11 replies to this topic

[Harvezter]

I am curious if anyone has built the Revell Pete Alaskan Hauler (#7545)?

I read a review of it on Amazon and the guy tore the kit apart. He claimed the frame was that of a dual axel and that Revell included some frame extenders that required you to cut the original frame and glue in the extenders in order to fit the 3rd axel. He went on to complain about everything claiming the kit was ######. I was saddened to hear this because it was one of the kits I had wanted to build. I love big rigs and have not built one since the early 80's.

Has anyone hear built the Alaskan Hauler? Id love to hear opinons and see images of it and its details before I buy one please?


Thank You, Jared

[mackinac359]

The kit:
Basic Revell Peterbilt 359.
It includes a section of frame rail with Air Leaf/Trac suspension. The builder has to cut the frame rail and splice in the section for the third axle.

I suspect the author of the review wanted a kit with a longer frame rail rather than the splice.

The kit also includes a set of "pit fenders" which are not the right shape for a factory built set-up. The Peterbilt 359 is a tilt hood and did not come with pit fenders. Pit fenders (shaped differently for a Peterbilt) were used on the 353 not the 359 and were on a butterfly hood (steel).

With that being said.. if you slightly recontour the fenders and rework the hood you can make a decent 353 out of the kit.

AND.. who is to say the the owner of a truck didn't remove the round fenders on a 359 and put some pit fenders on a 359 hood.. anything goes on a truck once it leaves the factory.

I say.. buy it. You can build it as a 359 tandem drive or a tri-drive.

Make a new non-driven axle and the new axle could be a pusher.. all sorts of possibilities.

Tim

[weirich1]

I agree with Tim (mackinaw359), buy the kit. I just got mine the other day from Fantastic-Plastics at a great price.

Sure, the frame has to be cut to add the third axle, but with the proper modeling saw/miter box, it can be done. I may even reinforce behind the frame extensions if necessary.

The kit does include round fenders and pit fenders, so the nose can be built either way. Their are loads of extra parts that can be used to build a custom rig or for kitbashing. The chrome parts are excellent. The decal sheet is simply awesome.

[mackinac359]

Weirich1
I'm curious as to how you knew to misspell my user name as "Mackinaw359"? Mackinac is the spelling, and Mackinaw is the pronounciation.

Geography lesson:

Mackinac is the county
Mackinac is the bridge over the Straits of Mackinac (lake Huron and Michigan
Mackinac Island

Mackinaw City and all Mackinaw's with a W are in lower michigan.
Mackinac's with a C are in the Upper Peninsula (although people misspell it all the time).

Tim (oh, the spelling difference is a British vs French spelling of an old Ojibwa tribe (Chippewa) word.

[weirich1]

Here's a progress report on my Alaskan Hauler--

Chassis, engine, body assembly all in work. I wasn't too fond of the frame rail extensions at first, but as more was added to the frame it became quite solid. I used the "pit fenders" with the the heavy bumper; originally I was planning on stock fenders with flat bumper. I'm using the "extra" chrome rear quarter fenders instead of the big rear fenders. By the time I add a few more plates my rig will be chromed from the headache rack to the fifth wheel. All four axles will have chrome rims; I bought a second kit just so I could have the proper rims. The hood, cab, sleeper, spoiler, and front bumper all were painted today. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Trucking along,
Jeremy

[mackinac359]

Jeremy
Looking forward to the pictures.

Tim

[rottin1]

I say buy it . I bought 2 of these from Fantastic Plastics as well. I bought one to build as a regular twin screw and the other will be the tri axle version. As everyone else said, you get extra parts as well. I just wished someone would start making some scale 48ft and 53ft trailers!!!

[Old Albion]

Johnny,

Check this out!

http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

[weirich1]

Here's some images of my AK Hauler so far:
chassis

sleeper

hood



Jeremy[/img]

[Turbo590]

Jeremy,

Nice work so far. I am also working on a triaxle Pete, using the Can-do wrecker kit for the chassis with many modifications.

Keep us posted with more pictures.

Good Luck on your build.

Kurt McLucas

[Old Albion]

Jeremy,

Great progress so far! I liked the shade of blue for the body work. Having read the above comments on the truck I bought one a couple of days ago, hasn't arrived yet though.

Keep us posted with progress and any problems you encounter.

Have fun building it!

Best Wishes.

[weirich1]

The body paint is Testors Enamel Gloss Dark Blue and High Gloss Enamel Overcoat; the chassis is unpainted plastic.

The biggest problem was splicing the frame. Another area that caused a minor problem is the front bumper mounting area due to some interference from the radiator. Revell Germany definitely did not put the assembly in a logical sequence; I've jumped back and forth all throughout this project.