Lee Owens

I've long been a fan of Kustoms. I was delighted to see the Custom Clinic articles in the old Car Modeler magazine. The howtos were a real treat. I was fascinated when I saw the first sketches of the Modern Dream Truck. I wanted to get started on my own version of it but this was around the time I joined the Army.

After several months of training, I was sent to Germany. In December of 1997, I saw AMT's '50 Chevy pickup kit in the PX. I bought one and started cutting. One part of the project that was missing was the nosepiece that Mark used on his truck. I searched for it but couldn't find the piece by itself. I did find the original kit that it came with, but the seller wanted $175.00. Way too expensive for me. I decided to scratchbuild the nose. The headlight tunnels are brass tube. It was a real pain getting them aligned. The grille opening was also a source of frustration. I just couldn't make it symmetrical. I finally ended up using a heavily modified grille opening from a second Predicta kit. It was narrowed and shortened. Once in place, it didn't match the rest of the nose. I reshaped the top of the opening and the panel just above it to flow into the hood.

 I have the benefit of starting my project after Mark finished and critiqued his. I agreed with some, but not all of his picks and pans. I never intended to build an exact clone, so I can choose the styling elements I like and change those that I don't. My truck will retain the taillights in the fins and the separate bed. I do like the idea of the inline6. I can't put it in words, but it just plain works for a custom.

There is still lots of work to be done. The project has been stalled several times, for deployments with the Army and because of burnout. There is a tremendous amount of work in just the body. After a while I needed a break from it. Mark's recent article on his rebuild inspired me to start again.

 Lee Owens