A new flatbed truck

With the dearth of 1:48 scale vehicles appropriate for the 1970s-1980s period on the market I tend to jump at anything I can find. Previously I purchased an Atlas F-100 pickup truck and I would buy as many more as I could. But, I accidently fogged up the windows when I got careless with the Dullcote and thus it doesn't look great. I want to move it from being so prominently visible in the lumberyard to somewhere else. Hopefully, with its cab facing away from the aisle my mistake won't be noticeable.

That meant I needed another vehicle for the lumberyard. I found some 1950s era box trucks from Menards which would work but they are a little too old for my liking. Then, I stumbled on a listing for a Menards Gold Line Green Mack Truck Limited Edition in 1:48 scale. It looked good, but I wasn't sure if it fit my era (I can barely distinguish between a pickup truck and a DeLorean). I asked on the O Gauge Railroading magazine forum and was informed that it was common during my time frame, so I bought one.

When it arrived I unscrewed the chassis from the body. I had hoped to remove the cab window glazing to avoid it getting obscured from Dullcote, but it was fused in place. There was no easy way to remove it without cracking it so I did a quick mask with blue tape and then gave everything a flat finish. 

I considered repainting the cab or at least changing the graphics from Menards to something else. They don't have any stores in New England so it doesn't quite fit my layout's theme. But, for the moment I can live with it. 

Burnt umber oil paint washes were applied all over to give it a dirty appearance. The deck bed received a bunch to highlight the planking. Then, I let it dry for a week.

I painted on some tail lights with red paint, and I added license plates front and back from the Microscale set (#48-509). I used Texas plates because I had come to the realization that from 6" away you can't read them, much less from two or three feet away. To hide a large visible gap in the chassis between the rear wheels I glued in place some styrene pieces painted black.

Then, I took some of the brown latex paint that I use for my scenery and watered it down and weathered the underframe and wheels of the truck. This helps to tie it in to the rest of the layout, as the color of the dirt matches.

A load of scale 2x12 lumber, cut 12' long, finished up the truck. I didn't add any strapping to secure it, but I am thinking of adding a figure that suggests the truck is currently being loaded. The lumber is glued together but not attached to the truck, nor is the truck glued down.  That way, I can change it up in the future if I want..

Finally, it went into the lumberyard and the pickup truck was driven to another location. I am still working on sourcing an appropriate forklift and found a 3D printed kit online, but that is another project.