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Backdating the hood on this kit isn't as tough as one might think. With the proper tools, and a little patience, this conversion is quite simple.
First is to prime the hood to see the markings for the cuts, I drilled two holes in the top of the fenders for corner location. The first cut with a razor saw was along the hood upright on an angle to the bottom of the headlight buckets. Second cut came in from the side, at this point you should be meeting with the drilled holes.
The first cut with a razor saw was along the hood upright on an angle to the bottom of the headlight buckets.
Second cut came in from the side, at this point you should be meeting with the drilled holes.
Now that both buckets are gone I lined the inside of the fenders with sheet styrene cut to fit, this creates a foundation for the putty to lay on. Everyone has their favorite brand, mine just seems to be squadron green and white.
Starting with the green, put more than enough on and go past the ground zero, this will help in the end results.
After the green is sanded off, you should have noticeable low spots.
Now comes the white, I'm using two colors as a guide to see how deep I'm going into the fender
Once this is sanded off, do a quick mock up to check your work. At this point more primer will be applied and small defects will be cared for prior to paint.
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On request: building a Peterbilt 379
And here's the finished result of my work. With the license plate and IFTA decals on, and outside pictures in decent weather, I think I can call this truck done. All that's left is the Build-Off judging itself...
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The Republic CTC Series
From Wikipedia- "The Republic Motor Truck Company was a manufacturer of commercial trucks circa 1913 - 1929, in Alma, Michigan. By 1918, it was recognized as the largest exclusive truck manufacturer in the world, and the maker of one out of every nine trucks on the roads in the United States.[1] It was one of the major suppliers of "Liberty trucks" used by American troops during World War I."
Republic eventually found itself in trouble and merged with American LaFrance to form LaFrance Republic in 1929. Three years later, LaFrance Republic was bought out by Sterling, and the Republic name disappeared from the marketplace.
But what if...
I pondered what may have happened had the merger with LaFrance still happened, and while ALF continued its focus on emergency vehicles, Republic would handle the commercial truck/tractor business. This thought, and an incomplete AMT ALF pumper kit were the beginning of the project. I assumed that ALF and Republic would share major components to cut costs, so that the trucks might strongly resemble each other. That made my task a bit easier, too, as about all I had to do was rework the existing ALF parts.
The CTC (Compact Tilt Cab) series was introduced in early 1958, and was designed to be a direct competitor to the tilt-cab White, which was quickly becoming a popular medium duty with several operators. It was also in competition with the Ford C-Series, though Republic execs realized that making a dent in the then one-year-old Ford design would be a tall order. The CTC quickly found a following among urban fleets and in the refuse industry.
At launch time, the CTC could be ordered with literally any engine the customer desired. A few early models even left the factory with Chrysler Firepower Hemi V8s! As time wore on, though, more customers requested the availability of the Detroit V8. Though ALF did use this engine in their 800 series units (upon which the CTC was based), due to the way the Republic tilt cab was laid out, this engine would not fit in a standard CTC. In late 1972, Republic plucked an unfinished CTC-8500 from the line, painted it in the traditional black/yellow/green paint scheme, and, after several modifications to the doghouse and raising the cab approximately 4", installed a Detroit 8v71 engine. This prototype was then sent to the Lansing, Michigan terminal of Outward Bound Truck Lines for "real world" testing and evaluation purposes. There it would be subjected to a great deal of urban driving, punctuated with several open highway jaunts. Once a week, the CTC was driven from Lansing to the Republic factory in Alma on US-127, and Republic's engineering team would perform a series of tests and inspections. Then, it was back to work in Lansing. After one year of testing, the Republic engineers had amassed a great deal of usable data.
Drivers complained of the tractor's nose-heaviness, and the cramped interior. Republic determined that both problems could be solved by adding an additional 10" in length to the cab behind the doors. This would allow for a smaller doghouse, as well as enabling Republic to install the engine/transmission further to the rear. Raising the cab another inch would be beneficial as well. These changes made their way onto all CTC series models beginning in late 1974, at the same time the 8v-series Detroit diesels became a regular option.
The CTC Detroit prototype's power and light weight combined to make it quite a sprightly performer, too. After only a week or so at the Outward Bound terminal, the OB drivers had nicknamed the tractor the "Hemi Cuda" on account of it's impressive power-to-weight ratio.
Here is how the Detroit-powered CTC-8500 appeared upon it's return to Alma after it's one-year test run with OB had ended. A little dirty, a little beat, but otherwise no worse for wear. Nobody knows what became of this CTC after it had done it's duty. Some people say it was scrapped, some people say it's still tucked away in the warehouse on the outskirts of town. There are even claims that a local truck collector has it stashed away in a dark shed somewhere in the Saginaw Bay area. Wherever it is, or isn't, the Detroit CTC-8500 was an interesting story of a small company doing what it had to do to stay afloat in a cutthroat market.
Here, the resemblance between the Republic CTC Series and the ALF 800 can be seen.
Republic's engineers mounted the prototype cab several inches forward of it's normal position in order to fit the Detroit 8v71 engine. Though not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, it did help. Production models had a longer cab and revised mounts and hinges.
Republic trucks never were meant to be pretty... other than the customary Republic paint scheme this one is all-business.
All CTC tractors ordered with a single fuel tank came standard with a 24" square tool box mounted to the passenger's side.
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A few thanks are in Order
I just wanted to make a quick note to say thank you to the admins at Model Truck Discussion, Model Truck Mafia, Building Big Rigs Tips and how did you do it and Model Trucks Other Than Pete or KW for allowing me advertise MTB.com in their Facebook groups. Thank you to those that have given me permission to post images of their builds in the gallery, to those who have added their own images and to those who have posted in the forums. Finally, thanks to all who have visited and/or registered. I hope you find your way here often, contribute content when and where you can, and most importantly, find the site useful and enjoyable.
Please do not hesitate to let me know what I can do to make MTB.com better.
--Casey
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