Wednesday July 23, 2003

Homegrown Craftsman Trucks!

So you say that you have a hankerin' for some NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing? I have noticed a few home racers making requests for a series of NASCAR Craftsman Trucks in 1/32 scale. Heck, I would like to see them too! Stock cars in the past have proven to be very popular with our crowd of racers because of their toughness, thus the ability to rough-em' up a little without having to worry about shedding parts about the track. And the trucks I'm sure would lend themselves very well to the same level of toughness and fun..! 

 

One of our Detroit area home slot car enthusiast's Jimmy, known as being an artisan and outstanding craftsman, has built a series of 22 NASCAR Craftsman Trucks along with his sons and scout troop. Boy, I wish that we had done a project on this level back in my scouting days..! The project was initiated several years ago, and has now garnered the attention of a few of us local racers.

 

The trucks were built using whatever parts they had available to them at the time, and each scout was ultimately responsible for the setup of their own truck so each is slightly unique. The bodies used for this project were AMT 1/32 SnapFast models of the Bigfoot monster truck (Ford) and USA-1 monster truck (Chevy). Only four Chevy's have been built to date because the USA-1 model kit comes as a flare or stepside pickup model. To complete the Chevy trucks the stepside truck bed was cut and removed from the body to be replaced by a donor fleetside truck bed from a sacrificed Ford kit. The truck bed floor is removed from the bed and replaced with a thin plastic Tonneau cover and rear spoiler. Sheet styrene is used to extend the lower portion of the trucks front valance to complete the modified race truck appearance. The paint finish and sponsor detail work is fantastic and these pictures in no way do justice to level of workmanship. The sponsor and number markings came from any available 1/32 or 1/24 source, and in some cases from some creative efforts. The Maxwell House sponsored truck's logo's came from an actual coffee packet.

 

The chassis's on these vehicles were built to be cheap 'n fun, yet  provide an even level of competition. Plastruct beams and styrene sheet was used to build identical rail type inline chassis. The front wheels and tires are plastic kit supplied items, the rear wheels are used aluminum 1/24 commercial type wheels with cut and glued silicone tires. Two different types of motors are used which were purchased through clearance electrical supply sources and the trucks are run at reduced voltage thanks to an adjustable level power supply.

 

The truck's still have interior and roll bar detail issues which will be addressed in the future, but we'll let Jimmy slide on that for now as long as the fantastic level of workmanship continues on his outstanding routed track.

 

In closing I have to answer the one question that I'm sure everyone interested in this article will have, where a can I get some of those 1/32 kits and are they still available? These kits have not been produced in several years and I have noticed street versions of both trucks in the past but never gave them a second look. To find them you will have to hit the online auction sites, toy shows, or get lucky at a yard sale. I'm in the market for two kits myself, because you know, I just have to build me one of those Chevy's..!

Dave