Finished the 'tractor' for my previously-posted 'Beer and Baseball' trailer...the old 1980 Monogram "Snap-Tite" Chevy Bison. I'm not a 'truck guy' by any means, so Mono's old 1/32 "Snap-Tite" series of commercial trucks and trailers is just about my speed: reasonably good-looking on the shelf without being a major time commitment, and great fun as 'something different.'
I de-chromed most of the kit's extensive chrome sprue to take care of un-hideable assembly seams on the fuel tanks, and the extensive mold seams on pretty much everything else. There's no engine or 'innards'---no low-angle shots, since there's a lot of daylight showing through---and the provided interior is a single (nicely-molded) tub with everything but the separate steering wheel. I pretty much punted all the 'snap-tite' attachments in favor of real dependable glue.
Biggest bugaboo was a fairly badly-twisted main frame, which I thought I had taken care of with a hot water immersion and some judicious counter-twisting before assembly. All looked square and true until the cab was snapped and glued in place----at which time the 'twist' seemed to reappear in all its perverse glory. (If I hadn't already finished the trailer, that would probably have been 'it' for the ol' Bison, in the form of a sudden high-impact meeting with the nearest wall.) After a few minutes' reflection, I decided it would be easiest just to 'clip' the frame aft of the cab and re-attach it in a (more-or-less) 'straightened' position: everything was going to be painted black anyway, and I could (mostly) hide the seams under some 'faked' detail. I had already decided to fill in the big blank area behind the cab with a piece of Plastruct tread-plate, and to add a pedestal and 'pogo' for some electric-wire 'air lines,' so at least the 'splice' doesn't leap out.
Inspiration for the color scheme literally passed me on the interstate one day: simple, almost elegant, but with that little bit of 'flair.' The stripes were nearly an exact match for those on an old Testors 1/48 Lear Jet sheet I had squirreled away, which seemed like 'destiny.' I home-made some decals for all the pre-DOT state tax stickers and 'bingo'-style license plates, making sure everything matched my randomly-chosen 'moment in time' of 1993. Last was my made-up company logo for 'Diversified Commercial Transport'---can you get any more generic than that?
A little frustrating, but mostly fun. Hope the real 'truck guys' won't be too hard on me.
(BTW, I know the 'struts' are still down on the hooked-up trailer. The thing's two feet long, and I've only got display space to show them separately, so I left it that way.)
