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Posted
15 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

Excellent work so far converting this too a work turn, good work on the trim removal.

Thanks! It turned out to be much easier than I expected.

Sorry for the lack of progress posts. Unfortunately, I hit all kinds of snags when it came to the paint. First I had small but noticeable clear coat runs on one side of the bed and one side of the cab. If that wasn't enough, I then I realized after wet sanding and polishing that both the hood and tailgate had some type of surface contamination that I couldn't sand/polish off. I know that these kinds of errors have happened to many of us. When this happens, I suggest exhibiting some patience and putting aside the project for a while until you can think of a solution aside from paint stripping and re-starting over. In the case of thee cab and bed, the runs were small enough that I let them dry and then sanded the entire portion out with 1000 grit, being sure to not sand through the primer. I then followed this up by an even coat or two of paint and then clear. This was much easier than a complete do-over. I ended up stripping the hood and tailgate as those were small enough pieces and I had to get all the way to the bare plastic to ensure I got rid of any surface contamination.

Anyhow, that was a wall of text. The lesson here is be patient and take things slowly. If you can live with imperfections like small paint runs and not have them bother you down the road, then leave it alone. If it'll bother you down the line like it will with me, be patient and spend the time and effort now!

Here's everything as of today, all painted and clear coated without runs or other visible imperfections (aside from some orange peel). Next up will be wet sanding and some polish since I'm going for a brand new look.

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  • Like 6
Posted
On 6/14/2024 at 8:30 PM, av405 said:

Thanks!

Thank you! I'm at the point in my modeling "career" where I've really focused on being patient and not rushing things. As the saying goes, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. 

Thanks! They don't seem to get as much love as the equivalent Chevy trucks of the era do.

I forgot to add this earlier: 

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I painted the center caps with a sharpened toothpick and Vallejo red. It came out better than I thought.

Real nice detail work on your wheels! ? 

Posted

Super nice job on this truck. I did a '92 F350 service truck about a decade ago, I just edited the thread to get rid of the old Photobucket pictures that were marred with the watermarks. I still have to redo the pictures on the build thread, those don't even show up anymore in any form.

 

  • Like 1
Posted
11 hours ago, slusher said:

Real nice detail work on your wheels! ? 

Thanks!

6 hours ago, Maindrian Pace said:

Super nice job on this truck. I did a '92 F350 service truck about a decade ago, I just edited the thread to get rid of the old Photobucket pictures that were marred with the watermarks. I still have to redo the pictures on the build thread, those don't even show up anymore in any form.

Thank you. I remember your build from back then. Believe it or not, it served as a huge inspiration for me with regard to kit bashing and turning the AMT F-150 into an XL work truck. It really gave me an idea of what was possible. I tried to look at your WIP thread for tips, but the lack of photos made it impossible. I will definitely check it out again once you update the photos.

In the meantime, I did a mock up of the truck yesterday just to make sure everything went together well after painting and clear coating. The hood and tail gate are still drying, so I left those out. The front sits a little high but that'll be remedied when I glue the body to the chassis along the engine bay.

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  • Like 4
Posted
1 hour ago, av405 said:

Thanks!

Thank you. I remember your build from back then. Believe it or not, it served as a huge inspiration for me with regard to kit bashing and turning the AMT F-150 into an XL work truck. It really gave me an idea of what was possible. I tried to look at your WIP thread for tips, but the lack of photos made it impossible. I will definitely check it out again once you update the photos.

Wow, I had no idea it had that kind of influence, but I'm glad it did. I did update the thread pics, so here it is:

Hopefully the self-hosted pics on this site hold up a bit longer than that other company. If you want any additional pictures, let me know.

As for your truck's ride height, I think the front is perfect, it's the back that's too low. All of the AMT kits in this OBS Ford series are tail draggers, if you raise it up about 2-2.5 MM, it should have the perfect stance.

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  • Like 2
Posted
1 hour ago, Maindrian Pace said:

Wow, I had no idea it had that kind of influence, but I'm glad it did. I did update the thread pics, so here it is:

Hopefully the self-hosted pics on this site hold up a bit longer than that other company. If you want any additional pictures, let me know.

As for your truck's ride height, I think the front is perfect, it's the back that's too low. All of the AMT kits in this OBS Ford series are tail draggers, if you raise it up about 2-2.5 MM, it should have the perfect stance.

