Hi fellow model builders,

over the summer I built a couple of 1/25 trucks and have another underway. I've built a few of these type trucks in the past, and finally think I have a system in place - this is relevant because the trucks are largely scratch built. I keep the body from a kit, and if available, the cab tub and firewall.

Below you'll see one truck that's built following these criteria, which in real life is called a "trophy" truck. The first picture shows a prototype, followed by my version - using an oldish Chevy body (early/mid 90's).

The next project, just for fun, is a 1970 Ford F100 4x4 I built into a chase truck. It received a utility body, 4" lift kit, dual shocks up front, and a cantilever rear end. The bar out the rear is for storing multiple spare tires.

Finally, you'll see the current project - I couldn't believe it!! I found a 1/25 scale, nice quality, plastic model of a 2016 Chevy! So, yes, i decided I needed one more trophy truck!

This is the prototype:







and mine:



The rear ends on these have lots of travel - are generally a four link with panhards, shocks and coilovers. And with some paint:







Next up, the chase truck:







And with some (mediocre!!) paint:







And now, the current project - first pic shows the 2016 out of the box, and the chase truck...don't worry, it gets changed:



the yellow tape is my guide for cutting the cab down. As this truck model has no interior or engine/trans, I needed to make one - just to get going:





And below is where it sits as of this morning:







Now that I've built a few of these, I have gotten better with the front suspension - it steers, but does not go up an down. Just getting the spindles to look right, steer, and fit to convincing control arms has taken me a few builds to get resolved. It't hardly perfect, but I like it more now than on the last few.





The last few show the body work - and yes, more putty needed - photos do show the flaws nicely - lol - and you can see a bit more of the cab cage -

I'm waiting for a rear axle - ordered a resin one from BNA, which is pretty far from me!

thanks for having a look

cheers

Nick

Hello model builders.

I'm still working on this truck. You'll see below, the front suspension is coming together:





Shocks/coilovers, reservoirs, and mounts/ball joints in place.

Next up, the rear end. While waiting for the axle to arrive, I worked on the framework for the shock/coil over chassis mounts. The rear sway arms will be mounted directly below, attaching to the axle. Please see below:





The marks on the axle are where I'll cut this down - there's a metal rod embedded in the resin, which I'll keep a segment of on each side of the diff. I'll then add layers of aluminum tubing to build the diameter up to what I want, and will add an integrated truss, connecting points for sway arms, links and panhards.

Thanks for having a look.

Nick

A lot of work going into these. Great detailing.

Jim

Nice work, I see Fireball's MT/R Kevlars. Where did the 9" rear axle come from?

Hi gents - thanks for taking some time to leave your comments, they're appreciated!

Thanks, Jim - I like building these, they require a fair amount of head scratching, and make an ideal distraction from work! lol -

Hi David, good eye on both! Yes, I like the tires and wheels! As for the rear end, its made by The Parts Box, and I ordered it from BNA Model World (Australia). If you want the parts in a hurry, you might check out BNL Resins, here in the USA - they make all sorts of interesting parts, including several rear ends.

Speaking of the axle - it's width exactly matches my homebuilt front end, which is a nice coincidence - but, that is wider that the factory axle, so, I needed to cut out and rework the rear fenders too....I also found that the drive/propeller shaft I'm using is a bit long, so, I'll cut it down:



Above, you can see the flared out fenders in the back. The tape with two marks, shows where the axle center line is now, and to the right, where I want it to be. Next, you can see how wide the axle is:



and finally, a couple of general pics -





OK, so,that's where it is - thanks for dropping by. I think I'll get going on the rear end -

Cheers

Nick

What is funny is I'm going to be in Australia later this month. Sydney though, not Melbourne .

I'm familiar with BNL Resins, I'll see if I can get BNA to ship to my hotel so I can build the rock buggy I want to do.

Hello gents -

I'm still working away on my Chevy truck. Over the weekend I focused on the rear end and chassis.

Before I get into my progress, below are four screen shots taken from a video showing the vertical movement of the rear axle of a trophy truck - which pretty clearly shows the vertical travel. It equally clearly illustrated how the swing arms, shocks/coils, links and panhards all move. The sequence is from dead stop,to accelerating, jumping, and landing.

OK, here we go:









You can see how the parts work together. I'm not sure if i'll add limiting straps, but will add the bump stops.

