ShakyCraftsman

Hey guys I've been working on the Tri-drive Pete. I recently bought another Pete, the 1/24 AMT Long hauler (repop of the Italeri kit), got it for a great price $50.00 bucks. So anyway, I started cutting it up and I now have a high roof, large opening cab to sleeper 378, I think? I also made one of the hoods into a extended hood 379. Here's some pics for you to look at. this view shows the stock 378 hood, modified cab with raised roof and modified 63" Unibilt sleeper with enlarged cab to sleeper opening. front view of the cab, you can see the interior and seats that will know be able to recline into the opening, more room for tall drivers. rear view of the cab opening and back of seats. this view shows the cab roof and the modifications I made to increase the opening to the sleeper. this view shows the modifications I made to the cab roof and opening. this view shows the raised roof of the cab. this view shows the modifications I made to the opening in the sleeper. view of the sleeper from the drivers side. view of the sleeper from the passenger side. this view shows the sleeper attached to the cab. view from the front. view from the drivers side. view from the top. view from the passenger side with the hood. this view shows the setup on the tractor frame. My dilemma is, I'm thinking I might want to use this cab and sleeper along with the 379 exhd to make more of a tandom show truck, and use the stock cab with either a 36" bunk or a flat top 63" sleeper I made form the othe sleeper that I had (it didn't quite come out the way I planed, the corners aren't round enough, my opion) on the Tri-drive. I will post pictures of the 379exhd and flatop sleeper tomorrow. This is the motor I'm going to use for the Tri-drive, instead of the Cummins NTC-400 thats in it now. It's a Cat C15 twin turbo from Moluminum. turbo side view. other side view. This are pictures of the engine that I got from Jamie at Moluminum of it finished. well that's it for now be back with more updates soon. Ron G

My bid is for a 1/24 Peterbilt 379exhd with high cab roof and with unibilt 63" walk in sleeper with the larger sleeper opening to the cab. Most of the parts are available from the Italeri/AMT 378 kit, just needs some reworking. It also needs deep Texas bumper, drop visor, loads of chicken lights, 7 - 9 roof lights, low frame mounted air horns and Cat C15 twin turbo with 18 spd. transmission. ...hey wait a minute I'm scratch building one of these as we speak! ...lol Also a 1/24 Kenworth w900L decked out the same way.😁😉 Ron G

Hey Gator It will be 4 large rolls of sheet steel, I have to figure out how to make them. I my try to 3D print them. Ron G

Hey Wayne Nice build, l would like to get one of these Internationals to add to my collection. Check out my build "oh no I did it again" of my 1/24 379 Peterbilt and custom made 6 axle flatbed trailer. Good luck with your wrist, I know surgery and recovery can be a bitch! Ron G

Hey all Some more progress on the 6 axle flatbed trailer. this view shows the whole thing. this view shows the deck boards in place on the trailer. top view of the trailer deck boards. View looking rearward of the Pete 379 and 6 axle flatbed trailer. That's it for now be back soon. Ron G

Thanks guys

Hey all Did some work on the 6 axle flatbed trailer. The wheels that I ordered from Italeri finally got here, along with some more Italeri 1/24 truck tires, so I made up some axles and temporarily installed the wheels/tires to the trailer. this view shows the whole setup and its 35 1/2" long! this view shows just the trailer and its a scale 48' long. Ron G

OK! but when is it supposed to be released? Ron G

Any news on when this Pete is going to be released? I would like to get one, because it looks very similar construction to Revells "Can do" wrecker kits. Ron G

Hey all It's been a while on this build. I did some more work on the Tri-drive Pete. I made new longer tanks out of some 3/4" (1.05" O.D.) pvc pipe and ends from some 0.08" plastic sheet. I also made a rear step to get up on the frame to hook up the air/elec. Lines. I did some more work on the engine intercooler pipes and air intake pipes. So, here are some pictures for you to look at. this view shows the intercooler and air intake pipes. I have to fix the radiator, it's crooked!!!... BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH! Oh well no big deal. view from the front of the truck showing the exhaust pipes and the fuel tank. this view shows the custom fuel tank. I put the left one on the right and the right one on the left.. duhh! Oh well it's put together just for pictures. You can see the step in this view. this view shows the paint scheme I'm going for. Dark orange frame, orange hood, cab and sleeper with black top and lower front area. Well that's it for now be back with more soon. Ron G

Hey all Not really a update, just a picture of the final paint scheme.

The Renault 360 that I ordered from Italeri finally showed up yesterday so I got started with assembling the Mack E9. This is a European version and a lot of stuff had to be changed to make this correct to what I'm modeling. Ok, here we go. I have the E9 together. I had to do some modifications to it to make it more like a actual E9, not a European version. I had to move the starter from this side to the other side, also I added the chrome part to make the oil cooler. I put the rear piece from the Cummins NTC-400 with the trans cooler on the E9 transmission. closer view of the oil cooler and oil filters. this view shows the piece I removed from the Maxidyne engine from the DM800 and added to the bell housing for the starter. I also had to modify the part that goes on this side to move it forward to clear the starter. closer view of the changes made to this side. I had to remove the oil pan from the kit supplied E9 for the Renault 360 because it has a front sump and I need a rear sump, so I kit bashed one together from an old oil pan from the parts bin and the left over part of the oil pan from the kit to make the one that is on it. top view of the engine showing the turbos that I added from the parts bin because the kit ones were ass backwards and centered. I also added fuel injector tube fittings to the fuel injector pump. I also added a piece to the intake manifold cross pipe for the inter cooler pipes. I still have to add the fuel lines and the rest of the plumbing. bottom view showing the oil pan and other parts. this view shows the fan and the alternator form the DM800. I made a fan belt for this because the kits alternator was on the other side. I still need to add a fuel filter by the alternator. this view shows the turbos and the mods I had to make to get them to fit. this view shows the engine sitting in the frame and the inter cooler pipes in place. this view shows the inter cooler pipes. view from the other side showing the inter cooler pipes. I have to modify them because they sit to tall and the hood won't close. this view shows everything together. I painted the wheel centers a dark orange and Molotow chrome on the rims and details. Well that's it for now be back with more updates soon. Ron G

