Cornbinder

This was just a simple, box-stock, weekend buildup of the Esci boxing of the good old AMT kit. An entire can of Krylon Sun Yellow was used on the trailer, along with Tamiya Buff and flat black, and some hardware store silver. This is easily the worst-fitting kit I've ever built to date, but I hung in there and got it done. I still need to add the tie-down hooks on the sides- I may make some that actually swivel. If not, the kit parts stand at the ready. The plan was always for the two WWSs to be paired up like this- the restored custom version pulling the shabby one on the flatbed. So... scratch that one of the ol' to-do list.

The White will eventually get it's own lowboy, painted to match, with a used John Deere backhoe strapped to it.

Picked one up today... one cab, one hood, just as Mr. Malone would have wanted. I basically felt like I paid 40 bucks for a Detroit V12 and a couple of Bandag logos, but poking around in the kit, I'm seeing way more useful widgets for other projects than what I thought originally. Pure '70's overkill through and through, this thing.

I fully intend to get at least one next week. Since I'm mainly interested in the engine and a few other doodads, I'm not going to be bothered if I get two cabs and no hoods, etc.. That being said, I think I can come up with a use or two for the remainder of the kit.

Looks promising.

Welcome aboard and don't forget to tell a few friends.

Very cool. Tastefully done and not over the top.

Nice!

Sorry sports fans... no sleeper for the Fleetstar. I'm leaning more toward something like a wet tank.

Nice! Cool to see one of these given the updated resto-mod treatment.

Thanks guys! Recently ordered the visor from Models By Dave. Yesterday I hosed it off in some paint and slapped it on.

VERY minor update. A swan hood ornament was stolen from a Monogram '39 Chevy sedan delivery and perched atop the grille. A cab visor from Models By Dave also showed up today and will (hopefully) find it's way on there soon.

Raider is finished- aside from some silvering on the driver's side door decal it came out fairly well. Finished "Showroom" pics to come.

Not one, not two, not THREE.... but FOUR... count 'em... FOUR Diamond Reos! I'll start with the glue bombs. I got these as part of a trade some time ago. I think. The green one will be rebuilt, but the twist is I sort of want to maintain some of the existing patina. The black one is interesting- it has the sleeper from an IH Eagle, and the original builder stretched the frame about 1-1/2", and also added what appear to be the wheels from an AMT Kenworth. Not sure what will happen with this one. But more of these two later. This started with a fresh, new kit. Well, it was a fresh, new kit about a year ago- I bought it for parts. But there's still enough left to make something of it... I'm going with an old GATR racer. So far, the frame has been cut down, the rear suspension was substituted from a White Freightliner Dual Drive, and the cab mounts were cut down. I'm going for something along the lines of this... Of course, I intend to add my own touches and features from other GATR racers I've seen. I'm not replicating any particular truck for this one. Last up... This will be a forward-set Raider, using an old AITM hood casting. So far it is mostly out-of box, aside from the addition of tires and rear wheels from the same incomplete Dual Drive that coughed up it's rear axles and suspension for the race truck, and Goodyear tires from that same kit. I used some thumb tacks for front Baby Moon caps. Paint is Chrysler Intense blue pearl. This will be a "restored" day cab owner/operator type tractor. More to come...

I've been working on this for a while, but I've been making some progress on it lately again, so here it is. So far, it has consumed parts from an AMT White Road Boss (cab/interior, suspension), AMT Autocar A64B (rear frame rails and taillights and more parts to be used later), a set of TL Model Trucks frame rails, and a conversion hood set from AITM. Here is an early mockup- I later removed the lettering from the hood sides. Here I have added the A64B battery boxes, along with that kit's five-hole front wheels. I later removed the lift axle- it may or may not return in more detailed form. You can also see that I have removed the Autocar hood scripts- the areas have since been puttied. The project pretty much stalled right here until a few days ago, when the Detroit V12 I wanted to put in in showed up. That's not the fault of the caster- it's all my fault because I kept holding off on ordering! The GW Trucks engine assembles easily and looks great. I used Polly Scale Vermont Green- it is a decent match for Detroit Alpine Green. I will need to rethink the location of the alternator, but with the addition of some locator blocks for the bellhousing and a front engine mount cut from .040" plastic card, I think I'm onto something.

