Well, here are two of my entries that were supposed to be in the iModeler at the Movies group build. The first is the Kenworth K100 Aerodyne from B.J. and the Bear. Now, I thought I'd tackle this one after having pulled off the Magnum P.I. Hughes 500. Although the paint job on it was more intricate, it was actually easier to do that the Salem paint job on the Kenworth. There is very little room for deviation in the mask lines as the black and gold stripes that will cover them are about an eighth inch wide. (The upper red/white deviation has to be spot on as the decal is only a little wider than a line from a ball point pen.)
Jerry Reeter over at modeltruckin.com makes the decals. (An actual B.J. and the Bear K100 from AMT is worth a mint and the decals would probably be shot by now.) He also has decals for Snowman's rig from Smokey and the Bandit with trailer decals for the accurate but expensive and hard to find Ertl 40' reefer trailer and also the abundant Moebius 53' reefer. Also available are decals for Movin' On, sets for three trucks from Convoy and the truck from Duel. What is really amazing is the almost 300 fleet service decal sets he makes. (They are printed fresh when you order them.) If that is not enough, there are 23 food vendor trucks, 23 moving companies, 34 tankers and 20 sea container decal sets. The only thing he won't print is alcohol, obcene or vulgar decals as he states right on his front page that he is a Christian based company. Even if the beers are missing out, the selection is impressive!
To get my masking where it needed to be I made photocopies of the decals and used them as templates to draw the inner and outer border of the stripes. I then cut the tape between these marks so everything should line up when I go to add the decals. The red I used was some Rustolium decanted into my airbrush jar, but for some reason it didn't level out like it did on the Coyote. I will have to knock it down a bit with some 1500-12000 grit polishing paper on the top of the cab before the clearcoat goes on.
The Cody Coyote is MPC's offering from the 80's. It's a quick little kit of what is actually a Manta Montage kit car from the 70's and 80's. Most were VW powered and on a Beetle pan, but one could order a Montage-T from Manta with a bespoke tube chassis and V-6 power. (The Manta to get would've been the Mirage as they had tube frames and V-8 power and was a factory assembled vehicle.) The only problem with the kit is that the headlight covers are clear so I will have to tint them. (Tamiya smoke is I think what I need to do this.)
The last isn't movie related, but I'm building an International Transtar II like my Dad drove when he worked for Schneider Transport. (And it is also the first vehicle I had partial operation of at the tender age of seven as he let me "drive" around the block as he worked the pedals while I steered from his lap!) I didn't like that he was gone so much, but it was great to wake up and see orange filling my bedroom window as he would park the tractor in our barely wide enough driveway between our house and the neighbors because I knew he was home. Well, he quit Schneider around 83 or 84 and went back to building houses. It was great having him home every night, but I missed being around the trucks and his buddies at the truck stop. (Where he met my Mom who was a waitress there.)
The kit is in the Ertl Bluprinter series and is extremely nice! Makes me wonder how much it was back in 1975. (The kit is as old as I am!) The body was easy enough to paint. Testors International Orange with very minor black trim. The grill took a bit of work. Tape doesn't like to stick to plated plastic so I had to tape the back side wide and let that hold the tape I was using for actual masking of the outside edge of the grill. after masking, I sprayed the bar classic black the removed the paint from the letters with my fingernail. This bar is separate from the grill on the full size version and the cab color shows between them so I had to mask again and spray orange. If I want to be accurate I need to shorten the bumper and hit it with some Testors Dullcote to give it a satin finish. I just haven't decided if I want it accurate or with a nice full bumper.
22 attached images. Click to enlarge.
