Wagoneer81

That looks MEAN!!! Just one thing, and it's not criticism; If I were building this one, I'd mount that air cleaner at the back of the fender, closer to the cab. You'll have one nasty blind spot if you mount it forward... I know, with the big doghouse, these could be very trying when it comes to forward and lateral vision. I know whatever you do will look great and I really look forward to seeing this one finished. I may have to pick up a Viking cab... They are one of the coolest looking trucks of the era.

tbill, Testors Model Master line offers several military colors in enamel and acyrlic that can be used for interior colors. They offer several browns, tans, countless greens, innumerable grays... I have a lot or colors left over from my armor modeling days and use them for all my interiors. They tend to have a sheen that's not dead-flat but closer to a satin finish. Also, Testors offers several clear coats; flat, satin, semi-gloss and gloss. Getting the interior look you want just requires a little experimentation.

They offer the Opal in a Fuel Truck version as well. Emhar offered two Bedfords, one short Wheel base and one LWB. They are late 30's early 40's, I believe. I do know that they are OOP. The good thing about the Opal kit is that its chassis and driveline could be used with other cabs as the Chevy/GMC trucks were pretty much a standardized item back then. I think you could get away with an engine swap if you wanted to model other makes of the same era.

I don't know how I missed this one. I love it! I have the Trumpeter kit in the stash and am waiting until I can buy the PE I need to do it justice. I hope mine turns out half as nice as this one!

Nice! I prefer white face gauges over factory black.

Thanks, All! This and the K-123 are on hold while my fiancé and I complete our move into our new home. Luckily, I have less than a city block to move all my models and stuff. I can do that in multiple trips instead of packing it all and hoping nothing gets trashed... The really good news is that, once more, I'll have an entire room to call a workshop... Let the modeling marathon begin.

In the world of street rods, I say, "Anything goes." In competition, I've seen a '72 Chevy pulling truck running a 460 Ford... The class had a 472 cid limit and you could only get 468cid using a .060" over 454 so the guy used a .060" over 460. aka, 472cid... Did I mention we were smack in the heart of Central Indiana "GM Country"? Yeah, it went over well.... Also, I have an '81 Jeep Wagoneer and am not overly impressed with its powertrain. I've been seriously considering a 350/350 transplant... Simply because it is cheaper and I can make lotsa power with that combo...

And a mockup picture... I had to remove the toolboxes and strip them. They're in primer waiting for wet-sanding then I'll repaint and mount them...

Very cool! I love the Ford C-Series!

Now, that's an idea... I may just have to do this...

More Progress! Just unmasked. The paint's about 15 minutes old in these pics. The paint is Testors gloss white in the square bottle and an old bottle of Testors/Colors By Boyd, Sunburst. Shot through a Masters, siphon airbrush.

OK, small update, here. I'm working on this one at the same time as the silver/blue K-100... I started painting the cab, this morning. The white is on. Once this dries, I'll mask and shoot the Sunburst Orange. Loud paint job? Yes! I'm building this as I would if it were a 1:1 that I was restoring to make a living with. Bright colors means visiblity... Or, it should, anyway... Speaking of loud, the exhaust is simulated 4" straight pipe... Coming off of a 534 Super Duty, this'd sound really mean under a load. Thankfully, Indiana is really lax on its exhaust regulations. Like a Harley, I want them to hear me coming as well as see me. I have to say, I'm loving my new airbrush and compressor... This'll be the second paint job I've laid on with it and I haven't had the first sag, run or dry spot. Stay tuned!

Progress! It's a roller! Here's where we are, currently... I dull coated the rear wheels to simulate polished aluminum and left the fronts shiny chrome... I had to lengthen the intake runner from the snorkel to the cleaner by .080" and had to do some tweaking with a little heat to get the two-part runner from the intake to the turbo to fit properly. Also, kudos to Robert, AKA BigBad for his idea of fastening the grille to the hinges instead of trying to hold the weight of the cab on freshly glued hinge surfaces... Now, the funny thing is that when I tried to mix some Cummins tan, I ended up with something really close to 'KITTY' yellow... At least I'll have it for the next couple 3406's I plan to build... More to come, so stay tuned!

