The Pig Rig - Finished!

[Nosferatu]

PHEW!!! I finished this build at the 11^th hour…finally. I’m not super happy with it but I’m calling it done.

Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, paint, fitment(ugh)fenders and chassis. This was a very challenging build. Most of the model was built from scratch which really put me thru the test. I have the skills for it but while getting older I find I have less dexterity. My first career was in the trades for about 20 years. From that, besides having arthritis, I have no feeling at the tips of my fingers. This makes holding tiny parts a huge challenge as I have a hard time judging how much pressure to use holding the part so I either drop it many times or break it…frustrating to say the least!

Anyway back to the build. I found the piggy bank body in a thrift store and thought that I could somehow create a BBQ truck from it. I cut the pig in half and extended it about an inch. Within that inch width I added the serving window on one side and the door opening on the other side. I dug thru my stash of truck bodies and thought the Dodge 700 cabover would fit the bill. After a few tries at scratch building the chassis incorporating premade chassis parts that just didn’t work I decided to make one completely from scratch. I needed rear fenders but had nothing in my stash that worked with the rear tires and wheels. I found an aspirin 81 plastic bottle that was the correct diameter and cut it up. Gluing it to the chassis was a nightmare as there seemed to be no glue that would stick to it. I don’t know what kind of plastic is used for these but it seems to be resistant to glue. I finally used quite a bit of gorilla glue and clamped it for a week and that seemed to hold. I tried to get the doors on the cab to fit and open but I haven’t had a lot of experience in door hinges so I am not real happy with them as they don’t work too well. Next time I will cut the hinges from a soda can and bend them instead of using plastic. The fuel tanks are made from copper pipes and scale beer keg ends. The engine is an old hemi with the radiator behind it. I used the grill from the Lincoln Futura as it looked like a good fit, and added an old modified front bumper. The rear bumper is something else I modified. Inside the cab I used two seats from some toy I got at a thrift store. I also added the beer stein shifter from the beer wagon. Home made signage and another beer stein for the tap on the side. The tires and wheels were from another toy I got at the thrift store. The kitchen was also an interesting challenge. It is all made from sheet plastic. The hard part was making it to fit inside a multi curved interior surface. Paint colors are always an issue with me as I can’t get the colors correct. I ended up using Testors Lacquer Electric Pink sprayed over flat black and a clear matte over that.

I logged almost all of the build time and it came to 35 hours. This does not include all the time I spent thinking about how to design the pieces and looking for parts.

Onto the next build!

I hope you like it and thanks for looking!

Dave

[MeatMan]

35 minutes ago, Nosferatu said:

PHEW!!! I finished this build at the 11^th hour…finally. I’m not super happy with it but I’m calling it done.

Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, paint, fitment(ugh)fenders and chassis. This was a very challenging build. Most of the model was built from scratch which really put me thru the test. I have the skills for it but while getting older I find I have less dexterity. My first career was in the trades for about 20 years. From that, besides having arthritis, I have no feeling at the tips of my fingers. This makes holding tiny parts a huge challenge as I have a hard time judging how much pressure to use holding the part so I either drop it many times or break it…frustrating to say the least!

