Cornbinder

Nice! Is that the stock wheelbase?

Very nice! Even as-is. Even though it doesn't look like it would take an awful lot to bring it back up to 100%

Lovely! The local gravel pit once had a similar unit to this.

Love it! I need to get around to an R one of these days.

This was a quick and relatively pleasant buildup of the old Ertl Precision Series kit. You know, the one with that diecast frame that seems to scare off many a modeler. I didn't have too much trouble with that, but the diecast front spindles sucked, so I made new ones from plastic strip. Other than the roof top A/C unit and the decals it's totally box stock and finished in Tamiya flat yellow. I also cut away the exhaust stack and replaced it with aluminum tubing.

I have not, but I have a few military kits I want to get around to sometime. This one is a done deal, Showroom pics coming soon.

The engine is in. Not much will be visible once the cab is on but I have it some weathering. I tried Vallejo pigments for the first time and I'm reasonably happy.

This is a kit I've wanted for a while. I recently was able to nab one at a not-too-terrible price. The diecast frame gave me pause, but it turns out to be a minor matter. The diecast front spindles were useless and replaced with new ones fabricated from styrene. The tractor will be weathered to resemble a semi-retired rig, no pun intended. Much of the hit chrome has been stripped. The metal frame has eight pins, meant to protrude through corresponding holes in the bumper to simulate bolt heads. Things didn't quite line up, so the pins were filed off and replaced by heads cut from straight pins. More building and detailing to come....

Love it.

Love it! Just the right amount of dirt and schmutz.

I've wanted to build this for years, so I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this project.

I really need to get back on this thing. 😒

I love it. Some very simple changes on an uncommon rig add up to an unmistakable design.

I recently nabbed three Italeri parts packs and thought I'd take some photos and show people what's in the boxes. We'll begin with 720- Truck Accessories for European and American trucks. On the box top we see illustrations of what's included- various parts and three figures depicting Waylon Jennings, your creepy uncle, and former BBC Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. This sprue contains some mirrors, mud flaps, sides to an underbody tool compartment, and a road hazard triangle. There's also a very nice bottle jack. Here's the engraved detail on the mud flaps close up. The other sprue contains more parts and some pieces to the figures. Here's a close up of the detail on the bolt cutter and some of the air fittings. I consider this kit worht buying due to the chromed smokestacks and cast six-spoke wheels shown here, but you also get some nice air horns, a variety of lights, and more. Clear lenses are also included, along with coated wire for use as air and electrical lines. Lots of decal graphic choices, though the US plates are way too large- they might look about right on a 1:16 scale vehicle. The European plates look much closer to correct in size. 764's box art is similar, showing what is included. Among much more, here you get another Michelin man as well as what appears to be the love child of the Big Boy logo and the Elephant Man. You also get not one but TWO creepy uncle figures! Someone at Italeri must be very fond of Bibendum, aka The Michelin Man. If you're thinking this one doesn't seem to include as many pieces as 720, you're right. The chrome sprue gets the job done, and includes plated cab lights with separate clear orange lenses. Sadly- the clear parts sprue is missing from my particular example. The decal sheet is simple but contains some interesting and useful markings. The topless blonde graphics are a nice touch. Lastly, we have my personal favorite, 776. This is the third example of this kit I have gotten over the years. I struck out on this one. I'll explain why later. This sprue is dominated by the lift gate components, and the six spoke cast wheels. Here's the detail present on the cast wheels, and some of the lift gate components. Here we have the components for the Effer knuckle-boom crane. This one is molded in a red-orange, the other two I've had were molded in gray and orange, respectively. Here's where I struck out. The first two of these I bought had the soft vinyl Michelins. This one has the old two-piece plastic Michelins. Perhaps this is an earlier issue of the kit? And the decals- most of these are for the crane but the lift gate is not overlooked.

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