1/25 Revell Peterbilt 359

[cifenet]

Hi guys,

I just started my third attempt at building a big rig. 

I always wanted to build Peterbilt 359 and now it is the time.  As same as before, my standard disclaimer for this build is that, it won't be accurate and proper. 

But stating above, I know that these trucks are highly customizable and lasts forever, hence any modification/alternation I implement to this build cannot be totally incorrect!  

One thing for sure, it will be super fun (with some stress) building it!

I actually wanted to build TWO Peterbilt 359s, so I purchase of of each, one from Revell and the other from AMT.

 

Interesting to see the difference in size of the cab and also placement of rivets between these two companies.

 

After some consideration, I decided to build Revell kit first.

 

Immediately, I found potential issues with the kit.   The fuel tanks have details integrated.  I am not sure if I should sand them off or use them as they are. 

 

Some chrome parts have dust embedded and I just cannot accept them.  I will remove all of the chrome plating for this build.

 

The edge warped and curled outwards.  I will repair this as I build.

 

I suppose this is one way to reduce the parts count?

 

Some cab/body clean up is necessary.  The tree sprues connecting the hood and cab are wide and thick.  Need to be extra careful cutting them out. Once the cab and hood parts are cleaned up, I ensured that fitting reveals no issue.

 

The worst part of the kit is the choice of tires.  What is this indentation at the end? 

 

 

These stock wheels/tires can be better...

 

It is important to test fit everything first and obvious gaps on the hood bothered me, so I fixed.

 

Began the assembly process starting with chrome parts since this takes some time to de-chrome.  I would then work on wheels next.

 

I took some time cleaning and assembling basic parts also.

 

Since the engine blocks are split in half, putty work is required.  I found this exercise is boring, but necessary.

 

 

Sometimes I can avoid the need of filler/putty by using the glue to fill the gap.  Excessive glue is removed by scribing off with a hobby knife.  

 

This step is critical, the frame needs to be absolutely parallel and symmetrical.  If this isn't perfect, everything will get harder later in terms of how well truck sits on the ground.

 

There were several things I thought which will make the truck look better by adding details.  Once of them is the air brake chambers.  I will be detailing them out as I make progress.

 

Now addressing wheels!  The more I look at the wheels/tires, the more I do not like them...

 

After painting them, I still do not like them.  As mentioned before, the fronts actually look quite okay.

 

Luckily, this is the year 2023, we can make our own parts.  I started the process of building 3D parts for wheels/tires.

 

I had to adjust the size and experiment with 3d printer settings to make them proportionally acceptable to the truck. 

I think these will be so much better than the stock wheels.

 

Quickly painted to see how they look.  Some sanding is needed, but things are looking better already!

Thanks for watching!

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by cifenet

[tractoraholic]

Very Cool, I have the Revell Peterbilt in my collection to be built.  I'll be watching, I like how you point out fit issues and things to watch for when assembling or modifications to make it better.

[Force]

13 hours ago, cifenet said:

Hi guys,

I just started my third attempt at building a big rig. 

I always wanted to build Peterbilt 359 and now it is the time.  As same as before, my standard disclaimer for this build is that, it won't be accurate and proper. 

But stating above, I know that these trucks are highly customizable and lasts forever, hence any modification/alternation I implement to this build cannot be totally incorrect!  

One thing for sure, it will be super fun (with some stress) building it!

I actually wanted to build TWO Peterbilt 359s, so I purchase of of each, one from Revell and the other from AMT.

Interesting to see the difference in size of the cab and also placement of rivets between these two companies.

It's because they are different cabs.
The AMT cab is the early Unilite "small window" cab also used for 351's made up to 1972, the cab in the Revell kit is the later 1100 series cab with larger windows and it's also taller, and that cab came 1972 and after the end of 1972 Peterbilt replaced the Unilite cab on all conventional trucks, AMT also has a kit with the 1100 series cab but this is not it.
The AMT kit was the first truck model kit made and it first saw daylight in 1969 as the California Hauler as a day cab truck, and the California Hauler with the sleeper came 1973, this kit was later replaced with their 1100 series cab kit in 1975 and the earlier Unilite cab kit was forgotten until 2014 when it came out again.
The Revell kit on the other hand first came in 1982 and your kit is the latest reissue..

