highway

Ok, with that knowledge, maybe it doesn't share tooling with the General Lee kit.

I'm sorry to hear this Davin, I was looking forward to maybe use some of your ideas on the General I plan to build sometime in the future I mentioned earlier in the thread. I'm already planning on using the 68 body instead of sanding the vinyl roof off the 69 body, and was hoping to pick up other ideas too.

Ok, here's my take on the doors of the General Lee.... WHO CARES!!!! Now, with that said, I was (and still am for that matter) a fan of the show, and I still occasionally watch the reruns on CMT, just like I still watch reruns of Knight Rider on a local station's retro station called RTV. I don't know if RTV is a national deal for local stations to air or not, but anyway, back to the subtopic here. As every Duke's fan knows, or at least should know, Bo always had aspirations of becoming a NASCAR driver, and I feel this is where the idea that the General was a former Grand National racecar is coming into play, as in those days as any true NASCAR fan should relize, the top series now called the Sprint Cup was also known as the Grand National series. Obviously, the episodes mentioned previously show the General was just your everyday plain jane Charger before the Duke boys got their hands on him and rebuilt him as a "racecar". Also, at least from what I can remember of the original series and the movie, I remember in at least one of them, they were welding the doors shut from the OUTSIDE! Would that not result in there being a weld seam where the door gap SHOULD be? I honestly see it this way, since there are numerous recreations of the General Lee out there, Davin could be building his recreation that he may always want to have in 1:1. I too have always wanted to have a 1:1 General, and if I'd weld the doors shut, I'd never get my fat rear end in the car to drive it!!!

HHHMMMMMM, interesting. I didn't pay very much attention to my new LAPD Charger, I was too busy trying to figure what projects the other lightbars would go for , but does it have those decals included? By the way, if you're wondering why I'm asking when I have it, I'm just too lazy to go look right now!

Ok, I'm watching this one for sure!

That sounds like me on my many projects, in all accounts!

I'm sorry I just couldn't resist!! Davin, don't worry about the nit pickers and rivet counters, I for one like the work I've seen from you in the past and I'm sure this built will be on the same caliber or better than the builds I've seen from you in the past.

I don't have any pictures of them, but what I usually do is bend a metal coat hanger in half using the hook as the bending point so that the ends will act as a spring to hold the body in place. Use some masking tape to secure the body to the hanger, and since it still has the hook on it, hang it up so it won't fall until the paint is dry. Easy, simple, and you have the paint stand done in just a second or two. If you want a little more permanent stand, you can use a 2x4 or something similar, you can take some old hangers and bend them to an "L" shape, and drill the block of wood to accept the top of the "L" of the coathanger. You could also make them with a bracket " [ " shape between the two "L" shaped legs per side, and that will hold almost any body at the doors, and use some masking tape again to secure to the stand, or rubber tubing on the long part of the bracket to keep the body from slipping. It would look like this from the top, [ ] with the legs going down into the block of wood. By the way, since you didn't say if it was the reissued 1/16 scale General Lee or not, both methods would work in any scale, but the more permanent stand would have to be built for the larger scale so it would be large enough for the larger body. One for a 1/25 scale just wouldn't be wide enough for a big body.

If you do go the Monogram KW route, the Monogram Fruehauf will be your better choice. You would either have to modify the fifth wheel on the Monogram truck to take the AMT kingpin or take the kingpin off the AMT trailer and drill a hole in place of it for the huge pin that comes through the center of the Monogram fifth wheel.

If you have the old AMT 1/32 scale tractor, here's the perfect match for it!

I knew I forgot something, thanks Charlie!

Very nice! I was going to ask where the keys were so I could maybe take it for a spin, but I seen they were in the ignition!

That and the possibility of condensation being caused by temperature differences. If I were you Blake, I would at least get the decals out of the kits and keep them at your house.

Definitely real!

I'm sure I could find something!!

Wow, you must be one of tens of people watching that!!!

