LOVE SHACK

Built by: Bert Wallace

The Chuck Wagon, for me, is one of the goofy show rods I bought when they re-issued it several years ago.  When I joined the rally I got a little show rod fever and bought as many on the list as I could.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the show rods and the rally, but as a real 1:1 car guy I have to admit some are just crazy.  Now I have two Chuck Wagons, what to do?  I looked over the parts and saw some things I really liked, the 1/20 scale, the frame setup and rear end,  the engine and shorty headers, etc.  When I looked at the kit on the box, I thought of a Shaggin’ Wagon rather than a Chuck Wagon.  I can’t say the B52s song inspired the build, but I ended up singing it in my head while building. 

First on my list was to beef it up, pun not intended.  I replaced the too small back tires and wheels with a set from the Creepy T.  I did fill in the cleats on the sidewalls.  I’m sure the designer on those tires (Creepy T) was going for the pie crust look, but for me he missed the mark.  I built the rest of the frame, suspension, front wheels/tires  with stock parts and some Alclad chrome.  Since there was some big rubber in the back, I decided to make the engine bigger.  I used the double blower set up and engine from the Gridiron Grabber.  I used the kit headers for a drag racing look.  I shot the headers and the blower hats with Alclad.

On the body I envisioned an old shack mixed with some show rod flair.  I extended the roof to the back of the truck bed to create a porch, using the firewood from the kit for the columns.  I cut heart shaped port holes on the sides and created a rear door from craft sticks.  With the wider rear tires, I split the running board fender combo near the front and widened the rear fender.  I weathered the shack with Clown Fred’s dry brushing techniques.  The graffiti was done with thin flat white paint.  The rest of the paint is just spray can metallics and Testors model paints.  I used decals from the parts box and finger nail decals on the seats. The front and rear floor boards were flocked.  I finished up with a yellow windshield.   Since these pics were made I added the windshield braces that attach to the front part of the frame.

This build went together very well and didn’t cause me to pull out any hair, I don’t have much to spare.  Just remember, If this Shack is Rockn Don’t Come Knockn!

CLICK the 2 pics below to SUPERSIZE them!