Edited May 23, 2023 by Force

[Rockford]

You're giving this your best efforts. Great to be able to print your own stuff to sort the problems out. 

[cifenet]

18 hours ago, tractoraholic said:

Very Cool, I have the Revell Peterbilt in my collection to be built.  I'll be watching, I like how you point out fit issues and things to watch for when assembling or modifications to make it better.

I couldn't find many WIPs on 359s although I see many completed 359s in this forum. 

This kit has some issues.   Nothing major, but it requires some awareness.

 

18 hours ago, Force said:

It's because they are different cabs.
The AMT cab is the early Unilite "small window" cab also used for 351's made up to 1972, the cab in the Revell kit is the later 1100 series cab with larger windows and it's also taller, and that cab came 1972 and after the end of 1972 Peterbilt replaced the Unilite cab on all conventional trucks, AMT also has a kit with the 1100 series cab but this is not it.
The AMT kit was the first truck model kit made and it first saw daylight in 1969 as the California Hauler as a day cab truck, and the California Hauler with the sleeper came 1973, this kit was later replaced with their 1100 series cab kit in 1975 and the earlier Unilite cab kit was forgotten until 2014 when it came out again.
The Revell kit on the other hand first came in 1982 and your kit is the latest reissue..

I knew about the short windshield version vs long, but didn't know 1972 is the triggering point.  

I am planning to show more comparison pictures throughout the build between AMT and Revell, now we know more.  

 

21 minutes ago, Rockford said:

You're giving this your best efforts. Great to be able to print your own stuff to sort the problems out. 

The tires seem to be the weakest point in this kit and I don't have the extensive "parts bin" with many extra wheels and tires.

I know many of you got sources of aftermarket wheels.  I just don't know where to look yet.

 

[Mopar - D]

Great start Steve. Thanks for sharing your tips I have one of these in my stash but mine is the one that came with the car Transporter trailer and and 2 cars. 

[cifenet]

Thanks Dan!

I will try to take many progress pics along the way!  

The build itself is actual fun so far and very straightforward.  I hope you will enjoy it as well when you get the opportunity start your build.

 

 

[cifenet]

I started making small parts so I can get painting process going today. 

I wanted to add better details on the front grille so the existing mesh part had to be cut.

I drilled a couple of holes and use a cutting saw made out of P/E part to finish the cutting.

 

I used these aluminum tubes for the various detailing.

 

Interesting how the vertical supports bars are different in numbers.  I think having three bars balances out the look better.

 

I thought about scratch building these foot steps, but decided to keep them as they are.  I find them to be acceptable as they are. 

Maybe I will give quick "wash" of black paint later to bring out the mesh detail.

For the overall color, I want the truck to have similar metallic silver with slight blue tone as shown in the cover.

In order to replicate "similar" color as shown in the cover art, I decided to custom mix my own. 

When I need to paint "larger" area or use custom colors using an airbrush, I tried to preserve the paint into a custom paint bottle.

 

You can get these at an online shop quite cheaply and I find these bottles very helpful for painting fast and keeping color accuracy throughout the paint sessions!

 

You can also purchase these small stainless balls and add into the paint bottles to help mixing paints, but not required. 

Whatever the paint I pour into an empty bottle, I also add about 1.5 times of the thinner.  This makes the bottle is pre-mixed, pre-thinned, and ready to go.

 

 

You can also transfer the actual paint label (use the hair drier to peel off labels and reattach) onto the bottle like this making it look more professional.

No more measuring, no more mixing sticks, and never messing up places with paint spills.

Most importantly, this allows the paint consistency to always remain the same and I can paint better and faster.

 

I created my metallic silver base using Chrome Silver and CLK Silver.  Then I added Sparkling Blue in the ratio of 1:3:1. 

 

The Sparkling Blue is the same metallic color I used for International Transtar 4300.  It is another fantastic paint.

 

I really wanted to use CLK Silver which is one of my favorite silver paints.  I'd build silver models just to use this color.

 

This is the CLK Silver I used for building an old Honda motorcycle kit from Tamiya.

Unfortunately, I find this silver is slightly darker for my 359.  Hence, I added Chrome Silver and it made the silver to be more coarse and flaky, but brighten the tone by a level or two.  

 

 

You can see the tone of the silver is bluish, but this is the color I wanted.  Certain lighting, it also gives out pearl shine. 

