1/24 Ford F350 Duallie Contractors

A quick update.

I painted the interior parts a tan color. Lots of tape to try to avoid paint overspray on the exterior. I really should have waited on the exterior. I also used this as an opportunity to dust the undercarriage with the same tan to make it dirty looking.

Interior together. I dirtied up the interior. The interior is actually pretty nice without being overly complicated. I do wish the doors could have been opened.

The ladder rack was made out of styrene strip. The boxes are styrene sheets. The doors were scribed into them to give the doors gaps.

And a splash of paint.

I just need to work up some tools of the trade...ladders, compressor, generator, lumber, etc. And of course...the man...the legend....Jimmy Tex Haywood.

It's been a fun build and not something I normally do. Lots of neat accessories for the auto genre.I wouldn't mind do a garage scene with a vehicle being worked on.

BTW some may recognize the Flakofant in the background of some of those pics.

First off, our intrepid construction guy...Jimmy "Tex" Haywood. The figure is from Masterbox and is supposed to be a trucker climbing into his cab. It works for this build. The figure is pretty basic in design and goes together pretty well. The detail is good and the fit is probably the best of the MB 1/24 figgies I've done.

A couple of ladders. One is a folding ladder...the other an extension ladder. Soldier guy from Rosie's Cantina is there to show size. The folding ladder is made from styrene. The extension ladder is made from wood stirring sticks. It was supposed to be made of styrene but someone ordered the wrong size styrene strips.

Ladders posed on rack. The pipe is supposed to be PVC pipe or conduit (undecided at the time) and was made using lengths of plastic tubing that were to be painted later. It's mainly there to help fill out the rack. The lengths of wood on the bed are wooden strips.

I started on the base. The idea was to have the truck posed in front of a construction project. Jimmy is taking a smoke break while cutting pieces for the framing of a room addition. There were to be a pair of sawhorses, circular saw, compressor, nail-gun, etc.

I got a bit fancy on the room addition. I had not planned on it being this far along...but...I ran with it for space/layout reasons. It has a 10foot ceiling, double entrance/exit doorway, and is based on actual frame designs. I really enjoyed this part of the build and would have loved a larger addition that included a deck for the hot tub and overlook the swimming pool.

Speaking of air compressors...I scratched one. I went with a dual tank because that's what alot of roofers and framers use. I went through a couple of designs I found on Google. The original idea was to mount it on the truck, but I decided to make it portable. There's actually some nice 1/24 and 1/25 shop equipment sets out there.

I set on the base layout. I added a small elevated area for the addition. A smaller one in the opposite corner was supposed to be the spot for a tree and flowerbed. I used a layer of styrofoam sheeting and covered it with CelluClay. Tracks were made using the truck's spare tire.

There were problems. The Celluclay shrank and pulled the styrofoam sheeting away from the base's board. The styrofoam/celluclay had rolled the corners and edges. And since it was dry, it was hard and couldn't be flattened out. I've never had this issue before.

So I tossed the first base to the side and started a second one. I went with a slightly smaller base using a 1/4 inch thick sheet of Luan. Layout was identical-ish to the first one...as was the results.

This one was my fault. I had a bit of a brain fart and completely forgot to add the base layer sheet of styrofoam so the wet Celluclay was placed directly on the Luan. The base warped a bit. Initially, it wasn't bad and I planned to use the base ad hide the warp with some frame molding. After I painted it, it got worse...and worse. It rained so heavy here during the end of Feb and the first half of March I think it was the humidity. So that's two failed bases....and at this point I wasn't in a mood to try a third. I was running out of time too.

I turned to the truck to finish it up....but I did one of my patented "changes" and dumped the bed storage boxes in favor of a sidewalled flatbed. I did it...then added mudflaps and the fuel filler caps (the truck has two fuel tanks). I also cut off the rear overhang of the rack.

And that's about it. I used reflective film for the mirrors. I worked up some sawhorses and some other bits to toss in the back. Oh...I gave the truck running boards so Jimmy's Jimmy's upraised leg wound have something to step on.  The rear axle is very weak and has had trouble bearing the weight. I actually have added a spacer to the bed and the bed sits on the inner wheels to carry the weight.

I really did enjoy this build. I don't build autos but I'm seriously looking at a few future auto builds. I think I'll get around to building the addition base as planned and maybe have a second work vehicle (a van) there with the tools and such...as well as a second worker. I'm also thinking about another auto build...one of the race variety. Maybe a garage scene or street race.