truckabilly

Awesome build and awesome story to it. It would be nice to see the pics of all the variants and all the changes this model went through. It is cool that it still lives. Jarda

Hi Mark, All the kits you have mentioned are manufactured with tools that are 30 years old. Surprisingly, the parts quality is pretty good. I did not find any serious fit issues. But you must be ready to clean almost every part. Unfortunatelly, this applies to some chromed parts too. Both Kenworths share the same CAT 3408 engine. Peterbilt has the notorious twin-turboed in-line 6 Cummnis. Both engines are very well detailed and there are instructions available on public fotki for making even more details. http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/model_magazine_articles/car_modeller/ The actual Bill Signs was powered by Cummins KTA, later replaced by CAT 3406. Also, the kit version is a short hood while the actual truck was a long hood. The RoG made Petes have an issue with the fenders getting in collision with the air filters when opening the hood. This can be solved by changing the pins (pivots) position or enlarging the holes in the hood hinges. The front shocks should be 1mm shorter. The doors are openable but the hinges do not look good. The T900 "Australia" is completely wrong design for Australian version. The long hood combined with 63" sleeper would be illegal in Australia. That´s why they came up with SAR. The bull bar has a click-clack joint. It must be completely removed from the model to open the hood. The antenna mounts on the mirror brackets get in collision with the aussie style breather. The kit requires a few add ons to look really Australian. The trilex wheels are not correct either. The Australian experts would explain more. I have not built the KW wrecker yet, but the pictures of the real wrecker show some differencies. The kit is a long hood with round lights. http://www.truckin24.de/03c1989d840f69e01/kenworthw900wreckeroriginalfotos.html Even though these kits do not represent the latest technology in plastic modeling, they are very accurate in details. I like them a lot better than the "new concept" by Italeri with one-piece frame and no engine. Building these old RoG kits may require a bit more work compared with the fancy kits of today but they are worth every dollar. That is my opinion and I say: Go and buy ´em! Good luck for your decision and welcome to the truck section of the forum.

Hi Sergey, I have been watching this project from the start and I have nothing but the highest admiration for your work. It is really awesome. Someone from the land of Zil, Ural, Kraz, Maz and Kamaz is able to make such hard core models of American trucks. That is amazing. We, the boys from the east, are alike, I guess, in how we got interested in American trucks. Born a truck driver´s son I was attracted by trucks in general quite soon. But the Convoy movie really boosted my interest in American trucking. Also the country music´s truck driving songs. I did not understand a word in English then, but the sounds like "eighteen wheeler... semi... rig... truck stop... breaker one - nine... ten - four... ", soon got their meaning. I am sorry for sliding off topic a bit. Robert was intersted in what made us to build these models. Anyway, great work, Sergey.

Thank you very much Mark. May I have one more question... or two... I do not know what the book shows but, could you tell me what color the engine is. Beige, white, metalic grey... ? Are there some chrome elements in the engine compartment? I am sorry for taking your time. I have searched the internet all through looking for pictures and found... nothing. Thanks for any help, I appriceate it.

Nice job on the Transtar. I am not an expert to judge all the details but they make an attractive build. Good idea with the Alaskan Hauler style for this truck.

Hi Mike, My weathering is a bit chaotic process. I do not have any strict procedure, just try to do what I read in hobby magazines. The techniques are well-known, I guess. Shading, fading, washing, dry brushing... you name it. Yes, I do use... a sort of air brush. It´s Tamyia Spray Work. Not good enough for advanced painting techniques but quite okay for what I do. I am old schooler, painting with enamels though I plan to switch for acrylics. For weathering I use also the oil colors and chalks. I have a lot to learn myself. I cannot say I have things under my control. Sometimes I am surprised with the results that I get. For wiring and plumbing I use anything suitable for the job. Usually some old electric wires, either with insulation on them or without or the insulation itself. Also a fishing line and lead wires. For the modern lines with protective cover (sorry, do not know a proper English term) I inspect my wife´s sewing stuff and sometimes steal something from her. Gauges... I do not know. It just has to look right. Not too much thick, not too much thin. Hope it helped a bit.

The color is very nice. Now I am thinking of painting mine the same. I do not like copying someone else´s models but this is hard to resist.

This is the hood after the second extension... And here with the cab added... I also extended the frame. Another possibily was to reposition the cab backwards. But I like the frame extension better... The joint will secured by a metal stripe.

Clydes II is the name of the famous Bill Signs Trucking Peterbilt 359. It was created years ago and I think that the Revell guys did a good job. http://www.truckin24.de/03c1989d840f69e01/03c1989e1510fe103.html There are some differencies from the real truck though. Unlike the kit, Clydes II has extended hood. Unfortunatelly, I have never seen any picture of this truck with the hood opened. I was positive, that the truck was powered by 8v 3408 CAT. But then, just yesterday, I found this note on public fotki... http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/truckkit_instructions/revell/07522_peterbilt/ Now I am uncertain, which engine I should use for the model. I was looking forward to installing 3408 in the 359 frame. Now it seems to be wrong. "Papa Clyde", the successor of "Clydes II" has the twin-turboed 3408, that is for sure. Maybe that´s why I thought that the 3408 was in the older truck too. Anyway, I started the hood extension. I had two short hoods, one of them cracked badly. I cut the damaged hood to pieces and used its parts for extension. I cut the hood along the spinal stripe to compensate for the changed angle of the hood sides. But the change is so small, I could have omitted this step just as well. But I made a mistake and extended the hood less than I intended. I had to repeat the process all over again.

