Johnny M

Thanks, Bob. Wish I'd had a trailer this nice back in the day. I think I would have been OK with those polished alloy wheels and the toolboxes in between the spreads. My own trailers -- not so much, but hey, run what you brung, right? Johnny

Thanks, Vincen47. Much appreciated. Johnny

WooHoo -- finally got a load! Finally got a load for my now 40' Wilson flatbed. I don't know what these things are -- some kind of coils on frames or platforms, maybe generators or something. I found them on another model, already tarped and chained, so I'm like "That'll work!". They came with these long black bungee cords with hooks, I guess to keep the tarps from moving around in the wind, so I shortened them and put them on there too. This is all in 1:64 btw. Johnny

I used Krylon a few years ago to do the sleeper on this model. I chose Krylon because I think it has a better gloss than RustOleum, and because one of the Krylons matched the existing color of the cab best. You can see in my poor camera photo that it doesn't quite match the cab color but that it did come out with a really nice gloss finish. That said, I didn't have to mask around any windows or other trim for this one, but I wouldn't hesitate to use Krylon with intricate masking if it had the color I was looking for. Johnny

Wow -- just wonderful.. My eye is drawn to all the tiny details -- the tools, the cables, the fittings, all that. Love the little red and green caps on the bottles. It's fun how the smallest and most ordinary colors stand out against the olive drab panels. Johnny

Santucci Construction Co. R Model 1;64 Jersey coal wagon Johnny

Here's a 53 foot Wilson trailer that I'm in the process of making into an old-school steel hauler. That piece you see on top of the trailer is the chunk I cut out of the middle of it. By my amateur calculations, it's about 13 feet long, so that would bring the trailer down to about 40 feet, a big improvement. I would have liked to make it even shorter, say 36 or 38 feet, but there wasn't a good place to cut the frame to make that happen, so 40 feet it is. May next job is to make some steel coils for the load. Mr. Dowel has agreed to make the coils, and I already have the chains, but I'm gonna have to make the tarps from scratch. I'll probably try to make them out of foil so the side flaps will drape nicely and then spray paint them and age the color, as I haven't been able to find any store-bought tarps this small. Anybody have any suggestions for the tarps? Johnny

Oh yeah ! Two of the details I especially like are the chain and hook setup on the front bumper and the two contoured aluminum plates, of two different patterns, on the fuel tank and step. Way ta go.. Johnny

That's the kind of detail that makes the difference between an OK model and an amazing one. Keep up the good work, sez me. Johnny

Wonderful ! The dashboard and the gauges are beautiful, and then just for fun there's that little stamped plate over in the right hand corner. I can't make out what it says, but it's like a shift pattern or caution label of some kind. Too cool.. Johnny

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

Sweeet! I always loved the looks of those bullet-nose ( bubble-nose?) Petes. You never see them around anymore, probably for good reason :). I drove an H model Mack for a year or so; sort of like that, but not a Pete. Petes were much nicer. Good build. The train horns are a nice touch -- they help keep the lane clear next to you. Johnny

1947 Ford rock hauler Johnny

Old skool KW west coast flatbedder Johnny

New mufflers and pipes for 1:64 Cannonball GMC, made from K+S Precision aluminum tubing assortment -- part number 3403, from Amazon, $6.58. I haven't tried to finish them at all yet, just thought I'd send this along today. They come in an 8-pack of small diameters which are just big enough to fit inside the next larger size. Nice stuff, and they are available in various larger-size assortments as well. Johnny

SKILLZ ! Thanks, Johnny

Question: Did you make those white plastic parts yourself? I went back through your earlier posts on this build and saw some of them sitting in a container but I didn't know whether they came out of a kit or you had made them. You must have made the parts for the engine , and they look really well done. Johnny

OH wow, thanks so much for that info and the pictures. Yours are beautiful! I'm going to start playing with that TODAY. It's gonna be a fun learning curve. I totally get it now. Thanks again, Johnny

Boy howdy -- lovin' the pulleys and belts on the front of the engine! Johnny

"Got some engine work done" Ummm Yessir , I'll say! This is just amazing. I can't stop grinning and looking at the details. Astonishing. Johnny

Thanks, Driptroit. Love dem cannonballs! That one was originally a diecast model made by NEO. They make really nice stuff. I've just picked at it a little -- still a lot more to do. The interior's next. Johnny

HaHa -- Great stuff ! I could totally use one of them. Johnny

1978 Freightliner calendar art complete with big hair AND corduroy. Johnny

Thanks, Driptroit ! I wanted the old Mercury sleeper look but since I couldn't find a sleeper kit that size (1:43) I went with the tried-and-true white pine and Molotow method Johnny

Wow -- your models are amazing -- the old Chevy is too kool ! Johnny