As many of you know, the Dream Truck 2 (originally christened the Modern Dream Truck) was constructed in the page of Car Modeler magazine starting in issue the January 1995 issue, and finishing in the May 1997 issue.  When it was finished, I really disliked it.  So, I wrote an article in which I heavily critiqued my own model.  After all, no design is perfect, and if I entries in my Custom Clinic Photo Contests in Car Modeler are critiqued, then I should also point out the defects and missteps in my own work.  Back issues of Car Modeler featuring the Dream Truck 2 are available from Kalmbach Publishing

visit Car Modeler magazine at: www2.carmodeler.com/carmodeler/

A Styling Critique:

The Good, the Bad, and the Merely Annoying!
My Dream Truck2 is being reconstructed now. In any restyling project, there are hits and misses. The Dream Truck2 is no different. Let's look at the original design, and then briefly review how the problems will be corrected Below are some photos and details on the history and construction of the model as well as photos of its reconstruction, including the many changes and added details! Long live all of the Dream Trucks! 

The Front Fenders, Grille Opening, and Hood:
The Good: The front fenders and hood are the best feature on the model. The dramatic narrowing of the fenders lends a well-groomed look to the front of an essentially clunky factory design. The pie-shaped, tapered sectioning of the hood really resolves itself into the overall design and obliterates the really annoying dolphin . The headlight opening shapes particularly satisfy me: The integrated incut shape resolves neatly into the flare around the fender. 

The Bad:  The grille opening was too tall through the center yielding a maw that lacks delicacy and subtlety; also, the taper to the opening has too much of an angle. The incut character line on the hood (that mates with the belt molding on the body) should extend further forward than it does: as it is, it seems like an afterthought. The hood fit poorly -- though it was carefully integrated into the cowl during the primer stage, too much paint on the body underneath the trailing edge of the hood caused a lot of trouble. The leading edge of the hood sits on top of the panel between the headlights, making the hood look like as if it had been just dropped there.  And, let's reduce the height of the hood by continuing the cowl side aspect along to the top of the front fenders. 

The Merely Annoying:  The body should be built up so that the front of the hood fits into, rather on top of, the body - a smoother transition would result. The front grille can be remedied by reducing the height of the opening so that there won't be such a gap between the top of the upper grille bar and the inside of the grille opening.

The Cab: 
The Good: Generally, it is satisfactory and parts of it (like the sectioned doors) are a vast improvement over the factory design. The sweep of the forward door opening shapes (necessitated by the sectioned body) balances out the length of the cab, and the taper of the body from the back of the cab through the cowl is a really neat touch.

The Bad: However, there are some real problems here. A straight lake pipe (necessary to trim the bottom edge of the cab and bottom of the leading aspect of the bed) cannot be installed in conjunction with the body without creating a really disjointed design. A few changes can eliminate a lot of this problem: we'll permanently attach the bed to the cab and then smooth the interface the body -- this will permit us to run a cove along the bottom of the bed and along the bottom of the cab, forward of the rear wheel well into which the side exhaust can be fitted.

The Merely Annoying: The rear window should be wider.

The Bed:
The Good: There is something, well, funky about this bed. The sweep of the fins is very dramatic and the oval grille agreeably ties the bed to the front grille design. But that's were my approval of the original design ends with a thud.

The Bad: There are a lot of problems here, some significant. The leading edge of the bed was poorly integrated into the shape of the cab. The bottom of the leading edge of the bed should be "lower" to avoid the unsightly gap between the lake pipe and the body. The bed is also way too long, and the fins raise too much toward the back of the bed. I'll shorten the bed both in front of and behind the wheel arch, and pull down the fins so that they'll be pretty much parallel to the ground. And, we'll drop the lights from the fins, preferring to taper the design to a rounded shape.

The Merely Annoying: The final problem with the bed design is shared with the original Rod and Custom Dream Truck: There just isn't any way to integrate the two designs. Maybe the elevation and placement of the door handle does all that can be done by suggesting a continuation of the line of the fin on the bed. 

The Paint Job 
The Good: The colors are suggest the color scheme of the original Dream Truck at the time of its accident in Kansas in 1958. The juxtaposition of the pearl lime gold base with burgundy scallops is a nice contrast, and tempers the base color. Watson's scallop design is right on the money though when I redo the truck, I will sweep the hood scallops back onto the cowl in order to tie the cab to the hood.

The Bad: In the last article, I briefly discussed the problems with the paint. Without revisiting the problems, the result was that the model was painted at three different times as I experimented with procedures and paint application techniques. When the truck is redone, the color will also be changed. Stay tuned for the fresh new color.

The Grossly Annoying: I have never been so frustrated with any painting project in my entire modeling experience. A combination of rushing for magazine deadlines, and the lack of careful attention, explain my difficulties. Also, I hadn't yet discovered Dupont's Variprime catalyzed primer sealer that really isolates the primer-over-bodywork from the chemically "hot" color coats. 

Conclusion: Like almost all custom vehicles, the Dream Truck² is a mixture of pleasing and clumsy design elements. While this odyssey has been a long one, it's important to disassemble the Truck, fix the styling glitches, correct the goofy mechanical details not even touched on here (for instance, what's a race-configured 409 doing in the truck?) and other details. The finished model will debut in Scale Auto Enthusiast in late 2000! Thanks to Kirk Bell for his patience! And watch for the dedication of this model to one of the hobby's most admired practioneers, who died just a few years ago! 

Following that article, I decided to tear down the model, restyle it, correct the many mechanical flaws, and represent it in a new color scheme.  I retained the services of Cody Grayland (machining) and Bob Wick (photoetch), and Joel Dirnberger (electronics, lighting) to carry out my design ideas (informed by their own interpretations of my designs) so that this model, finally, can be presented properly.  I wish to sincerely thank Cody,  Bob and Joel for their incredibly hard work and assistance with this project.    Check out these pictures to see photos of the original model, and its reconstruction.  Please note also that a full two-article feature on this model will be presented in the pages of Scale Auto Enthusiast in the later part of 2001 (thanks, Kirk Bell!).

On to the Photos!