traditional

I've just finished building this '60s Gasser ('62/'63 NHRA rule book) from a destroyed DM diecast Studebaker Starlight Coupe, bought at a toy show for next to nothing. Since it was missing so many parts including bumpers and vent-windows, and had completely broken suspension, my brother and I decided it might make a cool lower class gasser where, in the early '60s, lots of odd-ball vehicles were still competitive in the gasser class. Later on (later '60s) the gas classes were mostly dominated by the lighter and smaller Anglias and '33 Willys, etc. Following the '62/'63 NHRA rule book, this Studey takes advantage of all the weight saving and weight transfer opportunities...fibreglass tilt front end, plexiglass windows, lightweight straight front axle, aluminum interior (with basic lightweight upholstery, 10% engine setback, maximum 'body to ground' clearance allowed (rocker panel no higher than center of rear wheel), and engine height limited by a maximum of 24" from ground to center of crank pulley, etc.,etc. Incidentally, the front axle, steering, and suspension are all fabricated in aluminum, as are the the chassis brackets and traction bars. The complete aluminum interior is also all hand fabricated, as well as all the Chevy engine details....Hilborn injection, headers, wiring, plumbing, fuel lines, etc . Paint is 'candy blue' basecoat/clearcoat, with lettering done in letraset and hand painting.

Hi Geno, Looks like it's going to be a fun build. Glad to see you're getting back to modelling, and also happy to see you're going to use whatever materials are available to make an interesting model. Cliffo

Hey Jeff, That is really cool. As you know, I'm a big fan of using damaged diecasts.....they provide different subject matter and usually make unique and detailed models. That one's going to be particularly interesting.......looking forward to seeing the finished model.

Those are access doors for simple engine maintenance chores....checking oil level (long dipstick), adding water to rad etc. The more serious engine maintenance required the removal of the interior floor panels, and sometimes the seats as well.

Handmade '42 Style GMC 270 Cu In Overhead Valve motor replaces the '38 flathead Six Underside view with truck supported by it's brass rearview mirror...............try that with a plastic mirror !!!

Just a few of the handmade brass and miscellaneous parts Test assembly of raw parts. Note also open air vents and the 6-bolt wheel hubs to replace the DM lighter duty wheels/hubcaps

After at least two months of effort, my brother has just completed this 1/24 scale 1942 three ton GMC COE that uses about 70% scratch built components done in styrene and brass.... the complete tanker body, wider steering axle, bumpers, grille, 270 cu.in. 6 cylinder motor, pumps, hose reels, hydraulic lines, wiring harnesss details, marker lights, directional lights, etc. The basic cab utilized a Danbury 1938 GMC casting but modifications were required to bring the details up to the correct 1942 appearance. The truck represents an urban home heating fuel oil delivery truck and includes the typical right side and rear metered discharge assemblies. Paint is custom mixed basecoat/clearcoat to approximate '42 GMC 'Omaha Orange' with the standard black fenders, and the lettering is model railroad 'letraset' style pressure sensitive lettering These short wheelbase 'cab-over-engine' tankers were used in the prewar and early postwar period because of their maneuverability in the urban and suburban environment where they often had to negotiate laneways behind buildings and homes. Anyone growing up in the '40s or '50s will probably remember the small chain dangling from the rear of tanker trucks as a standard fitting on mid 20th century fuel trucks to eliminate static build-up. My brother fusses with small details such as the scratch rear hubs, for example, made from 11 small pieces each. He has only returned to model building with a passion in the last year or so but I've certainly enjoyed his choices of subject matter, the overall look of his models, and the fidelity of detail. '42 Grille handmade in Brass/ Silver solder

Hi Daniel, Actually all the trucks are done in 'Olive Drab' but in my attempt to lighten the pics so all the detail was shown, I guess the color got washed out a bit. Strangely, they still look green on my screen.

I can't call myself a "military modeller" because I'm only interested in the trucks, and I no longer tend to weather my models.....for some reason I prefer the vehicles to look new and 'FOB the factory'. The Studebaker and the International are scratch-built using wheels/axles from the Italerai and Revell/Russian kits, and the others are modified from various resin kits with added opening doors, tubing exhaust, and poseable steering etc. Some of the resin kits were quite well done with good proportion and mold quality while others were really crude with bubbles, 'short-shots', bad proportion, and missing parts, etc. In all cases, I've added lots of details according to the military truck reference that I've accumulated over the years. Paint on all these models is automotive basecoat with added hardener but no clearcoat.

Hi Nathan, I'm enjoying seeing your various Danburys.....Danbury Mint's models were certainly the pinnacle of 1/24 detailed diecast and I, too, have collected many of them over the years. The custom and hot rod series were particularly well done The 'Dream Truck' , known as the R&C Dream Truck was the project of Spence Murray (of Rod and Custom Magazine) and it's design and build during various itterations were covered in the magazine during the late/mid fifties as it went from one famous custom shop to the next to get modifications done to it. Sadly, it was damaged in a towing accident while on its way to a car show back in the late '50s and its wreck sat fallow for quite a while but, thankfully, it was eventually restored and I believe a clone of the original has also been done. Danbury has been having a lot of trouble with their manufacturing facilities in China lately (closures and labour problems, etc.), and I hope they can regroup, get things sorted out and get back to producing more great 1/24 diecast models soon.