Anyway back to the build. I found the piggy bank body in a thrift store and thought that I could somehow create a BBQ truck from it. I cut the pig in half and extended it about an inch. Within that inch width I added the serving window on one side and the door opening on the other side. I dug thru my stash of truck bodies and thought the Dodge 700 cabover would fit the bill. After a few tries at scratch building the chassis incorporating premade chassis parts that just didn’t work I decided to make one completely from scratch. I needed rear fenders but had nothing in my stash that worked with the rear tires and wheels. I found an aspirin 81 plastic bottle that was the correct diameter and cut it up. Gluing it to the chassis was a nightmare as there seemed to be no glue that would stick to it. I don’t know what kind of plastic is used for these but it seems to be resistant to glue. I finally used quite a bit of gorilla glue and clamped it for a week and that seemed to hold. I tried to get the doors on the cab to fit and open but I haven’t had a lot of experience in door hinges so I am not real happy with them as they don’t work too well. Next time I will cut the hinges from a soda can and bend them instead of using plastic. The fuel tanks are made from copper pipes and scale beer keg ends. The engine is an old hemi with the radiator behind it. I used the grill from the Lincoln Futura as it looked like a good fit, and added an old modified front bumper. The rear bumper is something else I modified. Inside the cab I used two seats from some toy I got at a thrift store. I also added the beer stein shifter from the beer wagon. Home made signage and another beer stein for the tap on the side. The tires and wheels were from another toy I got at the thrift store. The kitchen was also an interesting challenge. It is all made from sheet plastic. The hard part was making it to fit inside a multi curved interior surface. Paint colors are always an issue with me as I can’t get the colors correct. I ended up using Testors Lacquer Electric Pink sprayed over flat black and a clear matte over that.

I logged almost all of the build time and it came to 35 hours. This does not include all the time I spent thinking about how to design the pieces and looking for parts.

Onto the next build!

I hope you like it and thanks for looking!

Dave

Very innovative. I know we can't see the issues, but it came out quite well to me. Looks like something Ekstensive would come up with.

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi David!

Now, THIS is imaginative and very well executed! Bravo. Sometimes, you have to go out of your "comfort zone", and the results may surprise showgoers. 

This one certainly pushes all buttons. 

A few years ago, I built a Pizza food truck, which was unusual for me, and it gathered first place trophies at every show entered. Go figure...

Great work, and keep at it!

CT 

[espo]

Really cool design and paint work, especially knowing what you had to start with. Enjoyed following your build and like your creativity here. 

[BK9300]

Really interesting project - there may have been problems as you saw it, but sure turned out well!

[PappyD340]

That's just too cool, well done!!

[Nosferatu]

Thanks for all your kind comments!

Dave

[TonyK]

What the...?! Sorry to read all your trouble building this but I'm glad you finished it. So much innovation. Really enjoyed looking at it and then your interior pics brought even more enjoyment.

Thanks for sharing your unique model!

[Model Guy]

How much is it for a plate of BBQ and a cold beer! Looks cool

[ybsluos]

David,

I see more details the longer I look.  This build would be amazing if your arthritis and numb fingers were not an issue.  The fact you did this with those obstacles makes it off the charts man!  Very nice use of the diamond plate styrene too.  I look forward to more of your projects!  Happy new year and happy building – Mark

[Nosferatu]

46 minutes ago, ybsluos said:

David,

I see more details the longer I look.  This build would be amazing if your arthritis and numb fingers were not an issue.  The fact you did this with those obstacles makes it off the charts man!  Very nice use of the diamond plate styrene too.  I look forward to more of your projects!  Happy new year and happy building – Mark

Thanks Mark for your nice comment!

Dave

[ncbuckeye67]

That looks amazing to me! That's what separates the model builders from the kit assemblers. We are our own worst critics, when it comes to the outcome of our builds.

[speedboy57]

Cool Build.

[Firebuilder]

Very unique build! good color.  Something you don’t see being  built to often, gives people some good ideas. Well done!

Dom

[spencer1984]

Very cool piece, nice work on it!

[Radretireddad]

Now there’s an interesting theme I wasn’t expecting to see when I clicked on this topic! Very, very imaginative.

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

That's wild! You forgot 1 critical part of the interior, the cash register 😁. Very cool build.

[ChrisR]

Cool!!

[Lunajammer]

Outta sight man, outta sight!

[Nosferatu]

Thanks for all you nice comments!

Dave

[Andrew McD]

What an imaginative cool project.  It may have fought you but in the end you clearly won.

[slusher]

Very creative and unique build, looks fantastic!

[bob29579]

Really cool and original.

[Ken Car-Fanatic]

Brilliant!  I really like the way it came out & looks. Great build!