WBO2014: You say Tow Mater, I say Tam' ata' !

[JennyMo 3526]

cont.

So with the primary paintwork finished, it was time to start adding a few details...

Mater's rear panel is painted in yellow and black chevrons... I carefully cut some strips of masking tape (7mm if you're asking), and applied them over the yellow base coat:

I then masked the rest of the car and painted satin black across the rear panel:

And finally, with the tape removed - result!

Another feature I wanted to include, was a wound-down window... I'd done this before with the Fro-Sco (although the front windows are now removed completely from that car), and felt winding it only part the way down was more realistic:

I also elected to remove the complete rear window (I considered making it a two-part sliding one, but the original glass was not suitable)... note I retained the lower section (painted to match the body) as this lines up with the back of the cab:

You may also notice I painted over the sunroof in red oxide with a splash of blue too.

Another detail that helps to add realism is to paint the windscreen surround in a satin 'rubber' black - masking helps to keep things simple and neat!

At the rear, I used a Wild Willy II winch, chopped around slightly, and made a winch cable by using lock-wire:

You can also see I rusted the rear-facing work-lamp, and the base of the amber beacon too (this beacon actually flashes when it's plugged into the receiver).

The winch from the top:

The chains and hooks (from Don's Place) were a really effective way of securing the crane boom - and as I mentioned previously, means that the crane can always be removed if I wanted to run this just as a simple pick-up.

Detail of the fuel filler - with added rust and oil/dirt... I also highlighted some of the corrosion with a gunmetal colour, to give more texture to the gnarled metal.

The 'metal' sunroof fitted, and powdered orange rust weathering adding to the depth of the corrosion:

Rear wheel detail - these tyres fill the arches so much better than the low-rider low profile ones... what were Tamiya thinking?!

One eye, buck 'teeth', and a rusty chin!

cont.

[JennyMo 3526]

"Enough with the details already Jenny - what does it actually look like???..."

OK... I suppose it's about time I got on with the big reveal right?

Here we go (in no particular order)...

Toot toot!

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

Of course I wasn't going to leave it there was I?

There was a reason that I had to remove the rear window - because I knew (from the STUMPkin) that Willy's big ol' head wasn't going to fit in there... and you know me... gotta have a custom Willy driving, right?

 

So who's behind the mask?

 

Why, it's Larry Willy of course!

Yep... I thought it had to be done ;o)

 

The Willy head is actually fitted to a Sand Scorcher driver body, with the hands customised with Willy's gloves:

 

And a steering wheel from a Scorcher too:

 

The body and mounting fits perfectly inside the cab! (note. you can also see the split pins that allow the crane to be removed):

 

Let's go!

 

You can see how Willy's (I mean Larry's) helmet sticks out of the rear window - while a scale driver's head would most likely fit with the rear window in place…

 

Detail of the rear cross-member - rather than have the rear lights sticking up above the bed, I have fitted Axial lenses to the original rear bumper mounting recesses, and the existing 3mm screw holes are perfect for a smaller LED bulb behind:

 

And finally, a couple more photos, with Larry at the wheel:

 

All I need to do now is order a LED control unit and wire up the various lamps… and I’m still considering converting the rear wheels to dually too ;o)

 

In the meantime, I hope you like him!

 

Jenny xx

 

[wood5tock 864]

Now that is very awesome indeed. Just love looking at all the details and then the project as a whole.

Proper job

[mr crispy 2293]

Great work Jenny. Just the tyre and wheel change alone has improved the look over the Tamiya offering but your detail work just knocked it out of the park once again.

[kaylon 235]

Oh .. My... God ... I think this is your best build yet. I love how you've captured Mater in a caricature manner but with an overstated realism.

That all might sound very arty farty but I mean every word ... it's excellent!!

Thank you so much for all the effort and time you have spent on this. Very Inspiring!

K

[IBIFTKH 1369]

What a stunning creation! The detailing and weathering are incredible, and Larry is comic genius. Dually rears would be the perfect finishing touch.

Blown away (as usual!!)

[kontemax 1725]

Hi Jenny, it is beautiful and almost perfect.
Almost because there's a particular missing...

The washings of the rust in the white sides of the tires...

Max

PS: if you will make the dual rear wheels you must increase the rear mudguards width, or not?

