GREAT TIP S DAVE AS ALWAYS AMT WAS ALWAYS KNOWN FOR THEIR WARPAGE IN THEIR KITS.I HAVE THIS WRECKER AND MANY OTHER KITS.WITH FRAMES AND SIDES NOW SITTING ON THE SHEILF.UNTILL I GET BACK TO THEM.AT THIS YOUNG AGE OF 73 AFTER 63 YRS OF BUILDING MODELS I TELL MYSELF CALM DOWNAND START AGAIN TOMORROW.THESE KITS WONT BEAT ME WILL GET HER DONE. GREAT VIDEOS I LOVE WATCHING THEM.
That's a good corrective measure for the rear axle track width, with wrecker body installed those spacer tubes won't be visible. I wonder if there was a 1:1 prototype with that amount of body overhang that AMT based their kit on? I believe MPC's DM800 Mack mixer was based on a 1:1 with oddball drive axle location, kit was accurate to that truck although not to the majority of similar DM800's.
Your wheel spacing modification is a definite improvement on the models look. Lucky I have not started my wrecker yet. Currently doing the AMT Kenworth Alaskan Hauler. I will definitely be picking up some 5/16" tubing this week.
You're headed in the right direction. But if I were you, I'd find some tubing to fit over the axle end that also fits inside of your extension sleeve to add more girth to the axle and make the whole affair more rigid. Peace and love.
David, you could always cut the ends of the axles off and add some square stock. That would keep the brake backer plates up against the brake drums. It is more work I know, but what can you do when you can't paint, outside🌨️. My recommendation for cable is go to the sowing store & look for the heaviest black thread. Also I use bee's wax, rubbed on the thread. It make the tread stiff. It looks like the cable has weight & stays in place when you bend it around a pulley! I learned that from ship model builder that was making rigging, on sailing ship models.
Apparently the “to do” thing on this kit is to cut 1/8th of an inch off the width of the wrecker body. While I have the kit I’ve not built it yet so I can’t speak on if that fixes the issue.
Great tip Dave. I have a question regarding the kit. In the video the treadplate appears to be smaller than the ALF kits, how does the wrecker body compare to Don Mills treadplate? Thanks
The Don Mills tread plate is much closer to what is on this truck,. The Don Mills is still a much tighter tread than this kit's, but would look decent together, much more so than on the ALF kits. I will try to get it on my next video if it will capture it.
The wheels are now a just little bit too far out for my taste (also compared to similar models).😏 But as you say, a personal preference.😁😉 Anyway, with this comparatively “simple” technique, it definitely looks a lot better now than if it were built right out of the box.👍🏻😃
Well it's a little hard to say. They were all different lengths due to the frame being warped, but I started with .200 tube and sanded them all one by one until I had the look I wanted.
