StuntmanMike
Member
Hello modelers
Growing up in the eighties, the Fall Guy TV series was one of my favorites. I always wanted to have a model of the big GMC pickup, and a few years ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on all the needed items through a single evilbay auction.
The model will be built from an old AMT ´84 GMC kit and upgraded with a longbed transkit from Scaleproduction.
After having a look at the parts, I saw lots of work coming up. The chassis of the kit was really poorly detailed and I thought about scratchbuilding a new chassis. As I have never done something similar before, I figured it would be smart to do a scratchbuilding-test on another build before messing up the GMC kit.
So before getting back to the GMC, I´ll show you the test build first as it was an important preparation step for the GMC. After some trial and error, this is what I came up with. It´s an old AMT International Scout II model with some serious modifications, including a fully working suspension:
Some random rockfall has almost caused a fatal crash while taking pictures... :confused
So after I´ve considered the test as a success, I could get into the build of the GMC. I started with patching some minor flaws on the cab. All the grey material in the following pics is the base kit, the white pieces are plastic sheet and the yellowish parts are from the transkit.
Then I built some hinges for the leaf springs and shock absorbers.
Scrachbuilt leaf springs, stiffeners for the axle and some spare parts drum brakes. This is the rear axle.
Same work on the front axle, which was prepared to have steerable wheels:
These are the wheel hubs with the steering rod:
Some mock-up to see if it works:
Some simple shock absorbers:
The shocks will be connected to the axle with two of them on each wheel:
A little test fit...starts to look cool:
Still need to finish the setup of the rear axle, no shock absorbers done yet:
Some minor work on the rims to get rid of the toy appearance. Left side modified, right side out of box:
The grille holes were cut out and upgraded with thin plastic rods for a more realistic look:
Pretty happy with the stance so far. The hood is already on the same height as the hood from the Scout in the above pictures. This is just a ridiculously huge truck in my European opinion. But that´s not a bad thing.:love
That´s it so far. Gotta do some work now for the next update. This is one of my long term builds, so please be prepared for slow progress.
Questions and critics are welcome. Hope you like it and thanks for looking.
Greetz
Kevin
Growing up in the eighties, the Fall Guy TV series was one of my favorites. I always wanted to have a model of the big GMC pickup, and a few years ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on all the needed items through a single evilbay auction.
The model will be built from an old AMT ´84 GMC kit and upgraded with a longbed transkit from Scaleproduction.
After having a look at the parts, I saw lots of work coming up. The chassis of the kit was really poorly detailed and I thought about scratchbuilding a new chassis. As I have never done something similar before, I figured it would be smart to do a scratchbuilding-test on another build before messing up the GMC kit.
So before getting back to the GMC, I´ll show you the test build first as it was an important preparation step for the GMC. After some trial and error, this is what I came up with. It´s an old AMT International Scout II model with some serious modifications, including a fully working suspension:
Some random rockfall has almost caused a fatal crash while taking pictures... :confused
So after I´ve considered the test as a success, I could get into the build of the GMC. I started with patching some minor flaws on the cab. All the grey material in the following pics is the base kit, the white pieces are plastic sheet and the yellowish parts are from the transkit.
Then I built some hinges for the leaf springs and shock absorbers.
Scrachbuilt leaf springs, stiffeners for the axle and some spare parts drum brakes. This is the rear axle.
Same work on the front axle, which was prepared to have steerable wheels:
These are the wheel hubs with the steering rod:
Some mock-up to see if it works:
Some simple shock absorbers:
The shocks will be connected to the axle with two of them on each wheel:
A little test fit...starts to look cool:
Still need to finish the setup of the rear axle, no shock absorbers done yet:
Some minor work on the rims to get rid of the toy appearance. Left side modified, right side out of box:
The grille holes were cut out and upgraded with thin plastic rods for a more realistic look:
Pretty happy with the stance so far. The hood is already on the same height as the hood from the Scout in the above pictures. This is just a ridiculously huge truck in my European opinion. But that´s not a bad thing.:love
That´s it so far. Gotta do some work now for the next update. This is one of my long term builds, so please be prepared for slow progress.
Questions and critics are welcome. Hope you like it and thanks for looking.
Greetz
Kevin