And below, where my version sits today:













And there you have it! There were more than a few surprises for me with progress so far. A few steps in the build took a long time and simply didn't look right during construction (the lack of benefit of not having a kit or plans lol) - yet, when all was said and done - I almost can't believe how square the rear end (suspension and chassis) turned out, and even more shocked to see how true the line of the roll bar from the roof to the tail is, considering it's segmented and not running in a straight line - wow! truly a surprise!

OK, thanks for having a look

Nick

Hello fellow model builders,

I'm still moving on this truck. The rear end is almost done - I added the torsion bar to the sway bar arms and added mounts for the rear bump stops:





I'm not sure if I'll add remote shock reservoirs - they're hard to reach and see.

I added inner body panels and a well for two spares:





and finally - the chassis is about done -



There are odds and ends to add - including instrument cluster - and co-driver tracker/computer -

Cheers

Nick

Hello model builders -

I'm calling the Chevy racer done! I finished about a week ago, but I live in Northern California, relatively close to an area being hit by big wild fires - which means that the skies have been quite dark with smoke and ash - reminds me of the winter months in some places in northern China!, or last year in Sant Rosa CA, which suffered a similar fate. This is relevant because I prefer to take outdoor pics of my trucks when I'm done.


There was a bit of sun on Sunday so, I took some photos - not quite as crisp or bright as I like, but I think the truck and pics turned out pretty well:























And there you have it! the decals are from an old nascar kit - I liked the colors - so I matched them using Vallejo model airs that I mixed to suit my eye

So, I sure had fun with this build - a nice alternative to end of fiscal year close at work - and other generally stressful and unpleasant realities -

Keep on building - Cheers,

Nick

Hello gents - on account of I have enjoyed building these off-road vehicles so much, I decided to keep building - next up will be a baja bug - but, I'll not stick with a stock class, and instead will go for a modified class - which means new long travel suspension, and out with the tiny vw engine, and in with a turbo something - nissan, honda, mazda? don't know which just yet just something with some power and something like a trans-axle.

Please see below - I've done some body work and into some other changes too:







Above - you can see the front suspension will be visible - so, it will need to look the part - the lower control arms are similar to those on the big Chevy - upper though - altogether different - so, I'm fabbing up the hangers etc -



The rear end is a different story -I rebuilt all of this, including the tub over the engine, matching the fender radius - and as this will be an independent swing arm set up, I'll add the shocks and coil-overs to those boxed in members - they will tie into the roll cage -

speaking of the roll cage - not much done yet.....



like the big Chevy, it will be an integrated rolling chassis - just not yet...I can't work in the drivers are until I get my engine/trans-axle, then build the tunnel, then and shifting, then seats...once all of that is in place, the cage will be added. In the meantime, I'll finish more on the front - not all of it, as I need to pick my tires/wheels etc -and build the right spindles etc - and having some room to work helps.

Finally - a general overview:



you can see the basic baja bug taking shape - but also that it's modified -

Thanks for having a look and happy model building!


Nick

Last night after work, I decided to keep going on the front end of this race car - you'll see below, shocks and coilovers added, as well as more headway on the front chassis/cage - please take a look:





So far so good - that said, I will think about camouflaging the shocks to the lower control arms. They look fine when seen from the front, but less so from other viewing angles.

I'm thinking abut at least three choices - or combination of materials:

As always, there are combinations of evergreen and bolt heads; or,

Adaptations of remnant etch pieces and bolt heads; or,

Carefully cut and filed/scored tine bits of aluminum tubing -

Eventually I'll get to the spindles, steering and upper control arms - but, I tend to do that once I have some wheels and brakes - in order to get a fit that well, fits.....in the meantime, there are a few things left to do up front - finish the tubing for the chassis that is and will remain out of view, and fabricate a power steering rack, and maybe a steering shaft if i can logically squeeze it in - - I don't know just yet...

OK - thanks for checking it out -

Nick

Hello model builders -

I've stuck with the baja bug and am making some good headway - you'll see the front end is about done, the cab area is in good shape, but nothing is going on with the rear end and the cab will need to wait to get finished, as I don't have an engine or trans-axle yet. I'll need these parts to locate the rear axle, and define the size of the trans tunnel. Yo'll see progress on the roll cage/chassis, and some interior detailing.

Please see below:

















And finally - the upper control arms and spindles. These turned out better than I could have hoped - and, yes, the camber is fine! just a strange photo angle!





