Aaronw

Shawn Carpenter also did a '50 GMC conversion.

Yeah, the Revell site is claiming 10 parts, the other Rubicon kit had 91. I hope this doesn't mean we wont see more releases of the "advanced" snap kit version.

Casey, how many batteries varies by the truck. The trucks I've been around have been 12v and wired in parallel. The point of this is that it maintains 12v but adds to the storage capacity and amps available to turn over he engine. When wired in parallel the batteries have short jumpers between the extra batteries, positive to positive, negative to negative. There are trucks set up for 24v which are wired in series, with the jumpers running positive to negative from each battery. Some trucks are wired in both series and parallel (24v + extra capacity / power), I'd guess this is probably generally the case when set up for 24v as they not only need the voltage, but probably also want the additional storage and power. In this case I can only assume they would have to run an even number of batteries, some in series and some in parallel. I've never worked on a 24v truck so only guessing. Most medium duty trucks seem to run 2 or 3 batteries that are about 50% larger than a generic car battery. I'm not positive, but I would think someone working on a tight budget could probably get away with using car batteries, although the batteries would probably have a shortened life span. As far as appearance, yes they basically look the same just bigger. I've seen both top and side terminals used.

I hope this actually happens, I bought one several years ago, along with the Plymouth Fury police car when Johan was trying to start up again. I've always regretted only getting one of each since they turned out to only be available for a short time. It is a simple kit, but pretty nice particularly when you consider it is 56 years old. The last issue included a ton of extras, luggage, surfboards, and a taxi sign and I think an old style gumball beacon light. Wonder if we might see the Fury after the Rambler.

Danbury Mint did 1941 and 1953 GMC pickups. Ebay prices can be nuts on these but once in a while you can find one for a decent price. There may be flaws in my thinking, but I've always thought you could get a good starting point for a 1960 GMC by flipping the Chevrolet grill upside down, then filling and drilling the eyebrow grills in the hood. Never have found plastic GMC letters which would be necessary, although now with 3d printing that probably wouldn't be as much of an issue. There is also the issue of the engine which was different from the Chevrolet.

If you want a round top bubble gum light and are willing to do some work, this tutorial using a light bulb makes a really amazing quality beacon. The photos don't do them justice. http://scalefirehouse.com/sfh_brd/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=178&p=40766&hilit=beacon#p40766

That will buff right out with a little turtle wax. This made me think of an old CW McCall song

I know there are some over at ARC using a cameo or similar to cut masks. You might get more of a response there, I haven't seen much mention of it on any of the car model sites.

I've seen skirts that look like heavy vinyl too, but just passing on the road, never where I could take a close look to be sure.

Yes, KFS in England http://www.kitformservices.com/photoetch.html PE54 Chain Stretchers, about 3/4 of the way down the page. Yeah, was what I was wondering. It wouldn't have to take much, just enough to pull the slack out of the chain. I'm thinking maybe you could design then to take a small piece of wire at the hinge, but even then I'm not sure if the plastic could take that or not, I understand it is fairly brittle.

I think you would do well with these, KFS' photo etch binders are the only ones I know of and there doesn't seem to be anybody stocking KFS in the US anymore. The only issue would be can you make them actually work or would they be completely static? That is a really nice feature of the KFS binders, you can really snug down your load pulling the slack out of your chains / ropes. If static people would have to find a way t pull things tight and secure it while attaching the binders.

That looks about right to me. Just a guess, but I'm thinking one side is as you have done, looped through a link and the other side the chain is threaded through the cable and doubles back. There used to be a couple of US based sellers stocking KFS stuff, but they all seem to have stopped or gone out of business.

Every other year there is a logging conference held in town. It is a great chance to see logging equipment old and new up close. I got these last year with the idea they might be useful, but just hadn't got around to posting them until now.

As far as the log load and using branches, one of the things that usually stands out to me is the flush cut bases many people use. It is a small detail but including the holding wood on the end of some logs adds a lot of realism. I would think it would be fairly easy to make your cuts just like a tree with your pie cut on one side, your back cut on the other then bend until it snaps.

I was and I can. It looks like the cable ends are looped through a link of chain, or maybe the chain is doubled on itself. It kind of looks like the cable has a chain tail in some of the photos. Unfortunately unless I bumble upon a log truck parked when I have my camera, next chance for photos like this where I might be able to specifically see the connecting point will be 2016. On the plus side you should be able to use the nice chain you bought. KFS used to offer a really nice set of working PE binders, I'm not sure if they are still available or not, I bought mine in 2006.

I knew these would be useful someday I've got a few more, and might be able to zoom in and crop to get you better detail on specific areas if needed.

Agree with a new Lowboy if they gave use something to put on it. Cozad seems to be a popular lowboy for dozers around here. They make some big multi-piece trailers that would probably work for some of the larger items discussed. http://www.cozadtrailers.com/en/gallery/

These are pretty nice and much less expensive than I expected. Things like the drawers and shelves are very similar to what I've found in the closet organizer section of a home improvement store and I've found some of the tool organizers that work well. High school wood shop helped me take care of the rest. For someone setting up a new workbench though, a budget of $100 on that site would get them a nice set up. That is my problem, you can give a modeler organizers, but you can't make him organized.

I brush paint a lot when I build other than car models, but usually rattle can car bodies. I do have a couple of examples from " a few" years back when I was just getting back into models. I even used the brush painters bane (Tamiya) on this one for the green color. I really need to finish this one some day, started it around 2003 and the poor thing has sat incomplete for more than a decade.

My favorite was a jar of haunted pickles.

Love the bus from the first photo, that would be a neat project. The second photo is a great shot for detailing the underside, luckily you don't find too many in that condition.