John,

I am working on the Ford snowplow kit now. I am not going to build it as a plow truck, but as a tractor. The kit can be built as a plow truck, dump truck, or tractor; and it builds out into a early 1970s LNT8000. The only tricky parts I've found so far are the hood/cab fit (tends to be a lillty finicky), and the mirrors (they're a pain). The engine is a Caterpillar 3208 which should be blue in a 1970s truck. Plaskit does offer several hood conversions for this kit (updated grill, L/LT hood, & LTS hood). The grill is good for 1980s & 1990s trucks. You'll have to do some research, though. The 3208 is not appropriate for all of the L-Series versions & years. Popular engines for the L/LT & LTS are the L-10 Cummins, N-14 Cummins, & 3406 Caterpillar. The L-10 should be Cummins Beige, the N-14 - black, Caterpillar 3406 - yellow, Caterpillar 3208 (1980s & 1990s) - yellow. Ford made their own diesel, and was very popular, but there are no resin kits available so you'll have to scratch build it yourself.

You mentioned aftermarket items for trucks. Well, there are several: Plaskit Resin (no Web site, but if you email Daniel Gailloux at [email protected] he'll email you a catalog), Sourkraut's Model Trucks ( http://sourkrautsmodeltrucks.com/ ), Spaulding Tradinng & Shipping ( http://www.stsmodeltrucks.com/ ), and Kit Form Services ( http://www.kitformservices.com/index.html ). Chris from Sourkraut offers Auslowe products here in the US, but doesn't have the complete catalog listed on his site; but Howard at KFS does. If you see something from Auslowe on KFS that you want, email Chris. He should be able to get it for you.

Good luck, and welcome to truck modeling!

Jim

John,

I am working on the Ford snowplow kit now. I am not going to build it as a plow truck, but as a tractor. The kit can be built as a plow truck, dump truck, or tractor; and it builds out into a early 1970s LNT8000. The only tricky parts I've found so far are the hood/cab fit (tends to be a lillty finicky), and the mirrors (they're a pain). The engine is a Caterpillar 3208 which should be blue in a 1970s truck. Plaskit does offer several hood conversions for this kit (updated grill, L/LT hood, & LTS hood). The grill is good for 1980s & 1990s trucks. You'll have to do some research, though. The 3208 is not appropriate for all of the L-Series versions & years. Popular engines for the L/LT & LTS are the L-10 Cummins, N-14 Cummins, & 3406 Caterpillar. The L-10 should be Cummins Beige, the N-14 - black, Caterpillar 3406 - yellow, Caterpillar 3208 (1980s & 1990s) - yellow. Ford made their own diesel, and was very popular, but there are no resin kits available so you'll have to scratch build it yourself.

You mentioned aftermarket items for trucks. Well, there are several: Plaskit Resin (no Web site, but if you email Daniel Gailloux at [email protected] he'll email you a catalog), Sourkraut's Model Trucks ( http://sourkrautsmodeltrucks.com/ ), Spaulding Tradinng & Shipping ( http://www.stsmodeltrucks.com/ ), and Kit Form Services ( http://www.kitformservices.com/index.html ). Chris from Sourkraut offers Auslowe products here in the US, but doesn't have the complete catalog listed on his site; but Howard at KFS does. If you see something from Auslowe on KFS that you want, email Chris. He should be able to get it for you.

Good luck, and welcome to truck modeling!

Jim

Holy crapolies Bob, that's quite the list!

Sounds like you and Jim are going to step up to the plate! Nice. I'm mostly an armor builder, but shifting allegiances every now and then makes for some "excitement." Really, I'm looking forward to a review. I've never built a truck before, but I'm very interested in doing so....learned a lot on my Deora. Personally, a review of a readily available kit, that builds nice OOB, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg would be kool...something for someone like me to do as a "first."

Mike