So how do we go about building a model?
I will try and show how I go about building a model of a particular lorry. Firstly the donor kit has to be identified. This means that I need to select which available kit will form the basis of the model.
In many cases that will be enough. There are quite a few kits on the market, and the main flagship marques are well represented. Then it is just a case of a few minor alterations to the kit. An example of this would be to build a Scania 144 using the Italeri kit, converting to right hand drive and perhaps adding a lift axle. See building from the box below.
However if the vehicle in question is not available in kit form, then often another is selected and major conversion and scratchbuilding would take place. Occasionally using a second kit for parts. For instance converting a Volvo FH tractor unit kit into a rigid lorry. For more on conversions and scratchbuilding see converting and scratchbuilding below.
Sometimes the vehicle is simply not catered for. This is often the case with earlier British lorries. There are some ways around this. In some cases a transkit exists. This is a kit provided by an aftermarket supplier which effectively transforms a normal kit into something else. There is for example a transkit produced by KFS which will convert an Italeri Volvo kit into an ERF E-series.
Otherwise, there are white metal kits and diecast models that may offer themselves up for conversion. See metal kits below.
Building from the Box
Building from the box is just that. You take a kit and build it as per the instructions without deviating thereby producing the model that the kit manufacturer intended. Whilst I have done this for myself, its actually quite a rare occurrence.
The reasons being that the main manufacturers of lorry kits are Italeri and Revell who are Italian and German respectively. So the kits all come left hand drive. They are also often the top-of-the-range version of the vehicle. So they come with Globetrotter or Topline roofs when all you want is a standard fleet vehicle. They also tend to come as two axle tractors. Six leggers and rigids are few and far between.
So there is nearly always some minor conversion to do even if its just converting to right hand drive. In fact the only build I have done truly from the box in recent times is the Iveco Turbostar shown here.
I left it as a French tractor. I also occasionally build US trucks from the box.
It is clear though that a standard build is far cheaper than some of the more complicated ones. It is really only restricted by how much detail you want. If I am to produce a fully detailed model for example then it takes longer and usually requires more aftermarket products.
Converting and Scratchbuilding
So what happens when the donor kit isn't going to be enough? Well we start converting. To what degree again depends on how much you want to spend. Converting can mean either adding aftermarket parts to a kit or pillaging a second kit and adding parts to an original kit or to scratchbuild parts.
Scratchbuilding basically means building from scratch using sheet plastic, tube, rod and other cross sections. It can be quite time consuming.
For example a couple of years ago I was asked to build the Mercedes SK rigid truck in the picture
I used the Revell SK tractor kit in the other picture as a donor kit and scratchbuilt a chassis and box body out of sheet plastic and strip
The finished model can be seen in the gallery
There is a particular lack of trailer kits beyond the standard fridge/tautliner/box types. Any other type generally has to be scratchbuilt possibly using some other trailer as a beginning.
The bulk potato trailer seen here under construction took some months to build (albeit not as a full time occupation). Again the completed model can be seen in the gallery.
So scratchbuilding does help where the kits are lacking but it does take a lot of expensive time