 

Thanks! I'll take a look at it tonight and let you know if I have any questions.

You're absolutely right about the height. I actually raised both the front and rear ends, but apparently not enough. I think it was like a 1 - 1.5 MM raise. I will probably just leave it as-is as I at least got rid of the rear sag. Maybe on the next one I'll raise it up a little higher. 

Posted
On 6/25/2024 at 9:55 PM, stavanzer said:

I really Like where you are going with this.

Keep up the Good Work.

Nice to know about those Base Wheels.

Thanks! Yes, the wheels are great. The best part is that they can be painted chrome and double up as XLT wheels as well!

I just finished up the amber rotator. From my memory, most work trucks had single rotators mounted on custom fabricated metal stands or on the utility body frames, not on the truck itself. This was common for decades up until the advent of fancier LED systems in the 2000s. I used pictures of old Caltrans trucks as inspiration. 

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I took an old resin rotator that I had and repurposed it. Unfortunately, the chrome plating on it was terrible and flaked off, so I stripped it and primed/repainted it grey. I then wrapped the base of the rotator with a piece of industrial chrome tape that I have on hand. I got this tape from my electrician father, so it's coming full circle to replicate an electrician's truck:

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I painted the lens with Tamiya TS-73 clear orange and fabricated a stand for it from Evergreen styrene. After painting it Camel yellow and fitting to size, voila:

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  • Like 4
Posted
7 hours ago, av405 said:

Thanks! Yes, the wheels are great. The best part is that they can be painted chrome and double up as XLT wheels as well!

I just finished up the amber rotator. From my memory, most work trucks had single rotators mounted on custom fabricated metal stands or on the utility body frames, not on the truck itself. This was common for decades up until the advent of fancier LED systems in the 2000s. I used pictures of old Caltrans trucks as inspiration. 

 image.jpeg.8a35dca6ab581adfdd49f4fb771c19a1.jpeg

I took an old resin rotator that I had and repurposed it. Unfortunately, the chrome plating on it was terrible and flaked off, so I stripped it and primed/repainted it grey. I then wrapped the base of the rotator with a piece of industrial chrome tape that I have on hand. I got this tape from my electrician father, so it's coming full circle to replicate an electrician's truck:

8149mGIVV5L._AC_UF10001000_QL80_.jpg.4308910e1447dce95a73533479b7b56e.jpg

I painted the lens with Tamiya TS-73 clear orange and fabricated a stand for it from Evergreen styrene. After painting it Camel yellow and fitting to size, voila:

image.thumb.jpeg.fa2ca315e8a4331dfead187c587e29d0.jpeg

image.thumb.jpeg.5d3fd093b5344ea7e548042484caee1e.jpeg

image.thumb.jpeg.6efe72c8bb8ff68804635428b3421f2e.jpeg

Looks Good.

Those Caution lights are almost always fabbed. My Recent Former Employer, has his shop build mounts for every one of his trucks.

Yours has the look of what I saw on his work trucks.

Posted
On 6/27/2024 at 6:28 PM, stavanzer said:

Looks Good.

Those Caution lights are almost always fabbed. My Recent Former Employer, has his shop build mounts for every one of his trucks.

Yours has the look of what I saw on his work trucks.

Thanks! I would think most places could fab their own simple designs to meet their needs.

  • Like 1
Posted

Painting this truck has really turned into a hassle. Unfortunately, I had to strip the cab and tailgate. The paint and clear laid down well but when I wet sanded and polished, that process exposed fairly big blemishes. I was so frustrated that I threw the pieces in 91% isopropyl alcohol before I thought to take pictures of the blemishes. The blemishes basically looked like clear coat peeling on a car. I'm at a bit of a loss since I used the same polish method that I've used many times in the past with success. I'm going to restart the process all over again on these pieces, including re-washing with Dawn dish soap. Here are the pieces after being stripped of paint and sanded down with 600 grit to even things out:

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But there is some good news. The bed turned out well after wet sand and polish. I painted the interior to simulate truck bed liner using Mr. Surfacer 1500 black. It laid down beautifully, but I didn't like the paint edges from using Tamiya tape. In retrospect, I should have used BMF for the edges. But it looks okay so I'll leave it be. Maybe my OCD will get to me later and I'll fix it.I also painted the rubber surface on the rear bumper and installed it along with the tail lights:

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I heeded some of the advice on here and added an extra lift to the rear wheels using a small, circular piece of Evergreen styrene. I then did a test fit and the stance looks much beefier from the back. After taking this photo, I brush painted the added styrene black to blend it in. 

