Thanks for sharing. Pretty cool.
Ralph
Wow !
What he said!
Magnificent work on Gordon’s turcks! I have ben looking at the MacDonald low-bed ever since I saw Al Armitage’s plans in the “Gazette” some years ago. I did indeed build the 1 1/2 ton Olds grain truck, however.
As for my Macks, thanks to you folks for the kind words. They were indeed a project that assumed a life of its own once I got started, however, I hope to do one more similar to these, namely the Mack FCWS which was a huge (for the time) off-highway truck from the late thirties.
For you folks who would like a simple 1:20 truck, do indeed use the cab, etc. from a 1:18 pick-up truck as is suggested earlier in this topic. I have done this and came out with two very nice Ford AA dump trucks. The bigest hang-up is the wheels. You cannot use the lacy spoked wheels that come with the die-cast models, but will have to fabricate your own larger tires and hubs. The hubs can be as simple as the “dish” type that is pictured on the Mack AC at the top of this page. Look around for a toy vehicle that has more substancial tires than the model A pick-up and you should be good to go. I fabricate my own (one only), make a mold, and cast a bunch. Sometimes. For the AA dumps for instance, I had enough wheels and tires from 1:24 Peterbuilt tractor types that were large enough in 1:24 that they did nicely for 1:20.3. Be careful! You can get really into trucks. But the best news is that they don’t take up a lot of shelf space!
George
[color=darkgreen]Nice work Gordon! I can feel my fillings shaking loose riding around in any of those; that was a time when truckers had to tough…no air ride cabs back then.[/color]
Thanks guys for your comments. George, I also enjoyed your article on the two Mack trucks. I like that 1 ton Olds also.What scale did you build yours in and do you have any plans to show it.
Gordon Birrell
Gordon,
I built the Olds in 1:20.3. I cat my own tires and wheels (the master a combo of Grandt spokes and a Burago 1:18 racer) The curved fenders are brass as is the hood: the rest, cab and body, are built of wood, as was the prototype. The prototype was a grain truck (for a brewery?) so I decaled and lettered the truck for my Brewery, “Belinda’s Six B Brewery,” whose motto is “Brawny Beers Brewed By Buxom Babes” (there are the six B’s). I also got permission from the publisher of some of Gil Evgren’s pin-up paintings to use a likely young gal on the truck and a 1:20.3 D&RGW type reefer.
If I knew how to get a photo/s on these sites, I would take a couple and post them.
George
Of course, I build these:
(http://www.trainweb.org/toenailridge/8Ts.jpg)
Details here: http://www.trainweb.org/toenailridge/tindex.html
Great to be back online after lenghty computer problems!! I’ve found that the Hess gas truck from around 1983-4 is a close to 1:20th scale replica of a mid 1930s truck…like new ones are pricey but you can find used and rough ones fairly cheap at train shows, yard sales and ebay. Marx toy co. also made knockoff of early hess truck it has different fuel tank and cab style is slightly different. The Marx’s go a lot cheaper and were offered by several promoters. I plan to discard fuel tank make rear frame rails and create box and stake trucks from them. Both trucks feature working lites and opening cab doors. They look correct sized next to hubley and solido trucks.