Growing up, my older brother built car models and both him and Dad were into model railroading. When I was 7, I got a 1/16 General Lee and a 1/25 Daisy's Jeep kits for Christmas. I remember sitting at the dining room table with a tube of glue and my Boy Scout pocket knife and building both... Evidently, I was hooked. that was sometime around 1980... I've been building ever since. I never took time away from the hobby for girls, college or cars, I simply worked them into my schedule... ;^) I've been involved in model railroading in one form or another since then as well...

That's going to by a wicked looking rig with the chrome Beale tanker....

Very cool paint job! I'll be watching this one as well!

Excellent, Robert! That is good to hear. I stole your idea and mounted the grille and hinges... Makes a lot more sense than trying to support the weight of the entire cab while waiting for glue to cure on two tiny hinge surfaces... Curiously, I somehow managed to install the radiator low enough that it clears the cab but my intake pipe is about a 1/16" too tall. I was away from home, this weekend so getting it to clear is on the list, this week. The cab has finally gassed out and my semi-gloss clear, for the frame, arrived so I'm in the clear to finish it, hopefully this week. I should have something more to show very soon!

She's around 6 1/2" to the top of the mast, from the keel. Without the stand, you can get away with no less than 7" of clearance. With the kit supplied stand, you'll need to add 2 1/2" to that.

Back in the '70's, when this truck would have been on the road, the laws regarding overall length were pretty Draconic... They would have had to keep a short tractor wheelbase to be legal in the Eastern States, even with a 40' trailer... Only trucks registered and running in the Western States could get away with stretched frames, cabovers and hoods alike. Looking good, Jacobus! keep the hits coming!

That's no good... I hope you can get it sorted out.

That's the idea. I'm just waiting on my new bottle of Semi-gloss clear to arrive. If anyone plans on building this kit, know this: The intake and exhaust pipes will need some tweaking... I'm currently fitting, shaving, shortening and extending these to fit and to clear the underside of the cab. I'm getting close...

I started this build last week, before I knew that BigBad was building the same kit in similar fashion... This is mainly a box-stock build, something to get me back in the groove, so to speak... this should be a good study in similarity and contrast SO, here we go: I'm waiting for the cab to finish gassing out, then it's a coat of Future and decals. I don't like the super-flat finish of the insignia blue on the frame so it'll get a coat of semi-gloss once it arrives... I did scratch-build the AC unit on the roof... That's the only addition, other than Modeltruckin's decals that I'm adding to this kit...Well, I do have an extra Indiana roadmap from the C-800 project so I may spread it out, open, over the center hump... Like I told BigBad in his thread, if these trucks aren't brothers, they're certainly cousins! Great minds do think alike! More to come!

And that, my friend, is why I'm using your pics as reference... ;^)

Looking great! I've got the BJ and The Bear set... I'll be using just the stripes out of it for mine... I went with Testors Sapphire Blue in the little 1/4 oz. bottle and Testors Steel with a dark insignia blue frame... I started it last week. Great minds DO think alike, Robert! If our trucks don't look like brothers, they'll definitely be cousins... ;^)

BigBad! I'm working on a box-stock build of this same kit, as we speak. I love the changes and the aftermarket parts you're using. I look forward to seeing this one completed! Two-Tone painting TIP: To keep the red from bleeding under the tape onto the white: Once you get the second color masked, seal the edges of the tape by spraying the first color again, in this case white. Once that has flashed, go ahead and spray the red. The reason is this; If there is bleed-under, it'll be that coat of white that does it. No worries since that's the color you're trying to protect. The white seals the edge of the tape and keeps the red from bleeding under the tape. I use this technique on all my two-tone jobs and it hasn't failed me yet.