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1966 Ford sign truck

Gator

Gator

Well-known member
My dad was a sign painter. He worked for a gentleman, W. A. Welch, in the small south Louisiana town of Opelousas. Their shop truck was a 3/4 ton Ford with a factory work bed and a custom made rack that stretched from bump to bumper. In the early 70's our family moved home to Sulphur, about 20 miles from the Texas state line. Dad started his own sign company. In the late 80's, Dad bought Mr. Welch's company from him when he retired. Unbelievable, the old 1966 shop truck was still being used. Now, this old Ford could carry everything needed to put up a billboard, the sign face panels, the posts and the lumber for the framework that the sign face was attached to. The truck had the engine replaced a few times but everything else was original. Dad went and shopped for a new truck to take it's place, he could believe the old truck was still running. Well, every dealer, Ford, GM and Dodge, said that it would take at least a one ton truck to do what this truck was doing. So Dad keep the old shop truck.

Fast forward to last year, Moebius Models releases their 1966 Ford service truck kit. It looked exactly like what Dad's shop truck was. I have friend who is a big Ford guy. He told me that the body was the same for the 1/4 ton as it was for the 3/4 ton. I now had a base model to make the shop truck!


shop truck.jpg


This past weekend I started on the old girl. I got the frame started.

IMG_1291.jpg


I also start working on the artwork for the decals. Dad's company was Hiway Ads. I recreated his logo from an old photo I have of the sign in front of the shop. I never knew why Dad spelled highway that way but I changed the spelling and redesigned the logo. I think he would approve. Back in the day, he and I made a pretty good design team. Still working on the lettering listing the sign types. I want to go with something more period and he loved script fonts.

Graphic2.JPG



He liked drop shadows too.

Graphic3.JPG
 
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I got a picture of my Dads pickup truck from the construction days. Always wanted to do something like this for that truck. It's like a '68 step side GMC longbed though.

Looking forward to this. :popcorn
 
Here's the long bed stepside my Dad had with the construction company. And I was mistaken, not a GMC but a Chevy.
1622858548344.png


Forgive me Kenny, didn't mean to step on your build.
:popcorn
 
Gator said:
No problems Bob. When you get ready to try to tackle it, I can make the decals.
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Kenny you'd be tickled to know that I have some of the bumper stickers he had printed up way back in the day. I'll gladly take you up on your offer!! :vgood:
 
Memories like those are great to keep.:bigrin: I was lucky enough to be the keeper of a photo collage Dad was given by the Shriners after he painted their parade train. That's where I found the photo of his shop's sign.
 
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Not too much progress today on the 1/25 shop truck. I did get some small pieces glue on and took note of what I needed to clean up. Most productive part of the session was a test of notching .080 styrene rod so I can make the rack for the bed of the truck. Now figure out a way to make sure the length is equal on the two side pieces.

IMG_1349.jpg
 
Gator said:
Now figure out a way to make sure the length is equal on the two side pieces.
Click to expand...

Create a jig. Decades ago, in Aviation High School, the importance of creating identical wing ribs was stressed so that creating a wooden jig assured that all ribs were identical (whether made from metal or wood).

This is not my photo, but you should get the idea:
1626806905933.png


Regards,
 
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Jigs are a great thing, use them all the time. It's the notching I need to be careful with. I could make the jig out of some PVC board or engravers trophy plastic.

No progress today on the kit today. Kinda at a stand still until I get some primer on it this weekend. I did cut some 1/25 4' x 8' x 3/4" sign blanks though.
 
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