Maindrian Pace

I went to Hobbytown Gilbert a couple of weeks ago with a list of detail parts for them to order, Detail Master and Pegasus mostly. They didn't have distributors for any of that stuff, so I had to order it through the Detail Master website. I would have preferred giving the cash to the LHS, but not an option. I did buy some paint and the latest Model Cars magazine there, however. -MJS

Thanks Ben, I think I know where a few of those are. -MJS

Great idea, and already done. Wheels: The Modelhaus dually wheels are modified Chevy duallie snapper/promo from the early '90s. They are pretty generic, so they will work just fine here. Their tires are Goodyear Wrangler ATs, identical to the Explorer kit tires, but with an enlarged I.D. to fit the wheels. Cast in black rubber, and nice. Why am I not using the Monogram duallie wheels? They are too small for 1:24, even a bit on the small side in 1:25, and the Modelhaus wheels are about 1.5mm larger, so they have the right look. One thing they do lack is lug nut detail, and something had to be done about that. I went to my local model train shop and asked the guy if he had plastic nuts/bolts molded on a tree, and he took me to a display of metal hardware, all too big. He said he didn't have the plastic nuts, so I looked around and found them on a wall about ten feet away. They had several sizes, so I picked these. Just right I think, and for three bucks, you get ninety six of them. You'll be in lug nuts for quite some time. I drilled the wheels and tried a lug in one: I then cut all four wheels down to faces to use the Monogram wheel backs so the truck would roll. -MJS

Casey, from what I can tell by looking at local trucks, the '92-'93s had the adjustable headrests on the XL, and the '95-'96 and '97 heavy duty had the non-adjustable. Don't know about the '94s. I thought about changing the upholstery pattern to the plain pleated, but I may not go that far on the interior. Roger, the 460 has been mocked up a few times, and it will sit a little bit forward of where the 351 sits. Fan clearance is going to be sketchy, I may have to get creative there. I have an AMT short box F-150 kit, and I want to build it as a hunter green 4x4 with a set of big Satco tires, or stock tires with black steelies. I wonder which old Bronco kit has the best 4x4 parts for the conversion? Probably the MPC unless the Monogram 1:24 can be used. -MJS

Small block in a 6k lb tow truck? Not. Whenever you saw one of these beasts in the wild, it almost always had a 454 in it. -MJS

Ronnie, Sounds like a great idea. But the thing you may find with the promo chassis is that you won't be able to get the ride height up far enough, because of the rigid axles through the one piece chassis. It already looks like a lowered F-150, too low for an F-350. If it doesn't bother you, you could make tabs to mount the axles below the suspension/rear end, which wouldn't break the unwritten curbside rules as far as I know. -MJS

No kidding. I really miss those days. -MJS

Hopefully it won't be a big deal to reverse that front suspension. -MJS

It's actually an AMT 1:25 bed with Monogram 1:24 fenders to turn the AMT truck into a duallie. The wheels are from the Monogram kit, but the tires are completely different; they look like nice 6 or 8 ply truck tires, and I could use seven for a project of mine. -MJS

This is an AAM dually bed and wheels they offered way back when, long out of production. Does anyone know what the tires are? Does Ma's Resin have them? -MJS

A crummy day here in Phoenix. Gray, rainy, dark, cold, (by our standards at least) and a perfect day for model building. Removed the console from the seat, and sanded off the corduroy looking upholstery texture. The interiors of these are very plain, no need for flocking with the color keyed vinyl floor mat instead of carpeting. I was running into a styrene wall trying to fit the humongous 1:24 460/E4OD in place of the little 1:25 351W/AOD combo: Until I got an idea: swap the deeper Monogram cross member on the AMT frame, thus allowing the engine to sit deeper and the suspension to sit higher at the same time. I love two-fers. That's looking more manageable. The duallie rear end and leaf springs were a near perfect fit to the AMT chassis, I made styrene tabs to mount the springs and lift blocks to get the rear end up. All pretty basic so far. -MJS

Mainly Plasticote and Duplicolor sprays, but also body shop leftovers shot with an air brush. Get friendly with the body shop painter, and you can get all sorts of small quantities of paint to experiment with. The scale differences will come into play in a few areas for sure, but I'm not worried about the rear axle width because the Modelhaus bed is closer to 1:24 scale. It's a substantial brick of resin. -MJS

On my screen, it almost looks like Petty blue. I like it, I can picture it plain or with Gulf livery. -MJS

I've posted several of my builds here, but they have been from 20 years ago or longer. To mark a return from a long absence in the hobby, I decided to build something that I never did before, and to use kits and many aftermarket parts that I've had collecting dust for about as long. I've always built cars, almost never trucks, and I had these two Fords in the stash that I bought new, when they came out. Both the AMT F-150 and the Monogram F-350 dually are very nice kits that represent the real trucks well, but neither are really that interesting in box stock form. The '92-'96 is my favorite Ford truck body style ever, I like duallies, and the old standby Modelhaus service body is still available, so... Try to come up with something similar to that. One of those vehicles that you see 20 of every day, but never notice. Not a model of a particular truck, details and company logos to be determined later. I'll choose a company that I like. The first thing to do is make the fancy Lariat trim AMT cab into a plain-jane base model work truck. Shave and block sand the side trim off: Shave the bumper smooth and remove the air dam from it: And fill the bed slots on the back of the cab. This will be invisible, but I was on a roll. Since I build real cars too, this will be painted almost entirely with automotive paints that I've come to like using on my 1:1 projects. Next step: Monogram suspension, rear end, and drive train into the AMT chassis. -MJS

If it's a '95-'96 truck 351, it'll be a roller block (with a non-roller cam) that can be easily retrofitted with the roller parts from a 5.0 HO. Been there, done that, went sideways a short time later. -MJS

Amazing! -MJS

The four lug wheels are really throwing me. -MJS

Nice. I have one, and that puts a new spin on it. -MJS

One of my favorite JoHan tools, because GM Colonnade cars are so rare in scale. Nice job on the saves. -MJS

Anyone ever fix the windshield angle issue on one of those? -MJS

That would be a phantom, '58 Roundup was the only Edsel 2dr wagon. -MJS

Pegasus makes nice redline stickers too, and you get three sets in a pack. -MJS

Thanks Doc, not mine though - a gift from Google image search. Someday, mine should look as good. -MJS

They may not be very accurate, but they do look nice when built. -MJS

New Super Duty F350 1977-1978 Thunderbird 1978-1979 Dodge Magnum XE 1977-1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham 1977 Pontiac Can Am -MJS