1966 Chevrolet C10 with dump bed

[Andy Oldenburg]

After building some glossy stock models and show cars I was in the mood to create something "dirty" again. No, nothing X-rated; a pickup with a visible rust attack and heavy patina. This old AMT kit comes quite fine for that, because the molding isn´t very clean and I am not going into a shiny low rider paint job. I do want to spend some time on some special details though. Hinged doors and hood have become a standard for me. But my best idea was to get the bed engineered to rise and tip the gravel, earth, junk or whatever onto its determined area.

I have refined a special technique to open spaces on a model body. I used to cut with blades, micro saw or a tiny electric circular saw. It did the job, but it always left a lot of extra work to clean the cuts. Cutting with a scalpel or cutter knife also meant risking my finger tips. By chance I have a small awl which I sanded VERY sharp and with this tool I scratch out my doors, trunk etc. It works quite fast and the result is great. The gaps all have the same width and running down the imprinted gaps on the bodies is easy. 

The tailgate should drop down like in real but also keep in place like a real one. The gate itself is connected to the bed with 1mm styrene rods in 2mm tubes. Making the latches turned out easy, but I did have to get the parts drilled and connected to the precise spot. 

The hood hinges had to be attached to the firewall in a early step. There is no way to get that done if you want the paint job to look good and let the hood really close exactly.

Now it´s time to find the sweet spot for the bed hinging. Since I had no images to copy I had to think about how this could look like in real life. The bed has to lift up without scraping the cabin or knocking the bumper (which I could sacrifice, if necessary...). All the hinge parts are fabricated from sheet styrene and tubes in different thickness and diameter. I hope you can understand the steps I took to get the hinge working.

At this step, all the pegs are still extra long and the engineering is still in the rough. Sanding will be done before I go on to painting. Just getting the bed to tip didn´t satisfy my ambitions, because I wanted a "real" look to the model. My pickup needed a lifting hydraulic system (well, a fake one). Now I had to build that system from scrap styrene and brass and find the right position to make it work. Here again I hope that the images explain how I did it. It would take too many words. The "lifting" setup is connected to the chassis frame, the "lifted" part with the brass rod is hinged to the bottom of the bed. That small part on the side will be the hydraulic pump, to be attached to the frame.

This is my second build on which I have connected the door hinges with Tamiya epoxy putty. It will fill gaps due to curved bodies, you have plenty of time to fit to parts to the exact place and they will not slip anymore, and no epoxy glue will run and mess your build or jam the hinges. Just remember to rough sand the surfaces before gluing. Drying time is a whole day, but I have enough to do to bridge that time. After the putty is hard you can work it in any way. 

The doors will stay closed with the help of super magnets inside the panels and under the bench seat. Here you can see the flat magnet already glued under the panel, with the counter magnet to check on the other side. Double and triple check those magnet ends. I once had to rip a falsely glued one out of a seat and it fortunately went OK. 

The door sides are all closed and now the sanding and painting can start. But first I have to end my holiday trip. Can´t wait to get home and in my model "cave" again!

Best wishes, Andy!

[espo]

First, very impressive build. For the hydraulic system for the bed the internet may be your friend searching for a system for that. When this real truck was new, I was servicing some of these 1/2-ton pickups with just such a conversion. There was more than one company doing these conversions and I'm sure somewhere out there you will be able to find some pictures. As I remember them, they would usually use one ram but have seen dual ram setups. They were mounted between and parallel to the frame. Your tailgate latches are close to what GM was using at the time and look great. Are thinking of providing any type of support for the tailgate when lowered? 

[slusher]

Terrific start always enjoy seeing your builds they are so detailed!

[Andy Oldenburg]

On 8/16/2025 at 4:44 PM, espo said:

First, very impressive build. For the hydraulic system for the bed the internet may be your friend searching for a system for that. When this real truck was new, I was servicing some of these 1/2-ton pickups with just such a conversion. There was more than one company doing these conversions and I'm sure somewhere out there you will be able to find some pictures. As I remember them, they would usually use one ram but have seen dual ram setups. They were mounted between and parallel to the frame. Your tailgate latches are close to what GM was using at the time and look great. Are thinking of providing any type of support for the tailgate when lowered? 

Hi David, thanks for the response are your knowledge! Seems I am on the right track. Actually I used all the impressions that I have picked up in my life from constructions vehicles and such. Not that I have anything to do with that business wise, I am just a curious guy that gets impressed by BIG things. The tailgate, well, I just thought it would flap down and let the earth slide off. I don´t know if chains or such would be necessary to hold it.

[TopherMcGinnis]

1st off

[TopherMcGinnis]

2ndly, how do the door hinges work the doors? I tried several ways to get these work without scraping, or slipping on the pins.

[TopherMcGinnis]

AWESOME start 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[Andy Oldenburg]

On 8/19/2025 at 3:08 AM, TopherMcGinnis said:

AWESOME start 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Hi Topher, thanks for your reply. I will follow up on the next stages and can send further images with the doors working. Right now I am on holiday in France and it will take another week or so until I can help you out with more science.

Best wishes, Andy

[TopherMcGinnis]

Enjoy your Holiday!

No hurry on my end at all. This project has been ongoing for 4 years.

[Andy Oldenburg]

It was about time to follow up on this build. Thanks for your patience.

