Models of Success
I n summer 2007 at the Walcott Truckers Jamboree, Iowa small fleet owner Mike Aschenbrenner met Chicago-based Kuenn McClinton, who spent an hour and a half photographing the interiors and exteriors of the Aschen-brenner fleet's flagship 1997 custom Peterbilt 379, ARI big bunk and step deck. But the photographer wasn't just any magazine shooter or garden-variety custom truck enthu-siast. In 2006, his De-Elegant Model Truck Fleet company () celebrated two decades in busi-ness building incredibly accurate, to-scale models of big rigs for their proud owners. What started as a hobby, McClinton says, Compare the level of detail in the De-Elegant model (right) and the real Mike Aschenbrenner Peterbilt 379. At the 2008 Mid-America Trucking Show, Iowa small fleet owner Aschenbrenner picked up the $2,600 model of his com-pany's flagship show truck, and this year at Mid-America it no doubt helped him walk away with third place in Interior, Custom Aftermarket Sleeper, in the Pride & Polish competition. The model was part of his combo display. In the De-Elegant process, builders make a master piece, then build an epoxy mold off of that, into which they pour liquid polyurethane plastic to build the base. On average, says company founder Kuenn McClinton, a tractor-trailer combination will start at $2,000 and, depending on the level of detail in the interior, can go up to as much as $10,000. De-Elegant will do scaled-back versions of their scaled replicas and exterior-only versions as well, for lesser cost. In what will be De-Elegant's biggest project yet, McClinton says, they're in the build-out phase on a 1/8-scale Kenworth W900L with Studio sleeper that will mea-sure almost 10 feet in length for a private collector's museum. CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? Bruce W . Smith Photo S : Bruce W . Smith Models of Success Entering third decade in business, De-Elegant Model Truck Fleet goes the extra mile in perfecting rig replicas Todd dIlls Aschenbrenner Trucking driver Bill Gibson (inset), of Nauvoo, Ill., with the De-Elegant Model Truck Fleet 1/24th scale replica of the fleet's flagship 1997 Peterbilt 379 with ARI custom big bunk and Transcraft step deck June 2009 36 TRUCKERs NEws