Prime Mover Make Over

[wombat457]

Thought I'd give painting a model Truck a go, mainly for something to do than anything.

Before:

Undercoated:

No promises with this, but might be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

[Ronzzr11]

It looks better already.

Ron

 

[wombat457]

Ronzzr11,

Thanks - I guess it was pretty "crappy" to begin with though

 

[wombat457]

I "obviously" need a LOT of practice...

As the title says, I obviously need a lot of practice with this.

I opted to paint it MRL Blue, mainly because I had the color in Tru Color Paint, so here it is at the moment:

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[wombat457]

This began as a "side project" to give me something to do while waiting for plaster etc to dry, and to prevent getting stuck in a rut from the actual layout.

Even though I haven't really done anything as such, this is becoming "addictive"! It is almost as though the truck is challenging me to do it right - I don't know, but I am actually having fun with this.

Anyway, as has been mentioned in the past, a photo will pick out all of the "faults" and the following two are no exception to that. I thought I had covered everything fairly well; however, now I look at the photo's, darn, have I got some work to do!

Just doing those wheels took me forever and (obviously) I still didn't get it done properly. I am definitely going to have to buy a pair of those magnifying head thingies.

 

[Skipjacks]

Now you know how I feel making those tiny N Scale cars I make! It's like the materials are poking you saying "Bet you can't do this!" and you have to defend your own honor! HAHA

Also....you a painting a red and blue semi...and your title says "Prime" so you've inspired me. My next little truck will have to be an N Scale Optimus Prime Transformer.

Challenge accepted!

 

[wombat457]

Skip,

Your first sentence summed it up perfectly.

By the way, back in Oz, what I am painting is called a Prime Mover. Can't get away from all of the Aussie lingo!

I honestly don't know how you handle painting something so small yet are able to obtain such detailed and clear results.

 

[montanan]

Looking good Tony. This looks like a N scale truck. I have modified a number of HO scale trucks mainly because what I wanted was not available for the time period I need were not available. It can be an interesting project.

 

[wombat457]

Montanan,

Thanks mate but this is a HO Model. Not sure where I got it from but it came with a train and flatbed car. Has been sitting around gathering dust for a couple of years.

I was going to cut it in half for the Road Tunnel and Wile E Coyote, but now don't think so.

I also received a K100 Cab Over (Herpa Model) this morning and darn it is BIG! Maybe it is me, ut the Herpa models do look larger than HO Scale. As said, maybe it is just me though.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Tony you are right the Herps are a teensy bit larger than Athearn vehicles. I try to avoid placing them anywhere close to Athearns if possible, when viewed by themselves [or around plain automobiles] they look fine.

I see you discovered the optimum way to make vehicles not look like they are made of plastic: cover them in gray primer then repaint them. I've seen so many modelers ignore that step and the bright/translucent plastic body "exposes" them as toys.

Looking forward to seeing how this project progresses...

 

[wombat457]

Ken,

Thanks for your kind words and yep, I have a tendency to prime everything out of habit; I pretty much do it without thinking about it. I have no idea what make the truck is that I am re-doing but it is significantly smaller than both my Herpa's. The Herpa's are, without a doubt, a very nice model but the size of them makes them a little "awkward" on a HO layout.

Just as an example, here is the rebuild model next to a Herpa Cab Over:

 

[montanan]

That does look quite a bit larger. Here are a couple of old conversions I did years ago. I have some more somewhere on the layout but these were handy. The first is an Alloy forms Mack that was ahortened and turned into a tandem drive. I usually put MV lenses in for headlights. The second is also an Alloy Forms grafted onto some sort of frame. I needed some logging trucks for the 50's era. The last one is an Imed 48 Peterbild also grafted onto some sort of frame.

I guess if you can't find what you want, you can always kitbash.

 

[wombat457]

Montanan,

They are beautifully done models! One of these days, I might have a shot at kit bashing a kit or just building a kit. For now, I'm having enough problems just painting an already built model

 

[montanan]

Thanks Tony, but I didn't have any experience when these were done. It was a learning experience.

 

[wombat457]

Then that makes them that much better - and your right, this is a learning experience and a half.

I've done a little more on mine, not much but getting there bit by bit:

 

[Promotionaltrucks]

What's good about Promotex vehicles is that they can be disassembled so you can paint individual parts rather than as a solid unit. Saves a lot of grief. They also have a lot of extra chrome add-ons that really help detail the rig. I customized thousands (my business) of these for clients and made my life a lot easier. Brad

 

[montanan]

I sure wish something like that was available for transition period trucks for American trucks.

 

[wombat457]

What's good about Promotex vehicles is that they can be disassembled so you can paint individual parts rather than as a solid unit. Saves a lot of grief. They also have a lot of extra chrome add-ons that really help detail the rig. I customized thousands (my business) of these for clients and made my life a lot easier. Brad

I have just bought a Herpa Cab Over that I intended cut in half and use to simulate the truck coming out of the road tunnel with Wile E Coyote stuck to the front of it. Not sure IF I will do that now though as it is such a nice (if not large) model; however, it is a "crappy" orange color that I really would like to change.

Brad, you mentioned you can "disassemble them" - how do you so that to make the painting of them easier? By the way, the model did come with a few additional chrome parts that need to be attached, which I think is a nice touch. I do like the Herpa Models, they are detailed and look great BUT they also do look a tad larger than other makes of 1/87th scale vehicles.

PS: Hey Brad, I still want those two buses you have and a Truck Kit as well.

 

[wombat457]

Learning to do this the hard one - trial and error

Tried to paint a line on the truck running around the sleeper, across the door and onto the side of the hood this afternoon. Geeze, what a mistake that was - a complete mess with paint seeping beneath the tape and - well, it wasn't pretty to say the least!

So, all I had to do was touch up the Blue, right? Wrong! I did that and compared to the air brushing - it looks terrible and very unacceptable:

Looks like it is back to the drawing board