Cabover Kits- What's Available and Which One's the Best?

[Casey]

I have the dodge cabove lindberg made but heard its a beast to put together ?

I've heard the same, and it's very similar to the Little Red Wagon A-100, so I've avoided them both.

As Sergey mentioned, there are also the three varieties of AMT's Ford C-series medium duty trucks, which I would recommend. I was impressed by how well everything fits together on the Stakebed version I'm working on, and wouldn't hesitate to buy and build another.

[hotrod59f100]

Thanks casey. I thought about that one before .

[Madd Trucker]

Look at this and in the list for Italeri

http://public.fotki....t_instructions/

[blazefox]

Steve They could build up some cool trucks I bet custom and stock

oh yes they do picked up the tow truck. checj it out in it pick ups section

[MsDano85gt]

lindbergs dodge l-700 is a pretty nice fun kit to build, has lots of potential

[hotrod59f100]

MsDano85gt I'm building one now in the workbench right now.

[raildogg]

So, I want to get a cab over truck kit, and, I want to know which model kit is the best with a one piece body, or one with a few pieces. I have seen horror stories concerning a mufti-piece bodied kit. Thoughts on this before I buy a mistake. Thanks guys.

[Force]

I have built both and it doesn't matter to me, as long as you take your time with a multi piece cab it shouldn't be a problem.

[37 caddy]

The GMC astro or the Chevy Titan are pretty easy to get right,they have a easy hinge setup and the cabs are 1 peice.Also the IH kits are easy to assemble,they are a little more pricey,but are worth it.One of the harder ones is the Peterbilt cabover,the cab is 1 peice but the tilt hinges are tough to do,the K123 is tough also,the only one with the multi peice cab is the Freightliner cabovers,not impossible but a little harder,but make a nice truck when done.I made all these when i was 12-15 years old,and i didnt mind them at all. Harvey

[disabled modeler]

I have to agree with the rest here....the Chevy and GMC and International ones are the easiest to build but if one takes there time any are pretty good kits really. The International truck kits have a better detail or room for it many were from the old 70s Ertl Blueprint series of kits which I loved back then. best advise anyone has ever gave me on building is to treat every part as if it were a model itself...just pick one you like and take your time building and enjoy it.

[Superpeterbilt]

The white freightliner is the biggest nightmare with the multipiece cab. With that being said, as was already said, the IH transtar is probably the best builder kit. The Peterbilt 352 is not a bad kit either. It has a few minor issues, but goes together pretty well. The GMC and Chevys are ok, but Ive just never been attracted to them. The Revell KW coes are great kits, and Ive kitbashed a few Mack cruisliners and they appear to be solid kits as well.

[tbill]

i did a KW K123 awhile back, built up pretty easily, and turned out nice. only issue was the shift tower/floor hole, but with a little work, it's no biggie.

[redneckrodder]

I have both a chevy titan and revell k100...the revell one is nice....mine was just a built up and fell apart to much for me to finish it...the titan seems pretty nice though

[Wagoneer81]

Ditto, that. The K-123 or the Chevy Titan 90/GMC Astro 95 buildup fairly easily compared to some other offerings. Just keep test fitting and take your time... If you want a medium duty COE, the ford C-series cab-overs are pretty nice, too. They are less temperamental to build than the Lindberg Dodge L-700's BUT... The 700 will build into a nice truck with a little extra attention and patience. Clear as mud, now? ;^)

[Force]

I didn't have that big of a problem with the AMT White Freightliner when I built it in my teenage years, it came together pretty much straight forward if I remember correctly...it was 35+ years ago tho'.
I also did the AMT KW W925, the GMC General, the Pete 352 and 359, and the Ertl International Transstar II and Mack DM600 back then and all came together quite good.

