cheapy I've had for years, and I have quickly found I want a better one! I bought Alclad Polished Aluminum for the floors and roofs of all my trailers and also some Alclad Clear and experimented with it the way I did unsuccessfully with the Duplicolor Chrome, and the Alclad Clear does not dull the Alclad. Hmmmmm.......I never thought of trying the Alclad Clear over the Duplicolor Chrome until now typing that last statement. I might have to do some more experimenting.

My bathroom was looking more like a Great Dane assembly line today, never knew I could fit two 53' trailers in the bathroom! I repainted the floor and roof for this trailer, and remembered to paint the bottom rail of the sides that is also aluminum on the 1:1, those are the sides that are still white at the top in the middle of the floors and roofs. The other 2 side panels are for the smoothside I have, figured might as well get everything ready for the Alclad Polished Aluminum that will get sprayed next. The only one I couldn't bring myself to redo yet is the Ford's, but it will get the same treatment as these. It will also get the aluminum at the bottom that I forgot about before I painted it, but since I still need more paint on it to match the cab better, that won't be an issue. The top of the sides on the ribbed versions are supposed to be aluminum down to the topmost rib too, but looking at the Ford's trailer, I think the body color above the top rib looks better, and the trailer for this will be the same with just the roof side being aluminum. Now to get a little better with the airbrush and also get a better airbrush so I can finish the roof and floor for good!

Thanks Gino. I did a little painting for this today, tried some Ford Twilight Blue metallic I actually had for a Thunderbird like the 1:1 my ex and I had. I don't know if this will be the final color or not, I like the color itself but would like something with just a little more metallic in it to be a little closer to the "Metal Glow" metallic the original issue was molded in. I also got a little on the cab, but it was a small can, started running out so it came out a little rough. I don't know if is just because the paint was old, maybe 10 years, or just because there just a lot to cover, but the little touch up can didn't go very far. As I said in my previous post, I plan on building this like the box art model, no wild modifications or customizing, but I am considering changing a few colors of things possibly, like chrome looking air cleaners, a chrome visor instead of body color, and maybe using this teal metallic for the frame color to compliment the body color instead of just basic black. This is what I have completed on the frame so far. I'm also thinking about changing the miter cut stacks to a curved stack, using my 8" stacks I originally bought for my Ford and then was thinking of using on the "BJ & the Bear" custom since I have been wanting to order sets for both of those that are longer and have the elbows at the bottom. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm thinking they might just have the right height and look for a stock stack on this.

As Aaron already said, the Expedition should pull a car trailer with no problem, it would be just like an F150 towing a car trailer. Anything you wouldn't use in the police parts are fine, there is nothing I really need, I just have a thing for spare police parts! You are welcome for the info and the pics.

It is not in their current lineup, but a few years back the classic TV channel "METV" carried "Movin' On". Hopefully they will add it back to the lineup again sometime.

Older Excursion closer to the year of the Expedition Newer Excursion closer to the years of the Meng F350 I can't really tell by your posts if you already have the kit or not even though it does sound more like you do, but in case you don't, the police version also has the police lights molded into the grille. The stock version Aaron mentioned may be your better choice if you don't have the police version already, even though you could just have the police lights as aftermarket fog lights. As for wheels, was going through Google of some 1997 Expeditions, something like these don't look half bad. Oh, and if you do have the police kit and just build it stock, if you wouldn't have any plans for the police goodies, I'll be happy to give them a new home!

Chris, I have the police version and these are the wheels in it. As Aaron said, I think all these were half tons. The heavier duty was the Excursion, those are based off the F250 and F350 and came with a Powerstroke. You might be able to use the roof (at least as a guide) of the Expedition with a Meng F250 and get an Excursion from it if a heavy duty SUV is what you are looking for.

Here's a little taste from "Apple Pie Moonshine": And a couple from "On The Road": The title cut This also is from "On The Road", and this song is going to hit home for all my brothers of the highway that make our living on 18 wheels, it's a hard life but it's our lives!

The one I have is called "On The Road", and I just looked on Google, he has 4 albums total. The other two other than these ones are called "For The Long Haul" and "Apple Pie Moonshine". http://tonyjusticemusic.com/shop/

Ewan, just please be careful with whatever is cream colored, because those have been the ones I have been having the problems with, and especially if your cab hinges are like that. I'm planning to put some sheet plastic on each side of mine to repair the broken one and give the unbroken one more strength, and maybe adding hydraulic cylinders and a "hold open" support for even added strength when the cab would be tilted.

I'm working on one of these myself, and if you happen to have parts that are yellowed because of the age of the original issue, be very careful and expect the plastic to be brittle. If you want to see what I'm describing about the parts being yellowed, you can check out my build thread. You'll see most everything other than the frame rails and the main cab have that yellowish tint (and the engine, but parts of it are from the parts box) and so far a stack mount, a fuel tank mount, and a cab hinge have all snapped. A wheel back also snapped in half, but that is probably a combination between the age of the plastic and that I modified them to look more like brake drums for the Moebius wheels I'm using, since the chrome on the kit wheels isn't great either.

Thatz4u (Al) is a great trader, just completed a trade with him myself, highly recommended!

I might not have posted them, but I listen to them all on a daily basis!! That I'm not sure, I don't know who originally sang it. I just happened to stumble across it when I was looking for Aaron Lewis' song. I know Tony does have some great music, I have one of his CDs.