 

After prepping the surface, I directly painted with Mr. Hobby's Ueno black.  I find this black color to be more smoother and finer making it a perfect base for metallic finishes.  

I will paint a couple of layers of the customer silver on top later.

 

Some minor paint problems can be addressed, I shot it too fast and it must have triggered dust from the paint booth.

 

The first coat on the grille came out okay. 

 

The rear wheels were also done.  The fronts actually look good to me as well!  I am ready to move forward now that the wheel problem has been resolved.

Thanks for watching!

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by cifenet

[vincen47]

Your tutorials with added photos and graphics are very interesting and helpful.

[Force]

5 hours ago, cifenet said:

I knew about the short windshield version vs long, but didn't know 1972 is the triggering point.  

I am planning to show more comparison pictures throughout the build between AMT and Revell, now we know more.  

 

Here is the AMT version of the 1100 series cab kit and it came on the market 1975, this kit is different from the Unilite cab kit and nothing is shared between them, on later issues the "California Hauler" went away.

The latest issue of this kit was the wrecker.

[cifenet]

On 5/23/2023 at 10:18 PM, vincen47 said:

Your tutorials with added photos and graphics are very interesting and helpful.

Thanks Victor!  I hope this can be useful and at the same time also fun!

 

On 5/23/2023 at 10:44 PM, Force said:

Here is the AMT version of the 1100 series cab kit and it came on the market 1975, this kit is different from the Unilite cab kit and nothing is shared between them, on later issues the "California Hauler" went away.

 

The latest issue of this kit was the wrecker.

 

That first box seems rare.  The AMT wrecker kit, I see often.  The Scalemates lists out 359 kits, but it doesn't go into 1100 vs Unilite:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/matchbox-amt-pk-6110-peterbilt-wrecker--958515/timeline#

Here is what I put together.  If you or anyone finds my chart incorrect, I will fix.   And I am sure there are more variants, but for the sake of conversation for now, here it is.

1100 cab = tall windows, after 1972 vehicle production years 

Unilite cab = short windows, prior to 1972 vehicleproduction years

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by cifenet

[Bills72sj]

Nice detailing. Following.

[Rockford]

The tyres on the Revell kit are indeed unbelievably bad. Hard to conceive how someone could look at that in the factory and say they approved of it for production. It's not as if they've never seen a tyre before is it?

This build is becoming an epic! Great work and well done for detailing your steps. You keep saying that you're a novice, well in choice of kit only, your abilities are excellent. 

[Force]

12 hours ago, cifenet said:

Thanks Victor!  I hope this can be useful and at the same time also fun!

 

That first box seems rare.  The AMT wrecker kit, I see often.  The Scalemates lists out 359 kits, but it doesn't go into 1100 vs Unilite:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/matchbox-amt-pk-6110-peterbilt-wrecker--958515/timeline#

Here is what I put together.  If you or anyone finds my chart incorrect, I will fix.   And I am sure there are more variants, but for the sake of conversation for now, here it is.

1100 cab = tall windows, after 1972

Unilite cab = short windows, prior to 1972

 

 

The blue and white version of the wrecker is based on the Unilite small window cab kit and came 1972 as kit number T-522 and as I said, the 1100 series cab kit did not come until 1976 and the red and white version of the wrecker is based on that 1100 series cab kit and it first issue was in 1977 as kit number T-533, it has been reissued at least 3 times before the latest wich is the red and white version and it came in 2019.
The wrecker body and parts are the same between both kits but the base kit is different.
The first California Hauler 359 with the unilite cab had kit number T500-500 and came 1969, the later brown version with the sleeper had kit number T-500 and came in 1973, and the wrecker had kit number T-522 and came 1972, both the T-500-500 and T 500 has recently been reissued (2014 and 2022) but with different kit numbers, and nothing before that.
The first 1100 series cab kit had kit number T-501 and came 1976, the wrecker had as I said  kit number T-533 and came 1977, these has been reissued several times from those dates with different kit numbers,
I do have the T-500-500, the T-500 and the T-522 original issues from back in the day,  I also have the recent issues of these kits including the red and white wrecker and a couple of the 1100 series kits.
 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Force

[cifenet]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:29 AM, Rockford said:

The tyres on the Revell kit are indeed unbelievably bad. Hard to conceive how someone could look at that in the factory and say they approved of it for production. It's not as if they've never seen a tyre before is it?

