I just finished a project that I started several weeks ago, an AMT 1/25 scale International Payhauler 350 industrial dump truck.
This is the second time I built this one, the first was box-stock in the 80's.

I did extensive scratch building, adding hydraulic and air hoses and wiring and connectors.
It turned out "okay" given that I have no idea how the real truck is plumbed, so I just ran hoses where it looked right.

The frame didn't come out correctly, with the frame warped slightly and the bed also not seating level.
This is a tough build given that you can't really level things up until an assembly is finished and then it's too late.
This causes warping due to no good way to insure everything is level.

Some of this I attribute to having lost my skills at building.
I stopped building in the early 90's because we moved from a house to an apartment and you really can't start spraying paint and solvents around a wife who can't stand the smell.
Because of that time lapse my building skills are sadly lacking and I think I'm loosing some manual dexterity in my hands.
This is disturbing, because I was a watchmaker and gunsmith.

Part of my fun has always been making something from nothing, and in this case the hoses are wire I robbed from a set of head phones, and the connectors are sawed off hollow ends of steel and brass bake lining rivets with clipped off sections of paper clips as the ends.
I intended to buy some telescoping aluminum tubing to use for the bed hydraulic cylinders but that didn't work out.

One disappointment was the decals.
Once wet to release they released in pieces, and the "Payhauler" name on the drivers side is now missing the "Y" since immediately after soaking the "Y" just fell apart.

Strangely, there were two small pointed cylinders in the kit that are not mentioned or shown in the instructions.
I'm pretty good at figuring things out, but I can't find anyplace these should go, so I guess I have two tiny left over parts.

Thats cool

I like it.


I wish I had room to display one of those. I had one about 14 or 15 years back. I never finished it and gave it away to a buddy that had room for it.

Are you going to weather that beast?  

No, my "thing" is for tanks and other kits to be brand new, right off the factory floor.
I noticed that many builders do some fantastic weathering, but they seldom seem to do any scratch building.