And there you have it - progress from now on will be tied directly to the mail - as parts arrive, I'll add more - no new marts + not much to do other than wait....

Thanks for having a look -

Cheers
Nick

Beautiful work! Too bad they're Chevy's

Hello model builders - -

Patrick - thanks for taking a minute to leave a note (even if you like Fords!! - haha - ) I do like Chevy's, but the reality is I like four wheeled vehicles that go off road, and prefer those that throw some dirt while they're doing it - lol! For you though, I present the following. It's Meng's 1/24 F-350 (a nice kit BTW) that I cut down to a two door version, and removed the roof to make an Irish Army Rangers truck - take a look:





Sorry about the poor quality photos!

Now, on to the baja racers:



I have been going at it, making what progress I can - - as it's taken a while for parts to arrive, I've been working out of normal sequence doing what I can with parts on hand. Like that Liberty shifter- that is an interesting kit - it's etched pieces held together with tiny rivets - I've got to say, I'm glad I've built a few of the Aber T-55 detail kits - a good tutorial for this!! It's not an easy build, but the results are nice - also, the later-to-be installed instrument clusters - OK, onward:



Yes - an engine has made an appearance!! a twin turbo Nissan and a lenco tranny - suggesting anyway a Fortin Racing transaxle setup - beggars can't be choosers! You can see - lots of modifications to get this to work. The engine is by Studio 81 (as i recall...?) not a great kit - not as precise as what you get from Hobby Design, but also less expensive...As this is a scratch project - the challenge was generally expected!



a bit more detail here - you can see the axle shaft - which will eventually plus into a wishbone trailing arm. The air filters are scratch built - just tubing, mesh, and some lead foil etc, but I like the result



The cage is finally closed in, and below - just the engine:



You can see above, some carving, sanding, pinning of pieces together - and below, how it "mounts" to the cabin and chassis:



ok - a few other views:






Next up - wheels and tires - these are hobby design rims with Fireball tires and hubs - plus evergreen for bolts, and aluminum tube spindle liner:



And, no self respecting off road racer would run without beadlocks!! Not having the right size, I adapted using evergreen and aluminum foil, with Dirt Modeler 15" beadlocks:

Real:



Mine:



and here's how it looks:



the engine etc is only dryfit - next up, to mount it -

Thanks for having a look!

Nick

That is awesome work, I built cars for years, cars, big rigs, logging trucks. Superdetailing those was a challenge.

I do like your builds.

SUPER!

Clearly judging by the Baja Bug you no longer have any problems building fans! (Referring back to comments made on the NOT-Blade Runner high rise buildings.)

Dropped you a few emails... but haven't heard back. glad to see more progress on these!!!

Howdy gents - thanks for taking a minute to have a look -

Patrick, thanks very much for the good words, I appreciate them!

Michael and Matt - thanks for dropping by - I reply to both of you at once - because, Michael, yes, those big fans! I think it was you who suggested rolling a soda can out flat, cutting it into the flower pattern and in no time flat, having a convincing, large diameter, industrial fan! And Matt - we've gone back and forth about buying bargain basement etch odds and ends when they're cheap and interesting (who knows what they might be used for!!??) - in this case, N and HO scale long hood fans for EMD power units - as they've been building them a LONG time, there are numerous interesting variants available, and these work out just fine for me!

OK, a brief update - I've started the rear sway arms - these have been tricky to pull together. The are not rectangular (on purpose) and are parallelogram - skewed to both match the chassis contour, and the fact that the axle-shafts project outward beyond the chassis - and, are fundamentally a wishbone pattern and not a box - a box shape would get hung up on the chassis (in real life) and the axle shaft - so, this is starting with the basic shape, which I'll add to - first up, my version:





Sort of miraculously, these are fairly symmetrical - which is good both visually, and in that it ups the odds that this will actually sit reasonably well on all four, eventually.

Now, a few of the real deal - you'll see that I need to beef mine up quite a bit to get them to look right:







And finally, my high tech method (lol!!) for horizontal and vertical control:






Bend and don't snap or kink, until it looks square and perpendicular! So far, so good

Cheers and happy model building!

Nick

Hello model builders,

Hope you all enjoyed the new year holidays! I took a few days off work - not bad at all - in fact, enough time to finish the bug, and to build and paint something altogether different:



And for scale, the dude - two interesting extremes, with the sole commonality that each has a high performance Nissan power plant!

