10-4 Magazine May 2022

Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes There are lots of people out there making amazing truck models, but none of them are like Christian Chapman. At the 2018 “Truckin’ For Kids” show in Southern California, John and I had the pleasure of meeting this man from France as he was delivering a model of Dave Foster’s W900L Kenworth to his good friend Troy Huddleston. Our friend Dave couldn’t be at the show, so Troy stepped up to take delivery and get Dave’s model home safely to him. We were very impressed with the model, and before leaving the show, we contacted Christian and I commissioned him to make a model of John’s purple Kenworth truck and trailer – it was to be a Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas gift. Watching in pictures as the model took shape and exact details were added, when we saw photographs of the finished product, the anticipation of seeing it in person just grew. But, thanks to Covid, like so many things, delivery of the model was delayed for two long years. This year, thankfully the MATS truck show in Louisville happened, and Christian and Carol were able to be there and deliver six models, including John’s. Every driver was anxious to finally see their model in person, take it home, and put their pride and joy on display. And the wait was worth it! The workmanship on these models is second to none. Living in France, Christian and Carol don’t speak English, and we don’t speak French, but with the help of a little translator device Carol had in her purse, we were able to communicate quite well. The translator let us talk to each other, but the gestures and smiles were the universal language of how happy we all were to finally get to meet and, for them, to deliver something very special. I think it would be safe to say that these models are labors of love for Christian. Having never been a truck driver himself, or anyone in his family, for that matter, Christian has always had a deep passion for US trucks, and building these models has become his way of freezing these trucks in time – and their beauty will last long after the real truck may be gone. And, I might add, the “cleanup” of these models, compared to the real truck, is awesome. A little dusting of the cover and you are good to go! Christian was 11 years old when he started building models by integrating truck bodies that he bought in the trade. At 16, he started to build models from plastic plates. He built his truck cabins (cabs) from photos in books of trucks he ordered in the USA. Today, he has 40 books in his collection. As we learned more about how Christian makes his models, we were even more impressed. His eye for detail and ability to duplicate pieces so closely is astonishing. Starting with a flat sheet of plastic, he then cuts, molds, and glues it into the shape of the desired truck or trailer he is building. Along with the trucks, Christian also builds all kinds of trailers, as well. Depending on what the customer wants, be it a reefer, flatbed, goose neck, or something else, he can make an exact match to whatever wagon you’re pulling. I was curious how long it takes to build a model, so I asked Christian, and he said, “I don’t keep track of the time, it’s just a passion.” Carol helps him find the color of the real trucks for the models. Over the years, Christian has made 33 models for owners in the USA, 7 models for owners in France, and 9 models for his friend Xavier Stefaniak (also French). In his private collection, Christian has 51 trucks with trailers and 70 trucks without trailers, for a total of 121 finished models. He currently has 12 truck models under construction. The models in his collection are remakes of a 74 10-4 Magazine / May 2022 MASTER MODEL MAKER