Hooray for Hollywood! Freightliner Argosy 10-Ton Grip Truck

[RoninUtah]

I lived in Southern California for a while a few years ago, where the entertainment industry is king. Film productions were a ubiquitous sight, and they always seemed like a big deal, blocking streets and sidewalks with crew, cables running everywhere, and fleets of specialized equipment and vehicles.

I was always impressed with those vehicles; always meticulously clean, equipped with lots of shiny polished aluminum, belly boxes, and giant lift gates at the back. The biggest were full-sized Class 8 trucks, somehow seeming massively overpowered for their little box-truck bodies. A surprising number were older cabovers, usually Freightliner FLBs and Argosies, with an occasional Peterbilt 362 or “Darth Vader” 372.

This build represents a typical one of these, from Universal Studios Transportation Department. It’s technically referred to as a “10-ton” truck in the industry, although the GVW is obviously much greater. It could be a grip truck, a camera truck or an electrical truck, equipped with a pintle hook to pull a generator. The cab is a first-generation Freightliner Argosy from A&N, the chassis is bashed from the parts box (since I knew it couldn’t be seen) and the truck body is cut down from a Moebius smooth side trailer. I scratchbuilt the belly boxes and side door, and the brilliant @Jürgen generously designed the lift gate from a couple of photos I gave him, and as usual for his designs, it printed perfectly, fit correctly and looks great. Thank you, Jürgen!

     

[stavanzer]

Wow, You Nailed It!

Your pics sell the thing too.

Great Job on a seldom modeled piece of Southern California.

 

Good Show.

[Jim B]

Beautiful build, Ron.  Fantastic job.

[BK9300]

Very cool idea for a build - well done, Ron!

[vincen47]

Lights…Camera…Action!

Seriously, this one is so cool! Unique and impressive. I don’t think I’ve seen one modeled before. What a good use of A&N’s kit.

[BKF]

Very cool build and I agree the pics really sell it.

[leafsprings2]

Looks great, a very specialized piece of equipment. Nice fabrication work. After watching older TV series re runs, you often notice studio trucks in the background, but they were simple common box trucks.

[RoninUtah]

On 9/15/2025 at 11:31 AM, stavanzer said:

Wow, You Nailed It!

Your pics sell the thing too.

Great Job on a seldom modeled piece of Southern California.

 

Good Show.

Thanks! I should have brought the model to Burbank and shot it there, but my driveway is much easier!

[RoninUtah]

On 9/15/2025 at 3:12 PM, BK9300 said:

Very cool idea for a build - well done, Ron!

Thanks, Brian!

On 9/15/2025 at 12:38 PM, Jim B said:

Beautiful build, Ron.  Fantastic job.

Thanks, Jim!

[RoninUtah]

On 9/15/2025 at 5:18 PM, vincen47 said:

Lights…Camera…Action!

Seriously, this one is so cool! Unique and impressive. I don’t think I’ve seen one modeled before. What a good use of A&N’s kit.

Thanks, Victor! I love A&N's stuff- sure, they're pricy and a challenge to build, but they're incredibly well engineered and detailed. I have one more in my stash that I'll get to sometime, hopefully soon.

[RoninUtah]

21 hours ago, BKF said:

Very cool build and I agree the pics really sell it.

Thanks, Brian!

[RoninUtah]

50 minutes ago, leafsprings2 said:

Looks great, a very specialized piece of equipment. Nice fabrication work. After watching older TV series re runs, you often notice studio trucks in the background, but they were simple common box trucks.

Thanks! They are a cool class of equipment. Even the little 1-ton stake trucks have those huge lift gates now- very distinctive.

[Jürgen M.]

That's a wonderful build Ron. Hard to say if it's a model or the real thing!

Now you need a diorama of a crew shooting a car stunt! 😉

[ChrisR]

Very nice.

[Jürgen M.]

On 9/15/2025 at 7:25 PM, RoninUtah said:

I lived in Southern California for a while a few years ago, where the entertainment industry is king. Film productions were a ubiquitous sight, and they always seemed like a big deal, blocking streets and sidewalks with crew, cables running everywhere, and fleets of specialized equipment and vehicles.

I was always impressed with those vehicles; always meticulously clean, equipped with lots of shiny polished aluminum, belly boxes, and giant lift gates at the back. The biggest were full-sized Class 8 trucks, somehow seeming massively overpowered for their little box-truck bodies. A surprising number were older cabovers, usually Freightliner FLBs and Argosies, with an occasional Peterbilt 362 or “Darth Vader” 372.

This build represents a typical one of these, from Universal Studios Transportation Department. It’s technically referred to as a “10-ton” truck in the industry, although the GVW is obviously much greater. It could be a grip truck, a camera truck or an electrical truck, equipped with a pintle hook to pull a generator. The cab is a first-generation Freightliner Argosy from A&N, the chassis is bashed from the parts box (since I knew it couldn’t be seen) and the truck body is cut down from a Moebius smooth side trailer. I scratchbuilt the belly boxes and side door, and the brilliant @Jürgen generously designed the lift gate from a couple of photos I gave him, and as usual for his designs, it printed perfectly, fit correctly and looks great. Thank you, Jürgen!

     

Always my pleasure Ron! 😉

[Biggu]

Ron! You out did yourself on this one. What an awesome build my friend. It looks perfect. And I have to totally agree with your assessment of Jurgen’s design skills being the recipient of those skills my self. This is an outstanding build and is a very unique unit to have on your shelf. Very well done , take a well deserved bow.