Hey there, where you goin’? Drive!!!

Started by Josh Patterson · 7 · 5 years ago · B.J. and the Bear, Coyote, Hardcastle and McCormick, K100 Aerodyne, Kenworth
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    Josh Patterson said 5 years, 6 months ago:

    When AMT re-released the Papa Truck Aerodyne I immediately bought one as I have wanted to do the B.J.and the Bear rig forever, but didn't feel like paying the $100+ I was seeing the Revell kit go for on Ebay. I started by cutting the frame and shortening it to the correct length. By the time I had gotten that far Revell re-released thier Aerodyne. (Once again really glad I waited for one!) Well, it's a good thing I got both because the rear fenders on the Revell kit are the wong style and the AMT didn't come with a fifth wheel, so I'll use some AMT parts on Revell's kit. I got a set of the B.J. and the Bear decals from modeltruckin.com but for fun I'm going to see if I can do the entire Salem paint scheme on the AMT cab entirely with the airbrush. (There is a really nice video of one being painted in a stunning silver and blue on YouTube. It shows exactly the order the colors were painted in.) Much like the Hughes 500 on Magnum P.I., this is another example of a studio taking a vehicle in a stock scheme that just looks terrific and running with it! (Except for the fact that they carried it on to the trailer as well. I'm still looling for a 40' trailer for my kit.)

    I've also gotten the MPC Hardcastle and McCormick Cody Coyote ready for paint. Just found out by searching pictures that there was some fine pinstriping on it. Maybe Jbot decals has an aftermarket set that includes them...

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    david leigh-smith said 5 years, 6 months ago:

    Good luck on the search for the 40 foot trailer, Josh...be a fun scratch build. Just sayin'...

    Jeeze, did this video bring back some memories...

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    Josh Patterson said 5 years, 6 months ago:

    One of my favorite TV themes made even better because Greg Evigan actually sang the vocals. (The male part anyway. I don't think he was singing falsetto for the ladies!) Of course now I want to do the Movin' On and Smoky and the Bandit rigs too. (Modletruckin has decal sets for both.) The actual B.J. and Moving On trucks live about two hours away from me in Sparta Wisconsin. I would also like to do the truck my Dad drove for Schneider in my early years, but AMT's Transtar II is north of $200 the last time I saw one for sale.

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    david leigh-smith said 5 years, 6 months ago:

    Wow, That's a lot of buck for your bang, Josh.

    I didn't know he actually sang the theme, but I guess it makes sense. Lookin' forward to seein' how she goes - keep truckin' dude and stay cool!

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 5 years, 6 months ago:

    Great memories of these shows that took advantage of the times when truckin was adventurous and a lifestyle that seemed interesting, Riding off CW McCall's "Convoy" song, Smokey and the Bandit, White Lightning (Jan-Michael Vincent) movies that the trucking theme was hot and spawned shows like Movin On and BJ and the Bear. Good stuff. Built a few myself AMT's and Ertl truck kits. Fun and quite fulfilling. Now with skills I didn't have when building those rigs, I would love to go back and build a couple now. Already have the old AMT Chevy Titan which happens to be the very first big rig kit I ever built when I was 10 years old. Would like to pick up a couple of Ertl's as well, but as you said Josh they do bring a premium.

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    Josh Patterson said 5 years, 6 months ago:

    I'm hoping Round2 will bring out the International. They've been re-releasing a lot of old AMT stuff. Really want to do my Dad's truck.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 5 months ago:

    This is a blast from the past !

    I built up the "Moving On" truck as a kid. I built several of the AMT kits back then, and my skills were not too good back then. I always had a problem with glue and chrome parts. The parts never wanted to adhere to each other even when I removed the chrome with a razor blade.

    This was a cool TV show back then. There were some great TV shows back then.

    I'll be watching this one for updates Josh.

    Thanks