I really like the look of the blue truck just how it is, body fill and rough paint job. It just has the look of well worked truck with lots of mileage. Being in the rust belt I see lots of trucks/ cars with wheel well body fill.
@Barney You know, that’s a pretty good idea. I was planning to paint it blue, the same shade as the lift truck, and weather it - but, the primer shining through along the fenders and some rusty cab corners might look pretty cool - some ideas to ponder -
In the mean time I went about making the cab interior. Like the chassis, the junkbox and evergreen provide:
I used a steering column and wheel from an M1083, dash and part of the floor from a Zil 131, and the seat, from a 1/25 kit, which required a lot more cutting and carving than I would have hoped - I probably should have scratch built it - but it’s now done. Next, I had to widen it up to fill the gaps between the body and dash:
None of this is that hard to do, but it takes time. For grins, decided I needed something of a transmission tunnel, which of course will never be seen, so I’m not too concerned about the sloppy fit. Added gear, transfer case, and PTO shifters. I’ll know they are there And finally, to get it flush with the hood and underside of the windshield, added a shroud:
As subtle as this may seem, it now prevents light coming in from the underside/firewall, and has a better overall fit - and, in the cab:
While not a perfect fit, it’s pretty close. I’ll add some door cards and be done with the cab -
Thanks for having a look -
Cheers
Nick