I know the feeling. I could order five of every conversion kit Dave sells and still feel like it's not enough.

One of these days I'd like to build a tube-chassis GATR racer, but that's a ways off.

The GATR-themed DR is a done deal.

I think so- it was the old Ford Quality sponsored car.

Took several large bites out of the Raider today. I'll start with the interior, which was actually completed a while ago- I just never bothered taking a pic until today. The interior is box-stock, aside from the high-back bucket seats, which were taken from a GMC Astro. The gauge panel would be incorrect for a '75, which had square gauges, but I kept it anyway. One of these days I'd like to rework the gauge panel to do a proper mid '70's DR dash. The chassis is more or less finished. Here you can see the Raider front bumper and grille insert installed. The 1:1 Raider's grille insert remained upright when the hood was titled, so I followed suit on the model. Since the original grille was so rough, I made a new "custom" grille using grooved Evergreen sheet. The Raider was only manufactured for about nine months in 1975, so I'm guessing a replacement grille would be a tad difficult to track down. I see i do need to perform a few touch-ups here and there, but overall I'm pretty happy with the "roller". The hood and cab were painted earlier today, and I just couldn't resist a test fit to see how everything was looking. After that, I was motivated to work on the trim. The Diamond Reo logo from the kit grille was glued into the Raider grille surround. Two headlight bezels were cut from .030" plastic, with a hole punch used to make way for the headlight lenses. These, and the grille frame, were treated to some Ultra Bright BMF, along with the bumper. Again, I notice a few areas where touch up is needed, mostly with that foil on the grille! All in all, though, I'm fairly pleased with how the Raider is shaping up.

And then, there were three... The race truck is complete. Pics to come in the Showroom section.

Also- progress on two of them for today. The GATR is speeding right along... fitting enough, I suppose. The hood was cut down, and the grille and hinges were modified to match. I also cut away most of the fenders, and added a strip along the center of the hood. It sort of reminded me of an old Dodge Power Wagon at this stage. A few hours later, I had not only paint-detailed the grille, and added some support struts for the fenders, but I'd thrown a quick coat of Farmall red on the hood and cab. I wasn intentionally less-than-careful with the paint, I wanted it to look like a quick, outdoor spray bomb... so that's basically how I did it. The green glue bomb also saw some action. I took this pic with the flash just to show how splotchy that paint is! I did sand down the roof and add a little rust-colored primer. More rust effects will be added on the existing paint job. I added some new door handles, lights, and horns, and detailed the windshield trim and cowl. I still need to do the mirrors and detail the vent window frames, but here's a basic idea. I'm even going to dull coat over most of the grime you see on it in the pic, just to get the full "forlorn" effect. And this pic is just for fun... I just had to try the beater cab on the GATR chassis!

So far, the Raider and GATR truck are rattle can.For the exhaust, it is round plastic rod, with an aluminum tube for the pipe. The clamps were just made from coated wire, bent around the aluminum tube, and attached with some flat plastic strip to the rollbar.

Why not both?

From (very, very late) last night... U-bolts were made for the stand pipe, using coated wire, with drilled hex rods for the nuts. Thin styrene strips were used as brackets for the u-bolts to mount into. I threw together the turbo side of the engine, so that I could mock things up and fit the exhaust. It went through a couple of incarnations, but here we have the final result. TONIGHT... I cut a thin strip of pinstripe masking tape and wrapped it around the rim of the steering wheel, and added a pad over the hood, made with styrene sheet and a hole punch. Yes, it was every bit as tedious as you think it was. It looks like hell, but so did "wrapped" 1:1 race car wheels, so at least you can say it's true to life, if not 100% accurate! Chassis still needs side bars and a rear bumper, and it will likely get some weathering. Seems like most GATR trucks used 10-bolt disc wheels, either aluminum or steel... very few had spokes. I kept the kit's spokes (and Uniroyal tires) just because I liked them. Interior's pretty sparse, as it should be. The steering wheel looks way better painted. The seat was stolen from a '90's Winston Cup T-Bird. Now if you'll pardon me, that green glue bomb keeps trying to elbow it's way back onto the work bench...