Tom Hall

In answer to Gary Chases's question...

I documented the build, from beginning to end, on Facebook's group "Tow Truck Model Builders"  

On 3/1/2024 at 7:11 AM, vincen47 said:

It would be a great model if it was fully static, but the fact that it has a functional boom and outriggers is extra impressive. What’s under the hood?

Garden variety Cummins.

THank you. Resin cab was a bit of a challenge because of the thickness of the casting.

Thank you. The model also turned out to be quite heavy...in plastic no less.

Winter project started November, 2023...estimated finish date April, 2024. 

Built almost entirely with left over parts from other kits. Holmes 750 style wrecker unit entirely scratch-built.

Modelled after a real wrecker used by a local towing company. Real wrecker weighs 103,000-pound necessitating 5 axles and special permits to operate in most states. Boom rotates 360 degrees and is poseable. It has a scale 8 feet of travel on the frame. Model is almost completely scratch-built using styrene plastic sheets and structural shapes.

10 hours ago, vincen47 said:

Great build! Excellent detail and fabrication. A wonderful tribute to all the guys that worked the 750 over the years. I like the paint colors, too. 

Thank you.

17 hours ago, Johnny M said:

WOW -- what a terrific model! 

That's the good stuff right there.

Johnny

Thank you.

Holmes came out with their '750' unit' in 1962 and produced them until 1990. Tow truck operators loved them because they were rugged, and many have been quoted as saying "the 750 would break something before it ran out of pulling power". Quite an endorsement. I always liked to look of the 750 and decided I would try my hand at one...with a couple of practical additions. I found out from research that the extendable booms the 750 had were notorious for being difficult to extend by hand and operators often had to rely on something more powerful than a man to pull the telescopic booms out, usually another wrecker had to do it. My solution was to add small hydraulic cylinders to the side of the square booms to extend the telescopic boom. Also in the 21st century world of trucking any wrecker not having an underlift is limited on what they can actually tow. So I added one. The wrecker bed/body is a modified "big stick' unit. Everything else is scatchbuilt. Here's my rendition.

I built this model entirely from left over parts from my spare parts totes, with a lot of scratch building involved. Even the KW hood and body were left overs from a KW I scrounged for parts for other builds. The wrecker unit itself began life as an Italeri US wrecker kit featuring the Western Star. I modified it to include an extendable boom similar to the real-life Miller Industries Vulcan series of wreckers. The wrecker body itself came from the AMT race car hauler kit with some modifications. 

I like trucks that "work' for a living. Oil field equipment, dump trucks, cement mixers, wreckers, etc. Not dissing on road trucks/semis but I can only build so many KW/Pete road trucks and then I get bored. The field is wide open for the 'working trucks' and scratch building bodies and frames is very enjoyable to me.