maxwell48098 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I'm going to date myself here, but my first big truck kit was the phantom AMT tractor and trailer produced in the early '60's. The model and image shown aren't mine, but this one was a local show last month. The first regular big rig kit that I built was the 1969 issued IMC kit 118 Dodge L700 tractor. The funny thing about this is that I didn't build it as a stock tractor, but instead built it as a box van using half of the IMC trailer kit for the box, and Plastruct to lengthen the frame and aluminum tube for the longer prop shaft. I still have this one after rebuilding it in 1974 to repair damage from a house move. My absolute oldest truck build was built in 1960 from original AMT kit 125 1925 Ford Model T double kit. I never glued the turtle deck with spare tire or pickup box onto that kit, so I could swap it out when I played with it. The picture shown of the car is the 1960 kit, while the roadster pickup is one I built strictly as a pickup around 1970. A.J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonye66 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Ive been a car builder for most of my life. Ive had 2 and 3 of seemingly every car kit imaginable. I finally got bit by the truck bug about 2 years ago. I built a K123 and loved every minute of it. Have been buying strictly trucks ever since..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le_marbrier Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 My first truck kit was the AMT-Matchbox MACK Cruise Liner. A kit that was given to me. Not a real success. Should rebuild it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 my first truck kit was the California hauler with the sleeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1959scudetto Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 When I re-started building in 1982, I bought the first truck kit: amt/Matchbox Peterbilt 359 wrecker - I brush-painted it in blue and yellow and still have it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59 Impala Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 My first truck kit was the AMT 61 Chevy pickup (which I still have), but the first big truck was the IMC Dodge L700 (which I still have). I rebuilt the Chevy and I'm going to rebuild the Dodge. There's no paint on the Dodge,so it will be an easy rebuild. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbill Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 my first was the Chevy Titan 90,back in about 1982, my grandfather had started it years before, and i bugged him untill he finally relented and let me 'finish' it. glue bomb city, hand painted everything, and tried to hand paint the cab like the box..........epic fail. no idea where it went. about 30 years later, i build my second 'first' rig, the snap KW, much better result, and a good second launching experience, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petetrucker07 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Welcome to the dark side.Ive been a car builder for most of my life. Ive had 2 and 3 of seemingly every car kit imaginable. I finally got bit by the truck bug about 2 years ago. I built a K123 and loved every minute of it. Have been buying strictly trucks ever since..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilrathy10 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Amazingly enough, my first big rig model was some of those 1/43 scale or 1/64 scale models they used to have....I have no idea who made them, but I remember a cabover of some sort and a trailer.....Those were so cool.....Loved playing with them......I then graduated to the Monogram 1/32 scale models.....I used to love those, too, because you could, again, play with them afterwards.....Better to play with on the carpet, though, because I used to twist the parts off, leaving a piece of the tree on the tires.....Made for a bumpy ride.....All of them are long since broken or lost.....Had fun with them, though.....I think I was only 8, so....... Edited January 4, 2016 by kilrathy10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilrathy10 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Oh, yeah....I also used to build more sci-fi and real space stuff.....I used to love Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers.....Still do, but about 1995 or so, I bought my first Revell/Italeri Ford Aeromax.....I couldn't believe how much better it went together than most AMT models......That one I still have.....From then on I was Hooked.....I was very happy with it....Although my skills have gotten better over the years, I'm still surprised at how good it looked right out of the box......Really interesting where many of you got your starts.....Great topic, Mike..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonye66 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Welcome to the dark side. Lol. The addiction is bad too. I've never bought many resin and aftermarket parts until the trucks came along. The cars were the gateway drug. The trucks are the hard core junk.... Edited January 4, 2016 by tonye66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scummy Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Hey you guys that still have the trucks you built back then , put up a picture like i did show us where you come from . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59 Impala Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Ok, here are a couple pics of the 61 Chevy. A before and after. This what she looked like before I rebuilt her. This is how she turned out. I couldn't restore her to her original condition because I almost destroyed her when I was a kid using a knife to strip off the paint. I almost thru this truck away but thought, well, maybe and I like how she turned out. I don't have any pics of the Dodge truck. It is in pieces and in a box to be restored. Thanks fer lookin. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ790 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Man,I am definitely new to this compared to you guys! About 5 years ago I came across Tim Ahlborn's old website with pictures of his truck models, and I was blown away! I started doing some research and found this whole world of model trucks and aftermarket parts. So I bought an AMT K123 kit, some spoke wheels, and a set of torsion bar suspension. Perhaps it was a little ambitious for my first build, it did not come out all that great. I loved it though, and continue to get better with each build. It wasn't long before I was casting my own parts and scratch building. Here is my first ever model: Just last week I decided to take it all apart and rebuild it, but slightly different. Here is where it stands today. I am hoping it comes out a little better this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit1 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Mine is the Midnight Express Pete 359 1100' series kit number 6644 the second issue of the midnight express run...still have reminents of it to date and thinking of rebuilding it with the extra parts I have gathered over the years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarximis Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 parts of mine where put into another build (more like half the frame) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Whalen Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 My first model truck was the White Freightliner single drive cabover that was built largely by my Dad. The second model truck I had was bought with my pocket money and was an AMT Kenworth K123. I painted it orange using Testors paints. I would say it was '74 or '75 that I started building models and, apart from the usual breaks, I have been involved in the hobby ever since.I worked my way through most of the AMT truck kits and have a few in my stash now to build. I have two AMT Kenworth K100 Aerodynes that I am looking forward to building as I have always liked that particular truck and I haven't yet built a model of one. Since I started building again in 2002 I haven't done any trucks and have been mainly doing hot rods and drag racing. I will be starting a truck project this month as the Big Rig Build Off which has just started on this forum has provided a nice motivator to get back into doing a truck. I'm just deciding what I am going to build, and the style of the project, before starting my build thread.I have enjoyed reading people's stories on this topic; it has certainly brought back a few memories about getting into the hobby when I was young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pavel A. Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 It was about 1998 - 1999. The first it was T900 Australia from RoG. Painted by brush, by Revell enamel paints. Thu built takes about two weeks. Now it is 3 months for each .:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scummy Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Great photo's so far , keep them coming . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordmodelbuilder Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I built my first semi truck model in 1971. It was the AMT Watkins W925 Kenworth & Watkins refer trailer. The truck & trailer were repainted 2 times back then. I still have both of them in pieces today. One day they will get rebuilt.The first pickup truck model I built was in 1974 and was Revell's 1956 Ford F100. That model got rebuilt & painted 3 times and I still have it today. I also have purchased the same kit to build like the 2 early versions I built way back when. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brinx Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) 1977ish, AMT Movin' On Kenworth. Think I paid around $7- for it from a mom-n-pop hobby store (Herman's Hobbies on Dewey Av).Paint, decals, and overall construction is what you'd expect (brush lines, crooked stripes and half of the pieces not even taken off the sprue).But I'd be willing to bet, I logged more (1/25th scale) miles than Will and Sonny did on theirs and had maybe 100 times more adventures with that beast., and I know for a fact, there are still some parts from her kicking around the parts bin as well.For the record, my son and I built two models together (Lindberg snap/promo style Crown Vic police cars), the first one is safely locked up in the man-cave" and the other he's pretty much demolished in any number of high speed pursuits but isn't that what its all about?Great memories, thanks for sending me back there Mike. Edited January 7, 2016 by Brinx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bennyg Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 First truck as an adult. AMT Mack Super-Liner with "australianisation". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Buckaroo Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Ben , nice "australianisation" to that Mack ! Where did you source your spokers from ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purepmd Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Lol. The addiction is bad too. I've never bought many resin and aftermarket parts until the trucks came along. The cars were the gateway drug. The trucks are the hard core junk....Tony, you hit the nail on the head! Over 40 years ago, folding card table in my parents living room, faceted Pactra enamel bottles Testors black bristled brushes and black plastic handled knives all around, ripping the cellophane of a White Freightliner Dual drive. Kmart got my three bucks and tax, and I got a model truck jones that has never abated. The wheels and exhaust were over-chromed and wrinkly on one side and almost white on the other, ruined half a dozen of my mothers clothes pins on the *)%@ split cab, but loved every minute of it. Still do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eshaver Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) Thanks to who ever belongs to this model ! My FIRST BIG truck was this , but as a N American tractor . Yes, A M T came out with this in 1965 . I had previously written Budd Anderson a couple of years earlier and asked him why this market wasn't being addressed . He did take the time to write back and thought the same thing . As for LIGHT trucks , uh I guess the AMT 1961 Ford F-100 ................... Edited January 7, 2016 by Eshaver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.