This build is becoming an epic! Great work and well done for detailing your steps. You keep saying that you're a novice, well in choice of kit only, your abilities are excellent. 

Yeah, I am with you on this. 

I can't believe no one questioned it before making this kit into full blown production.  Odd thing is, other details are very good and they must have spent some effort making the kit proper...

Thanks again for your support so far!

 

On 5/24/2023 at 9:47 AM, Force said:

The blue and white version of the wrecker is based on the Unilite small window cab kit and came 1972 as kit number T-522 and as I said, the 1100 series cab kit did not come until 1976 and the red and white version of the wrecker is based on that 1100 series cab kit and it first issue was in 1977 as kit number T-533, it has been reissued at least 3 times before the latest wich is the red and white version and it came in 2019.
The wrecker body and parts are the same between both kits but the base kit is different.
The first California Hauler 359 with the unilite cab had kit number T500-500 and came 1969, the later brown version with the sleeper had kit number T-500 and came in 1973, and the wrecker had kit number T-522 and came 1972, both the T-500-500 and T 500 has recently been reissued (2014 and 2022) but with different kit numbers, and nothing before that.
The first 1100 series cab kit had kit number T-501 and came 1976, the wrecker had as I said  kit number T-533 and came 1977, these has been reissued several times from those dates with different kit numbers,
I do have the T-500-500, the T-500 and the T-522 original issues from back in the day,  I also have the recent issues of these kits including the red and white wrecker and a couple of the 1100 series kits.
 

Extensive info here!  I originally thought the color is the only difference between "red" wrecker and "blue" wrecker!  

It is as if AMT wants to fool you!  

Ok, I updated the pictogram above.  I hope this information helps someone when deciding which 359 to build!  I guess this explains why "blue" version is going at US$100+, where "red" one is around US$40! 

Having said that, you can probably mix and match AMT kits to produce that "blue" version and save some money! 

 

On 5/24/2023 at 12:27 AM, Bills72sj said:

Nice detailing. Following.

Thank you Bill!

[cifenet]

Regarding the tires included in the kit, the tread pattern isn't too bad compared to the real thing based on Michelin X brand written on the side. 

I think they just got the shape wrong.  I can also name others kits with bad tires, but I won't do that here. 🤭

Just in case I may change my mind about the current front wheels, I made a set for fronts. 5 hole this time.  Why not, right?

 

At the same time, I started assembling and painting the brake champers.

 

Again, Scale Hardware brass rivets were used to enhance the look.  Unfortunately, Scale Hardware is no longer in business.

 

I made several air supply hoses which will be added to air tanks and brake lines.  

 

I picked these up to do various connection detailing.  I was hoping they were hoses, but they weren't.  Still flexible enough to shape and route places.

 

I thought AMT frame was long (I compared against International Transtar 4300 and AMT frame is longer!), but Revell wins hands down. 

 

This could have been just bad luck, my leaf spring was broken off, possibly from the factory.  

Repairing wasn't a big deal, but I ended up spending roughly 30 minutes digging my trash can where I threw out empty plastic bags.  I couldn't find the missing piece.

 

The cross support beams didn't have openings to allow cabling/hoses to connect.  I had to remove the back plate and drill multiple holes.

 

Painting preparation process continued.  Using sanding sponge like this one has advantages compared to using sanding stick or sand paper. 

They conform better to surfaces (including curved area) and they just work better at gently smoothing out surface.  I usually use 3000 for polishing out prior to the second or third paint layers.

 

 

Correcting the surface imperfection here.  I try to go slow and the best part about the sanding sponge is that you can wash the paint dust off and reuse!

 

This would be my first Cummins.  I read the instructions and Revell's paint code is calling out the following color:

 

For some reason, I thought it should have been more yellow.  Maybe I am wrong about this.

Since I did not have "Beige Silk Matt", I mixed yellow and desert tan with white in random ratio.  Then I made the tan darker and lightly sprayed. 

I also gave another coat on fenders, hood and cab.

 

Came out better this time, but repeating the prep again.  My silver blue paint cannot be polished (it will damage the metallic flakes) so I need the base black to come out as smooth as possible.  

 

I am not 100% sure if this matches the color of Cummins for Peterbilt 359, but it won't matter too much once I gave some dark wash.