Hi Jim, I actually use two-part real automotive clearcoat (RM DC98) from BASF, sprayed with a 'touch up gun', only because I'm accustomed to using it with my other hobby of restoring our old cars with my brother. It's expensive but it goes a long way and unless there is a minor flaw in the finish that will require rubbing out, it goes on very glossy and stays that way. Since it's a two-part paint (requires a catalyst hardener), it sets up reasonably quickly and can be handled or masked in a day without any problems. I've had no problems with it on either metal or plastic. There are some serious dangers, however, with two-part paints in that they give off iso-cyanate fumes when spraying and must be used with the right safety equipment.....correct respirator mask and good positive ventilation. Fortunately, I have that equipment and I always use it.....I want to be enjoying this hobby for a long time.

I've just finished this modification of an FM '40 Ford pickup (bought cheaply at a toy show because it was missing a few parts and was extremely dusty). I changed the dog-leg doors for discreet hinges, lowered the suspension, swapped in a super-detailed smallblock Chevy engine (wiring, plumbing, tri-carb manifold, fuel lines, linkages mesh filters, PE wing nuts on Cal-Custom valve covers), fabricated a custom interior, lathe-turned a spare tire cover in ABS plastic, swapped in a late-model ford rear axle with aluminum individual-leaf handmade rear transverse spring/shackles etc.,and added a custom tubing dual exhaust (using both polished aluminum as well as polished solder . I also made an opening cowl vent (including mesh), and finished the bed with veneer and aluminum strips. Headlights are simulated lucas flamethrowers in chrome bezels and the tail-lights are handmade tear-drops. Wheels are chromies on wide whites with smooth dog-dish caps. The radiator top-tank is fabricated in polished brass. Paint is custom mixed purple basecoat/clearcoat over a pearl base, the lettering on the spare cover is a combination of hand lettering and modified 'model railroad Letraset', and the hood center trim, windshield splitter, as well as the simulated mylar fender-welting are all done in fine plated wire..

My twin brother, Larry, shares my passion for building models as some of you may know. He has been working on a 1/24 1941 Mack EHT with a tanker trailer since late winter but, after putting it aside for summer outdoor priorities, got back to the model six weeks ago when the extreme summer temperatures made outdoor activities difficult. He has kept me informed of the project with regular photo updates but dropped by a week ago with everything ready for paint...which we promptly applied in my paint booth. The resulting tractor/trailer assembly is now complete. The basic cab structure is derived from a Yatming fire truck but required some proportion and detail modification to be accurate..... including the running boards, chassis, springs, tanks, fifth wheel, steering front beam axle, wiring, complete engine, dashboard, and headliner. The entire tanker trailer and all its details are scratch-built using styrene sheet and soldered brass construction, including side doors/latches, landing gear, lights, ladder, fuel plumbing and valves, tire rack etc. Paint is automotive basecoat/clearcoat with Humbrol, Testors and Tamiya paints used for details. Larry doesn't build many models but he really does a precise, well detailed, well planned and different vehicle when the situation arises. I'm really proud of his effort.

Air conditioning , 1946 style.....windshield swings open from top hinge

I' ve just completed this model of a post war GMC truck using damaged diecast models (inexpensive flea-market finds)as starting material....in this case a DM Chevy pickup, a DM '37 Chevy Budweiser van, and a Yatming GMC fire truck. These models have been in my project bin for some time and were picked up specifically for this kind of project. The idea of doing a GMC rather than a Chevy was simply to make the model as different as possible although it added a significant amount of modelling time and effort. Depending on which plant originally built the GMCs in the '40s, they could be seen with chevy fenders or the more bulbous GMC ones with a small lip on the wheel opening as well as a few rivet details where fender braces were mounted. The latter were the style I chose for this model. Also, many of the GMCs used a different style of wheel from the Chevys that used more openings and, fortunately, the Yatming fire truck supplied the basics for those wheels, although they had to be thinned considerably at the openings to look more realistic. Mirrors were fabricated in aluminum and the brake lines were done using fine malleable wire. The basic Budweiser simple box- van was cut down and modified to make the open truck body, with the lower skirting done in styrene and the top hoops done in brass. The larger size 270" GMC engine (from the Yatming) was modified with a more detailed carb/filter, linkages, fuel line, coil, heater lines, tubing exhaust, etc. Paint is custom mixed basecoat/clearcoat to approximate 1946 GMC Omaha Orange, and the fenders are the standard GMC black. The rolled up tarp was done by cutting out an appropriate sized swatch of thin cloth, dipping it into a thinned solution of white wood glue and water, rolling it up while it was wet and letting it dry over a plastic faximile of the front edge of the truck body.

Although the rim size is the same, the tire diameter is just a hair over 1 1/8'

Sure, I don't have a 1/25 similar Japanese truck so this isn't 'apples to apples', but it's a reasonable comparison of two 1 ton trucks....one in 1/25 and the other in 1/32.

Hi Jeff, How are you these days? Unfortunately for most truck guys, these kits are 1/32. It seems that 1/32 is a truck kit standard in Japan. These Arii kits do come up from time to time on Ebay and don't seem to command the same high prices as the Aoshima ones.

Rim Diameter is approx. 3/4 inch (between 18 and 19 MM) Total wheel/tire diam. is approx. 1 3/8 inches. Note: these dimensions are done with a metal rule and not with a Vernier, so they may be off by a few thou.

I just buy and build what I like....in any scale. My collection is all over the map in both origin and scale.

This resort/island tour bus is made using an old Arii kit of an early Isuzu school bus (or small town bus). Since most ex-British resort islands still use right hand drive vehicles (usually Japanese now), I decided to custom make a shuttlebus version using my own graphic ideas. Paint and graphics are all done in custom mixed lacquer (lots of masking and waiting) with Letraset used for wording. Fine black lines are done with a 'tech-pen and permanent black ink, with a light coat of clear lacquer to protect it all. The front fender mirrors are done in soldered brass to replace the overly thick original plastic parts.