On to the bug and some before and after pics:











And with some paint:









With the body on the chassis:















And there you have it! Paints are Vallejo model air - with various Badger ghost tints used here and there - and below, as I had some time on my hands, the Nissan - the paint seems it would be almost ideal for a 1973 Stingray! It's Vallejo Arctic Blue mixed with Aluminum, with a purple ghost tint. This was an OK build - a few fit challenges, etc - bigger problems were self inflicted painting debacles! Please have a look:









and a light touch on the interior:



And the last shot of the drifter and desert racer:




Thanks for having a look - I've started a Ford Trophy truck and am contemplating an old Chevy off-road prerunner

OK, happy trails and model building -

Cheers

Nick -

Well, I sure did enjoy building the desert bug - quite a challenge, and I think the results turned out better than I expected - also liked the drifter.

For better or worse, I have not yet killed my desire to keep scratch building vehicles that move fast across rough desert terrain. So, I'm underway with a ford trophy truck based on this:











I include a variety of pictures because you can see the general attributes of the truck and it's suspension in various circumstances - you can also see that certain elements of the truck seem to change from race to race - wheel color, bodywork details etc -

And now, what I'm doing. This kit/model (it was pre assembled) was called 1/25 scale - I think it, just like the black Chevy is actually around 1/27 or so scale.

First task - basic body work - cutting down the cab and reworking fender wells:



and for this version, some more serious modifications:





As you can see, the body of the kit has changed - and, that I've begun work on the drivers area and chassis - and...the headers:





As you can see above...these are cramped in, reflecting the work of someone pretty talented with a tubing bender!

and, my version:





and above, air intakes as well as headers - oddly enough, the air intake above, is fabricated from headers from another kit -



and the last one:



And that is where is sits as of today. Obviously, I still enjoy the challenge of these builds - so, I will finish at least this one - then, who knows what next?

Thanks for having a look -

Cheers
Nick

Bow down to the master, and pack my tools away....

Ditto!

Gabriel

ha! Matt and Gabriel - I appreciate the nice words! though, a bit over the top! Matt, I know you can fabricate anything, and know more about materials, parts, and 3d cad than most, and Gabriel - we've all seen your work! very nice indeed! with all of that in mind, I appreciate your words even more!

OK, I'm posting this at lunch so need to be fast - I've made progress and am getting into the detail starting with surprisingly tedious! the front and rear hubs/rotors....less easy than it looks:



Of course, I had two different diameter rotors, and different front and rear hubs - and so on...and the front hubs are quite shallow - so - you get the point...and, on to the chassis:







As you can see above, I decided to do a more accurate representation of what you may see in the bed of these trucks - the small fans close to the roof are air filters and pumps feeding the driver/co driver helmets. The larger fans are for the radiator - the fuel tank is obvious enough. A change for this build is the gusseted area above each shock tower - I've chickened out of this before - it will be more evident in other pics to follow - and, on to suspension:







This is shaping up reasonably well - there are parts I really like - the rearend - axle, fourl link etc seems pretty good - the front end, is clean - all of that said, it has been tough to get is all squared up - - I'm not sure if it will sit on all four!! I guess we'll find out - in the mean time, I'm trying to find out:







Sorry about the late night pics! the super shallow front hubs are making it tough to temporarily attach the front wheels so, it's hard to say exactly how this will sit. I do like the basic posture though - seems to look about right for the red bull ford...

Speaking of that ford....I realized, my "loose" interpretation of the rear fenders - was a bit too loose for my taste, so, I adjusted them - making them taller on the body:





This seemed to be straight forward enough - ok, relatively easy - but, not east to get the final bodywork flush - you can see my putty line - won't know until primer if it will look OK or not - and, more on the rest:



As yo ucan see - various parts, panels, bits of tubing, etc are still being added - you can also see a bit more of the gusset work above the upper rear shock tower, and the air filter just barely in view, behind the driver seat. From this view you can also see that I took a slightly different approach to the "line" of the chassis. I look at a lot of pictures for these builds, and find I notice something new each time -

OK - need to run!! the real job is calling!

Thanks for having a look -

Cheers
Nick

Nick, I start to believe your build has more details than the real thing

It looks awesome and the stance looks convincing in your mock-up. I'm by no means an expert, but I'm very much sure I like what I see!

Cheers!
Gabriel

Nick, I think that pretty much sums it up for me as well. Awesome work. My brain has a fit just trying to comprehend the planning that goes into your scratchbuilding.

Cheers, D