Clayton brings up a good point Kevin, if you are thinking of a working truck with a trailer, the distance between the sleeper and the fifth wheel mounts plus where the kingpin on the trailer is mounted is critical. I did much the same on my Ford as Clayton said on his Peterbilt and added the length of the sleeper to the length of the frame, and also mocked it up before assembly for my personal tastes as well. I have always tried to set my fifth wheel so that the front of the trailer hangs over the top of the front quarter fenders that are the "mudflaps" in front of the first set of rear drive tires. You can see what I mean with this pic, even though it is still just a little farther back than I would have it set on a 1:1 rig. The personal taste part in my case mostly comes from the fact I normally found with the fifth wheel set at that position, I usually could scale the axle weights close to equal on the drive tires and trailer tandem tires just by moving the trailer axles, which results in a much smoother ride when the weights are close to equal. It also made a nice place to "hide" during one of those quick side of the road "pit stops"! Even though this one doesn't have a custom sleeper, I also set this one the same way. That is just something to keep in mind, and especially if you will have a trailer on it.

You're off to a nice start, Chris! I think the colors of the stripes will make that an even prettier truck than it is already. The colors suit both trucks very well.

That is looking nice!

Kevin, I sure you've seen this one, but just in case here it is again. It is scaled to a 180 inch sleeper, and one tip I can give you to start is don't try to do one with a curved roof!! It was a pain to shape the roof just right to blend with the stock kit roof I cut and started with! If you want to check out the build thread, here's the link. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=28849 Also, since I love the custom sleepers, here are a few pics I have of some others, and the first is in mind for another build once the Ford is finally finished. This one has a 230" sleeper, and from my research, that is the largest available at this time. I'm not sure of the sizes of these ones, but they show a little of the range of sizes from the extreme above to a more common stretch sleeper of around 144 inches. Finally, a little idea for the interior, if you might want to build the interior for it. Here are a couple very useful links for two of the custom sleeper builders. Indiana Custom Trucks (ICT Sleepers) ARI Legacy Sleepers Any questions or if you want more pics, don't be afraid to PM me!

I'm not sure on the Beetle, but I think the Revell convertible kit I have is somewhere in the late 60s range. As for the wrecker, late 70s or early 80s based on the fact that the cab is a late 70s cab, a 76 if I remember one issue of the close stepside kit like Nick showed. I believe that was issued as a 76 at one time. I'm not sure if it would be good for the late 60s, but then again I know mainly the more modern trucks, since that was what I worked with! That still doesn't mean you couldn't use it on the 60s truck, someone could have always bought a secondhand bed and put the newer bed on an older truck.

I'd have to take a wild guess and say since John said to avoid favoritsm, if it would be a separate area of the forum just like you do with Real or Model and Auto ID Quiz, all entries would have to be sent to him for him to open the thread. Otherwise, everyone would know who built the model because, obviously, it would have our names beside the pics. Also John, I was not getting all twisted over the scale restriction, I was simply trying to get you to reconsider that rule because not only do regular shows and contests in a building not restrict scale, but also it would open the idea to those who build other scales. I myself really don't have an issue personally with it, since I would probably enter a 1/24 or 1/25 scale entry like most others here would, too. I was simply thinking of those others on the forum who may like to participate in this but don't regularly build anything but larger (or smaller) scale models. I'm sorry for your misunderstanding my point I was trying to get across.

OOPS! Thanks for the pics Marshall, you made me dig out the build up I traded for and found the previous owner had cut out the molded in engine areas, too. That goes to show you never can tell about getting a used truck!! The odd thing is though, mine doesn't have the GMC in the grille, just a plain grille. It still no big deal, they are still great kits and with a little scratchbuilding, they can even be easily made into a modern wheellift style wrecker. Oh, by the way Marshall, I love the one you built, it looks like it was built to haul more than just cars!!

Ok, I never sat in glue (yet ), but I have had quite a few cases where a part liked me more than the model it was to go on! The earliest I can remember is a 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP I was working on, and I think the first front wheel drive car I had ever built. I was in the final part of the built, following the instructions (something I don't do now ) and trying to glue the little round engine mount between the engine and where it mounted to the front radiator wall. I tried probably half a dozen times, and each time it stayed stuck to my fingers instead, then finally on the last try, it went flying across the room! I never did find that part after that!

Thanks for the info, that's been one thing keeping me from making the General from one of mine, all that sanding!