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why do you guys build model trucks?My interest in truck modeling started from being in a trucking family,watching my dad build them when I was real young.I started building cars,got my first truck model (a diamond reo) at age 11.Stoped building as  teen ager.Picked it back up with cars.Got back into the trucks again when they reissued the reo again in the late ninety's,other than a few cars its been exclusively the big rigs. 

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I build a variety of model types- everything from HO scale buildings to RMS Titanic. But my favorite thing about the big truck kits is variation. There aren't too many other genres you can build in so many ways.

Take the AMT Diamond REO. Right out of the box it makes a decent day cab or sleeper tractor. Or you can modify the hood (or get the hood from GW Trucks) and do it with a set back front axle. You could make up the steel butterfly hood and pit fenders for it. Or rework the existing grille to the earlier style... or even built it as a Diamond T or REO. You can leave it a tractor, or put a wrecker body on it. Or a cement mixer. Or a dump box...

That's just one example, but you see what I mean. You can name pretty much any one truck kit out there, and then go on to come up with at least 20 or 30 different ways you could build it.

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Trucks are fun! you can build them how you want, they don't take up as much space as model planes for instance and they're versatile. When I was a kid I built little fighter planes, but they take up more space and you're more or less bound by the real world colors.

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I'll ad to the above comments about versatility.You can build a truck pretty much as you like.Different engines, colour  ,wheels, seats, wheelbase, what ever.You can only build a stock 85 mustang a few ways and keep it correct

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Like it's been said above, I built trucks for the variation: You can take a single kit and build it a thousand different ways and scratchbuilt just about anything to suit it.

No other model genre allows you that freedom. Just think about the tank builders, a realistic tank model can only be built a certain amount of different ways according to country, units and so on. Trucks are unlimited!

 

Beerz, Felix

 

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I started building trucks back in the early 1980's . Being a teenager my friends and I spent our free time at the local truckstop having burgers and fries listening to the jukebox and watching those 18 wheelers roll in to fuel up and fuel our dreams of the open road. So naturally we all built model trucks ,The Movin On and BJ and the Bear trucks and others were readily available . I did my first double bunk conversion at the age of 16 using two BJ trucks.  As I got older I moved away from trucks due to the real estate they would take up on the shelf and went to WWII aircraft for the next 30 years. About five years ago I ended up with a AMT KW coe aero and Watkins trailer in a trade, I had been bitten by the bug again and have no desire to build any other type of model .  

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I've built models since age 9 and my first Engine build was in a Pete COE at age 10 before that my models had no engines lol.

That truck got me hooked on building big rig's, my Uncle and Dad were Driver's and so am I,so it's in the bloodline for sure and My Uncle gave me some Overdrive Mag's to look at they had Model of the Month Topic's in them and that helped kick start trucks as my main builds over the years.

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This will be my first post here.

I am relatively new to building trucks and like others have mentioned have built cars, planes, and ships for many years. Over those years I did buy a number of truck kits to add to my collection with the thought of building them one day. I have started on my first truck recently and I must say it has been fun building and researching something completely different. 

So bottom line, it is fun for me to build something entirely different.

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Like everyone else I started out building other types of models.. I have found there is just so much more to do with these.Since I got ito building Trucks all my car builds have just sat in boxes. I would jump from project to project never finishing anything Now I am getting very close to finishing my first kit in years. A 352 Daycab, when I started this I was going to build a 110" Custom.. I will be doing it but this just looked so cool!

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My parents owned the cafe part of a truck stop when I was a kid, then after I got a "real" job after high school I started out driving mixer trucks before switching to end dumps. And that's where I've been for the last 40 years. As for the truck building, that started after I got my first 359 Pete model for a birthday present way back in the late '60s.

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On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 4:02 PM, plastic trucker said:

My parents owned the cafe part of a truck stop when I was a kid, then after I got a "real" job after high school I started out driving mixer trucks before switching to end dumps. And that's where I've been for the last 40 years. As for the truck building, that started after I got my first 359 Pete model for a birthday present way back in the late '60s.

