Wagoneer81

Just as nice a build as your Mack... I love the display area that you built... I'd love to see a few pictures of the groundwork, from a 'non-traditional' angle to see how you get so much depth in your scenes.

I had to look at this for a moment or two before I realized that It was a model... Very realistic model with a wonderful environment. Very Well Done!

George! I just spent the last 5 minutes poring over these pictures, trying to absorb all the details... Having served on our local, volunteer department from '91-'98, and having ridden an engine quite similar to this one, I have to say this: You nailed it, PERFECTLY!!! This is one of the finest model fire engines that I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot! This is an inspiring build!

Kelly, definitely get your husband to join this forum. I became physically disabled, 5 years ago and, while I'm not a Veteran, ( just a disabled trucker/utility worker...) I have a bit of an idea what he's going through. This forum has been very therapeutic to me. I've made several friends, had people to talk too, when needed. It's a pretty good community and think it would be good for him. Have him look around, "lurk", we call it, and see if he wants to join.

Amen, Danno!

Very cool!!! Now, maybe a 27' pup or a similar length tanker trailer? There aren't enough of these medium duty trucks in our scale world... I love this!

Chuck, I love the green, tandem International... When I saw it, I had visions of it sporting a large, rustic looking wood camper home body...

Yeah, 250,000 would put both truck and trailer on the ground... I reworked mine AMT lowboy, as well. Stock, it makes a good heavy equipment trailer, i.e. D8 Dozer, backhoe, roller, paver, etc... But I dropped the center section and stretched it to 53', pretty much the same way you modified yours.

Looks really good! I like how the condo conversion turned out. Did that trailer start life as the AMT Lowboy? Looks good, as well. I have one that I did a similar conversion on. Now, this is just an observation, not a criticism: In real life, those transformers would probably weigh around 10-12 tons each, if not more... They'd be full of heavy, copper wound cores and liquid coolant... With twelve units, that'd be 240,000-288,000 pounds on that trailer... Three would give you 60,000-72,000 pounds, more than worthy of "Over-Size-Load" banners and flags. Again, I really like what you've done, here. Again, this is not a criticism, just the sharing of information. Oh, and I LOVE the Allied Van Lines unit, in the background. You definitely do great work.

Cool but sad flatbed load... Nice work!

Your entire list has gotten my attention... I'd LOVE to see these types of trucks on the market. Medium duty and early heavy duty trucks is a void that needs filling. Personally, I'd like to see a '48 Diamond T (or something similar) with a 4-53 Detroit and a twin stick transmission combo...

Another winner, Chuck! Seems that you and I appreciate the same things when it comes to old Fords... If I remember correctly, this truck might have been equipped with a 460 from the factory. That would have been the 350+hp, large-port-head version built before Ford neutered the 460 with small-port heads in 1977-78... Although... a 390 or 428 would fill the bill nicely, as well... Either way, you can't go wrong. Having owned several 360-390 equipped trucks, they definitely are an underrated motor.

First two pics look best. there's a much better balance with that combination.

There are many reasons why I drive a vehicle made in 1981... Yes, it's a 4WD, but there's no computer, no airbags, no traction control, no antilock anything, no collision avoidance system... I like being in control of my vehicle, at all times. It's simple; when it's wet or icy, I slow down. Sometimes, I slow waaaay down. I pay attention to the road conditions and actually DRIVE the vehicle by listening to it and my surroundings. I feel what the vehicle is doing, how it's responding to my commands... I don't roll up my windows in my sound-proofed passenger compartment and let the vehicle make the important decisions for me. Yes, in nasty weather, I get passed by 'modern vehicles' with all the newer equipment but I also, sometimes, get to pass them on the road because they've lost control and ended up in the ditch.... Newsflash, simple physics still rules. You still need to be able to stop the vehicle... Here's an observation: Last winter, here in Indiana, was pretty nasty. The majority of vehicles that I saw off the road, in the ditch, on their tops, etc., were newer (2005 and up) AWD, antilock, traction control equipped SUV's... or 'Safer' FWD cars. Why is that? According to the advertisers, my old Jeeposaurus, without all these "modern safety features", should flip over and explode simply by turning the key. Maybe, just maybe, people get a false sense of security knowing that if the driver screws up, the vehicle will step up and save their bacon??? This is something I've asked before and have NEVER gotten a straight answer: These collision avoidance systems that automatically apply the brakes, when it senses someone or something close to the front or back of the vehicle... If someone wanted to do something harmful and illegal to the vehicle occupant, could someone stand close to the bumper of the vehicle, trip the sensor and keep it from moving, keep you from driving away, while their accomplice gains access to the vehicle through a door or window? I would like a knowledgable answer to this one.