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Perfection. I love how it has gone from being a car-icature (ie. with the eyes in the windows) to being a fully-inspired realistic model.

I think you win. I think you're also the only person to finish their winter project!

[bromvw 744]

Perfection. I love how it has gone from being a car-icature (ie. with the eyes in the windows) to being a fully-inspired realistic model.

I think you win. I think you're also the only person to finish their winter project!

I think Jenny is the sure fire winner too lol . Puts my effort to shame .

[StrokerBoy 772]

Amazing work. I'm about to start a custom rebuild of my own, first one I've done. This thread both hugely inspires me and puts me off at the same time...

[Mad Ax 9329]

I thought right from the start this would be a build worth watching, and I wasn't wrong! Excellent, glad to see at least someone has cracked the WBO, and with great attention to detail too

[Mad Ax 9329]

This thread both hugely inspires me and puts me off at the same time...

surely that is the best type of build thread

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

This thread is epic! My lil girl will love this when i show her.

[Percymon 2184]

Nice job as always Jen

Mines not moved on one bit in months - time i pulled it back out the box

[Trini2DBone 633]

Wow! Such an epic build! Masterfully done! Truly a work of art ! Love it!

[Nump.T 53]

Wow! Amazing! Fantastic! Stunning! what more can I say.

Nump.T

[Skottoman 306]

This turned out sooooo great!

Cheers,

Skottoman

[BangkokBulldog 151]

Fantastic build Jenny, great work on the details!

[BangkokBulldog 151]

Fantastic build Jenny, great work on the details!

[bjorklo 1620]

How cool is that, i want it for my collection :-). Amazing job you have done... Already looking forward to your next project..

[Tizer 606]

Wow amazing work! Love it

[JennyMo 3526]

Hi Jenny, it is beautiful and almost perfect.

Almost because there's a particular missing...

The washings of the rust in the white sides of the tires...

Max

PS: if you will make the dual rear wheels you must increase the rear mudguards width, or not?

Hee hee - I'll get on it Max ;o)

As for the dual rear wheels - yes, I imagine I would need to widen the rear arches a little, which is part of the reason I didn't go for this option during the initial build...

Out of interest, is anyone here familiar with the 1:14th scale Tamiya trucks? - do they use a 12mm hex drive on the the axles too? - as that would be simple way to get a pair of dual wheels/tyres, or even just fit the scorcher front tyres to them (as I understand they are also 1.5" diameter wheels).

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

Thank you everyone for your kind words, it really means a lot... :-)

I wasn't planning to enter the WBO originally - as I still have so many other projects that really require my attention, so the initial Mater idea really was only a light-hearted suggestion really...

However, like a lot of things I guess, once I considered it more fully, that initial inspiration actually proved to have a lot of merit after all - and with the base vehicle being readily available, I could visualise the possibilities, while staying within in the boundaries of what was realistically achievable within budget and time frame.

As the project developed, it was clear that actually trying to properly replicate the movie Mater would be all but impossible - and certainly I think that Percymon's build using a Lunchbox wheelie chassis is going to be epic fun once it's finished!

So this very much became a scale build with Mater styling cues and details - and as Kaylon and Reilluor suggest below, it's kind of what Mater would look like if he was real - and personally from a project point of view, I find that a little more satisfying than a true replica.

But then you know me, I've never been much of a box-art fan either...

So glad you like him - thank you!

Jx

On 1/22/2015 at 3:11 PM, kaylon said:

 

 

Oh .. My... God ... I think this is your best build yet. I love how you've captured Mater in a caricature manner but with an overstated realism.

On 1/23/2015 at 1:11 AM, Reilluor said:

 

 

Perfection. I love how it has gone from being a car-icature (ie. with the eyes in the windows) to being a fully-inspired realistic model.

[JennyMo 3526]

Quick update: As mentioned previously, the nice thing about this design - using shock-tops and R clips to mount the crane and using hooks and chain to secure the boom to the roll-bar, is that the whole assembly can be removed so the truck can also be run as a simple pick-up instead:

So to finish it off, I made a blanking panel for the rear deck from part of a second Pumpkin shell floor (this will be painted red oxide to match of course):

That lock-wire winch cable is surprisingly rigid!

Jx