Tyson Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Someone saw this over at The Truckstop, and they told me I should post it here. Said someone here would enjoy it. I bought this kit from eBay. It was already built by the seller who stated it was built fifteen years ago. It's missing a few pieces here and there, and wasn't built exceptionally well. Decided to strip and disassemble. Planning to rebuild it as a "well worked" old truck. Here are a few pictures from the auction. I went silly and didn't think to take any "before" pictures of my own before I started. Here are the stripped parts. Can't say this enough: If anyone wants to strip a kit use Dettol Anticeptic Disinfectant (Pinesol in the US). After a 24 hour soak the paint can basically be wiped off as if it's still fresh, wet paint, and leftover paint in the cracks can easily be brushed away with a toothbrush. Unfortunately, one thing the Dettol doesn't do is loosen the glue (of which there was a lot on this kit). The glue also seems to have been dyed by the paint, so I was left with different coloured glue spots that needed to be dremeled and/or sanded. There's no way around it, and I would have expected nothing less, when you're disassembling a near 30 year old kit that was built over a decade ago, no matter how careful you are, there will be breaks. Honestly surprised there weren't more problems, but there were a few things like removing the lights and air-con that left some craters in the cab. Nothing that can't be fixed. One happening that crushed my heart was the left frame rail broke during the clean. I managed, with a bit of plastic and pins, to fix the break and make it look like a patch job of riveted on iron. The good thing about making a run down old truck is breaks, imperfections and other things that would make a regular build look less than attractive actually add some character to the build.
Tyson Posted February 22, 2012 Author Posted February 22, 2012 Base coated some pieces in black. One thing I've always noticed about this kit was the absence of the cap on the radiator. To remedy that I just took a spare fuel tank cap and a standard cotton bud (q-tip). I put a hole in the top of the radiator, cut the stalk from the cotton bud and glue it into the hole and the fuel cap on the top. Resprayed the stripped parts in base black again, and while I was waiting on them to dry I set forth to rust up a few parts. Mostly engine parts with a few random chassis bits thrown in. Here they are with the base for the rust. And here are the completed pieces. Sorry for the bad lighting, but I'm to lazy at the moment to bother with proper lighting.
Tyson Posted February 22, 2012 Author Posted February 22, 2012 (edited) Still chugging right along when I get the spare time. Here are a few pics of the current state of the build. Still not 100% satisfied with it yet. Some progress on the frame. Edited February 22, 2012 by Tyson
mackinac359 Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Nicely weathered! You might have to adjust the cab mounts down to get the hood to line up with the radiator and cab. Tim
bandit1 Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 that person was me that told you to get it over here....and i just messaged the person that loves "RUST"
Dr. Cranky Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 This is pure eye candy, all right. It looks wonderful. I love the rust. You must have picked up some great tips from those military builders out there. Thanks for sharing. Keep it going.
Jim B Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 That looks like hell! But that's a good thing. Is that a Winn-Dixie Pez dispenser? I didn't know Winn-Dixie was in Australia. That's pretty cool. I worked for them when I lived in Miami.
ARTEMIS1759 Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Sweet. What a find that would be in thee back of a loggers lot or junkyard. I feel for ya on a 30 year old build. I got a whole slew of about 75 3o year old builds.
BigBad Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Great weathering! This thing is going to look great once all done up.
doogie7046 Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Great weathering and rusting, I love it!
Tyson Posted February 28, 2012 Author Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) Thanks guys. Just thought I'd add that this is my first "real" build/paint. I did some building when I was younger, but never really painted anything. Back in those days I had no idea what I was doing. I painted all of my models with cheap, chunky enamels using an old, plastic watercolour brush. Needless to say, they never turned out well. Is that a Winn-Dixie Pez dispenser? I didn't know Winn-Dixie was in Australia. That's pretty cool. I worked for them when I lived in Miami. That is indeed a Winn-Dixie Pez dispenser. There are no Winn-Dixies here though. They're only down south. I lived in Alabama my whole life, and only just recently relocated to Australia a few years ago. I took the Missus to visit some of my family in Alabama, and while we were there she snagged that, since she likes trucks too. Sweet. What a find that would be in thee back of a loggers lot or junkyard. Glad you think so, because that's exactly what it's going to be. The Missus bought the Peerless logging trailer for me for my birthday last year (she likes log trucks), and wanted me to build her a truck. I was gonna use a Kenworth for her logger, but after seeing the work I'd done on the Autocar she said she wanted this to be her truck instead. Edited February 28, 2012 by Tyson
Tyson Posted March 4, 2012 Author Posted March 4, 2012 Scratch built some custom exhaust modeled after a Howell and Sons Logging tractor I hopped onto the side of, melting the palm of my left hand in the process, back in the early 2000s. While in the process, a bit of confusion came up. On the non-turbo engines, where does the air cleaner connect? I know on turbos the air cleaner connects directly to the turbo, but on the engine the instruction sheet tells you to build I have no idea where it connects. Looks weird just hanging there on the cab connected to nothing.
Truck parts Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 (edited) Great job on the weathering,and looking forward to seeing it done Edited March 4, 2012 by Truck parts
Tyson Posted March 4, 2012 Author Posted March 4, 2012 Did some work on the engine. Painted Cummins beige and dirtied up.
David G. Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Excellent weathering, nice save, can't wait to see more. David G.
Tyson Posted March 22, 2012 Author Posted March 22, 2012 Worked a bit on the log trailer. Nowhere near done. Painted the caution tape on. Don't care much for the decal it came with. Worked on the rack too. And built a hood thing-a-ma-bob that my brain won't let me remember the name of right now. Also added a bit of plumbing to the engine. Also built a stinger from scratch, but I haven't painted it up yet. I'll try to get to that this weekend and also pull the engine out and get some pics as well.
Jim B Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) Amazing work! Do you mean the radiator brace? Edited March 22, 2012 by Jim B
drinkone2 Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 That is so cool! I always wanted to build a truck that is either retired or ready to be. Your weathering skills are top notch! Jim
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