Thanks for keeping this up with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by cifenet

[Force]

9 hours ago, cifenet said:

Extensive info here!  I originally thought the color is the only difference between "red" wrecker and "blue" wrecker!  

It is as if AMT wants to fool you!  

Ok, I updated the pictogram above.  I hope this information helps someone when deciding which 359 to build!  I guess this explains why "blue" version is going at US$100+, where "red" one is around US$40! 

Having said that, you can probably mix and match AMT kits to produce that "blue" version and save some money! 

Yes, Round 2 did the retro boxart based on the "blue version" even tho' it wasn't the exact same kit, the "blue version" has never been reissued.
But if you want to it's easy to use the California Hauler and the wrecker body (wich are the same for both kits) and do a Unilite small window wrecker.

[gotnitro?]

nice progress and info so far

[cifenet]

On 5/25/2023 at 10:52 PM, Force said:

Yes, Round 2 did the retro boxart based on the "blue version" even tho' it wasn't the exact same kit, the "blue version" has never been reissued.
But if you want to it's easy to use the California Hauler and the wrecker body (wich are the same for both kits) and do a Unilite small window wrecker.

I suppose this is the game I can play with AMT truck kits in order to build the one I want.

Since these trucks can be highly customized, I am thinking AMT could have released an individual engine kit, a separate wheel kit, a frame package, a cab, different types of fuel tanks, etc!  Then the combination of building a truck can be limitless!  I guess AMT does this already (you can purchase different engines and wheels), but I can see a company doing this at at the level of "full" customization as long as the demand is strong.  

 

On 5/27/2023 at 8:49 AM, gotnitro? said:

nice progress and info so far

Thank Jeff!  I can't wait till you show us the school bus in "Under Glass" section! 

Edited May 28, 2023 by cifenet

[cifenet]

More update on 359, I managed to put a couple of hours last night. 

I don't want to lose my motivation to finish building this truck so I will avoid taking a long break in between. 

I have a couple of kits which started years ago and never resumed just because I lost interest building them.  This can't happen here, so it must continue!

I suppose I could add extensive details to the engine, but I decided to go easy thinking I can get away with simple black wash.  I will highlight some areas even though it may not be 100% accurate, but it should be still convincing enough.

 

Other smaller parts were also addressed at the same time. I try to replace bar/shaft/tubing with the actual aluminum tubes whenever I see an opportunity. 

In this case, I replaced the driveshaft with various aluminum/brass parts.

I often use a product from K&S (#3403) which has enough aluminum tubes to scratch build driveshafts, exhaust pipes, and other mechanical components including sway bars and such.  

 

I added various cable holders on the frame.  These came from a craft store where they have materials for making beads.

 

I began the painting process starting with the front hood and fenders.  The initial paint job came out okay.  Still looks darker, but the important thing is that there is no imperfection on the surface where I have to sand.

Some metallic paints cannot be polish including this one.  It will destroy the metal flakes (pearl) so it was important that my surface is as smooth as possible.   The camera doesn't pick it if the angle isn't right, but it has slight bluish tone which I liked. 

 

On the other hand, I also painted chrome on the grille and the result wasn't too good.  I discovered some rough edges and rough surface after the painting session. 

I don't want to redo the whole thing at this point, so I will find some less destructive way to address it later.

 

While the paint was drying on the hood, additional activities were perform to dress up the engine.  The transmission and turbo parts were painted.

 

I will add minor wiring details later, but the engine is ready.

 

This is more looking like Peterbilt 359.  Similar to the build approach I took for International Transtar 4300 build, I will first paint and detail the hood/cab.  The sleeper will come later. 

Just trying to make the work smaller and easier to manage.  Divide and conquer! 

Thank you all for watching!

Edited May 28, 2023 by cifenet

[Force]

4 hours ago, cifenet said:

I suppose this is the game I can play with AMT truck kits in order to build the one I want.

Since these trucks can be highly customized, I am thinking AMT could have released an individual engine kit, a separate wheel kit, a frame package, a cab, fuel tanks, etc!  Then the combination of building a truck can be limitless!  I guess AMT does this already (you can purchase different engines and wheels), but at at the level of "full" customization.

It's called kitbashing.
You take parts from one or two kits and put on another to accomplish what you want to do with your model.
But the only things AMT has offered as parts packs for trucks are the PP 012 Mercury Sleeper, PP 028 semi tractor "tall tires" and the PP 029 turbine engine.
Most of the other things for customizing you have to rob from other kits or from the aftermarket.