Dark orange frame, wheel centers. Gray/blue engine and gunmetal/black transmission. Orange with black stripes. Ron G

Thanks Nitro

Hey all I did a little more work on the Superliner. I got the frame primed with flat black. this view shows the front air lines. hey Force, this view shows the air line guards I made to protect the lines runnig along the rear ends. This was the best I could come up with. this view shows the refrigerator and two drawers I added opposite of the closet. another view of the refrigerator cabinet. view from the top. I added reinforcements to the hood. this view shows the hood that I copied. Ron G l

Thanks nitro

Hey Force I thought of that right after I finished them, I will look into rerouting them. Ron G

Thanks Graham

Thanks 53gmc

Hey guys I did some more work on the Superliner II. I added a third air tank (supply tank). I think I have all of the air lines, at least for the rear done. I still need to plumb the front brakes. this view shows the whole thing temporarily together. same view, but with the hood closed. I think I'm going to remake all of the fuel tanks, these are to small of diameter there like 20", yuckk! Going to make them 25.0" diameter, out of some PVC pipe. this view shows the air lines running from the supply tank to the air dryer then to the air compressor. Also the yellow line is for the rear end air shifters. This will eventually go to the floor and up to the shifter. this view shows the supply tank and lines. this view shows the air dryer and lines. this view shows some of the air lines and primary air tank. You can see the bottom of the air dryer by the fuel tank. this view shows the secondary air tank and air lines. To the left is the supply tank. this view shows the air shift lines to the two rear axles. I also added some bolts to the radiator supports. I also added a line from the power steering reservoir to the power steering pump on the engine. Well that's it for now be back with more updates soon. Don't forget to leave some comments, please. Ron G

Hey Vettegasser Thanks, I believe the grey sleeve is from an old phone cord. I just stripped it back a little then pulled the wires out, then you take razer blade and slice off as many as you need. I have enough to last me 2 life times...lol Ron G

Hey guys Did some more work on the Superliner II. I started doing all the plumbing, air lines, power steering lines, fuel lines, etc. This is a real pain in the a$$! It's almost getting to the point I can't see this small detail, even with readers and opti-visor! But I'm plugging along...lol this view shows the rear brake chambers. this view shows the diagram I'm using to plumb the Mack. this view shows the front brake chambers. this view shows the air lines running along the frame rails. Little hard to see. closer view of the air lines at the rear. this view shows the air lines at the front and the LH primary air tank. I scratch built the rear area of the tank, it came as a open hole in the kit..dahh! this view shows the air lines running along the other frame rail. this view shows some of the scratch built air fittings and lines. this view shows the air lines and the small wire looms I made. this view shows the wire/line looms I made from a piece of 4 wire insulation cut to size. this view shows the front brake chambers and air lines. Also the power steering lines. this view shows the radiator braces I scratch built from plasti rod. Well that's it for now be back with more updates soon. Come on guys, leave some comments. I would really like to know what you guys think. Ron G

Hey all Small update. I have the hood pivots mounted to the frame. I also temporarily mounted the bull bar (Roo bar). here's a overall of the truck. this view shows the Roo bar temporarily mounted to the bumper. closer view from the front of the Roo bar. this view shows the hood in the up position. I think this is my final version of the mural for the back of the sleeper. Please, leave comments so I know what you guys think. Ron G

Hey all I kinda redid the mural for the back of the sleeper. What do you think? I tried to make him look a little more like "UnderDog", except as a bulldog. I did some work on the sleeper. I made a close closet with a lower drawer out of some 0.04 plastic sheet. I also made a lower support for the bed. this view shows the bed and the closet. this top down view shows the bed and the closet. There will be a refrigerator and cabinet on the opposite side. view looking through the sleeper at the closet and bed. Ron G

Hey all I purchased this kit from Italeri and I'm waiting for it to get here from Italy, it takes for ever because of Covid. this is the kit I'm using to get the engine from. this view shows the sprue with the engine parts on it, yupp it's a E9 Mack! closer view of the engine parts. I'll have to fix the oil pan, the Superliner II had the oil pan sump in the rear. this view shows the frame and suspension parts. closer view of the suspension parts they are a kind of Camelback suspension. this view shows the shock absorbers that I added to the front axle to help with rebound. I also had to modify the rear axles in order to get the Italeri wheels to fit. I had to narrow them some too. top view of the shock absorber and how it mounts. Well that's it for now be back with more updates soon. Please let me know what you think. Ron G