Maindrian Pace

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

Outrageous! What proportions, and there should be a stance hall of fame for nailed stances like that. I'd change nothing, -MJS

The explanation among some manufacturers and collectors in the '80s was that it was a popular scale among European collectors, because they lived in small houses and apartments which had limited space for collections of larger models. You can have a pretty big collection of 1:43 cars on a multi shelf wall unit or display case. This drove the selection of sometimes very obscure subjects, not to mention that nicely detailed 1:43 cars can be quite exquisite and jewell-like. -MJS

Thanks Chuck. Here's another one from the Wayback Machine. '69 Kitty was built a looooong time ago, (25+ years) from the AMT/Matchbox issue Cougar street machine. This issue didn't contain stock parts, had a hole in the hood, and period-goofy decals. I convertible-ized it, top boot is modified '50 Ford, Made the top side wells, sun visors from the parts box, wire wheels from the '65 Riv kit, rubber Pirelli tires from a Porsche kit, ( I think) and an MPC Cobra jet scoop was the perfect shape to hide the hood hole. This was also the first of many AMT Mustangs and Cougars that got the then-new Monogram '65 Mustang engine compartment that fits so nicely in these kits. I replaced the kit supplied Boss 429 with a 428 Cobra Jet, and lowered it slightly. It was a fun build back when no plan existed, you just sort of let things take shape as you went. -MJS

Really cool, like a Ford version of the Jensen FF (Ferguson Formula) Interceptor. -MJS

Thanks Tony, I wish I had a cheapie diorama or background scene to photograph against. For now, the hood of a car in the back yard is what stands in. -MJS

They are all beautiful, and I like unusual Mustangs so the IIs and the McLaren caught my eye first. Fantastic. -MJS

My AMT original (and only) issue '67 and '68. Both restored from built ups, the '67 was decent, but the '68 was a glue bomb requiring some special attention. The '68 was done semi-promo style, the '67 in a factory color single stage. I have a built MPC '70 that I'll probably do here as an Eliminator. -MJS