The cousin's Christmas present is done...ALMOST
Well after spending a good amount of time with some cousins this past summer, I have been wanting to do something for the 'kids' to give them some RC cars that could take what they dish out. I did a little research and the 10 yr old has his own lawn mowing SERVICE and he did seem to admire all types of lawn tractors and trucks as we drove around together. I got to thinking of the coolest truck I like from Tamiya and here it is, the Midnight Pumpkin. I have always liked the curves of the '50s Fords and was a bit upset when my DAD sold his project '53, but that was understandable with lack of room and a vast lack of time and more importantly energy to repair it all. I can really understand what happened more and more as I get older. So a bit of an homage to my Dad's truck in shape and a bit of a Cub Cadet homage in the paint and I just need to make some decals for the doors that state the young cousin's lawn service name and telephone number. I do hope he likes the spotlights as I couldn't resist. Here are the build specs.
Tamiya stock kit build from NIP vintage packs, won some new tires and a chassis with the steering servo saver on the bay. That is a ParmaPSE Midnight Pumpkin repro LEXAN body and the paint is PS-1 on the fenders and other small details and a newer color called PS-52 Champagne Gold Anodized Aluminum for the main body of color. I must say the hobby shop didn't have much input on what to back with and all and I flubbed a bit in the rear bed/tailgate area where it didn't coat as well. I must also say that it goes on pretty transparant, so a backer is needed. Since I wanted white fenders,(well the wife convinced me, I really wanted yellow to match the wheels) I sprayed the white last and that tended to back the PS-52 nicely. I could only imagine what a silver backing would do for it. I am not the greatest painter and I get a bit scared spraying in as much humidity as I have, so this would be about the 7th body I have sprayed in 20 years. All is stock, will let the cousin ball bearing it if they want to and left the motor stock for now. I did upgrade the steering arms to simple threaded 4-40 aileron rod from the airplane side of the hobby shop. It fit nicely into the 5mm ball end arm thingys. All comments welcome, now to start the next project for the other cousin, a Grasshopper I runner.
Comments
rhenbelz
Neat! I think he'll like it
ranger blue
nice paint job
highflyer
The Pumpkin looks great in those colors, the body is FANTASTIC-TOP WORK!! I wish I had a cousin who would give me a Pumpkin for XMAS...
Wyoming
Looks great Chris, good choice for kids! Hey don't feel bad I've painted a hundred or so lexan bodies and I still suck at them...not natural to paint on inside
Crash Cramer
Thanks for the kind words. Seth, I stole your trick with the ultra fine Sharpie for the details and I thought for a little bit about painting this one on the outside. If I use that color again, I think that is the way I will go.
Blacque Jacque
Now I like that...not too garish as some schemes can be but enough colour to give it some character, nice job
thelegos
That great, makes a refreshing change, I wish I'd kept my Pumpkin now....
tamiyaonebay
SO the Pumpkin chassis is the same as the LunchBox? And I can see that the front wheel tilt issue is the same on this as it was on mine, right? Hmm....I wonder if they meant it to be like that.
Crash Cramer
And you may notice I used the CVA shocks which change the aspect a little bit. I think I had to 'preload' the shocks to get the tilt angle to get smaller. Still fun to drive, but I gave this to a cousin to enjoy.
tamiyaonebay
I do like those shocks. The color would go perfect with my LB. There's some other issues I found on my LB, like the front bumper touching the front wheel when you compress the shocks all the way...whatever though, I love these monster trucks!
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