But the Freightliner isn't much of a multi piece body...it's just three parts to do the outer shell of the cab, the Italeri trucks has multi piece bodies and they consists of at least five pieces to do just the cab, front, left and right sides, back wall and roof, and the interior consists of several separate pieces, floorboard, roof, sides and back wall and they have to be put in with the outer parts so you can't do the interior and cab separately, I have also built some of them and with patience they are not that big of a problem to put together.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Force

[txdieseldog]

If you are going box stock, the Chevy and GMC are good. If you are trying to get it as close to accurate but as easy as possible, they have issues as well. I have determined that the cabs sit too high and the tires look inaccurate in the wheel wells. I am building one now and have shifted the hinge points and lowered the rear cab mounts with out any problems. Good luck.

Edited September 17, 2014 by txdieseldog

[raildogg]

It's still not exactly clear but, I think I'll go with the White C.O.E. It has the best classic straight up profile to me. Thanks guys.

[clayton]

that's a good one and not too bad.it has a 3 part cab,take a your time and it will come come out fine. the bucket is a tad large,so i used a belt sander too file it down too fit and the peepwindow as well.for the back wall was a bit too small so I trim it out with thin strips. test fit every thing.

for a first time I think a one piece cab would work.

Edited September 18, 2014 by clayton

[Brinx]

Hey Raildogg,

I recently did the Freightliner c.o.e. after many (many, many) years of avoiding it as I was always intimidated by the multi-piece cab. I was pleasantly surprised to find the cab went together quite easily (used a liquid styrene weld and lots of tape). As a side note, the most difficult aspect I found was the entry steps (5-piece, chrome).

For that, I stripped the chrome, used our old friend Extreme Power Thick (hobbylobby product) and things worked out. Just like many of the friends have already mentioned, take your time and you'll be surprised with your results.

[redneckrodder]

If you are going box stock, the Chevy and GMC are good. If you are trying to get it as close to accurate but as easy as possible, they have issues as well. I have determined that the cabs sit too high and the tires look inaccurate in the wheel wells. I am building one now and have shifted the hinge points and lowered the rear cab mounts with out any problems. Good luck.

would you mind posting some pics to the titan thread in this section...im building one and my exhaust system is completely gone

[txdieseldog]

would you mind posting some pics to the titan thread in this section...im building one and my exhaust system is completely gone

James, mine won't do you any good. I removed the DD and replaced it with the Freight Shaker Cummins and shortened the frame to drop an axle and pull the twin pups. It started with the DD going to the Shaker so I figured "Why not swap between the two."

Pulling two of these.

[redneckrodder]

James, mine won't do you any good. I removed the DD and replaced it with the Freight Shaker Cummins and shortened the frame to drop an axle and pull the twin pups. It started with the DD going to the Shaker so I figured "Why not swap between the two."

Pulling two of these.

oh ok yeah your right about that...your setup looks very nice though

[txdieseldog]

oh ok yeah your right about that...your setup looks very nice though

Thanks. The frame rails in front are from a second one I have (one is Chevy and one is GMC). It is laid there for comparison. The single axle is from the AMT LN8000 box van. I switched it to the tandem from this.

[RyanR]

I just got a white freightliner dual drive coe kit on the way and am kind of nervous about the post ofneeding a jig for the frame and the 2 peice cab. I hope mine goes well.

[Petetrucker07]

I just got a white freightliner dual drive coe kit on the way and am kind of nervous about the post ofneeding a jig for the frame and the 2 peice cab. I hope mine goes well.

I have built a few of these. Stretched them out, you can see them in the "under glass" section. I havent had a problem with yet. The cab halves, its best if you have a really flat smooth surface, im lucky enough to have a 20" x 10" piece slab of machinist geanite. Sand the halves with even pressure on the glue surface, prime the surfaces so you can the high and low spots. Just sand till its even all the way around. This will give you a really nice seam, with no putty. Again you can see on my builds, and other builders on here. Next thing, the shifter, theres the shifter it self, and a oval poece the it glues to, that glues to the floor. Glue those together and glue the floor. The instructions say to glue those to linkage and shift box on the frame, leave the cab and frame pieces seperate, the cab will not sit level, it binds up on that. Next thing, the steps, those are very frustrating for me, try stripping the chrome, meditate, what ever you need to do to relax. If have any ?s. just ask around, there are a few guys that have built this kit, with similiar frustrations. Good luck man, cant wait to see what you come up with.