oldcarfan

They can tow a trailer, but according to the road tests I've read, a 5,000 pound load cuts your range in about half. I don't remember the load amount, but one source said they towed a double axle trailer with a muscle car and the range was about 100 miles from full to needing a recharge.

I'm surprised at how well they all look. The Forestry people must really take care of their equipment! I'd like to find one and lower it a little, but otherwise leave the exterior stock. Maybe add some sound proofing, a higher level seat and a few comfort options inside for a fun daily driver.

I'm guessing this is owned by someone who had one of those cheap Walmart knockoff Tonka trucks as a kid and never got over it. "Here you go kid, just like the Tonka and a whole lot cheaper!"

How about a, "What Did I See Parked Today?" I've seen several of these vehicles around town over the last couple years but never gotten a picture. A local used car lot was selling them and I'm assuming they came from maybe the Forest Service? They seem to be fleet painted and are low on optional equipment. Any ideas on that? There's also a couple of F-150s in town just like this. I love the color and am going to look for it in a spray can. I'm thinking it might make a good project, using AMTs new release C1500 or C3500.

Wow, I've been to Lionheart! I didn't make the connection until you posted. That's great that he's still around. Glad to hear it.

So mad! I found this kit in the Austin HobbyTown and then got distracted and forgot to buy it. I hope they still have it next month when we're back there.

Depending on your budget and if there's one within driving distance, IKEA has some pretty nice options. I have a couple of the Billy style. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/billy-bookcase-with-glass-doors-dark-blue-20323805/ These Baggebo are smaller and work pretty well too. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/baggebo-cabinet-with-glass-doors-metal-white-80502998/

I don't think we'll be moving again until the day they either put me in a nursing home or wheel me out. That being said, we moved a lot over the last 20 years. Between raising kids and my wife going to universities for her degrees I packed and unpacked a lot of models and boxed kits. For convenience, a lot of them ended up being stored in the in-laws barn attic and forgotten. I'm still coming across boxes of them sometimes. So far they seem to have survived mostly intact.

I went by Kings Hobby in Austin last week while in town and it's gone. Someone said they've moved to a different location, but then someone else said they have hardly any stock and may be closing out. Not trying to start a rumor, I hope they are regrouping for better days!

From reading the title, I thought maybe this would be about what Christine would be reincarnated into. Since the car was so evil in her first life, maybe she would be sent to auto Perdition. Something like being turned into a rental Dodge Stratus convertible or base model Neon at Miami Airport to serve out her sentence. Nothing like having to serve retirees and hazy vacationers to teach her a lesson!

Sort of an accidental progress weekend. I discovered a positive side effect of the heat we're having! I needed to work on a non-model shop project and had to paint some metal parts. My wife bought Krylon Fusion paint for it which to me seems a bit like Rustoleum in that it takes a while to harden completely. Being out in the heat causes some issues because I had four heat strokes in a row a couple of years ago and don't handle the heat so well anymore. It takes planning to be out there for very long safely. Here in central Texas we're currently running about 103-107 in the afternoon with some humidity thrown in. With that in mind I got up early and went to the shop to prep the metal parts. I painted everything while it was a cool 94 and left it outside on the drying rack. I forgot about the parts until last night and when I checked on them the sun's rays and the heat had acted as a true dryer. Everything felt like it had been painted days ago instead of just that morning. As for my workshop, it's in an uninsulated metal building which is basically an oven. I divided it up and turned some of it into an enclosed hobby area and insulated that part, but in these extreme temps it still gets into the 90s even with an window a/c. Maybe in the Fall I can do some more upgrades. Last winter we had a lot of below freezing days and the hobby room stayed comfortable with just a small plug-in heater. To put a positive spin on the heat delay, sometimes I do better work when I have time to think about what I'm going to do. I get some pretty good ideas that way. Regarding the actual Night Train project, before it got too hot this morning, I worked on making some antenna (antennae?) for the roof and pretty much have the wheels and tires ready.

This looks nice! I looked these up and have a question if I may? Are the walls and floor printed on cardboard or plastic?

This should be a great build. The '70 Barracuda was always my favorite of that body style. Something about the single headlight configuration just looked better to me.

For the best OOB kits I'd nominate most of Johan's releases and a lot of AMT's late 50s-early 60s products. For an individual kit, I really like Monogram's 1930 Ford Coupe kit. I built one a few years ago and it's still a nice build.

Having been a faithful reader of Hot Rod, Car Craft, Car & Driver and all the others, it almost physically hurts to see these institutions passing away. I looked forward to reading what Brock Yates or David E Davis were up to every month. The only time I really lost interest in Hot Rod was when they really got into Pro Street or drag racing. I was always a road racing/short track/NASCAR kid. I also loved the antics Car & Driver's writers were getting into. Maybe that's why I still like Cannonball so much. Today's market is just not there for the media I consumed and I understand that. Over the years I've made a kind of peace with all these things slowly fading. The Three Stooges, Bugs Bunny, the after school shows, the Saturday morning cartoons, all the sitcoms, and of course the magazines and movies. Today is for someone else and I'm content to let that be. Wow, in rereading this, I find it to be true, but a downer!

Looking good! This is sort of the idea I have for my Cannonball truck.

I have the wheels and tires in place and the chassis about ready to go on, but I'm stalled due to weather. I have an office in the shop and our A/C is not keeping up. It's been 103 outside and higher inside so I'm waiting for this heat dome thing to go away. I have ordered one of those mobile A/C units and I'll have to see if it helps. If nothing else, I suppose the heat will have finally hardened that Rustoleum paint! lol

While in another town, I stopped at Walmart for something and they had a small display of kits so I had to buy one to encourage them to keep selling them. I got this Bronco which I'd been waiting to see if Hobby Lobby would carry.

A few years ago I bought a couple of the original 1960 and 1963 kits thinking we'd never see them issued again. I don't need any more of them, but I buy them to encourage Round 2 to continue this good work!

Love the buggy!

Thanks for the info, I wondered if the dual axles were an option or if someone had parts bashed it. I have the vague idea of turning the trailer into a hauler for a Dakar style Porsche 911. I turned a Welly diecast Cayenne into an offroad truck and it needs a load to pull behind it. The trailer is currently in Purple Cleaner for paint removal. The black paint was surprisingly smooth for brush paint. I suspect it might have been Pactra as their paint always seemed to go on smoother than Testor's.

That looks great!

Not sure how safe it would be, but you could add metal straps and gas caps and make them extra fuel cells!

I bought 3 of the Porsche tractor and I have a couple of this, now I wish they'd do a couple of American tractors. My father in law has a nice 9N Ford sitting under his carport if they want to use it for photos.

Just an update: I found and bought one of these trailers off eBay. It just came in. I wonder if they did a variant as this one has four wheels on a pivoting axle. It was missing the ramps, but or the price I couldn't pass it up!