gasser59

If there weren't pictures documenting this, I would have said that this wouldn't be humanly possible. Now the bar has been set and its really high. Thanks for documenting your build Clay. Sheer awesomeness!!

Well, I've tried to be patient but I'd like to know just how many awards and accolades this work of art took home. Ken - do you consider this one done and complete? Seems there is always more that could be done to a dio.

Oh this is going to be good. Are you planning on any vehicles, palm trees or anything else at the street level to give a sense of scale?

OK guys, I know its been a bit of time in coming but I was finally able to work out the details of the functioning hinges and one of the doors is done. As mentioned above, the actual hinges are made from printing plate wrapped around piano wire. This wire was bent into an 'L' and drilled into the body. That part was easy. I didn't want much of the hinge to show when the doors were mounted up so I had to make a door liner out of two different thicknesses of sheet styrene. The inside one is from .015" and notched out for the hinge and the outside one is .025" and not notched out to cover up the hinges and notches. This also keeps the doors from falling off in the closed position when the final truck build is moved around. Not knowing just how often and where its going to end up, the SLM diorama will be moved around and shipped different places for display. Showing open door and hinges. Showing open door and hinges with the two door liners hiding hinge bases. Door in closed position. Next up is the other side with a horizontal door. It may get an arm/brace to help support it. I'll figure that out once the hinges are complete. Thanks for following along.

I can't think of a better reason to not be at the bench. Enjoy every moment with him, as they go so quickly. BTW - what program did you use to render up those awesome looking samples? Looks like Adobe Illustrator.

Phenominal...exquistie...breathtaking...I could go on but you get the idea.

I don't think I've ever seen one of this out of the box and it looks like a highly detailed kit. Plus, you're doing it justice and even improving on it. So can you tell me about the front of a motorcycle that I see in your last pic? Can you post a pic or two of that and let me know where it came from?

What can I say that hasn't already been said except that you keep pushing the envelope on all these little details John and I'm blown away.

This continues to get better and better just like a thriller and you think its over, another twist jumps out at you and in you're just as hooked as before.

Daltono - those wheels look killer. Jim does some fantastic work. Highly recommend.

What he said x 2.

I'd say you're becoming a Body Man Brett. Looking good.

I just can't get enough of this sweet build. I'll be along for as long as it takes. You're making great progress Bill and I appreciate it you taking the time and effort to share this with us. Having Jerry along is an added benefit.

My vote is for the Duster. Do it justice and get it finished.

Very nice work John. Another great build of yours in the works. I like to see the use of sheet metal. What are you using for this?

Congrats Hal. I know a local guy that has a number of kits so I'll contact him and see if he can come up with any. I'll let you know.

Thanks guys. Updates will be slow in coming this week as I'm training a new owner who's opening a store in Goodyear. Stay tuned and thanks for following along.

Simply gorgeous. I love everything about it Darryl especially the paint job. What's next?

John - PM sent.

As promised, here's a few progress pics. As you can see, one access door on each side of the hauler will be opening up for display purposes. The right side has the non-functioning doors glued in place and am still working on the driver's side. For the hinges, I'm using printing plate rolled around 0.25" steel piano wire which will be bent and attached to the body of the hauler. The actual doors are 0.15" syrene glued to an inner portion which is 0.26" and small enough to fit inside the door opening. Hope that makes sense. More on the hinges and doors later once I actually get one mounted. Thanks for following along and comments welcome.

Cool ride Darryl. I can help you out with door and fender artwork but I don't have any way of printing them. I'd love to see you build this of your 1:1 car and will gladly contribute. So do you just need the Mster Twister and DR MotorSports done? I have this body so I can get them done to the correct size.

Thanks guys. I especially like the Tommy Ivo truck pic. I've seen this before but didn't realize it was the Dodge L-700 cab that was used for this. BTW - this kit is still available and I found it on Amazon. Its the truck, flat bed trailer and a '40 Ford. I didn't get the box since I got it from one of the SLM guys who kept the car but here's a pic from the web. I've gotten a bit more done on this and I'll post some pics later this morning. Its slow going but its progressing.

Thanks for following along Bart. I appreciate your interest and input.

Hi Tor - this is quite an undertaking and one that should be completed as its quite unusual. Last year at one of the local contests, I saw on of these built up as a stock Topolino and the guy used a Revell '34 Ford model for the fenders. You know theone. Its the one that is completely undersized and almost looks like a 1/32 scale kit. It actually came out quite good. I know you've used bug fenders for yours but I thought I would throw this out there. Good luck and I'm not enough of a body man to help you with this one.

Not to worry Jonathan. SLM is the Straight Line Modelers group.