The mechanics were all done and I was looking forward to the paint work. Since this is going to be a rust bucket it always is exiting what the final looks will be. After fine sanding the body parts I sprayed a base coat of gray to check any flaws in my work, a bit of putty was necessary. Then a layer of rust brown to be covered by the off-white of the "original" car. Now it looked almost like the unpainted model parts again. To give the body a little bit of class I added a stripe of light blue to run around the the whole build. 

Now comes the messy part of sanding and finishing the body to get that rusty, dirty look. After sanding with 400 and 800 grit the body looked like this. Not so bad, and if one was in a hurry you could leave it like that. But it does look quite one dimensional.  

To treat the parts with rust and grime I use a piece of ripped off foam from an old cushion. You can tear it into shape to match your needs. I put small drops of the effect paints on a saucer and take up only a minimal amount with the sponge. I start with the rust and move on to the darker paints. if I apply too much, I can wipe it off. The rougher the foam, the better the effect. 

After several steps of dabbing the parts look like this.

Topher wanted some more input about the doors. The trouble with doors is that they tend to hook up at the the hinged gap. Straight sides are easier to open, but folded contours like on this C10 make it worse. On all doors I sand the edges as thin as possible and also on the body line where the doors are hinged. Thin meaning almost blade thin. This is risky, because you don´t want to widen the gab by mistake or having to add sheet styrene to repair. But this will reduce that grind exceptionally. You might just need to pull the doors out a tiny bit.

The bed floor is covered with a checker plate sheet aluminum. I found this at a model fair and knew that is was perfect for my C10. It took a while to make it fit well. And because this is a commercial dump truck it received a decent amount of dirt residue to reduce that shine.

Next time I will show the progress on the interior and chassis. Thanks for watching!

 

[Andy Oldenburg]

With some builds I like to imagine a story or setting to match my build in real life. Especially if the 1:1 car could have a "story". In this case the owner is a gardener or farmer. His old pick up was handed down by his father or ever grandpa. He keeps everything running and in good shape, but would not spend a dollar on the looks. Neither on the outside or the inside.

Of course the interior is in a messy condition. On the dashboard I added some trim around the glove compartment and a parking brake lever. That gardener is a coffee addict so he needs a big thermos can close at hand. 

The  bench is all run down. Covering the holes with an old blanket must do and that has gotten quite dirty itself. From his last lunch on the job a old pizza carton is still left. The floor is covered with rubber mats I cut from a thin place mat. 

The door panels are enhanced with fabricated handles. Everything has received its fair amount of patina. 

The dash and the floor with the bench are attached and the gap at the rocker will be filled in the end after connecting the body with the chassis.

I´m not so happy with the detailing of the suspension with this kit. The springs are non existent and the shock absorbers look too crummy. I made my own shocks with styrene tubing and brass rods. 

The springs are wrapped from 1mm aluminum wire, easy to bend and move into the right shape. The rear drive axle is connected to the chassis with brass rods. Painted flat black, they hardly show afterwards, but keep the axle in the correct place and will hold the weight well. 

The shocks have received some patina and the spare wheel is mounted.

The parking brake lines are made of thin jewelry cable I found at a crafts store. The pulling part is crafted from 1mm brass tube and styrene rod. 

I connect certain small parts with wire pins. I was one day tired of messing my models while gluing the door handles and mirrors. Things go wrong so easily. Now I drill the parts 0.5mm and stick them on brass wires. I can now determine the exact point to which I want to attach them and then glue with white glue. No more slipping or running.

Here are those parts attached. You can also see the half open windows on the door. 

The wheels have their share of patina and rust. And valves also made of 0.5mm brass rod.

The bed door is connected and working well. 

I´m working on the engine now and hope to get done completely during the next 2 weeks. I will show up again!

Best wishes, Andy

[Mattilacken]

Sweet build! Great detailing! 

[NOBLNG]

Nice work on hinging the dump bed and doors. the weathering is looking quite realistic too.😎

[Mark W]

Very ambitious build, and well executed.

Too many details to mention, but I especially like the pizza box and the doors being hinged the “correct” way.

 

[Andy Oldenburg]

I´m turning into the finishing straight and have only a few things left to do! The engine has received a decent amount of grime to match the body. I added some details and am quite satisfied with the looks. After it´s dropped into the engine bay though, only half of the details will be visible...😕 The distributor is home made from aluminum tube and brass rod, the lines fit into the thin gap between them. Further added: throttle with spring, fuel line, pulley wheels with a rubber "v-belt". I deconstruct the kit part and remake the wheels to match the belt.  Everything was treated with AK rust streaks and engine grime. I also added radiator hoses and hoses for the air conditioner. I strip the copper filament out of the vinyl  and fill it with wire. The wire I can stick and glue into holes in the block, so I can bend them into any direction without fear of tearing them off again.

. 

Attached to the chassis, all those lines and wires look a mess. The radiator is glued in place and will fit smug into the bay.

This looks very neat now. The lines are all in place. I enhanced the bay with extra details: The brake booster received it´s brake line, the battery has better contacts with wires, a relay connects the main lines. 

 The dump bed is working fine!

There is only a little bit left to do now. Soon, I will show the finished build on an "under glass" thread. 

Thanks to everyone that took a look and for your friendly support! 

[espo]

Like the realistic looking finishes. 

[Zippi]

The ole 66 Chevy C10 dump is looking pretty sharp there Andreas.  

[meechum68]

Amazing!