Aaronw

The South East US and Canada use Bombadiers for firefighting. I'm not that familiar with them as far as the style of track, but it is certainly a possibility.

You might be putting it on too thick. I have rarely had that happen but when it has I usually have been rushing and decided that was the reason. Ideally I will put down a half dozen mist coats over 30-40 minutes (a new coat every 5-10 minutes). These are very light coats, the first coat or two won't even fully cover the primer.

I use Krylon, Plasticote, Duplicolor and Rustolium quite often and have never had an issue. I don't spray paint plastic without primer as I've run into issues of the plastic "grain" showing through the paint on occasion (particularly with the Krylon Fusion). That never happens if I prime first, besides a nice primer coat sanded smooth leads to a better color coat. Krylon apparently is an odd formula (sort of a laquer but not exactly from what Ive heard) which dries much faster than the other brands. I generally use Krylon red/brown, grey or white primer depending on the color going over the primer (it does make a difference). Strangely I've found white seems to go over grey primer better than white, but the white is good to put under bright colors. I have not had any problems putting the other brands of paint over the Krylon primer. I use Future floor wax for a gloss coat and it can make flat black gloss, so I don't worry too much about whether a paint is satin or gloss, it will be gloss when I'm done with it. I do try not to use flat unless I want it flat though, as I find the flat paints go down a little rougher so take more work at the polishing stage.

I've only seen the box art, so I wasn't sure if the load was actually included. Probably wishful thinking but it would be nice if the Texaco truck included some repair equipment like a service truck would carry, or even better a tow boom set up. Round 2 has added some small bits to some of the reissues haven't they or has that just been Revell?

Something like the '39 Chevy could probably be done with the Orange Blossom Special kit. The altered cab wouldn't be a problem for a drag racer. The OBS is based on a 1937 Chevy so a little different but it would be the same general idea.

There are kits for the 1934 (AMT/Lindberg) and 1937 (Revell) Ford trucks you could start with if those years are close enough for you. The frame and springs can be scratchbuilt fairly easily from styrene strip or you could use one of the Italeri Opel Blitz kits for the frame and wheels with a little modification. the Blitz was a German WW2 1.5 ton cargo truck first built in the late 1930s. Opel was connected to GM in the 1930s so the Blitz shares many features with American trucks of the time making that kit popular for 1930-40-50s Ford or GM truck kit bash projects. I narrowed the stake bed from the AMT Ford C cab for a 1937 Ford 1.5 ton flatbed I was building because I had several in my parts box, but a flat bed is an easy scratchbuild project. There may be a resin 35-36 Ford out there but I'm not aware of one. Dencon has a couple different wheels / tires you could use if you decide not to use the Blitz kit for the running gear. http://www.denconresin.com/classictruck.html

That is pretty neat. It looks like the Mobious kit has a fairly accurate snowcat suspension / tracks, I never would have thought of looking to that kit for parts, but now I have some ideas floating around my head. Yellowstone has a Ford F-350 ambulance set on some tracks like that for use in the winter.

I have had the Porkchop Express on my to do list for several years. Big Trouble in Little China is a favorite of mine, it's kind of cheesy but it knows it is which makes it all right. I'm really surprised that no one has mentioned the Mack from The Road Warrior, I would think that would be a fairly straight forward build with the AMT Mack R and Revell tanker. Of course there would be a fair amount of scratchbuilding involved and you would need to make it a righthand drive to be completely accurate. There are diecast and resin GMC Cannonballs out there so you could do the truck from the 1950s TV show Cannonball.

I would have guessed you would get the answers you are getting, its a bit like asking custom car builders why they don't weather. The subjects are usually well cared for and the builders don't have a lot of practice weathering. Personally I am much more comfortable doing fairly heavy weathering like you would find on heavy equipment or armor, than the subtle weathering you would find on most semis. Like many I will do some weathering on the greasy bits, but usually leave the cab nice and clean.

Nice to see a production 2010 Camaro, I really don't like the look of the prototype the other kits are based on, but the cars on the road don't look bad (I think they opened up the grill area on the production cars which apparently makes a big difference). It's great to see Round 2 is still bringing us 2 or 3 semis each year, I've been wanting to get the Kenworth Cabover but ebay prices on them have been rather steep so . I assume the Texaco '50 Chevy is just the 1950 pickup with Texaco decals? I wonder if it will include any goodies, I think the Coca-cola version included some extra parts for a Coke machine and related goodies.

I'd be interested in seeing the engine shots. I've just been planing on using the Superduty air cleaner and the truck related accessories (air compressor etc) on the smaller engines to give them a truck look, but I don't know that it would be anything close to accurate. I've got some outside shots of a few junk yard C cabs one from '59 and another from the mid 60s. The owner let me wander around and take some photos, but I didn't want to push my luck asking to climb around and open stuff up, so focused on stuff like the badging, dual headlights etc. Would people be interested in decals for the other than 1968-90 badging? I know PE would probably be preferred by most but the badging is only about 1/4" deep in 1-1 which would only be about 0.01" thick in 1/25 so it seems like decals could work and would certainly be easier to make. The C cab was so popular with fire apparatus builders that Icongrafix has a book called Ford fire engines, all of their other titles focus on a particular builder (American LaFrance, Seagrave etc), not the chassis.

