Building six-leg tow truck mech
For a while now, I’ve wanted to do some Hot Wheels, Matchbox and other 1:64 scale die cast vehicle conversions to a post apocalyptic theme. I wanted to go a different direction from the traditional desert setting that is based off the Mad Max franchise but, I wanted to stick with the scavenger built vehicle concept from Mad Max, particularly Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.
I decided to go with an Appalachian foothills setting for these particular type builds for a number of reasons. First, I used to live in northeast Alabama, and the scenery there is particularly beautiful. There are a lot of old, worn-down mountains, creepy hollers, narrow valleys, steep winding roads and a lot of old, abandoned buildings. Second, I was always a fan of The Dukes of Hazard growing up. And I wanted to incorporate Cooter’s Garage as a backdrop diorama I could use to photograph the car conversions. I’d also like to build a second photo setting diorama based on the Boar’s Nest from the Duke’s of Hazard as well.
I want my version of Cooter’s Garage to have a sign that reads “We fix toe up shit!” I want the ‘e’ to be crossed out and replaced with a ‘w’ so the sign will actually read “We fix tow up shit!” I also wanted Cooter to have a unique tow truck.
All of this had just been rolling around in my mind and I would ponder on it from time-to-time. When @Andy_Mecha started talking about his #CommunityMechChallenge, I planned to enter but I really hadn’t decided on what I wanted to build. In one of his live streams, he said something like “you can put a good pair of legs on anything.”
That was what sparked my Idea for Cooter’s tow truck. I decided to make a six-legged mech tow truck. You can check out my initial Instagram post on my build materials. The materials in the photos are just for the leg design. I used a Hot Wheels Mercedes-Benz Unimog 1300 for the cab, but I had to completely build the towing deck and suspension for the legs from scratch.
The towing deck and suspension build is going well. But, I had to make some changes to my original design to make the deck look in-scale with the cab from the Unimog. That meant I had to redesign the joint between the leg and the vehicle suspension. I’ll post an update on the project in a few days.
Boondock Bight 