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Hey, how are ya, thanks for looking, may do this kit bash again in a custom road truck.

Thank you, yup wish I could drive a truck that nice

This build was wrapped up a few weeks ago. It is a kit bash with the Watkins 925 and the Malone race truck. I used the long hood (15mm longer than stock) and the twin blower/ twin turbo V12 engine. The turbos were exchanged for larger turbos and re-plumbed for an intercooler. Frame stretch, hand built aluminum exhaust, custom fuel tanks, fabricated headache rack, grill was cut out and replaced with a screen, custom interior, aftermarket tires, and cast mirrors.

Nice custom fabrication. Something you’d see at a truck show attracting a big crowd. Aftermarket tires and the grille screen make a big difference. That engine is a beast!

Thought I would share the W900l (circa '96) hood I am working on for the snap KW. Hopefully I will wind up with something passable. Since the W900L grill is narrower, I cut a section out of the center of the hood and the grill (not pictured). To ensure that the correct width was maintained at the back of the hood a cut a section from the rear of another hood. The rear portion of the other hood was glued to the rear of the hood and the hood sides have been extended using sheet styrene. In the image above, the fenders have been widened using the outer portion of the other hood's fenders, the headlight "pods" have been removed and filled and the raised portion on the top of the hood has been removed. What's left of the original hood and the new hood. Working on the crowned strip down the center of the hood. Thanks for looking! Feedback is always encouraged and appreciated. --Casey

The rear axle visibly looks good...its what you don't see necessarily that is the issue..allow me to explain. The AMT truck rear axle has a steel rod that is attached to the wheel assembly's. As you can see in the picture, the rod is much smaller than the center hole in the rear axle which can cause, depending on if a body is mounted, a clearance issue with the top of the tire and the underside of the body. As a rule of thumb, there needs to be no less than 5 mm. (5" in 1:1 scale) of clearance between the top of the tire and the underside of the body. More clearance is builders choice. Where this would not be an issue is with the C series tractor since it has a fifth wheel. WASTE NOT, WANT NOT I don't see common, ordinary things like most people, rather I see a potential, useful item to be used for scratch building....case in point. These are the guts out of a dried up click pen...the White piece is the perfect size to fit into the axle and also allow the steel rod to fit into. Its now a bushing of sorts that pretty much eliminates the slop in the rear axle and will add a small, bit more clearance between the top of the tire and underside of the body... aprox. 2 mm.. This is not a drill bit , but rather a reamer. Ream the axle holes large enough so that the White piece fits into the axle snugly. I found that I only needed to ream a small bit on each side of the axle for the pen piece to properly fit. Fit the piece into the axle and cut off the excess. Insert the steel rod, attach the wheels and you done. You can do the same thing with an Evergreen tube...unsure of the number or dimensions as I don't have any on hand at this time.

Finished this truck a few months back, I started with the AMT Watkins kit. Built a double drop trailer with similar treatment that the truck has with fenders, colors and tires/wheels.

That is a gorgeous build,Gary. I would have loved to drive something that sweet… still would actually. Super build

I get a lot of windshield time listening to talk radio....mostly news of the world, or is that news of the weird....anyway of all things the discussion of C.W McCall came up....could have been that I was in S.E Nebraska and he hails from the Omaha Area. Here was the gist of the story. Turns out there are 4 different versions of the song Convoy 2 by C.W himself ,the radio version and the movie version. One by Canadian Paul Brandt ....saw a Paul Brandt trucking rig on South Bound 75 North of T-Town today ...coincidence???!!!??? Bonus points if you know where T-Town is! And one by Irishman Paul Kelly , yea that's right the trucking in the U.K! Links to these songs can be found at Google

As I am finding out with my first truck build, an AMT Ford C series cab over, that AMT trucks leave some to be desired as far as parts fitment and related issues as I have read here and elsewhere on the internet. If you have built an AMT big truck with out any fitment issues, congratulations your one of the few, as for the rest of us...... I am going to break this up into parts, hopefully making it easier. PART 1: Squaring the frame The frame is the foundation from which a truck is build, much the same way a sturdy foundation is from which a building is built. Since the frames consist of two separate side rails and numerous cross members is up to the builder to take the time and make sure that the frame is square, if not then pretty much everything will not be in proper alignment from that point forward and make for a frustrating building experience. Everyone has their different ways as far as holding the frame sections in place while their being attached...if it works for you use it....personally I use a flat,steel building plate and magnets along with modeling clay. Use only the two side rails/frame pieces and the front most and rear most cross members. Use the rear cross member that goes between the frame rails and not the cross member that attaches to the body frame (above the truck frame) as in the trash truck, city delivery/Coke, stake truck. Locate a point on your frame that you can use as a reference..in this case I use the rear most locator pin on the frame that is used to locate the trash truck packer box to the frame. There is another one on the opposite frame rail same location. On the front I used the center hole on the frame half of the cab pivot/hinge. It's important that you do a diagonal measurement as pictured, it needs to be an equal length on both sides Once you are satisfied that the frame is square and true, attach the all cross members except for the transmission cross member/mount and cab support despite what the instructions may show. You will locate and attach those while doing the engine and cab alignment.

Cab interior is exquisite. The leather work is eye watering good. So clean and precise. Watching these builds closely. Some really good ideas. Imm looking forward to tje next update. Really good stuff here

I finished the hood and cast the first one a couple of weeks ago only to realize that I made a major error. I somehow managed to make one of the fenders a tiny bit wider than the other. It is not dramatic but is noticeable. Therefore, I decided to start over from scratch. An opportunity to make it better, right? Thus far, I have 3d printed the upper hood, created sides from sheet styrene and have tacked a 3D printed right side fender in place. With not being bound by kit hood top, I was able to add a bit more of a drop to the front of the hood and make the shape of the upper hood more accurate. However, since the kit cab sits about .1" lower than it would for a B model, I was forced to shorten the grill a bit and narrowed it as well to maintain the correct length/width proportions. I was tempted to make it to scale but decided not to because it would force builders to raise the kit's cab in order to achieve the correct fitment and because the rivet counters are likely to be the only ones to notice or care. Ease of use beat accuracy in this case. All in all, I am happy with it and believe that in the end, it will be a much better effort than the first attempt. --Casey

I am getting pretty close to finishing this thing up. Color has been applied on to wet sanding, clearing and casting.

Thanks and yes sir. I'm also going to add the panel below the cab and extend the sleeper sides at the bottom to match. The cab panel and sleeper extension is in the image below along with a Vortex air cleaner that I am working on.

I backtracked quite a bit on the hood due to a couple of issues. 1. Although I mounted them in the same place as they were on the A model hood, they were too high. 2. The headlight pods were not symmetrical. The hood sides were made taller, two 3d printed fenders were added, a 3D printed grill was added and other minor tweaks were made. Here's what it looks like now, almost ready to prime, sand and paint.

I replaced the rear fender section to get rid of the flat spot that the A model fenders have and to widen the side of the fender near the rear. Fill, sanding and fine tuning continues. The trick will be to replicate my work on the other side.

I made a little more progress last night. I made the headlight pod and hit it with a quick shot of primer to see where I am at. The next challenge will be to clan up the underside of the hood and then correct the rear portion of the fender (get rid of the flat spot.) Wish me luck.

If it turns out well, I am thinking of casting the hood, grill, and headlights. I will need a few for some other builds and if there is interest, I'll make them available to others.