Kitty Truck A.K.A. Hilltopper

Hilltopper, AKA "The Kitty Truck".

In May of 2007, I started getting a bit sentimental after seeing a few G1 Prime recolors. My grandfather drove a cab-over semi for his brother for as long as I could remember. My grandfather passed on a couple years ago now, his brother before that, and their little fleet has long since gone... There was one truck in the fleet that meant the most to everyone in my family. We loving referred to it as "The Kitty Truck". It was Annis Trucking's very first rig, and the one that meant the most to everyone...

I've included a few pictures of the original semi. In one of the pictures, you can see a small child, that would be me in that picture; sitting in my grandfather's lap after my first ride in the truck with my grandpa...
(See where the sentimentality comes in?)

Hilltopper was created from a 20th Anniversary G1 Pepsi Prime reissue. The cab was painted using a spare can of 'Metallic' spray paint on the feet, grill, & smokestacks; and Krylon Fusion's Black & Safety (Pumpkin) Orange on the rest. I also commissioned a set of Reprolabels for the other detailing. While I still have the original Pepsi Prime trailer (eventually to be turned into a flatbed), his current trailer is from a junker G2 Optimus Prime; with the trailer dollies painted black to match the trailer. I pondered over what to call him after I finished him. Calling the figure the "Kitty Truck" was all fine-and-dandy; but this was a TRANSFORMER! He *needed* a proper name! So, over much thought; out of the blue one night, I remembered my Grandfather's old C.B. handle, "Hilltopper"...
It was an obvious choice after that!

If it weren't for the encouragement from other kitbashers/artists like Plowking, Jimmyjimjim (who whipped up some kick-ass photoshop jobs that *inspired* me to start), Dec0y13 (who's offer to help create some Reprolabels to make things easier on this newbie was a *godsend*), Ezilla82 (I hope you've finished or get the 'Tin Can' done sometime!), Bobby Lemain, Kouri, autobotx23, Nemesis Predaking, Redline, and SQ7 (even *if* I called him SuperSquads for the longest time before he corrected me!)...

If it weren't for all the kind words, advice, and encouragement I received throughout the process of making this figure; I'd still be sitting on the sidelines looking at 'all the pretty figures that other people are doing' and wouldn't have gotten the guts to try it myself! -And *THAT'S* a testament to the Radicons group we have going on here!