I wish there were more Big Rigs

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Mr. Steve 316
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I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by Mr. Steve 316 »

We bought the 100th Anniversary Big Rig kit marked down to $12 last year with the simple plan of picking out the best tires from the eighteen in the kit and using the extra wood on some future car builds. Then we came across the Knight Rider Big Rig and the "Cars" movie 18 wheeler pictures on Derby Talk. Those inspired us to give it a go. We went with the early 80's classic "BJ and the Bear" cabover design and were going to make a matching trailer, but the centennial trailer matched pretty well. Recently I found a couple of kits at the Scout Store market down to $6. We bought 2 more and I'll be looking to see if they have anymore next time we go. This was a fun kit to build, unfortunately we have never been around a track setup to run them on. I wish they had a better presents in Pinewood Racing. Builders don't know what they are missing.

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The block for the cab is the same size as a standard car block so we thought about racing the cab in the Sibling/Fun race. We spent hours with a dremel tool hollowing out the cab and got the weight to 5 oz. running only 6 wheels, no double wheels on the back. The night before the race at a check-in one kid showed up with a semi-truck kit car that was flagged for several problems because he was trying to use it in the stock race. It was not the Anniversary Big Rig kit but a Pinewood Derby car kit shaped like a rig, sort of. I think it was actually a BSA kit car. So, to not fan the flames of confusion, we left the Big Rig at home. You can see in the final pic the hollowed out cab and all the cut outs on the frame to reduce weight.

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Keep Moving Forward!

Mr. Steve - Pack 316
Lead Reindeer
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by Lead Reindeer »

I too picked up a big rig kit with the same intention as you, scavenge the wheels. But after seeing your result, I may just have to build it.

Congratulations on an awesome build!
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whodathunkit
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by whodathunkit »

Mr.Steve 316,
I wish there were more Big Rigs also.

I really like the job you did on this Big Rig.. I'v been wanting to build the "BJ and the Bear"
semi truck also. Man what a job you did it looks good!

Here lately I'v been leaning on two ideas for big rigs trucks
Building the Green Goblin semi truck from the movie Maximum Overdrive,
Or building a vintage White Cab Forward with a stock trailer.

This one was my first Big Rig build from scratch..no kit was used.
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It was a fun build as well.
The first Big Rig kit:
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Betacrafts Big Rig kit:
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Mark.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
Mr. Steve 316
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by Mr. Steve 316 »

We actually thought about the Green Goblin "Happy Toys" Truck also. I figured no one would have a clue what it was from. haha We went with BJ since it was still a nice looking truck even without the TV series connection. Whodathunkit, I saw your trucks long before we started on ours. GREAT JOB! You, and a few others, inspired us big time. I'd love to see some others like the bad rig from Knight Rider, I think it was named Goliath. Do you make yours race ready, weight and wheel preps?
Keep Moving Forward!

Mr. Steve - Pack 316
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whodathunkit
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by whodathunkit »

Mr. Steve 316 wrote: You, and a few others, inspired us big time. I'd love to see some others like the bad rig from Knight Rider, I think it was named Goliath. Do you make yours race ready, weight and wheel preps?
Heres the one your thinking of by ah8tk Andy & Noah Holzer.
http://www.derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... cks#p49402" target="_blank
These guys inspired me big time as well.

I've raced a few big rigs just for fun.. I've built some useing the older plans & kit rules.
However these trucks were built totaly from scratch as well.
At the time I made the semi trucks my local Scout shop only had one of the older big rig kits saved back for a keep sake.
And I was wanting to share with the kids the Big Rig racing kit so he let me use the kit and rules.
(As a pattern to make the trucks from.)
The wheels I used back then were from several pinewood derby car kits..
along with photo frame hanging nails for the longer axels.
The 100th anniv kit was not out on supply when i made these trucks to share with the kids.
And i diden't know at the time Betacrafts was still makeing the kits.
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And yes I still enjoy building the Big Rigs.
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Heres to starting a convoy of semi trucks.. just type in big rigs in the advanced search.
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Whoda.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
Lcamino
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by Lcamino »

Here is our first Big Rig. This is the Mother's Wax rig and their '67 ElCamino

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sporty
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by sporty »

Any where to still buy a kit ?
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whodathunkit
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by whodathunkit »

Sporty,
You might have to waite.. as I see Beta Crafts is tempoarily out of stock..
for the original PWD car kits and the 18 wheel tractor trailer kits.
http://shop.betacrafts.com/

Indy products has the phantom 500 truck in stock.
http://www.indyproducts.com/

I don't know if any Scout shops will still have a few of the 100th anniv big rig kits or not.
Last edited by whodathunkit on Thu Nov 20, 2014 8:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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ah8tk
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by ah8tk »

I have quite a few at home email me if you would like one.
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sporty
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Re: I wish there were more Big Rigs

Post by sporty »

I sent you a pm. I see no email.
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