Alloy Forms Vehicles

[cnrglen]

I've been working to clear the stash of Alloy forms vehicles that I've been accumulating.
First up, 1955 Chev 2 ton stakebed.


Pretty easy build. the most difficulty I've ever had with AF vehicles is the fit between the body and frame. Usually I just need to file the frame down just a bit front or back. I painted the cab with Testors Teal and weathered the stakebed to make it look well used.

1949 Buick Roadmaster


Painted in Badger's Canadian Pacific Tuscan. I was sort of inspired by the Tuscan color of the Hudson in Driving Miss Daisy. but I did find this color was available on the Buick. The roadmaster has always been one of my favorite cars with those portholes in front of the doors. The Whitewalls are peel and stick vinyl that come with the model. This is the first time I've used them and I like how they turn out.

1948 Studebaker


I painted this one in a Badger BNSF green. It too came with the whitewall stickers. It's a bit of an odd duck, with the trunk and hood sort of resembling themselves.

[Charlie B]

Those are very impressive. Looking good.
Charlie

[Rscott417]

These came out great. I have an alloy forms mack cf pumper kit that I've been putting off for a while now.

[e-paw]

NICE

[cnrglen]

Thanks Guys. Rscott I think your mack pumper originally came from Lee Valley Models.
I decided to give the 55' chev a bit of weathering

I gave it a quick dirty-up with some polly-s dirt from my airbrush along the bottom edges of the cab, frame and wheels. I don't want to go overboard as I model the late fifties and this truck would only be a few years old.

[cnrglen]

I built a few more to add to the collection.
1949 Hudson Commodore Eight.

This is almost the same car from 'Driving Miss Daisy'

1941 Plymouth Coupe

I really liked this one. Separate hood with motor

I originally wanted to paint it Dark Blue but the airbrushed color came out more purple. I figure some Hot-Rodder customized it.

When I was finishing up these I remembered that 30 years ago I bought Alloy Forms Junk car set. In there was the junk version of the Plymouth:

and the Buick:

and three others:

I believe they are, 1956 Ford truck cab (I mounted it on a cut-down Athearn frame) , 1950 Chev fleetline, and a 1949 Merc.

I have most of them scattered in my junk yard on the layout.
Finally, I know they are woodland Scenics and not Alloy forms but a fellow modeller gave me the WS motorcycles kit:

[Chet]

I have been collecting them for almost 30 years. At the time they were probably the most accurate models for the transition era. Since then, a number of other really nice vehicles for the transition era have come on the market. Probably have well over 200 of them.

[cnrglen]

I've been building some more vehicles on the side starting with this:
   

a 1950 ford stakebed. I'm not sure on the manufactuerer as it's a metal cab and flatdeck.

   

I drilled out the rivets and used some paint stripped on the cab and deck. I also removed the tires from the whels as I'll be repainting the wheels as well.

[cnrglen]

I decided to modify the truck into a flatdeck by cutting off the stakebed sides. 
   

Then I spray primered everthing. The grill and chassis was chrome plated and didn'y look right so a soak in vinegar  took the plating off.

[TMo]

Great prep work, Glen. Looking forward to once again seeing a magnificent end product!

[cnrglen]

Thanks, I enjoy these small projects that I can fit into my hectic schedule as of late. I hope in the near future I can start to get some time to get back to the larger ones.

I did paint the cab today:
   

I went with a dark flat green which I will spray a semi-gloss clear later. I find that a high-gloss finish often looks toylike on an HO scale vehicle, even one that would be new on the showroom floor.

[cnrglen]

I finished the truck off this afternoon:
   

As mentioned I airbrushed the cab in a semi gloss, which probably came out a bit more glossy that I planned. I painted the frame, wheels and deck black before using some scale 2X6 to add a wood deck and them fabricated a wood headache rack.
   

I did a bit of weathering (dirt) with my airbrush on the deck, frame and cab. the frome grill was painted chrome with a black wash 

   

I plan to use it as a junkyard truck, with a wrecked car on the back.

[hillyard999]

That is a nicely done truck.  I especially like the grill, and the wheel/tire distinction.  
When I noticed the tires, I then noticed the light spray of road dirt.

Nice!

[cnrglen]

Thank you.
On to the next project to continue to clear off the workbench

   

Alloy forms used to sell this junk auto pack. They usually contain 5 auto shells from their vehicle line that are either intentionally damaged (dents ect) or they are 'seconds' that the casting process didn't work out. I bought two of these packs off ebay as I'm planning of a scrapyard on the layout. However in one of the packs was the cab of their 55' chev three ton stakebed truck in fairly good shape. I figured I could make something out of it besides a junkyard cab.

   

Since I already had the 55 stakebed I think I'll make a tow truck out of this cab. I used the original truck to start to build a new frame out of styrene. I still have to source wheels and a wrecker body but with the cab aready here, why not see what I can do?

[cnrglen]

I sourced the wheels

   

I decided to cast my wheels. I had a two part silicon mold maker and used the wheels off an old Magnuson ford tractor truck. I made a 3-d dam out of styrene and glued the original metal wheels to the bottom. Then I mixed the silicon and poured it over the originals. It took a couple days for the silicon to cure but after that I now have a source for unlimited truck wheels.
I decided to experiment with the material to cast the new wheels in and used hydrocal instead of resin. As they are a small part and not really going to be handled I figured to ease of mixing some hydrocal plaster would have it's adavantages. after pouring and letting the castings cure I popped them out of the mold and sanded the backs flush with the tires

      


The original cast metal wheels are on the left, the hydrocal castings are on the right. The only thing I have to do after removing the castings from the mold and sanding the backs is to seal the casting with some clear flat to keep them from chipping the paint off later.