mackinac359

Casey Good information. Thanks! Tim

Casey What technique are you using for the caked on grease and grime look? It looks quite realistic. Tim

ooo! The engine looks good all greased up. Tim

Casey Usually the cheesy flaps are on trucks that didn't have factory installed flaps. Like this: Tim

The C as a pumper always made sense to me. I used to see rigs like this all the time. Red, white, green/yellow..

Kurt How do I do it month after month? As of late it has been month-next month-month.. For the window gaskets I use either a fresh black Sharpie marker and/or flat black (acrylic craft paint from Wal-Mart or craft store). Tim

Ken The shop-made wooden light bars will come later. Along with the other parts needed for decking. Tim

The original AMT issue was listed as C600, the Tractor kit is a C900.. C800 on the badge has always been in question. One wonders what AMT originally had planned? The C-series trucks always built nice subjects. Tim

I started with an Italeri Peterbilt 378 kit, shortened the wheelbase, omitted one axle, cut down a Revell-AG 359 sleeper to be 48" long, reworked the 378 hood to be a 379 short hood, reworked the cab doors and windows for the '06 style, then formed mirror brackets from aluminum tubing. I removed the exhaust stand pipes, they are inside the cab. The mudflaps are tied up too. The truck will be "decked" with 2 other Peterbilts eventually, as if they are being delivered by Active-USA new-truck transport co. The right door displays the Active USA signboard. The left door window displays a more appropriate company name! The kit engine isn't a Caterpillar, but the real truck has one, since there is no available kit engine, I 'cheated' and made Detroitopillar or Catroit. There are several things yet to be added, some touch up to be done, then I will take more photos. Thanks for looking! Tim I have more photos atwww.timstrucks.com

Kurt Nice to see some color on the Mack ! Tim

Welcome! Tim

Scott The fenders look good on the truck. Tim

Anthony Thanks! Originally my dog was in the reflection, but she walked out of view by the time I snapped the photo. Tim

I've spent the better part of this morning wet sanding a gaggle of hoods, roofs and sleeper boxes that I painted last week. With the paint good and cured, I was able to use my Micromark polishing kit. Starting with 2400 grit, then 3200, 4000, 6000, 8000 and then 12000, then rub out with rubbing compound, then swirl mark remover, than Mother's Carnuba Wax. The results are quite impressive! Here is the untouched paint (base with clear) Here is the same panel (different angle) after wet sanding and polishing. Here is the top of the hood Here is the roof Click http://tahlborn.web.aplus.net/progress.htm to see more of the paint and sanding. If you've been hesitant to try wet sanding and polishing, go for it! You will like the results. Evan Hermel turned me on to this. There is no going back now! Tim

As part of the Richard Crane Memorial NATS Truck Show in St.Ignace, Michigan there will be a model truck show/display inside the Little Bear East Arena. Saturday September 16th 2006. 9am-5pm or ? Bring a model, bring 5 or just bring yourself to talk trucks! No charge. Contact me: Tim Ahlborn mackinac359@yahoo.com

Anthony Nice super-clean builds. THe paint looks flawless. Tim

Nice! Tim

Where did you get the Arnold Brothers logos and decals? I see their trucks all the time here. Tim

Excellent !!! Tim

Thanks guys! Tim

You guessed it, Peterbilts! Finished trucks? Nope. Parts, pieces, cab panels, hoods, sleepers, bumpers, frame rails, etc. All for future projects. Here are a few: Door Changes to a Revell of Germany PB 377 to make an '06-07 cab Sleeper cabs! 48 flat top from a Revell 63", 48" raised roof (HQB) from a Revell 377 63", 70" from an Italeri 377 bunk. I'll further modify the bunks for the UniBilt sleeper opening. Some additional sanding and scribing of panel seams still need to be done. Hoods! These hoods (6 of them) are Italeri 378 hoods that have been reworked to be 379 short hoods. I cut off the top of each hood, removed a triangle shaped sliver from the sides, reattached the top (thus removing most of the slope from the hood), then scribed in the panel seam, and sanded the top of the hood to remove some of the "balloonness" that the 378 hood top has. Up on the rooftop I made 6 of these roofs. Basic 377 or 378 kit roofs that have been raised and reshaped for the Peterbilt Ultracab roof. All six still need the sleeper opening cut into the rear. Lots of little projects are out of the way! I got to thinking, instead of making one part each time I build a specific Peterbilt, and having to dig up the reference material each time, why not build multiple versions of the part at once, while the idea is fresh in my mind? The idea worked! I also managed to catch a few errors along the way and correct them on all the pieces at once (okay, an engineer at PB pointed out the errors!). Now all I have to do is paint the bodies, assemble the frames and build the trucks! Thanks for looking. Now if I could just get that darned spot out of the inside of my digital camera lense... Tim

Casey Nice Mack. Tim

Rick That's a nice, clean, typical Transtar II. Well done! Tim

Glue? By all means! I glued this kit, prefering not to rely on snap-fitting.

The Revell snap-kit is above average for the type of kit. With minor modifications it builds quite nicely. go to www.truckmodeler.com and there are several shown on the June and the July-August pages. I built a fairly box-stock unit, white with the kit decal stripes. I'm quite pleased at how it turned out. Tim