In Progress: 1/24 Dakar Truck

[RallyRaider]

Interesting. Is this model ment to represent a real vehicle or just be an approximation of a dakar truck?

[ToyTundra]

Its just an approximation. I found exact stats on a website, but i cannot find a similar enough cab unless i get a semi kit with a trailer in one box for $120 which i would not want to cut up. The length and width are almost perfectly to scale. the height is too high due to the tallness of the cab's top which i am not skilled enough to alter, so the box is also too tall. The wheel base is about a cm too short, which i am on the verge of changing but havn't decided how. That makes my model sound like shit, but i have never seen a truck in person.

[ToyTundra]

I finally painted the box blue over he red base coat, but i forgot that i used white primer on the cab, so the red underneith the blue patern on the box made the box's blue not match. What am i going to do? Re build the box ( i would strip the paint, but then i lose my seem filling putty too). Any way here's a pic feel fre to comment on the uncreative blue pattern

[86_SR5]

looks cool and unique.

[idiot2]

sweet

[ToyTundra]

That's the 14.2 L turbo diesel that powers the truck. The radiator and intercooler are not there because they needed to be sandwiched betwwen the frame rails which were glues together a long time ago. The box still needs a coat of clear as you can see.

Free standing in need of panel lines and a finished bumper. I am debating stealing my Subaru WRC's decals, but i will just end up ordering more. The drawback is that the two vehicles have identical markings. I dunno what i am going to do for decals.
As for the rear, i will build a simple bumper with lights and hang some mud flaps to dress up the rear. That is the corner of a Corolla WRC for scale in the bottom two pictures.

A shot of the frame with the box removed. The white plastic strips are styrene tubing to lift the box above the rear tires. There is no rear driveshaft yet, the paint is still drying.

[vwman]

Awesome!!

[Howielong]

That is so cool.

[DJPaul]

Looks great. I am looking for some kit right now too. I want to build Kamaz that took part in couple rallies, but I like the one from last year. It probably would take a donor and then scratch build. Your technique looks awesome!

[Honoturtle]

Interesting project, but it looks good.

[willimo]

Looks gret. I've been looking forward to progress on this since you started. I have a question though, what goes in the box of the 1:1? Anything?

[ToyTundra]

i think the 1:1 carries parts for the team's other vehicles, but i am not sure.

Nice pics DJPaul, i wish i had pictures that good when i started my project.