Italari American wrecker truck

[kpnuts]

Hey I know I said I was going to do some of my stalled builds but this has been calling me since I bought it, probably as I've not built a truck before (you get a lot of plastic for your money) 

I know a lot of people don't like it but I'm doing it as an old and tired truck, in the past I've got a lot of flack for doing this type of stuff, well it's my model and I like doing old. (I've ordered some inkjet decal paper so hopefully I can make my own decals)

I may get another truck or bus for it to be towing.

Made a start on weathering it.

[Jimbo8v92]

Wow that rust looks real man!... those ltl's had a very bad rust problem so it fits well lol one minor thing is the hoods were fiberglass so they dont rust, but still looks incredible! Cant wait to see more and would be super cool to build something to be hooked to the back. Im building a 359 pete wrecker and its going to look new and shiny only because i dont have the talant to pull of the weathered look haha

[kpnuts]

Thanks for the info, I've also been informed the cab is aluminium so back to the drawing board on the weathering.

[Jimbo8v92]

5 hours ago, kpnuts said:

Thanks for the info, I've also been informed the cab is aluminium so back to the drawing board on the weathering.

I dont think ford ever made a aluminum cab for the ltl9000, but could be wrong...regardless the patina looks awsome ide keep it the way it is

Edited March 3, 2019 by Jimbo8v92

[kpnuts]

Hi all well I've redone the bodywork so no rust but staining and sun bleaching (Still more to do but that will have to wait till I've made and added my decals)

Done some to the chassis (boy are they complicated) and started on the engine.

[Oldmopars]

I have nothing against the weathered look, I have done several that way myself and it is fun and different. Just be sure to think about how the real thing would be weathered and to keep it realistic and not overdone.

Things like a fibergalass hood won't rust, but can be cracked and missing the paint or even have chunks missing. The white/grey fibers may even be showing.

Aluminum parts do not rust, but they do corrode, this would be chalky white and have bubbles in the paint like rust. 

Rust is most often found in the lower areas, like the bottoms of doors, cab corners, under the windshield, seams, etc. Very rare to have rust holes in the middle of a door or roof panel.

Google is your friend. Look for pictures of the truck you are making and see if you can find old crusty ones, replicate what you find on the pictures of the real thing.

Weathering is easy to over do. Keep in mind the location of the truck too. Don't rust the heck out of a 25 year old truck and put California decal and plates on it. West coast stuff does not rust near as fast. However a truck from the rust belt may have rather large holes in it after 25 years.

Oh, and the Armor and military modelers are a treasure trove of info for weathering. These guys know what they are doing, so troll You-Tube for how-to's.

[Jimbo8v92]

20 hours ago, kpnuts said:

Hi all well I've redone the bodywork so no rust but staining and sun bleaching (Still more to do but that will have to wait till I've made and added my decals)

Done some to the chassis (boy are they complicated) and started on the engine.

That hood looks like the real thing now!  Awsome how u made it look like the clear coat is peeling off! ?

[tbill]

Coming along good, I like the ‘aged’ look.

[kpnuts]

Hi all well I've corrected the instructions callout and stared weathering the engine, added another colour to the rear boxes still lots of chipping and washes to ad yet.

[kpnuts]

Hi all did some more work on the chassis and differentials

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I like it!

[Force]

Me too...interesting build.

[kpnuts]

Hi all finished the engine (Still got the ancillary devices and what not to add)did some more weathering on the chassis.

[kpnuts]

Hi all here's another update, loads more to do in the interior. I tried to get the steam from the hot cup of coffee on the windscreen (not particularly sucessfull but I tried) I feel I need to add a lot more rubbish in the cab I also need to dirty up the side windows as well, I'm getting there slowly.

[Oldmopars]

I like it, looks good. Coffee cup and clip board are a nice touch. I did the same on one of mine. Very nice

[tbill]

That’s looking good, the dirty is looking sweet

[gotnitro?]

Love what your doing , the steam wisps are a cool touch, gives it sense of being well used instead of show truck .  Step dads shop has a retired paystar out front I'd like to model eventually 

[vincen47]

It’s really neat to see your evolution in weathering in one single build. It’s getting better and better.

My favorite detail so far is the cup marks and coffee stains on the dash. Extreamly subtle yet so very realistic.

[kpnuts]

Thanks for the nice comments all.

[kpnuts]

More work on the wrecker. Its a great kit but the instructions are really bad, soooooo confusing, moved those fuel tanks twice.

[kpnuts]

Hi all well I was given an idea for displaying this which I thought would be quite fun (and as you all know I like doing "out there" stuff) sooo, this was going to be a robot but I thought it lent itself better to this so I stripped it all down and will be using it for the dio, what's the dio going to be? Well I'm sure you will work it out.




And there's this little guy. I'm calling him ted.





Maybe I will give him a few warts or something.
 

[U_ser_ID]

Very cool, I'm digging the work you've done! Looking very realistic.

[kpnuts]

Hi all another update, well this bit is never going to fit.

So with some heating and a little extension ted helped me fix it.




Hope the rest fits ok.

[kpnuts]

Hi all bit more done on this one.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Looks good!