I decided to pull this off the shelf after deciding I needed a little time away from the "BJ and the Bear" custom, and something a little different for once, a build with NO modifications! This is a little trip down memory lane for me, the 1/16th scale Kenworth was the first truck kit I built 30 years ago. The plans for this is to more or less build the box art truck, 30 years ago as a 10 year old I loved the "Metal Glow" blue metallic the original was molded in, and this one will be painted a dark blue metallic. There isn't much progress to show right now, just the basic frame is done with the crossmembers installed. I haven't decided yet what to paint the frame, whether to stay with the basic black or maybe find a little lighter shade of metallic blue to paint the frame to match the body.

Michael, I think this is one of, if not the, most intelligent posts in this thread! I, too, feel that a better mix of new releases and older reissue kits would be better for the hobby as a whole and maybe also bring younger modelers to the hobby just as when most of us were mere lads getting into the hobby. When I was first starting my plastic addiction over 30 years ago, there was a good mix of older "classics" of the day such as 69 Chargers, early 70s Mustangs and GM F bodies, but also new and currently available sports cars and popular rides like the Monte Carlo and Buick GN, and the exotics that probably most all of us had posters of in our bedrooms (I know I had posters of Countachs and Ferraris on my bedroom wall) that could make any young boy's heart skip a beat! There was also a nice selection of trucks to build just like the ones that you'd see going down the road that you'd pump your arm to the driver to get him to blow the air horn. Today's youngsters done have those choices though.

Guess what I just noticed JT, I just happened to have one of my Monogram F350s floating around the model desk, and Monogram was smart enough to include 3 outer rear wheels in the kit, one for the spare! It would have just been nice if they wouldn't have left the molding of the axle shaft end in the center!

Thank you both. Now for the June update. I WAS going to get some more done on this today BUT that quickly went out the window! I still had the cab sitting on the desk still mocked up from the last mock up pics, and was going to figure out something a little better for the stack mounts since I really wasn't thrilled with how the kit pieces looked and fit, and I started to break it back down from the mock up stage to prepare the frame for primer and paint. WEEEELLLLLLL, the cab hinge on the right side took "BREAK" quite literally! I have been having a little issue with some of the off colored pieces being a little brittle, and the hinge decided today was it's turn to give me fits and snapped in half. My first thought was just wait until the reissue comes out, but then remembered the Super Boss is the one coming out soon, not the Papa Truck. I can't wait until the end of the year, I'll miss the deadline. I'm going to just wait until next weekend and maybe take this back off the shelf, but it has it the back burner for now. Never fear though, I will be getting it back out soon, because not only do I actually want to FINISH a build for once, I have already made plans for this and my Ford to be done and debut at a couple shows near this area in September. I just don't feel like dealing with more disaster right at this minute because I'm fighting nicotine fits TRYING (and so far not being very successful) to quit smoking and if anything more on it would happen, it would probably literally go flying out the window! On the bright side of things though, I have figured out already a solution for the broken hinge and also to strengthen the left side hinge. I'm going to box in the hinges with some .030 or .040 sheet on both sides so that the weight of the finished cab won't be just held up with the two thin (and obviously brittle) bars of the hinge, and I may add a couple of hydraulic cylinders made from aluminum tubing and maybe a couple "hold open" supports for added strength when the cab would be tilted.

If that doesn't work out JT, let me know. I have at 5 or 6 of the Monogram duallys, and I know I ordered a set of resin Alcoas for one of them! I'm sure that I'd probably have one you could have. Also, just as an FYI, the best for the spare rim would be an outer rear if you are mounting under the bed. I'm not 100% sure since my 1:1 1990 dually doesn't have a spare, but I'm pretty sure the spare would have the lug holes nearest to the bed.

This may be part of the issue of why there are less young people in the hobby, they may have an interest in the hobby but would like to also use it as a way to spend time with either parents or grandparents or at least have them help them with it. I know when I got introduced to this hobby over 30 years ago, my older brother had built a few models, and my dad also had an original Revell USS Constitution that he did a little on when he wasn't doing something in his woodwork shop. I wanted a model, so I got the original 1/16th scale General Lee that dad helped me on, and was hooked ever since. Honestly, I think it's more of just exposing the younger generation to the hobby instead of trying to cram it down their throats and make them have this as a hobby, but most of the posts I've read in this thread seem to me to all say the same thing: When is this going to be released?? Is there going to be a matching dryer to go with it??

It must be an east coast/west coast thing, but the thing that comes to mind for me with pup trailers are a set of doubles, whether it's a set of 28s, a turnpike double they run in NY, OH, and IN only on the state's turnpikes running doubles up to 48', or a set of Rocky Mountain doubles with a full size trailer and a 28 behind it, and for those north of the border, a B train. On the other hand, maybe it's just that the trailer is short, because even though I never pulled doubles, one place I worked for years ago had a 28 footer I pulled instead of taking a straight truck. Whenever I had a route that usually was a straight truck route I always told the boss "I'll use my tractor and take the pup instead" because I always felt they were a little easier to get in a few tight spots than the straight trucks. Whatever you want to call it, I still think that is one sweet ride, I'm jealous!!!

I seem to be the odd one so far, I keep them. They come in very handy for kits that I've gotten at shows or a few that I bought from a LHS that was hit by a flood in 2004 that have no box of their own, or for storage of rebuilder built ups.