AMT Puller Tractor "Blazing Bison"

After I finished building my Massey Ferguson puller modification to the old Ertl 1155 kit, I really wanted to build a truly Modified puller tractor. I assumed there were no kits available since I had not run across one, and so would have to build one from scratch. That big of a project, however, seemed too much for my skills, so I put the idea aside until one day recently, when I happened to be doing a search on eBay for "1/25 tractor". To my surprise, this kit turned up - an AMT Puller Tractor kit that was first put out in 1986 and re-released in 2016! I snatched the kit right up, and eagerly looked forward to building a cool addition to my tractor collection.

When I got the kit in the mail, I soon discovered that my "new, unopened" purchase was actually missing one whole tree of chrome parts, namely the engine blowers, drive belts and exhaust. After re-negotiating the paid dollar amount with the seller, I went on an internet hunt for new blowers and exhaust. Since I needed three sets that matched, my options were limited, but I did finally find some that would work, though they were not exactly the same as the kit originals. I don't know the origin of the blower parts, but the exhaust I found were resin ones put out by 3DScaleParts.

After viewing completed kits by other modelers, I decided I just had to do as much wiring and plumbing as I could since it was all out there and exposed on the real tractor. So using 1/25 scale brake line from MSC Model Products, I wired up all 24 spark plug wires, 6 coolant lines, and 3 fuel lines. Assembly was not simple - getting all the engine mounts and drive shafts together, while threading the lines to the proper destinations was certainly tricky. The kit went together OK for the most part, though the rear axle just didn't come out right - it doesn't line up with the transmission properly and I'm not sure why. Fortunately it's not visible!

While the tractor has an eclectic assortment of parts, it also has an eclectic assortment of paint finishes as well. For the golden yellow I went with John Deere Yellow, the red-orange is Vallejo Orange Fire, and the red is Chrysler Flame Red. The feathering of the yellow and orange worked well on the chassis, but not so well on the fenders. The kit came with a generous number of add-on suitcase weights, some of which I used to replace the home-made ones on my Massey Ferguson. The rest were painted Flame Red and hung in the appropriate spots on the tractor. Since my kit was the 2016 re-issue, it did not come with the Meister Brau decals, so I replicated them as best I could.

I hope you enjoy my "Blazing Bison" puller tractor. It was fun and a bit of a challenge, but I'm very pleased to have it in my collection!

11 additional images. Click to enlarge.