Aaronw

I'm glad I ordered when I did, he had some nice stuff. I hope it is just a case of going offline and selling word of mouth instead of through the website.

The DS was pretty advanced for the time, aerodynamic, power steering, power brakes, auto transmission, and a hydraulic self levelling suspension which are pretty unusual for the 1950s. Like many advanced cars the reliability left much to be desired.

I kind of thought who ever threw out Willys as the first SUV meant the Willys wagon from the late 40s-1950s, not the 1/4 ton Jeep. I think Chevy gets the credit for first with their Suburban which appeared in the late 30s, I think Willys and Dodge are the first to offer a real 4x4 "SUV" in the modern form, Chevy didn't offer the Suburban with 4x4 until the mid 50s. If SUV just translates into 4x4 car / light duty truck Dodge was building their 1/2 ton (later 3/4 ton) 4x4 trucks to the Army a year or two before the 1/4 ton Jeep was introduced. I'll give my plug for the Ford C series truck, built from 1957 to 1990 and used for everything from delivery trucks to semi tractors and fire engines.

I'm out of town for most of the next two weeks but when I get home I'll organize my notes and photos.

Wow, I saw you getting started on this but missed a lot in between. I think you have out done your usual high standard of work. If it needs a stablemate I recently took a ton of photos and got measurements off of an O-11A.

I've only bought a few items from them, but I was impressed that they took the time to make sure I was getting exactly what I needed, and not just buying some stuff without knowing it was the right stuff.

You would be better off going with someone who can print them for you on an ALPS printer for that stuff. There are a few custom printers out there and while the price looks steep at first it is actually not bad when you factor in your learning curve and cost of materials. This is one guy I used a few years back. http://www.diecastanddecals.com/ He has taken a break to catch up on his workload, but he did nice work. There are others out there, although I haven't used them.

Another trick I've found for bending tubing is to support the bend with an object the diameter of the bend, like a wood dowel or piece of plastic rod. You can just carefully bend the tubing around this piece and for whatever reason it prevents getting that kink you get if you do the same thing unsupported. I'm also a big fan of 5 min epoxy. I did the handrails on this truck that way.

You can just paint the decal film then use clear film for any printing you need on it. I did this by accident (I grabbed the Testors Chrome instead of clear ) and it looked great.

Whats to laugh at, the flatbed looks good, and its always great to see someone giving scratchbuilding a shot. I'll warn you though, once you try it you will start looking for stuff you can add to kits. We might find you building a Corvette flatbed next time.

Usually the best bet is just ask here, it seems like no matter how obscure somebody will have the answer. For me I'll usually start with the headlights, if they are round then it is probably pre-1980 (ish). Although that is not always the case, it still works for most trucks. There is also a pretty noticable change in truck styling in the early 60s. I find it is fairly easy to look at a truck and divide them into pre-1960s (cab overs usually have a hump in the front, conventionals have more of a 1950s pickup truck styling), 1960s-1970's (look like a modern truck with round headlights) and 1980 or newer. If you are dealing with plastic semi truck kits it is pretty safe to assume it is not any earlier than 1968-69, so all you have to do is decide if it is from the late 1960s / 1970s or is it newer (1980s +). Probably 80% of the AMT/Ertl kits are of 1970 something trucks, Italeri and Revell of Germany are usually 1980s +. Of course there are some like the Ford C that look pretty much the same whether it is 1957 or 1987.

Probably time to bump this thread up again, it has many of the truck motor colors and factory colors used by some of the truck manufacturers. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2453&hl=truck motor colors&st=0

This is kind of a neat site with vintage commercial truck door art, that may help with ideas. http://www.pbase.com/czechman/door_art

You brought that up before and I still agree with you that most of the model companies really fail to take advantage of the internet. Two recent exceptions: Eduard a mostly WW1 aircraft model manufacturer from the Czech Republic now puts the instructions, and full color painting guides online. Now a modeler can see the instructions to get a feel for the kit prior to buying it, can print the instructions if they lose the ones in the kit, they can also see the paint schemes in color instead of the typical grey scale found in most kits. Italeri has recently put a request on their website asking people to give them the models they would like to see as well as asking questions about their current models (most recent Italeri purchase, favorite Italeri model etc).

Another neat option for the '50 Ford would be a Ranger, Ford's limited production answer to the Chevy Suburban and Dodge Carryall.

Ed, these old gas stations are always neat. George, was the Stingray the 5 speed bike with a bananna seat and a car like shifter on the crossbar?

Not really interested in the giant pickup thing but I'd go for the second one, as the cab should be the same as the 7400 I have at work.

Thanks, I've bought quite a few of the RMR cabs over the years and I completely missed that.

Ron Andrews is RMR, I don't recall seeing that cab available from him, but I'll give you the link anyway. If you like old trucks you'll probably see somthing you'll like. http://www.freewebs.com/rmrresin If you find out who makes that cab, please let me know, I'd take one myself.

Looks like a nice color combination for the truck.

No problem, I just hope I get my order in before the rush. I just found his reply to my email from awhile back, saying they were ready to order. It had gotten stuck in my anti-spam folder, stupid computer lets real spam through then hides the good stuff.

Thanks, the Attempt 1 looks kind of neat too.

Keith does a great 1950s GMC Cannonball too.

Arrrrg when did they change the date, when I checked in December NNL West was going to be in mid March this year. Oh, well I won't have to figure out how to squeeze it between trips to Humboldt and Sacramento now.

I just read your comment about no exhaust, that seems to defeat the point unless you are going to paint outside. I didn't see anything about a charcoal filter (and at the cost listed I don't think it would have one) all its going to do is catch the over spray, you would still stink up the place.