Smokie & the Bandit????

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I am wanting to make a scene on one of my highways from the movie “Smokie & the Bandit” and need to find a pic of the side of the truck that was in the movie. I would like to make a truck/trailer rig with the mural of the horses and stagecoach on the side of the van trailer. I would also like a pic of Sheriff Burford T. Justice’s car. I tried a Google search and found lots of the Trans Ams but nothing on the truck. I know this is a long shot but thought I would check, who knows. Thanks, Mike

2

Hey Mike,

One Possibility would be buying the DVD or video of if? Dont know if you have thought of this buy it might be somthing to consider if you cant find the pic’s you want

C.C.

3

Look on youtube. They seem to have lots of clips.

4

I do have the movie on DVD but there are no pics of the truck on the disc or the case. There are some in the movie that would work if I could get them in the computer and print them but I do not know if this is possible.

I have never used You Tube, how does it work/how do I get there? Thanks just the same for the thoughts. Mike

5

Here’s a model of the truck. Maybe this will help? (click to enlarge)

The film made use of three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks in which Jerry Reed’s character “Snowman” can be seen driving, each equipped with 38" sleepers. Two units were 1974 models, as evidenced by standard silver Kenworth emblems on the truck grille, and one unit was a 1973 model, as evidenced by the gold-painted Kenworth emblem on the truck’s grille signifying Kenworth’s 50 years in business. The paint code for each truck was coffee brown with gold trim, and the 48-foot mural trailer used was manufactured by Hobbs Trailers in Texas with a Thermo King refrigeration unit.

6

Do you have a DVD player on your computer? Pause at the correct scene and do a screen capture.

7

ok…so where can he get a model of that set up you got there…chuck

8

Technically, it’s not for sale, but you can contact them and see if they’d do another right here: http://www.talloncc.com/tcccoll.html . It’s 1/64 scale.

9

Smokey and the Bandit is my favorite movie and had a huge influence on my growing up. I lived and breathed Trans Am’s from the moment I saw the movie at the drive in way back in 77, I was only 12 years old. Today I drive a gold 78 Trans Am and I’m restoring a 77 Black Special Edition (The Bandit) Trans Am. Buford T’s car was a 77 Pontiac Lemans, I’ve never seen one in 1/87 scale though. Even my user name is in reference to my Trans Am.

10

A guy that paints his truck like this would go to a minister’s funeral dressed in feathers!

11

I swear I just saw the Bandit car yesterday at Walmart in those Model Power 1/87 cars.

12

I don’t think it’d be hard to model the Bandit truck and car set, but it will be a problem modeling the sheriff’s car. It’s a 1977 Chev Malibu or Pontiac LeMans, and I haven’t seen a model of that type of car anywhere. Also, the car had a Federal twin Beacon Ray roof rack with two blue Federal model 14 beacons. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to find lights like that in HO scale.

The other alternative is to model the sheriff’s car with the roof torn off and the driver’s side door missing. Then you don’t have to worry about the lights or having the correct Chev/Pontiac roofline.

13

aloco,You and I are thinking along the same line, If I can come up with a car that even looks like the sheriff’s car I have plans of removing the roof. I don’t know about the drivers door, that might be a tough one. Mike

14

Here is a link to the T/A: http://www.reelridesvip.com/

Jim

15

Any of Sheriff Justice’s cars are going to be a tough to replicate. They were all Pontiacs, first the LeMans, then the downsized Bonnevilles and HO Pontiacs (other than the Trans Ams) are hard to come by.

The car in the first movie was equipped with a Federal Visibar with blue domes (which actually would have been illegal for a Texas police car in the 1970s). Beacon Ray is Federal’s brand name for their rotary beacons. The base, domes and some of the other components are the same as the Federal Beacon Ray Model 14 but on the Visibar they share a common motor to reduce current drain. The second movie brought a different light bar with twin Dietz 211s with red domes and some lollipop lights. The car in the third movie has what looks to be a Mars light bar with multicolor domes.

I think I would let one of the CMW Impalas stand in for the Pontiac. Busch has an accessory set with a twin-dome light bar. A little gold paint and you’re pretty close.

Of course, perhaps you’ll luck out and Reel Rides will make a replica of one of Sheriff Justice’s cars. Visit the website at the link shown in an earlier post and make your wishes known. You definitely won’t be the only one who has asked for the car.

16

Thanks for describing the lights in more detail. I’m not much into lights. I’m more of a siren fanatic. Most of the siren sounds that were dubbed in for the 1977 movie soundtrack were a recording of a mid-1960s Federal PA20 electronic siren running in ‘manual’ mode. This sound was used in TV shows and movies throughout the 1970s, including shows like ‘Emergency’ and ‘Adam-12’. A PA20 in operating condition would be a very rare find nowadays. Production of the PA20 ended in 1966.

17

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1291-Pontiac-LeMans-1977.html

It’s definately a Pontiac Le Mans 4 door sedan.

A GM 73-77 A body, so if you can find an Olds Cutlass, Buick Century or a Chevrolet Malibu, they’d be close. Unfortunately there’s not any models of them availabale as far as I know.

Here’s a Busch Plymouth Fury. It’s similar in shape to the Lemans.

http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-46654

You could probably modify it with a few styrene body modification details.

Or you could go with Bandit II and go with the Pontiac Bonneville.

There’s a 1978 Cherovlet Impala by Classic Metal Works.

http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/221-30170

As for the trailer. The picture posted is close enough to a side view that you could clean up the image enough to make a decal out of it with a laser printer/color copier.

[quote user=“aloco”]

I don’t think it’d be hard to model the Bandit truck and car set, but it will be a problem modeling the sheriff’s car. It’s a 1977 Chev Malibu or Pontiac LeMans, and I haven’t seen a model of that type of car anywhere. Also, the car had a Federal twin Beacon Ray roof rack with two blue Federal model 14 beacons. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to find lights like that in HO scale.

The other alternative is to model the sheriff’s car with the roof torn off and the driver’s side door missing. Then you don’t have to worry about the

18

…Running on that mount Eagle backwards and down!..

That was a great movie for it’s time.

Now that I have run the actual Mt Eagle… it’s a wee hill lol the danger lies in the weather, you dont know what you will get until you get halfway up or down.

19

Perhaps you could model the tractor/trailer on its return trip, open the back doors, and show off that load of Pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water (with additives)!

20

I remember the PA-20. We went from a Federal Model 66 to the Director with a CP25 speaker. In fact we actually had both for a couple of years until the noise laws came in in the early 1970s. The Model 66 was actually better for intersections, but you could just leave the Director on during a run (imagine driving at high speed, trying to keep your dispatcher updated on a hand-held mike and keep the siren going all at the same time). Later, we switched to the PA-20A with a CP100 speaker on a Visibar with dual red domes.

Of course, nothing cleared traffic like a “Q” or a Super Chief!