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I haven’t posted anything here in awhile, be nice to see some activity again. So here is my latest completion. This started out as the AMT Autocar A64 B tractor kit. Stretched frame, added lift axle, fenders, later model turbo Cummins with larger turbo and plumbed inter cooler, custom mirrors, custom visor, custom dash, some plumbing, hand made exhaust, 10 wheels and on and on.

I like all those paint jobs, the white, gold and orange is really cool. Not sure what happened, but it’s cool.

4 frames assembled. 1 shortened, 1 extended. Practicing with tape. In the paint booth. Decals did not cooperated. Change of plans. The striping will be attempted without the decals, which didn't even make it off the paper. Good enough. I can clean it up. Catastrophic failure. In a tank of Lacquer thinner it will go for a complete re-start. I really like the concept of #2.

Very nice build. I like the subtle weathering, and detail on the white engine. Nice photo etched upgrade on the grille. The Moebius tires are also an improvement. One of the best 352s I’ve seen in a while.

Such a great build and spot on weathering

Finished this one in December. I used the US Mail kit with decals from the Mpc DM600. Paint is Tamiya and Krylon shortcuts. I scratchbuilt mudflaps, 5 speed transmission, shifter, and clutch pedal. Otherwise, pretty much out of the box.

I was watching large car wrecker videos on YouTube. Not only do I find them entertaining but a source of inspiration as well. I watch Pepe's out of LA, Wilcox Garage based in Willard, Ohio, and Sumter Wrecking from Sumter, SC. Each company has unique operational areas and challenges which makes it even more interesting. Sumter Wrecking in South Carolina has an old Holmes 750 mounted on a 1985 Freightliner they use to pull farm equipment out of the Carolina clay because its relatively light weight means it won't get stuck like a heavier rig might. I decided my fantasy fleet needed a similar unit. Being from an agricultural county here in Ohio means we have lots of farmers with lots of wet fields sometimes. But I wanted my wrecker to be a 6 by 6 on flotation tires to maybe keep it from getting stuck. I started a Holmes 1801 wrecker 25 years ago and never finished it but I did save all the parts I scratch built. According to tow truck operators back in the day they described the pulling power of an 1801 like this..."if you think a Holmes 750 pulls hard, you should see an 1801 at work". STS Supply supplied the C500 hood and the front drive axle which I modified to make it poseable. Not hard to do once you see how STS molded the part. The body of this particular model came from AMT's 'Big Stick' kit. I modified it and stretched it with Evergreen Scale Models styrene sheets and shapes. The '1801' was pretty much done but I did change some minor things to improve its appearance...meaning I got better 25 years later. It's still a WIP but will be done soon as the weather breaks. Queenie hates it when I paint in the house and MomNature hasn't warmed up enough to paint outside....***sigh***.

You got some serious skills, love this build.

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

This one gave me a couple issues, but overall wasn't too bad. I scratchbuilt a lot of parts and added Moebius wheels. I planned a matching 27ft trailer, but it's not finished yet.

Hey everyone just thought I'd drop in with my latest build. It has some parts from MTB scratchbuilt bumper and outlaw steps, stretched frame to 280 scale inch, aftermarket wheels italeri tires. Removed the bars from the grille and put a single bar in the center. It's a tribute to Rob Spencers black Kenworth. IMT Transport in Iowa (Jeremy Gouge) owns it now. It started with a ROG W900 kit. Thanks!

I have a thing for trucks that 'work' for a living. Not to demean over the road units with all the chrome and flash because hauling 40tons cross country takes a strong rig in its own right. Let's just say I like trucks that get down and dirty when doing their jobs. I also like large car wreckers. I am a retired truck driver with 42 years experience, and I am also a model builder with 66 years of experience. I love to scratch build and modify whether it be a 1/25 scale '58 Impala with a chopped top or a fleet of large cars. I rarely build model cars now because of my love of large cars. I have a fantasy fleet of wreckers that I started several years ago, and this is the latest addition to that fleet. I purchased a T800 resin hood from STS Supply and got started. This model is your basic 4 axle wrecker/recovery unit that is not modelled after any particular manufacturer like Challenger or Miller Industries. I like to use another fantasy company called W.A.G Engineering. The W.A.G. stands for Wild Ass Guess! That means I have a basic idea of what I want to build but with no plans to go by it becomes a build as you go thing. With the exception of the kit parts you see the entire wrecker body/unit were built using Evergreen Scale Models sheet plastic and various structural shapes, all in styrene plastic. I like Testor's in the orange tube to hold it all together. I decided the wheel lift was going to be modelled after a Zack lift unit I saw installed on a 1:1 wrecker. I like all my 'important' parts to be poseable.

Rally nice and detailed. FYI the Cummins engines were never yellow. Especially in that year bracket , they were aa light brown in color or they were white sometimes. Duplicolor does make a Cummins brown in aerosol can and very right on to the Cummins brown. Only Caterpillar engines were yellow. Keep up the great work.

Finished the trailer today and used another truck build for pics. Now back to finish the 4300.

As of 2023, its been brought to a keen modelers eye attention that Tamiya thin cement and Tamiya airbrush cleaner are 99% the exact same product. Tamiya thin cement costs around $6 for a 40ml bottle whereas Tamiya airbrush cleaner cost about $10 for the 250ml Bottle. So if you bought the same quanity of each, you'd be spending almost $40 more for the thin cement. Proof: the chemical ingredient list shows they only use 2 ingredients for both products. In comparison to each other, there's only a 1% difference in chemical make up. Ergo, same product. Theres some guys who posted youtube videos about it, check them out. In short, you can refill your tamiya thin cement bottle 6+ times for a one time purchase of a $10ish bottle of taimya airbrush cleaner.

UPGRADE Older stretched 1:43ville now with Earl Miller's beautiful airlines. Johnny

Though it’s not part of a completed truck build yet, I think an engine can be a model in itself. I’ve started my next truck conversion, a 1/24th scale black and chrome Peterbilt 379, and I’ve built a Cat 3406E for it's power. The resin engine is from Moluminum. It wears real Cat yellow, and includes several scratch-built extras. Further detailing will be added when it’s in-frame. It represents a ‘99 15.8l E-Model 3406. Producing 600 plus horsepower, the final generation of these 964 cubic inch beasts were the precursor to the C16. This one has been remanufactured and up-fitted with chrome and ceramic parts, to boost the performance and style. It’s representative of the custom engines from diesel shops that outfit gliders and other owner-operator rigs. Big Cats like this are highly sought-after for their power and pre-emissions reliability. They often find a second life in a glider or show truck. it’s coupled to an 18 speed Eaton Autoshift transmission that’s been up-fitted with a trans oil cooler. The build was detailed using Ken Smith’s Car Modeller 3406E article and online photos for reference, many from Kustom Truck, an Oregon-based glider and diesel shop. I hope you enjoy. Next on the bench: The rolling chassis.

The newly issued Pete is out of final assembly. Still needs decals and touch up paint. Not using the kits large strips on this one.

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.