Peterbilt 351

[KJ790]

I am basing this build off of the 1974 Joseph Strick film "Road Movie". This will be pulling the weathered reefer trailer that I recently finished. This is just such a classic looking combo that I couldn't help but be inspired to build a scale version.

 

 

I am starting with an AMT California Hauler kit. I do not have any dimensions for a real 351, so I am just winging it from pictures and estimates. I hope to capture the look. I cut the grille narrower, and made some louvers using .08" half round rod. I cut the hood to be tapered to match the grille, then glued some extenders onto the inside of the fenders to make up for the narrower hood. I extended the front of the fenders slightly and added a small lip around the outside edge, both issues that are incorrect for the 359 the kit originally represents (and thus I assumed the 351 would need these corrections as well).

 

I heated the passenger's side fender with a lighter and pressed the edge of a ruler into it in hopes of recreating the dent seen in the movie truck's fender. I also filled in the fog lights in the bumper.

 

[Warren D]

Looks good so far.  Looking at the photo, I'm surprized the reefer unit doesn't hit the back of the sleeper.  Must be really close.

[Sam I Am]

I was wondering what you were going to put the trailer behind. This looks to be a great subject!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

You've got my attention! This is going to be good!!

[KJ790]

Looking at the movie truck, it looks to have 5-hole alcoa's on the steers and 6-hole budd wheels on the drives. I had mastered these wheels about 2 years ago, but never cast them. Since I don't ever see myself casting them (at least any time soon), I figured that this would just use the 3D printed pieces on this build.

 

 

[Force]

You got my attention KJ because I'm gonna follow this closely.
Any chance the wheels are going to be available for purchasing, I must say they look really good.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Force

[CRUSADER2]

This tractor / trailer combo is going to look real, watching and looking forward to more photo's, great work!!!

[KJ790]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:12 PM, Force said:

You got my attention KJ because I'm gonna follow this closely.
Any chance the wheels are going to be available for purchasing, I must say they look really good.

Thanks! Unfortunately I am done casting commercially for the time being, so I will not be casting these wheels. That is why I decided just to use the masters on this build.

 

I have the chassis mostly together. I shortened the frame by 9mm and added a steerable front axle from KFS. I filled in the "peep" window in the passenger's door, and sprayed everything with a coat of primer. Next I need to start working on the sleeper.

 

 

 

 

 

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Looks Great!! I really hate that you're not going to cast those wheels. They look great!

[clayton]

5 hours ago, KJ790 said:

Thanks! Unfortunately I am done casting commercially for the time being, so I will not be casting these wheels. That is why I decided just to use the masters on this build.

 

I have the chassis mostly together. I shortened the frame by 9mm and added a steerable front axle from KFS. I filled in the "peep" window in the passenger's door, and sprayed everything with a coat of primer. Next I need to start working on the sleeper.

 

 

 

 

 

Is that a resin hood or did you chop a kit hood?

[KJ790]

3 minutes ago, clayton said:

Is that a resin hood or did you chop a kit hood?

I chopped the kit hood and grille up.

[Force]

6 hours ago, KJ790 said:

Thanks! Unfortunately I am done casting commercially for the time being, so I will not be casting these wheels. That is why I decided just to use the masters on this build.

Okay, I understand.
I would be glad to be able to get 3D printed ones.

[KJ790]

I have been working on a scratch built sleeper. I used some half-round rod that I trimmed down to try to replicate a rippled-back panel.

 

 

 

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Looks Great!! Too bad you're not going to cast any of this.

[KJ790]

I was able to lay some paint yesterday. For the fenders I added a few drops of white to Tamiya black to get a dark grey color. I added a drop of brown to Tamiya white to get a slightly off-white color. I have found that using true black or white tend to pop too much on a finished model. I then used Tamiya "Metalic Blue" for the blue color. I am color blind, so I have no clue how close it is to the movie truck, but I think it will give a good vintage look regardless.

 

 

 

I made some decals using Microsoft Word and my inkjet printer. I noticed that you could see the shadow of old permit stickers on the sides of the sleeper. I used some clear decal paper with blue ink on it to replicate this look. It took me a few tries to get it as subtle as I was looking for.

 

 

I also noticed that the tires in on the movie truck are almost bald. I shaved down the tread on an old tire master that I had and made a new mold. The first tire came out of the mold this morning. The tread is hard to see in the picture, but hopefully it will look alright on the finished model. I still have to add dust weathering to the whole wheel.

 

 

[CRUSADER2]

Really nice neat work, the metallic blue looks spot on to me, and the decals are brilliant!!!

[JUNK-MAN]

Awesome work, looks really nice. Tje blue is a pretty close match, it will be perfect if you weather it a bit.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Awesome work as always!! Great work on those decals!

[leafsprings]

Very impressive! Bringing a photo to life!

[gotnitro?]

Fantastic work KJ

[KJ790]

For some reason the movie truck had one red quarter fender and one blue quarter fender. The shade of blue does not seem to match the cab color. I scratch built these out of styrene shapes. I hated the "rubber" flaps with a lighter to get some distortion to make them look more like rubber and less like ridged plastic.

 

 

 

[KJ790]

For some reason the movie truck had red drive rims on the drivers side, and (dirty) white rims on the passenger's side. It also had worn "lugger" tires on the rear axle and worn parallel ribbed tires on the front drive axle.

 

 

I did my best to recreate this with what I had:

 

 

 

And a quick mock-up:

 

[Oldmopars]

I have never seen the movie, but from the pictures this is looking spot on. I love the work you are doing, fantastic. 

[bigred63]

19 hours ago, KJ790 said:

For some reason the movie truck had red drive rims on the drivers side, and (dirty) white rims on the passenger's side. It also had worn "lugger" tires on the rear axle and worn parallel ribbed tires on the front drive axle.

 

 

I did my best to recreate this with what I had:

 

 

 

And a quick mock-up:

 

 KJ, your work is just unbelievable! Just keep the models coming.

Ronnie

 

[tbill]

You sir are making magic! Great looking build so far, amazing as usual!