Tim Ahlborn's Model Trucks
St. Ignace, Michigan's Tim Ahlborn is many things. Author of Model Cars Magazine's "Trucker's Corner" column, proprietor of timstrucks.com, and a human encyclopedia regarding all things Peterbilt. His photography technique is worth noting as well... with little more than natural sunlight and realistic backgrounds (both natural scenery and in-scale "props"), his finished model photos are impressive. Many have been fooled into thinking they were looking at the real thing. And when your models are as realistc as Tim's to begin with, the effect is even more dramatic.
Tim is known for Peterbilts, so I'm going to show a few of his non-Peterbilt models. These are just a few of my personal favorties.
One of my favorite things about Tim's projects isn't (just) the models themselves, but the way Tim photographs them. Tim's model of the International Paystar 5000 owned by Manistique Rentals is spot-on, but check out the road bed Tim made. When you first see the photo you think it's an actual tractor photographed from an overpass. Then you look a little closer and... ha-ha, charade you are. Just goes to show you how striking a model's presentation can be when photographed in a realistic, in-scale setting under natural sunlight!
The H-Series was Ford's first true cabover "linehauler", introduced for 1961. It employed an elevated C-Series cab, and needless to say it did have a bit of an ungainly look to it, earning the nickname "Two Story Falcon". Tim added a drom box (a sort of short van body) behind the cab, further emphasizing the H's bolt-upright demeanor. The cab is an old casting from Spaulding.
There never was a kit of a Diamond Reo Royale. So, Tim did what anyone wanting a 1:25 Royale would do. What's that? Why, you take the AMT Kenworth K-123 and modify it into one! You may think "no big deal, it's just a big box on wheels", but if you look at a K-123, then at a Royale, then back again, and again.... you notice more than a few differences. Tim's modifications are so seamless you'd never know the finished product started out as a KW. Below is a pic of a K-123, with Tim's Royale on the right, to give you a better idea of how much work went into the conversion.
Okay, fine... so I did let one Peterbilt slip in! I just love the look of the 351 dump truck, which is a modified AMT "California Hauler". Though it's an East Coast style dump truck, it reminds me an awful lot of the kinds of grain trucks I see out and about every fall.
Now, this one started out as a Peterbilt, but is now a 1975 Hayes Clipper. Hayes was a Canadian truck manufacturer owned by Paccar (owners of Peterbilt and Kenworth) during it's final years of existence, so there was some parts-sharing going on. This is a very cool variation on the AMT 352 Pacemaker kit, for sure!
Tim also likes to get "artsy" every once in a while. Such is the case with this lightly weathered White Western Star. Again, Tim's expert building style and photography trick the eye into thinking you are looking at a period picture. You can't tell if it's a model, or a picture taken of your Uncle Bob's semi that day it broke down in the summer of '75.
If Tim's Dodge L-700 looks familiar, it should- this was the model Lindberg used on the box art for the reissue a few years back. Actually, Tim did ALL of the box art models for every release of the Lindberg L-700 kit. So, yes, add "box art model builder" to Tim's resume, as well. On the subject of that...
... Tim built the F350 and the Mack used on the box of the Model King reissue of the F350. Tim himself appeared on the box, changing the Mack's flat tire. The various details like the barrels were also done by Tim.
And don't think for a second that Tim's modeling skills and dedication to Red Oval products have not gone unnoticed by the folks at Peterbilt. Tim has repeatedly been invited to display his models at the factories where the real trucks are built. Not too many modelers can say that.
This is just a small sampling of his work, but for more, feel free to check out his personal website- http://www.timstrucks.com/