Glad to have you with us.  Please share some images of your builds and that 50+ years of building experience.

--Casey

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Why trucks you ask. For me it goes to my childhood always loved them use to sit on my porch and watch them go by the house. My fathers friend was a truck driver he took me out in a Ford Cabover and I was hooked. Went east at 10 on vacation and saw lots of trucks and had fun talking to the drivers on the CB. As I was older had a few Movin On kits and would never get far and was always intimidate  over how many parts, now as I am older still a little intimidated but trying to build them as I just like them so much and from what I have noticed you can do a lot with them that you can not do with cars and the truck community is a little more laid back and I like that 

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I started building trucks back in the early 80's. I stopped, then started again, then stopped and now I'm back at it. I like old iron: trucks, tractors, train, power units, etc. I tried collecting and restoring old tractors, but that was just way too expensive. Now I build in scale the things that interest me.

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This will be my first post as i just signed up.I started with model trains back in the earl 60s.i moved on to "HO" and did;nt build much,just operated with only the track and trains.Back in the Early 80s i saw a LGB train set and bought it. I build the trucks in 1/25th because they go with my big trains.As i've gotten older my models have grown bigger.I like the old small overworked and rusted type of trucks.My next project will be one that rides the rails as well as drives on the road.I'm waiting to get a double lung transplant and will have plenty of time to sit and build my projects. I hope to learn a lot from this forum and maybe offer some advice to at times.

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Just signed up. Found this place through a guy named Chuck when he was trying to help me out on another site.

Been building models for over 50 years on and off. but always loved semi truck.

Guess that is because I was a trucker through the years with over 1.5 million OTR miles and god only knows how many short haul and local miles!

Retired in my 40's following a fall i which I broke my back. So now all I have is small scale trucks (1/25  to keep me happy!

I also build cars in 1/24 - 1/25 scales.

Have about 14 semi tractors to build and an equal amount of trailers.

Going to start going on them this winter.

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Good question, for me it was also family related. My grandfather had a hand in running Utica General Truck back in the day, back then, they sold GMC and I think trailmobile trailers ( remember seeing a ‘stack’ of flatbed trailers on the lot) , and gramp had a few rig models he was working on. As I got into building , I couldn’t afford the rigs, so it was all cars, as time went on, models faded into the back ground, but when I got back into it in 2013, rigs were high on the priority list, so I amassed a nice selection of them. Just love building them, and always do a trailer to go with one, downside is finding space to display them. 

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I agree on the trailers, but now that we moved to a new house and the kids are gone, I'm doing a dedicated display room. But I build semis, oil field units, vintage rails and vintage funnycars. All take up space. :)

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On 2/9/2019 at 8:39 PM, Tbill said:

Ya, space always seems to be at a premium, be it for display or the hoard of kits, lol.

 

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Is four your lucky number?? Lol 😆 

 

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I started years ago when I was around 5 years old. Started with the Snap kit semis, after awhile I got into cars and built many kustoms, drag, weathered, pickups, short trackers, etc... Now as I’m 50 and working to obtain my CDL I’ve gotten the itch to build trucks again. Now mind ya I still build all the other stuff too yet but the rigs are taken over a big part of my bench as of late.. 

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Lol, sometimes it’s 4, sometimes it’s 6 or more...., my name is tom, and I’m a plastic addict......( and I didn’t even show the car/pick up hoard)

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12 hours ago, Tbill said:

Lol, sometimes it’s 4, sometimes it’s 6 or more...., my name is tom, and I’m a plastic addict......( and I didn’t even show the car/pick up hoard)

LMAO!!!! Me too!!! I suffer from Plasticitis and in dire need of a  Plastenstyrenedectomy!!! Wait!! There's more??? Yikes!!

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