David Flynn built this 1948 FWD SU dump truck circa 1989 when very few HO models of American trucks were available. Dave says he thinks it was the third HO vehicle he built. It was crude, and he decided to upgrade it about a month ago.
The model is a 1948 FWD SU dump truck with a one-way plow and wing plow. Dave made the model from a Wiking Bussing truck. The dump body and plows were made of sheet plastic. The exhaust is a piece of wire. He left a section of insulation to represent the muffler. Originally he painted the model with brushes even though he airbrushed frequently. Dave added decals a few years ago.
About a month ago he decided to upgrade the model. He added mirrors, directional lights, reflectors, and a differential housing in the front axle. Dave replaced the Wiking six spoke wheels with white metal disc wheels from a Sheepscot Oshkosh kit. The new plow is a 1968 Good Roads Model 701. Dave weathered the plows, but did not like the way they turned out, so airbrushed them again. He still wants to add rust to them.
The model is of an actual truck (bottom photo) used by the Town of Smithtown (New York) from 1962 to 1975. Dave says he can barely remember it in service, but he did take pictures of it in the bone yard in 1975. FWD almost always used cast spoke wheels, but this one had disc wheels.
Posted May 16, 2014 |
|
