I've had this project in mind for a number of years now. I have needed O scale trucks, particularly dump trucks for some time. I know there are some out with pretty high price tags. More than I want to spend. My philosophy is to spend money on trains, not scenery of accessories. In other words, I want them cheap.
So I came across these gems. Simple, affordable and pretty close to scale, at least acceptable to me, and with a little work can turn out quite nice. I paid about $5 for these two darlings...
The worst things about these are the wheels. These things are deplorable. Fortunately there is a company (Don Mills Models) that makes O scale (1/48) truck parts...wheels, seats, horns, mirrors, mudflaps and so on. I placed order from them and started to work on turning these...I'll be kind...hulks, into some sweet gems.
Here is a run down on the things I did to them..
1. Disassemble them...remove the wheels, dump body and tail gate...easy enough.
2. Strip the parts in alcohol and Pinesol.
3. Lightly sand and prep any body imperfections within reason.
4.Modify body...The biggest change was to add in interior...That is a bench seat, dashboard, firewall and steering wheel. Drilled out the head lights to install new head lights, add side view mirrors and add tail lights onto the rear with mudflaps. Also added wood side extensions onto the dump body. And those wheels...I replaced them with something that looks a lot better.
5. Primed and painted the bodies. using simple rattle can spray praint.
6. Toned down the bodies with dullcoat or equivalent and sprayed a little black/mud wash to lightly weather the finish.
7. Added windshield and window glass.
Here are the results. What do you think...
The red one was missing its tailgate. No Problem! a little styrene sheet and strip and a fabricated one takes its place.
Not convinced of these scale? Here is one with a typical O gauge truck and figure. What do you think?
Here are some shots of an interior I've added. its pretty basic, but its better than nothing. Of course, you could go to town if you wanted, adding shift levers, instrument clusters, glove box, radio, etc. But the point was to suggest an interior. I should has added a driver. Maybe on the next one.
Now this truck, I recently acquired...
My thought was to make on homage to the TV movie "Duel" starring Dennis Weaver. This truck while not quite as menacing as the movie one, looks pretty good, I think...
I modeled the window partially open...
This tanker won't be chasing Dennis Weaver down, but instead will going about its business earning its keep on the layout.
All of these trucks were a pleasure to build. With a little imagination and some fresh paint and details, these old toys can be made to look pretty good.