And some more pics: Thanks for looking. Jarda

Thank you all for your encouraging words. This CAN DO kit was the one that opened the door to the truck modeling for me. I have seen a few pics of a finished model and I knew that I had to have one too. But it was not easy to get one. The whole production of the kit was gone and the e-bay prices.... you know... But I was lucky to come across a forgotten piece in a toy shop in Prague. The cab and hood were cracked all around but the kit was complete. I took it home with 10 % discount and Revell sent me a new set of cab & hood for free. Chris: Even though my model is finished by now, I would sure like to see some pics. Just in case you really run across them. Dave: I would not change the in-line 6 for 8V in the Stepp´s unit. But I do exactly this with another project that I am running now. And it is also based on 359 - 119" BBC. But I am changing the hood for 127" BBC. Now some more pics. The building of the wrecker body went so well and smooth that I forgot to take a pic now and then. Here is the partially assembled truck fresh from the "spray booth". Enjoy, it is nice and clean. Won´t be for long. Now, meet my avatar pic in original size:

I have been watching this project long before I became a member of this forum and I have to say that it is a gorgeous engine. Now, as I am not that familiar with American truck engines, I defintely cannot tell the make and model. But I would like to know. If you cannot say this in public, would a PM work? Or a link to the real thing? Just curious, that´s all. Thanks.

I tried to change the firewall too. It has the 379 features but still looks a bit strange on the 359 narrow cab. Well... what can I say? Here is the cab & sleeper. BMF on the door rims. Here is the cab sitting on the frame. The pictures are not so good. Another thing I have yet to learn. Nice day to all of you. Thanks for looking.

Thank you all for your comments. One of the things that I had to do, in order to get 379-ish look, was the hood modification. Unfortunatelly, I did not take pictures of all the steps. I filled the recessed curves on the hood side with 1.2mm plastic cut to shape. Then I sanded off the wide stripe on top of the hood and replaced it with the 379 design. I also added the inside details like reinforcing structure and isulation blanket. Still it is a short hood though. I did no big changes to the cab & interior. That remained in 359 style. Here is the dash of class from the kit. First I sanded off the woodgrain pattern because it was vertically oriented. Then I painted my own horizontal woodgrain. I used the instruments decal, but the rest is painted. BMF used for the lower rim. I also made a set of pens. They do not write, unfortunatelly.

Some more:

Thanks a lot, guys. That is interesting question and I doubt I know the answer. I cannot speak for anybody else but myself. When I build a model I try to get as much reference as possible. It was almost impossible in pre-internet times and I ended up with the out-of-box builds. But things have changed and now, with the internet I can get almost any info and reference that I need. Even though we do not meet American trucks on the local roads, there is a whole lot of useful web sites where to look for a reference. Truckpaper, for instance. There are exceptions, of course. Like I cannot find a good picture of a twin-turboed CAT 3408. Preferably the one installed in Bill Signs "Papa Clyde". Now some more pictures of my CAN DO. The engine is installed in the frame and weathering applied.

Thank you all for the nice welcome. You are right, Robert, it was not my first model truck. But it was my first attempt to make something different than just glue together what I found in the box. I have some experience from making models of the aircraft and armoured vehicles. Here is a few pictures of the engine. I left the old Cummins under the hood even though it is not the correct engine for the Stepp´s unit. I did not even paint it yellow... no Cummipillar or Catmins or whatever. I just made it a single turbo version. I used the bigger of the two turbos. Its shell is twisted the other way round, I mean the inlet should be closer to the engine. Now I would do it another way but then I helped myself by making the strange tube connecting the turbo shell with aftercooler. I added a dip stick and some plumbing, then I weathered the engine slightly. It looks like I am not allowed to post more than 5 images in a single post. Is it just me or is the forum adjusted this way? I tried to find any note on this but no success. Maybe I just overlooked something. Thanks for looking. Jarda

Hello, I am new to this forum. Been a peeper for a while and watched the wonders of the scale truck modeling. Now, I think it is time to give something back in return for the useful ideas I took from here. Let me kick off with the famous model of the Stepp´s Can Do wrecker. The model is finished by now but I do not want to flood the thread with too many pictures at one moment. So, I will post them gradually. Some of you may know this build from another forum. I set some limits for this project, such as no aftermarket parts and no different kits combination. I just modified some of the kit´s weird parts to bring them closer to reality. My goal was to make this 359 Pete look a bit more like the 379. Not as perfect as using the newer Italeri cab but I did my best with what I had. One of the Revell items that were not satisfactory for me was the lift axle that looked like nothing on Earth I have ever seen. So scratchbuilt one of my own. I bended a 5mm rod above the candle. It took several tries to get a usable shape. Now for the pics of the primed rear frame and suspension. More to come if it is okay with you. Jarda

Hello, I am new to this forum. Before I post any of my builds, I would like to help with the PS pump location on CAT 3408. I am dealing with the same problem, though in 1/25 scale. I have been hunting for pictures of 3408 on the net and I think I found something usefull. This one is installed in KW I believe. You can see the lines from the PS reservoir and the steering box dissapear somewhere behind the engine. I also found this pic with the air compressor on the right and something on the left. The "something" might be a power steering pump. But I am not sure if the engine is a truck engine. The cluth is a bit different. Another image probably proving the PS pump is rear located is this Freightliner COE. There is a blue painted air compressor clearly visible in the pic. Just behind it I spy another small blue box which may be a part of the air compressor or .... the PS pump. But... to make things a little bit more complicated, this is a KW advertisement of 1970s showing the back of the engine. And... no PS pump. And finally there is a blue box mounted on the front cover of the engine. A power steering pump? I bet. My conclusion is that the PS pump location depended on the truck in which the engine was installed. Could be front mounted, could be rear mounted. But I am no CAT expert. It is up to you what you make out of the pics. Hope it helped some. Jarda (short for Jaroslav)