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This one was yet another Street Rodder magazine Modeler's Corner how-to, focusing on kitbashing a "phantom" Model A SuperCab DRW fifth wheel trailer towing rig. The orange graphics came from yet another Revell kit decal sheet designed by the late Brian Bordon, while the charcoal gray paint was from the Testors Car Colors paint rack and those deeply tinted (actually, opaque) windows were unexposed camera film. This one was never finished in that there's no engine or interior (yet) and the chassis, derived from a 1/32 scale semi-tractor kit, was a bit crude in its design. I was also never fully pleased with the paint, but I didn't want to redo it, nor bury it in a bunch of clearcoat. Will it be finished? Given that it has existed in this state for just about exactly 30 years now, probably not, but never say never....meanwhile, thanks for checkin' her out! TIM

The Bench Seat is from the Ranger 80's pickup. I fab'd my own backing for the seat too. You can see the front leafs I already added to make the frame HD with styrene parts. I felt that the original cross member on the f250 frame was the perfect height to set the front axle on to keep the 4x4 height so I just added the cross member from the F150 shortbox on top and used the dremel tool. The F250 Floor box, see the cut out for the on the side of the hump for the 4x4 shifter I made plus the hole to position the 5spd shifter. Clutch was added after this. all Suspension and shafts setup -glued, custom rear shocks, notice the drop down pieces for the rear leafs on the side of the frame to help add the lift. I added Ranger pick up rear axle hubs so I could use the inner wheels for that kit. You can't see it but I added a button on the left corner of the floor just under the steering wheel you can make out a round dark blur, its for the floor switch high beams. The decals of the dash gauges and ac/heat/radio, I created in photoshop from brochure images I fixed up from the internet. If you look close on the right hand side that is an XLT Lariat decal on the dash. Power windows/doors-buttons are painted. I added the spare tire from the shortbox kit which looked like the original stock road tire it came with and the standard f250 rim. Not painted just removed the chrome.I had to make my own spare tire holder -broke the original, this one fits with the hitch in place. Notice I moved the steering on top after realizing where it should be, connected that to the steering box I custom made with a shaft from the Offroad f150. Below you can see the wires I added to make it more realistic, I had to use internet images of engine bays to figure out what should be there. Its not 100% accurate but it works. Decals added like oil and washer fluid. I wasn't sure on the battery wire so I just lined it to the firewall. Yes I added a dipstick for the oil after I had assembled everything which took some patient. You barely see it but there is a steering shaft going to the firewall just under the air box intake hoses. She barely fits on the bigger deluxe display case from AMT. The End. The time it took to make this was long in my book but it was worth it. Thanks- Mark