Well back to the normal program.
I really like your build so far, keep up the good work.

[cifenet]

10 minutes ago, Force said:

It's called kitbashing.
You take parts from one or two kits and put on another to accomplish what you want to do with your model.

Sure, but  “kit bashing” literally sounds crude, a “customization” sounds more professional!  

Thanks, Hakan!

[cifenet]

Continuing the work...

Assembling the sleeper is done by building up sectional panels.  This may seem straightforward, but I found it to be difficult because:

1. the instructions were vague in terms of where to attach each panel.

2. had fitting issues causing the back panel to sit slightly wider than front.  I left some glue residue on the panels as I was fighting to squeeze the rear panel in.

3. the idea is to attach all of the panels and then fine tune as glue sets in.  But this task was somewhat tricky.

For one, as noted above, I wasn't sure if the floor piece needs to be attached on top or bottom of these guide tabs? 

I didn't think about this too much and assembled as shown above, but my decision ended up causing me one bad headache.  I will cover this later.  

 

As usual, once the factory chrome is stripped, I have multiple options to detail the from bumper.  I will definitely add additional driving lights and also replace the bolts with stainless parts.

The middle openings can be cut open, but I wasn't sure how the frame details will be still revealed once mounted. 

 

Improved tank details.  Using various aluminum rods and tubes, adding details can be easy. 

Smaller tubes can be cut with a hobby knife (by rolling a tube using a typical knife blade), but large ones need a mini cutter like the one pictured above.  I think I picked this up at a local hardware store relatively cheap.

 

I could easily use hex nuts to detail, but then again, using small aluminum tubes seem okay for the brake line details.

 

I began detailing the frame and worked on small components that will need to be attached on and around the frame.

Quickly performed a mock build by connecting differentials and drive shafts to the engine.  I confirmed no surprises!  

 

Before laying out clear, I need to apply decals to the hood and cab.  Again, the sleeper will come at the end.

 

These decals are very good compared to AMT.  I think these were made by Cartograf in Italy.  They are usually very accurate and react well against my decals solutions (Micro sol/Micro set).  I will be using the blue stripes for my silver truck.

 

Excluding the sleeper, the hood, cab, and the door shown above must be lined up together when applying decals otherwise the livery lines will not be straight.

I managed to screw up lining this one though.  Luckily, this area will be behind an air intake and mostly likely be hidden!

 

Applying clear to various body parts is a process that I still get nervous. 

It isn't the fear of making mistakes, but one mistake meant a possibility of performing unnecessary work to repeat things. 

The worst case would be to strip the paint to the bare plastic and repeat the whole thing! 

And in this case, everything went well except I made a mistake by touching this roof spoiler.  Why did I touch it!?  Why did I touch it!?

BTW, I did block out my fingerprint from the picture, just trying to be safe against cybercrime.

 

While taking these photos, I found the front wheels are sitting "in" too much.  Maybe the fenders are sticking out too much?  But I have no way to narrow the distance between the fenders.

I need to find a way to insert wheel spacers to create a wider front track now...  Probably 1/8th inch on each side or even 5/32nd inch!

Thanks for following so far!

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by cifenet

[RoninUtah]

Great detailing, excellent tips and techniques, thank you!  A couple of points:  When the Peterbilt 359 was first introduced in 1967, it had the 2-bar grill that was included in the original AMT California Hauler and the first version of the wrecker kit.  This was changed to the 3-bar grille in late 1967/ early 1968, so your build would be accurate for a '68-72 model.  As to engine color (that engine looks awesome, by the way!) in the 1960s and early 70s Peterbilt required that engine builders paint their engines white for a "clean" look; consequently, most '60's Petes came with white engines.

Not to reveal my age or anything, but the California Hauler was my first big truck build- I bought it when it first came out!  I remember sending away for the sleeper cab, as it was extra.  The "glass" was molded with a greenish hue in the plastic.

I still have that build; I did some minor repairs and replaced some missing cab accessories and it's now on my shelf.  It's not bad for a beginning build that's now over 50 years old!

[Rockford]

You're doing a great job on this kit, just as you did on the Transtar. It will be an impressive and distinctive truck when it's finished.