Howdy.
This is not quite a build thread so much as "what's on my workbench right now and it happens to be a vehicle" thread.
I have a bad habit of working on more than one kit at a time. It helps to keep the momentum going while glue and paint dry or when I get stuck. This 1923 Mack Dump Truck from Jordan Products Highway Miniatures left me stuck. I'll fill you in. But first, if you are not familiar with the "Jordans", they are no longer manufactured although still available on the second-hand market. Here are a couple of links that give more detail about Jordans:
- https://www.debenllc.com/Jordan-Highway-Miniatures_c_15.html
- https://www.87thscale.info/jordan.htm
- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=jordan+highway+miniatures&_sop=12
As you can see below, I have a Jordan Mack Dump Truck in progress along with 2 different Campbell kits.
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7813.jpg)
This is where I got stuck on the Mack.
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7814.jpg)
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7815.jpg)
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7816.jpg)
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7817.jpg)
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7818.jpg)
I've already put most of it together. The engine, cab, chassis, dump box and the hoist to lift the dump box are built and painted to some extent. All these are waiting to be assembled into the final product. Some of the fiddliest details like the headlamps and tail lamp I wait until the very end to attach because they are too delicate to deal with throughout the build. I find this is what works best for me.
So where did I get stuck you ask yourself. The kit gives the modeler the option to build a short wheel base or a long wheel base for the truck. Jordan did that often. Jordan reused some of the kits' components throughout several kits. It's efficient and it works well because as you build more of them it gets easier because you've built a great deal of the kit once before for another model.
I've built this very same kit before. However, I only built it with the short wheel base. That calls for trimming the frame parts of the kit to the correct length. I got lazy on this build and decided I did not want to trim the frame to make a short wheel base but instead left the parts as they came and went with the long wheel base.
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7819.jpg)
This is where I am befuddled due to that decision.
Long wheel base option.
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7820.jpg)
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7821.jpg)
Short wheel base option.
(https://www.narrowperspective.com/narrow/public_html/media/images/ForumUploads/Resized_MackDump_IMG_7822.jpg)
You see, the long wheel base option looks silly. And, the instructions including the illustrations are written so you end up with the short wheel base. The only guidance the modeler has for the long wheel base is the single illustration of the long chassis without the box. I searched all over the webs for actual prototype references of a long wheel base Mack dump truck. I did not find any. So I am left to my own imagination here. That won't get me very far.
For now I have only come up with one option that would keep this model from looking silly. I think I will build some sort of tool box to go between the cab and the dump box hoist to fill in all that empty space.
Here I thought not cutting corners :-) by leaving the kit parts as they came from the factory would help me out. I was mistaken.
Regardless, it's a fun kit to put together and I'll finish it eventually. For now, it gets pushed around the workbench to make room for stuff that can make progress.
Jamie, I agree the short wheelbase does look better but adding the tool box sounds like a good idea.
Jamie,
In hindsight the short wheelbase is a much better option but we are past that now. The tool box idea sounds feasible and it will give you a different looking truck.