Ron Hamilton Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 Earlier this year, another modeler sent me a Chevy pickup. It needed the front suspension, a tail lamp, an engine, and a new paint job. The previous build was pretty neat, ad this was not a glue bomb when I got it, it just needed some T.L.C.. After I stripped the paint from the body and interior, I had to find an appropriate suspension set up. My original plan was to take an AMT 1984 GMC 4x4, and appropriate the entire chassis and fleet side pickup bed, along with a 3" lift kit, and some Formula Desert Dog Tires on Aluminum Slots. When I was going through the parts box, I thought of a truck that was at a dealership I worked for. It was an absolutely loaded short bed step side 1990 Chevy Silverado 2 -Wheel Drive Pickup, that was factory ordered for a customer, but the deal fell through. The odd thing about the truck was that it had the standard issue blackwall skinny radials with white steel wheels, and dog dish caps. The manager stated that the original customer had a speed shop, and he was going to install a set of 15x8 American 200S Aluminum Wheels, mounted on an appropriate size Radial TA tires. THe vehicle eventually sold as it sat. I decided to go the 2-wheel drive route, as I like them, and I have plenty of 4-wheel drive model kits to build. I found some parts from a Revell '72 Olds Cutlass Convertible that could work, namely the front suspension set up, and the custom wheels and tires. with a little trimming, the suspension unit fit the chassis, and the project rolled right along. I had some tail lamp lenses from an aborted mid 90's Corvette, so I made up a set of bezels that fit the bed. The engine was a hodge-podge of parts from a MPC '78 Camaro (454/Turbo 400) I fitted under the hood. I had some Testors Black lacquer for the exterior, with Testors' Leather Brown Acrylic for the interior. The wood in the bed is some Fireball Designs' Wood decals I had left over from my 1960 Ford project. I did the slats with Bare Metal. The CHEVROLET letters on the tail gate were there when I polished the paint off of the white styrene. I think it worked out pretty good. Unbuilt, these kits are pretty scarce, and expensive. I have an unbuilt '80 4-wheel drive Chevy Pickup to tackle in the future. I love pickups, and have several to build. I have to re-paint the hood, as it has a blemish on it, but overall. I am happy with the build. I did not make any additional investment in this model. I used what I had. In hindsight, I would have painted it Red, with a Black Interior, just like a 1987 Chevy Pickup demo I had. I still like this body style. Maybe I will paint the next one Red.
kilrathy10 Posted October 11, 2015 Posted October 11, 2015 Nice work, my man.....This is a good looking truck.....I built one of these a long time ago.....I like the black....Looks pretty awesome, but I think it would look even better with a set of mirrors, though....But over all....Looks awesome....
Ron Hamilton Posted October 11, 2015 Author Posted October 11, 2015 Nice work, my man.....This is a good looking truck.....I built one of these a long time ago.....I like the black....Looks pretty awesome, but I think it would look even better with a set of mirrors, though....But over all....Looks awesome....I agree about the mirrors. I am going to add a set when I re-paint the hood.
disabled modeler Posted October 11, 2015 Posted October 11, 2015 Looks very nice Ron... I have one of those old MPCs I built as a kid yet.
Atmobil Posted October 11, 2015 Posted October 11, 2015 Very nice, I like it. The wheels actually suit it very well and in my eyes they look better on the bigger truck than the model they come from
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now