Kuenn McClinton recalls his first attempt at building a model truck. As a 10-year-old, he tried painting the model after he assembled it. The paint job ruined it. "It was a disaster," says the 41-year-old McClinton. "When I showed it to my uncle Sidney Johnson, he said it was the worst one he had ever seen."

Johnson bought him another model kit and helped him paint the pieces before putting the truck together.

McClinton soon discovered that he enjoyed building model trucks as a hobby. It wasn't until several years later that he thought of it as a way to make a living.

Growing up in Roanoke, Ala., McClinton saw truck drivers come to the local cattle barn and started building models of their trucks. One day he met a driver who had a Mack truck with a Double Eagle sleeper on it. "I asked him if I could take some pictures of it because I wanted to build a model of it. He said, 'If you build this truck, I'll buy it.'"

McClinton went home, built it, and brought it back the next week "And he bought it! That was my first sale," he says.

After moving up north, McClinton says he made a pest of himself at Double Eagle Industries in Shipshewana, Ind., which builds custom sleepers for tractor-trailers. "These are the crème de la crème of the trucks-showers, ceiling fans, VCRs, you name it, it goes in those trucks," he says. When the president of the company, Ray Miller, saw a model McClinton had built, he wanted some made to display. In 1986, Miller took McClinton to the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., a top industry show.

"It was overwhelming the amount of interest in the models," McClinton says.

With Miller's encouragement, he started De-Elegant Model Truck Fleet specializing in custom models for the trucking industry.

"Every truck that we build is actually on the road. We work in 1/24-, 1/25-, and 1/16-inch scale. We custom build it for you. It is your truck, not just one that we stamp out and put your name on.

[That's] what we call a signature model. There are no more like it unless you order it." When a customer makes an order, McClinton starts by taking 250-300 photos, 360 degrees around the truck, inside and out, to capture every detail.

McClinton says they call him the Master Model Maker because he makes all the components and does all the airbrush painting. "We do the interior and exterior including showers, VCRs, sinks, closets, even wood grain," he says. "We match all the colors and striping and customer's name." His staff of three assembles them.

He works closely with trailer and component manufacturers such as Merritt, Wilson, Hiel, Kentucky Trailer Manufacturer, Featherlite Trailers, and Double Eagle to duplicate their products in miniature. One truck that he worked on involved eight different shades of blue all blended together.

"It looks fantastic on the real truck but when you try to put that to scale, it's scary," he says.

It's a time-consuming process taking about 10-12 weeks to complete a unit. He works on two or three at a time.

The hardest one he built was a 1998 Peterbilt 379 with Double Eagle sleeper, three-car truck rack, and six-car stinger car transporter. Another hard one was a Hiel pneumatic bulk trailer tow truck with a 50-ton swivel boom.

McClinton says cost depends on the detail required and starts at $1,100 and goes up to $5,000 with the average cost about $2,200.

"We do them for truck shows, CEOs, presentations, awards, customer appreciation, and ceremonies. We do a lot for corporate offices and for Christmas gifts," he says.

His biggest kick is when he presents the truck to the customer. "At first, they are apprehensive, thinking, 'I'm spending two grand on this and it better be good,'" he says.

Then McClinton shows the finished model mounted on a custom wood base inside a Plexiglas case.

"They actually have to sit down or turn away to hide their tears. That's my biggest thrill. When they see it, they appreciate it more than any financial investment. I've even had them ask, 'Are you sure that's enough?'"

McClinton credits God for guiding him in this endeavor and Ray Miller who encouraged him. Miller displays seven of McClinton's models in the Double Eagle headquarters.

McClinton shows his models at trucking conventions and every two years in Louisville, Dallas, and Walcott, Iowa.

He says he is in it for the long haul and plans to keep on trucking on a small scale.