Brian Conn

Thanks Gary...wish I had more time in the hobby room to devote to this project, but it is what it is. I think I might have enough for another update post soon

...Impressive build. I've got a wrecker in the pipe line, getting all the parts and pieces rounded up. Bought an early 60's I.H DCO 405 Emeryville resin cab before the prices went insanely high from Spaulding trading a couple of years ago, Picked up a 3-D print Holmes 750 minus body a year or so ago and picked up a derelict Transtar cab over for $20.00 at a model show a couple years ago that will donate its chassis....building a 1:1 wrecker that I remember as a kid growing up.

YIKES...it's hasn't been since last year since I posted anything......... Tried some 1 mm. Yellow pin striping tape that failed miserably..so with a steady hand and a Sable hair detail brush I have started pin striping the cab....fair results, will work for a weathered garbage truck. Started working on the packer body. Coming out of Garwood's assembly plant, the bodies where all White, so I am going to leave the portion of the body that doesn't get weathered the molded kit White...it's not too dull or too bright. Hydraulic oil tank assembly This shows the interior of the packer body as far as what see's the wear and metal to metal contact and what doesn't. Made a small lip out of styrene sheet to cover up the extreme rear portion of the truck frame to keep trash out

When I found out it was kind of surreal.....I still had a couple hours of windshield time before I made it home yesterday from S. E Nebraska ....quite a few trucks pulling grain trailers and started noticing the W900's . Saw where a 30 year old W900 can still fetch $60,000 , wonder how many of today's trucks will be able to do the same 30 years from now?

☹️ Word on the road today is that the Kenworth W900 will cease production in 2026.......

To determine how much to add to the frame..... Dry fit (no glue) the 359 body (hood, cab sleeper) on the 359 frame. Take one of the sides of the wrecker bed and place it behind the sleeper to give you an idea of how much to add if your not ready to start cutting on the frame....OR (preferred) go ahead and make your cut on the frame, then support the front portion of the frame (making it level) with the hood, cab and sleeper in place and then center the tandems in the wrecker bed wheel wells once you have determined where you want the wrecker bed to sit. The gap between the 2 frame halves is what you will need to add. Another possibility would be to cut the frame directly behind the sleeper on the 359 and directly in front of the wrecker bed on the other and connect the two frames. Since your dealing with 2 different kit manufacturers, this would not be a highly visible area

Took advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures and decent humidity outside today and shot some color on the cab....still have a small bit of tape to clean up (door handles,wind shield wipers, script on the doors, etc. etc.) Still working on the packer body.....so far so good.

I got some more work done on the packer body interior. Filled in the open areas on what is the 1:1 scale hydraulic oil tank with styrene sheet. Did some subtle weathering. For what ever reason there is a notch on both upper corners of the kit ejector blade. I filled in the upper Right notch with a piece of styrene sheet. Filled in the interior wall (Left piece} with styrene strips and automotive glazing and spot putty. Will leave the sanding scratch marks in place on the rear 2/3rd's for metal to metal contact effect.

A couple days ago I got some new Paasche bottles and lids w/tubes. I noticed that the tube fitting on the 1oz. bottle lid was different than the lid that came with the air brush originally. Not a problem,except that this tip/how to would not work with this new style? lid w/tube...so I came up with a working solution. Newer style lid w/ tube on the Left, the original VL air brush lid w/tube on the Right With the newer style lid (Left) the vinyl tube fits inside the fitting. With the original VL air brush lid w/tube (Right) the vinyl tube fits over a barbed fitting. Newer style lid w/ vinyl tube removed This old CA glue bottle nozzle will become an adapter that goes between the lid fitting and the vinyl micro fuel line. Be sure and clean any glue remnants from the nozzle...I used a drill bit and blew it out w/compressed air. Remove the threaded portion of the nozzle...avoid cutting into the inner flange of the nozzle, this is what will end up fitting over the lid fitting. Remove the grooved ridges from the base of the nozzle...remove enough so that the nozzle will fit up into the lid and the lid can be screwed to a bottle. Taper the tip enough so that the vinyl micro fuel line will fit over the tip. Slide the vinyl tube over the nozzle Firmly press the nozzle over the fitting. 1 oz. lid with tube adapter on a former clear coat bottle that has been re purposed for spray painting.

First off a salute to my fellow veterans on the forum..... I have started to work on the packer body and its separate components. This is from the Garwood sales brochure for the LP 900 packer. This is the view looking forward towards the truck cab from inside the packer body. Here is the same part from the kit. The lower portion and upright portions are part of the hydraulic tank. I am going to be displaying this at model shows with the roof of the packer body off, so I will be filling in those open portions with styrene sheet to replicate the hydraulic tank shown in the sales brochure. This is also from the LP 900 sales brochure. This view is from the front part of the packer body looking towards the rear of the ejection panel..... the sliding panel that pushes out the trash at the landfill as well as compacts the trash being picked up. I will be cutting a notch in the ejection panel for the raceway and attaching it so that the raceway will stay in place with the roof off instead of making it part of the roof as shown in the brochure. These are the inside of the packer body sides. I understand to make the injection mold process work that AMT had to do it this way, but the insides need to be flat with no obstructions. These raised parts would be disastrous in the real world. I will be filling in the areas between the raised parts with styrene sheet to have a smooth interior of the packer body.

Thanks!!! Just about got the cab wrapped up and have started on the packer,hopefully posting some progress pictures soon.

The Ad Astra Modeling Club here in Topeka, Ks. had its annual show today......got a few truck pictures.... Fellow forum member and member of the Ad Astra Modeling Club, Paul, built this diorama along with fellow Ad Astra member Lamar Johnson. Along with the logging truck diorama, Paul also built this fine looking combo. A lot of scratch building went into this wrecker

Shot this first light coat of color with the air brush....turns out there was cracks in the pick up tube...will have to sand out the areas of splatter and re shoot, other than that I'm o.k with it.

I shoot a Paasche VL airbrush w/the 1 oz. glass jar. After my last session, I went to clean the air brush and discovered cracks in the vinyl pick up tube that is in the glass jar. 1/8" I.D X 1/4" O.D micro fuel line (Red) One foot of fuel line cost me $2.00...enough to last me a long time. As it turns out,the inside dia. of micro fuel line (gas powered weed eaters as an example) is a perfect fit over the fitting on the glass jar lid. Instead of trying to clean the pick up tube every time I use the air brush,I will just simply replace the used pick up tube with a new, clean one.

I went to the annual Prison City Model show in Leavenworth, Ks. ...did'nt show a truck, rather a dirt track Gran Torino that garnered me a 3rd place finish in the competition class....enough of the car stuff. This American La France 900 series pumper that pays homage to the 343 New York City firefighters that lost their lives in the line of duty on 9-11 won an award in the truck category...built by Brian Gauthier of the Show Me State Modelers....plenty of after market and scratch building. One clean cab over.