When thinking outside the square you can embrace concepts away from the mainstream. This month Roy Sutherland of Levin shows his approach to enjoying his passion for scratch-building model trucks.

Photo: First place 1/35th scale – Easter 2019 National Competition.

Although Roy Sutherland‘s father owned Upper Hutt trucking company Sutherland and Russell when Roy was a boy, it wasn‘t until many years later that he started building truck models. “Years ago I found a bucket of wheels in a shop. I grabbed a handful and thought, ‘one day if I have a son I will make him a truck‘,” he said. Roy went on to have three sons, Martin, Warren and Grant, and made them a wooden truck out of bits and pieces, along with a petrol station that has since been refurbished for his grandchildren.

Over the years Roy has made about 40 trucks for many different companies and has plenty of orders for more. “I‘ve made a Fonterra tanker, a Holden Racing Team transporter, I also did a Modern Freighters 1973 Mercedes and then they wanted the trailer, then a truck and trailer. Then I made a log truck. I sold that at a swap meet then made a Linfox one and five Booths‘ trucks. I‘ve also made one for a couple who work for Farmers Transport in Hawke‘s Bay.” Roy also made one of his father‘s first trucks for his brother, Lewis, who took over Sutherland and Russell. The models are all scratch-built, made mostly from MDF and wood, but Roy has refined the process over the years, making the trailers lighter by using Seratone. He paints the models himself and gets tiny decals made by Brushstrokes in Palmerston North. “I use sequins for the LED lights. For hoists I use telescopic wands from the $2 shops.” He says his models usually take between six and eight weeks to build.

Photo: Emmerson Transport ready for another run out to Whirinaki.

When Roy ran out of his original handful of wheels, he went back to the shop looking for more. “The guy in the shop didn‘t know anything about them so I rang the original owner to see where he got them from. He said they were from Lincoln Toys, they were all ‘Boy oh Boy! A Lincoln Toy!‘ wheels. Next time I was in the shop I had another look and came across the original bucket with the rest of the wheels in it so I said ‘I‘ll give you $10 for the lot‘.” The bucket contained 450 duals and 100 singles and they‘ve lasted Roy a number of years, but now his stock is getting low and he is looking for reasonably priced alternatives. He‘s tried resin wheels and also had some made for him with a 3D printer, but says they work out too expensive when he factors in how many he needs for each truck. In addition to making models, Roy‘s also an avid collector of limited edition diecast models and many of those bring back memories for him.

Photo: Holden Racing Team Argosy and B-double heading to Bathurst.

“I‘ve bought quite a few Micro Models over the years, my very first model was a Micro Models one. I got 10 bob for my birthday – this was back in the mid-fifties – and there was this Commer artic truck with a green back and orange cab in the shop. It was 11 shillings and sixpence and I was nearly in tears thinking I couldn‘t have it, but mum took it up to the counter and the shopkeeper looked at it upside down and said ‘that will be 9 shillings and 11 pence‘. I was very conflicted as I am not a dishonest person, but I really wanted that truck so I kept my mouth shut!” Roy says he enjoys the satisfaction of getting to the end of making each model. “Sometimes I think I will never get to the end of it, but the more fiddly it is, the more I want to make it right. It becomes a bit inventive, and I‘ve got better and better with every one I make.”

At the New Zealand Model Truck Association National Competition in Napier at Easter 2019, Roy took out the Limited category for a Volvo FH B-train he restored and the Smaller than 1/35th for a Farmers Transport Kenworth K200. “The show was just brilliant,” says Roy. “The standard was unbelievable – the models were so life-like.” As Roy has shown us here, all manner of household materials with a dash of inspiration and creativity can be morphed into a model truck. The key ingredient is passion; with this the enjoyment level and sense of achievement is off the scale.

Photo: The Booths Transport fleet is well represented.