Truck: <a href="javascript:void(0)"onClick="window.open('http://cownap.com/~mtmg/contests/expo2003/pics/trucks/radicalrescue478x354.jpg','win','scrollbars=no,left=80,top=80,width=498,height=374')">Radical Rescue</a>
Maker: JBrossack
Class: Scratch built
Verts: <a href="javascript:void(0)"onClick="window.open('http://cownap.com/~mtmg/contests/expo2003/pics/stats/radicalrescuestats.gif','win','scrollbars=yes,left=20,top=20,width=670,height=600')">1399/912/2311</a>
Faces: 1399/860/2259
Txtrs: 7/4/11
Podzip: No
Animated Textures: No
Allow Reflections: Yes
Allow Truck Reflections: No
Readme: No
Download: <a href="http://mtm2.com/~trucks/dl.cgi?dl=881" target="_self">213</a>k
Jon Brossack - formerly RuddRulez - is a long-time MTM'er and well-respected replica builder who's been absent of late, but who's come back for the Expo with a completely new replica to astound us with. And we're glad to see it.
The old-style body (1955 Chevy Cameo according to monsterphotos.com) is a beauty and Jon has done a stupendous job to realise it so accurately with this model. It's quite unique, with it's beautiful and intricate curved surfaces, and our hat's off to Jon for the brilliant work he's done here - this thing is really something else. We know full well how hard it is to model curves with flat polygons but he's made it look all so neat and elegant right down to the siren light on the roof. The frame is typically Rudd, a totally new unit nicely crafted and detailed, as is the engine.
The texturing is good, being crisp and clean. Shading has been used on the body textures to help bring out the curvature of the panels, and the engine texturing is some of the best we've seen. The truck body seems to use only five textures, which are all new and custom-made for the vehicle; however, he's somehow also got the engine texture from Kevin "Karmageddon" Blocka's Jurassic Attack associated with the model, and that 256x256 black texture is floating around again too. Our guess would be these must be an oversight, because this truck's engine is definitely all its own, and Jon has deliberately provided himself with ample space for mapping black areas to. However, the point remains that those two additional textures are here.
And speaking of extras, there's a few strange things going on in the pod file. Firstly, the files are not in the usual order that we see with Tracked2-compiled pods. The texture files for the truck's wheels have been duplicated six times (once for each wheel model) even though they're the same, and there is no act files for them at all. Also, amongst the usual recyclables that Tracked2 throws in are what appear to be MTM1 versions of BEARFOOT.BIN and CRUSHER.BIN (which <i>may</i> trigger conflict errors if this truck is mounted above the mtm2 stock truck pod).
Anyway, the truck sits on a custom set of phototextured wheels. They look great, although unfortunately there's some visible texture seams on the tread face. There are also a few very minor mapping slip-ups on the truck body, leaving black lines on some edges and seams of the model, but these are hardly noticable. As befits a realistic replica, the truck has no working head or taillights, although we wonder if it should have a working siren light anyway.
Lastly, the handling is pretty dang good. The truck responds quickly when turning into a slide in order to break out of it which makes it a very good race truck as well as a rep. And the comparatively low vert count allows you to leave those water reflections turned on too. Great handling, and a pleasure to drive.
This is a magnificent effort from a veteran truck maker we didn't think we'd see in this community again. This replica has been very nicely executed, you can see that a lot of love and attention to detail has been put into it. A worthly addition to anyone's replica collection.
