Aaronw

I think this one was largely missed. There was a kit for the Ford Courier and the later Ford Ranger, but never seen anything for this body style. Unfortunate because this is my favorite style of Ranger and it would also provide a starting point for a Bronco II for anyone willing to do a lot of modification.

The Sonoma County Chapter of IPMS is hosting the 10th annual Hobby Expo at Fundemonium in Rohnert Park, CA (just south of Santa Rosa or about an hour north of San Francisco), on Nov 19, 2016 http://www.ipmssantarosa.org/index.html http://www.fundemoniumtoys.com/event/?id=7099

I don't really care for the white and gold, but I think the black and gold Hertz Mustangs are some of the best looking Mustangs built (of each era). http://jalopnik.com/shelby-returns-to-the-rental-counter-with-the-2016-shel-1766341233

That makes sense to me. Even as a kid I had a bias against Lindberg kits many of which were already ancient kits even then. I now understand that Lindberg's catalog is all over the place, some very nice even when compared to the latest kits, and some awful even by the standards of the time they were first issued. I don't think the average modeler really grasps the concept of tooling, as I've lost count of how many threads I've seen over the years declaring xyz company is terrible based on their experience with a "new" kit that was tooled in 1961. Anyway it seems like a wise move to put the "good" Lindberg kits under the AMT name and keep the "classics" under the Lindberg name.

Not a car, but I'm hoping for a re-issue of the X-87 Flapjack. I always wanted one of these as a kid, but never got one. It would go well with the Fundecker Fokker they reissued this year. http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/Lemke'sFlapJackPage.htm

Very nice, I built one of these last year. It is a nice kit, and you've done a nice job on it, I particularly like the color you chose.

I love these two phrases. Perhaps somebody would be inspired to start a pathetic cars of the 70s - 80s GB.

I picked up a couple of Model T delivery trucks for $9 ea, at the Arden (Sacramento, CA) HL, I left one on the shelf, didn't want to be greedy. Nothing else really appealed to me.

The Ranger was a victim of the "Chicken Tax", a tariff placed on imported light commercial vehicles (it was specifically targeting VW) in the 1960s in retaliation for European taxes on cheap American chickens. The US manufacturers were all for this tax at the time, but it has come back to bite them as it applies to US companies as well when they moved their factories out of the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

I've seen a number of 1-1 fire trucks built into car haulers. This one was built on a Ford C / Seagrave ladder truck but might be of some help for ideas. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1395380-c800-fire-truck-to-car-hauler-conversion-is-complete.html and another based on an older ALF 700 http://recoverynut.blogspot.com/2005/07/wierd-wreckers.html If you want something different to haul, you could use it for hauling a drill team "truck" kind of a cross between a dragster and fire apparatus. It's an east coast thing, maybe even just a New York State thing? Nothing like this on the west coast.

Wow, what a great time for people who like Trucks, the Moebius Fords, then the Bronco and now a Suburban!

August update, unfortunately only trivial work completed, like July I've only had a couple of days at home.

How odd, that actually looks to have more in common with a mid 90s Ford Ranger than a Chevy S10

Update for July. I've been home a few days since late June, so no progress.

Hard to say for sure as there are differences in resin wheels and kit mounting styles. You could get lucky and get a set of wheels that match up well, or you could get a set that require a bit of fabrication to make things line up. Also a huge variation on quality of resin parts, on the good end some are nice and crisp and can be mistaken for plastic parts from a kit, on the bad end you have to do a lot of clean up and reshaping, most fall somewhere in between. Couple different theories on prep for painting, soaking in Westleys Blech Wite (a tire cleaner) is one of the more popular methods. 5 min epoxy or CA glue (super glue) work well on resin and plastic. KJ790 is a member here who casts truck parts, under the name Double Take Replicas. He has 2 and 5 hole Budds. http://kdhumphr.wix.com/double-take-replicas

There is a better photo of the built cab on the AITM site. I think you are correct on the issue but I think the issue is also there on the built up, just hidden due to photo quality / angle. Should be easy to fix. http://www.aitruckmodels.com/pages/ck97gmcdf7000crackerbox.html http://www.aitruckmodels.com/pages/ck98gmccrackerboxdaycab.html 1-1 http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/archer/2002/dec/icl_804.jpg

It is a bit of work, but here is a tutorial on making your own from a lightbulb and other fairly easily acquired bits. http://scalefirehouse.com/sfh_brd/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=178 I haven't seen anything in resin or plastic that comes close to a beacon made this way.

I built the box from the floor up leaving the roof for last so I had access to the door mechanism. I don't care about working mechanisms like opening doors so I didn't bother with tape just gluing the door closed. Besides being more difficult if the door opened I would feel obligated to add some cargo. I cut along the grooves to separate the slats then glued them into place. I did this for two reasons, one the door where it curves into the top was putting a lot of pressure on the tracks, and second, the door looked kind of like a bent piece of sheet plastic, not a bunch of individual slats. Cutting the slats apart and then gluing them individually looks more like individual slats of the 1-1 doors, plus looking at the real thing is seems like they never quite match up 100% tending to get dings along the edges and a few just slightly out of whack. Still needs some detail painting and some weathering on the door, but it has been sidelined by other projects.

Wow I distinctly remember fiddling with the hood, but that was probably 9 or 10 years ago, memory does funny things. Haven't messed with the cab yet on the current one, just have the frame and box built.

I had trouble getting it to sit flush the last time around. I could hold it in place with light pressure, but it would lift up leaving a gap when I stopped pressing down. Probably just a matter of getting the hinges just right. Not an uncommon problem with tilt hoods, but being a shorty it seems to be worse than some.

I've got the Ford LN going at the moment, getting the roll up door right was a pain, but other than that I didn't have any serious issues with the cargo box. The truck hood can be somewhat fiddly, I glued it down the last time I built one, I plan an building it with an opening hood this time around. Other than those two issues it is a fairly painless kit to build.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at a 55-57 handyman wagon and / or sedan delivery.

Excited about the Bronco, and share the hope for a half top "pickup" option. Curious about the engine, it would be nice to have another 6, but expect it will come with the optional 289 or 302 V8. Side marker lights became a requirement in 1968. I don't think there were many changes during its production other than engines offered, so this could potentially represent all but the first 2 years of production, and possibly even those with a little work (removing the side markers).

Wow, based on your scratchbuilt models I have to wonder if the resin actually saved you any work. I have a pair of resin Anniversary Seagraves (one open cab, one closed sedan type) that I believe came from Uptown Automotive. These are more along the lines of the resin kits most are used to, not simply a shell more or less shaped correctly. Amazing how resin casting has advanced from the early days, the best these days are at a level equal to mass market styrene kits and the resin much easier to work with.

I found some photos I took of one of his kits in my photobucket account. Not the Chevy, but I'd say an average example of the stuff I've bought from him.