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Despite the progress, this project is now delayed. I'm going to be patient and take my time to make sure that the cab and tail gate come out better than before. Aside from that, I'm going to wet sand and polish the hood and hope that those blemishes don't appear on that piece as well.

  • Like 4
Posted

Those setbacks happen to us all, you'll overcome it and still have a beautiful model. Slowing down and or taking a break is a good idea and when the time is right, you'll get it right!

Posted (edited)

The bed and rear section are spot-on, it's coming out very well indeed. One suggestion if I may: you might want to smooth over the XLT front wheel opening moldings, just like you did the rear, before painting the cab. Great job overall.

Edited by Maindrian Pace
Posted
12 hours ago, slusher said:

I feel for you Sir, that very discouraging but I’m glad your sticking with it!

Thanks, Carl. 

5 hours ago, James2 said:

Those setbacks happen to us all, you'll overcome it and still have a beautiful model. Slowing down and or taking a break is a good idea and when the time is right, you'll get it right!

Couldn't agree more. Thank you!

1 hour ago, Maindrian Pace said:

The bed and rear section are spot-on, it's coming out very well indeed. One suggestion if I may: you might want to smooth over the XLT front wheel opening moldings, just like you did the rear, before painting the cab. Great job overall.

Great tip. Funny thing is that I didn't smooth out the rear wheel moldings at all. That's just layers of paint and primer. I'll look into it. Thank you!

Posted

I actually think the bed looks fine. The bed liner actually looks like a drop-in liner instead of spray-on. exactly what I am aiming for when I get my build started. All you did was mask with Tamiya tape and spray with the black?

Posted
1 hour ago, rattle can man said:

I actually think the bed looks fine. The bed liner actually looks like a drop-in liner instead of spray-on. exactly what I am aiming for when I get my build started. All you did was mask with Tamiya tape and spray with the black?

Thanks. I scuffed the bed down with 600 grit before painting. I didn't go crazy, just enough to level out any bumps or debris that may have been there before. I then masked with Tamiya tape and plastic sheeting at the bottom and gave the bed 3 coats of the black primer: an initial mist coat to seal the tape edges and get overall coverage, then two successively heavier coats.

Posted
1 hour ago, DJMar said:

That's a bummer about the paint on the cab and gate. On the upside, the bed/bedliner looks spot on!

Thanks! Glass half full, right?

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)
On 5/1/2024 at 5:06 AM, av405 said:

 

After I was done, I sanded the affected areas with 400 grit to smooth the plastic down. I then brushed Plastruct liquid cement onto the areas that formerly had the side trim. The idea is that the liquid glue will get rid of the ghosting left behind by removing the side trim. This is a method I learned from Bill Guery and it has served me well in the past.

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I let things dry and then re-sanded with 400 and 600 grits. I applied primer to the sanded down areas so I could see my progress. This is where I'm at now:IMG_8893.thumb.jpeg.2cb6608467df438b80a2c6ddc2ae7991.jpeg

Thanks for the tip, I just applied it to my summer cottage project, before it was a smooth surface. Now I see clearly what needs to be done.
Your build is a top ten in the years I have been watching the forum.

Edited by Ulf
Posted
7 hours ago, Ulf said:

Thanks for the tip, I just applied it to my summer cottage project, before it was a smooth surface. Now I see clearly what needs to be done.
Your build is a top ten in the years I have been watching the forum.

Thanks for the kind words! Glad to hear that tip has helped you with your own build. 

Posted

Time for some deja vu. I repainted the cab and tailgate using the same exact process as before to maintain consistency with the bed: Grey primer, white primer, and Tamiya Camel Yellow. I used my bare metal foil and Tamiya tape combo again to mask off the white roof. The plus side is that this paint session went better than the first one as I didn't get any paint runs or debris. I'll let the pieces dry for a few days and then throw on some clear. 

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  • Like 7

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