I have two of these started. I'll be keeping an eye on this one..... So far, a good start!

What sounds good to me? Any V8, gas or diesel, with true, dual exhaust... not the small diameter pipes, I'm talking 2 1/2 to 3" pipes, from the manifolds back with about 2 feet of 4" "cans" bringing up the rear. No cross over pipe. I did this with a '97 F-150 with a little 4.6L V8... Darn thing sounded like a big-block... Now, how did I get away with it? The first year that Ford built that style truck (technically, mine was a '96 1/2), they used small converters on each side and then wyed into a single muffler . Being that Indiana considers catalytic converters 'sound dampening chambers', we were legally able to run 2 1/2" pipe from the downstream O2 sensors, all the way back, with the 4" cans, with no mufflers... A little 4.6 with that exhaust put out a lovely, rich tone... until you put yer foot in it... Then it roared at you... Oh, that exhaust mod also improved my fuel mileage by 10% and increased my HP by 15-20 ponies...

Very cool! Missed it, this year but I can tell you a bit about that last picture, the oddball airplane... I know it's a little OT, here but.... it's a wonderful testimony to what you can do with some good scratchbuilding skills. That was built by a friend of mine. He actually built two of them for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, in Muncie, IN. The one you see and one posed in flight. This aircraft is the AeroVironment Helios NASA SolarProject. It was a solar powered, unmanned, high altitude, flying-wing. On August 13, 2001, the prototype Helios set a world altitude record for sustained level flight, reaching 96,863 feet. He vacuformed the wing surfaces and photoetched the wing ribs because the underside of the wings are transparent. The model is in 1/72 scale and is roughly 41 inches long. The structure is scratchbuilt, the PE was custom etched from his drawings and the solar panel decals were custom printed specifically for the project. Though you might want to know...

I'm not even going to log off... I'll just hit the refresh button every so often... I have, NEVER before in my 40 years here on earth, looked forward to a kit of ANY genre as much as I have these. My immediate family and I have owned 5 of these trucks through the years and I will own another...

I strongly second that!!!

Very cool! Nice score.

Don't forget the MPC 1/25 scale General, Steam Locomotive. That'd make for two loads, the engine on a lowboy and the tender, off its trucks, on a 40' Freuhauf flatbed... I have a 1/24 Airfix P-51D that I'm toying around with the idea of turning into a flatbed load... Something that was rescued from the boneyard and is on its way to being restored...

Another source for light bars, if you also model cars and/or wanted to add a police cruiser to the collection, is the Lindberg Dodge Charger Police Car kit. It contains enough parts to build eight different types of light bars...

The bump-side Fords have been on my wish-list for decades. I drove a '67 F-250 in high school and for several years afterward and have always claimed this body style as my favorite. By all means, do what you have to too get them right. I am more than happy to wait while Moebius, once again, raises the bar on excellence. All the hard work is greatly appreciated.

I have three built up 4300's in the stash that are due for rebuilding. I've started two and you've given me some ideas... I think this beast is the most heavy-duty 4300 I've seen. On a scale note, I mix 1/24 and 1/25 parts all the time with no issues. The Italeri floats look fine to me, as well. Tires come in all sizes... sometimes you just have to go big. ;^)

What a beast! I love it! Well done!