WINE WAGON
AMT ICE CREAM TRUCK & REVELL ROAD AGENT
KITBASH
BUILT BY IRA DAHM (8/04)
MORE COLOR PHOTOS BELOW!
The AMT reissue of the MPC Ice Cream Truck,
Revell's Road Agent and Testors Alumacoupe supplied most the parts for the
"WINE WAGON". I've always liked the cab styling of the Ice Cream
Truck, but I wanted to build something a little different. I wanted a Show
Rod Pick Up! The Wine Wagon idea originally started as a show truck with
a front mounted big V8 engine. I had the finished Road Agent frame and engine
leftover from another project, so just for fun, I test fit the Ice Cream
Truck body and bed to the frame. It was a great fit, or at least it would
be with a few modifications...
I started by filling the 2 rear axle cut
outs on the sides of the truck bed. Then I cut out 2 pieces of 1/8"
thick sheet plastic in the shape of the firewall and 2 more pieces the shape
of the Monogram/Tom Daniel Pie Wagon radiator shell. These pieces were glued
to the cowl of the truck cab, the 2 firewall pieces were attached first,
then the 2 Radiator shell shaped pieces were attached to the firewall piece.
This gave me the rough hood extension shape for the Wine Wagon. The hood
extension was then shaped with a sanding disc in the Dremel Tool. Next I
cut out the lower sides of the truck bed to fit over the Road Agent frame.
I added strip plastic (1/4" by 1/16") to the truck bed, along
the top 2 sides and front edge. This made the shape of the bed much deeper
for hauling those grapes or barrels of wine. The tail gate was made from
sheet plastic. Cutouts were made in the back of the truck bed to fit AMT''s
Ala Kart tail lights and license plate. These cut outs were backed with
sheet plastic. Side scoops from AMT's Duster, were added to the bed sides
for engine cooling. The headlights are from the Alumacoupe.
The interior seemed too small for 2 people
so I repalced the stock seats with a slightly modified custom bucket seat
from the AMT 1955 Nomad. The transmission hump was removed and replaced
with sheet plastic. A hole was cut in the seat mounting area to mount the
new bucket seat down about 1/4" lower than stock. The steering wheel
and foot pedals are from the parts box. The interior is Testors Gloss Red
and Flat Black.
After the body work was done, I applied a
base of Krylon Flat White, followed by color coats of Krylon Red. Then Testors
Glosscote was applied. The "White Lettering Decals" are 40 year
old HO Railroad decals. The side rails are from the AMT Ala Kart kit, the
barrels are from Monograms/Tom Daniel's Beer Wagon and the gastank is from
Monograms/Tom Daniel's Pie Wagon. The "Wine Barrels" were sprayed
with Krylon Flat Brown and silver stripping tape was used for the rings.
The Road Agent Frame is stock, except for
minor modifications, to fit the Alumacoupe wheels and tires. The engine
has been hot rodded a bit with 6 carbs from 2 AMT Ala Kart kits and megaphone
exhaust pipe extensions are "Neckless End Pieces" from Michael's.
