Tom Hall

Sometimes I get lucky. Thank you.

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

The inspiration for this build came from a real wrecker/recovery Peterbilt owned by a company just a few miles from where I live. I watched the wrecker in action and was amazed at the capability it exhibited. I knew I had to build one albeit on a KW chassis cause in my world there are only two large cars made...KW and all the rest! Anyway, the real rig weighs 102,000 pounds and that's why it has 5 axles. Here in Ohio where I live it has a special permit to operate on highways throughout the state. Since I can be in WV or Pennsylvania in less than 20 minutes I'm assuming the company, Marlboro Towing, has similar permits in those states as well. The model is almost entirely scratch built using Evergreen Scale Models styrene plastic sheets and structural shapes. The only kit parts used were the frame, rear axle assembly, the cab/interior, a few other odds and ends. It's worth noting the hood is entirely scratch built with the exceptions of the GMC General fenders I had laying around. The entire wrecker unit is scratch built. The wrecker rotates and will travel a scale 7 feet on the frame, front to back.

Thank you.

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***.

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.

Thank you.

Thank you. The resin cab was supplied by eBay vendor 2007frontier. He shows it as still available. The casting was the entire cab and hood assembly, all in one. The heaviness of the casting made separating the hood from the cab impractical. I did put an engine under the hood, so to speak but only detailed the lower half since the upper half would never be seen. I did take the time to make a 6V71 Detroit-Diesel by cutting away two cylinders on an 8V71.

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

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.

In answer to Gary Chases's question... I documented the build, from beginning to end, on Facebook's group "Tow Truck Model Builders"

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.

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 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.

Thank you.

Thank you.

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.