The Jada plastic kits are fairly basic but offer interesting subjects and are tough enough to hold up to being played with. I built the Speed Racer Mach 5 and Mach 6 with my son last year (or maybe it was 2 years ago) which would have made him 8 or 9 at the time. They were well within his ability to build minus a few spots that took adult finger strength to get snapped in place. They are prepainted so can be left as is, or detailed out as desired. The only thing I didn't care for was they have stickers instead of decals. I don't know how available these kits are now (I actually got them at Target) but they are pretty neat models if you can find them.

I'm another C cab geek, I got my commercial license behind the wheel of a 1970 Ford C / L.N. Curtis fire engine so have a soft spot for them too. The AMT kits are a bit of a hodgepodge (boxed as a C600 or C900, actually marked as a C800, and provided with the motor used in the C900), but it has a ton of potential. The C cab was the most successful US commercial truck ever built, 33 years of production with only minor changes. Besides FWD and Mack, the truck was also sold badged as a Mercury truck in Canada until 1968. FWD used a licensed cab from Ford, but the Mack N only used the body panels, the cab interior was all Mack and is quite different from the interior of Ford cabs, in particular it has a large hump in the middle of the cab floor. As Dave mentioned Thibauldt also based one of their fire apparatus cabs on the C cab. Walter also used the cab for some of their trucks. It was available with the following wheelbases 99, 111, 135, 153, 175 and 206". The tandem axle trucks were available with a 135, 153 or 161" wheelbase. There is a huge variety of engine options for the truck. The Super Duty motor in the kit was only used on the C900+ (at one point the truck was available from C500 to C1100). The 370 and 429 was used from 1979-90. A better choice for C-600-C800 would be the Ford FE series (300, 330, 360 and 390) which was used from 1964 through the late 70s (beefed up for truck use as the FT series in 300, 330, 361, and 391 cid). Most of these are available in kits with slight modification (air cleaner and such). The C600 came standard with a 240 or 300 cid I-6 until 1979. Diesels became available in 1963, but they were odd engines, a couple of small Ford of UK diesels and a short lived Cummins. In 1968 Caterpiller started supplying Ford with Diesel engines, the 3208 in the Ford Louisville kit will work in the C cab (the 3208 wasn't used until 1975, but is apparently very similar in appearance to the diesels used 1968-74). An 8.2 liter Detroit Diesel was available for the lighter trucks from 1981-87. The pre 1964 trucks used Y block V8s from 272-332 cid, again these are similar to the engines Ford used in their passenger cars. The C500-600 came standard with a 223 or 262 cid I-6.

This might be helpful http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30187

Tractors and trailers are not always a matched set, so it is not at all unusual to have decades of difference between them. My brother was working for a company a few years ago that was still using trailers built in the 1960s. The tractors themselves can also be run a long time, and are easily upgraded with new motors etc, so you are right it would not be unlikely to see 30-40 year old truck on the road particularly in service with a small company or independant owner operator. There was a good thread with a lot of photos of old car haulers posted earlier this year, but I can't seem to find it. I can't speak for everything Matt makes, but I have been happy with the items I have bought. The 337 Rouge truck motor was the latest and it is a very nice looking motor.

I picked one up on ebay earlier this year. I haven't built it yet, but it looks like a really nice kit. I just hope the fit is good because there are a lot of tiny parts in the box.

No kidding, I remember going to some discount store with my grandmother and getting some models from a cheap bin (mid 70s so probably $0.50 or $1). They were models of endangered species, a Komodo Dragon, Mountain Gorilla and a California Condor. That is what this world needs, a new tool Komodo Dragon kit. Actually they were kind of neat, I wouldn't mind finding the set to build as an adult.

The AMT 1960 Chevy pickup has an I-6 (235?).

They also include a chart like that on the back of the sheet plastic package, which is very handy because how often do you actually remember to bring your handy size chart with you when you go to the hobby shop.

Check the phone book for plastic fabricators near you, many will have things like small display cases for sale, or will make one for a reasonable cost. In California TAP Plastic is one you can get display cases from. Something like this football case might work for you. http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=302& You also might be able to use a small fishtank, this could even provide its own light. If you are handy with wood, it is not hard to make a nice looking case using glass or plexi supported with wood corners.

Yep, I was like you, and always looked at sprue cutters as luxury items for those who didn't know what to spend their money on. I finally bought one in a discount bin at a local shop, and I'd never give it up, it is by far the most used tool I own.

I understand the frustration having been on both ends of builds that just fade away. However, don't you think a post build log kind of defeats the point of most WIP? The best ones are educational, either the builder being given a helpful tip with a technique they are not comfortable with, or the readers who frequently ask for more info (and photos). It is pretty hard to go back and take a few more photos of a part that was completed a month earlier or to use that neat new trick, fix that kit error etc after its all done. How often have you finished a kit only to have someone point out an error in the kit that would have been easy to fix at the right stage. I guess it depends on what you expect from a WIP post.

Mwahahahahahaha, my plans for forum domination are nearly complete.

I've bought several breakaway retracting knives for $0.99 from the impulse buy rack at hardware stores.

Did Hogan ever actually have a Jeep in the show? He was in a German POW camp, I wouldn't expect to see any Jeeps. I always assumed AMT took an existing kit and tried to jump on the band wagon of a popular show. As far as the original question there have been multiple models released for MASH and Tour of duty but I doubt many were cars. AMT did the A-team van. Ah, nevermind I see Matt got it, I didn't see it the first time.