Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Revell Kenworth heavy hauler


Recommended Posts

Ok, so I saw a picture of this elusive beauty for the first time today. What a truck - sad thing is I cant find one anywhere.

Does anyone know of any sources to find one or what the story is on this kit ?

KWHH.jpg

I would love to get this for myself for that upcoming Five oh Birthday

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That truck kit was available from 1986 to 1989 and another version called The Oriental Express from 1990 to 1994, a fun thing is that you could build it either as a dual-drive or tri-drive as there were frame extensions, a third drive axle with suspension and wheel set in these kit.

I bought a Revell AG Kenworth K-100 VIT "Australia" truck (only dual-drive) back in the mid to late 80's and they were also available as Aerodyne at the same time with a different roof section, and I think the last issued Revell AG KW K-100 kit was about 10 years ago so I think they are long overdue for reissuing.

Edited by Force
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a good kit to get . The only thing that I was disappointed with is that the blue on the sides of the cab is not on the decal sheet so you have to paint your own . Trying to get it the correct shape from the box lid is nearly impossible . Im not sure if it was planed that way or if I had some duff decals. All i know is that it spoiled the build for me becuse the rig on the box looks great and at the time my painting skills where not that good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish they would reissue that one my self! I would definitely buy at least 4.saw one on ebay a month ago sold for $259.00 not counting shipping.but then again you could also buy 2 amt k123 kits and build something very close to that for around 60 bucks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had that kit, but was pursuaded to trade it and I regretted for many years. I recently found an Orient Express on Ebay which is the same kit just different decals. They do pop up on Ebay but you have to be patient and be prepared to dig deep in your pockets for it. As others have said if you buy two of the reissue KW cabovers you can build your own for a fraction of the price of the Revell kit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

keep watching e-bay, and hope someone is asleep at the wheel, some times you can score a deal. as mentioned though, these kits demand some coin from what I have seen on the bay.

I too wish a lot of these kits would be reissued, every time I turn around it seems I see a kit I had not seen before, and the wheels start turning............

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had that kit, but was pursuaded to trade it and I regretted for many years. I recently found an Orient Express on Ebay which is the same kit just different decals. They do pop up on Ebay but you have to be patient and be prepared to dig deep in your pockets for it. As others have said if you buy two of the reissue KW cabovers you can build your own for a fraction of the price of the Revell kit.

You could do that but you will have some problems to solve to do a similar build.

First...the cab is too short in the AMT K123 kit (if that matters), it has a 86 inch cab and the Revell kit has a 108 inch V.I.T. cab and yes you can of course lengthen it as you in this case will have two cabs.

Second...the rear suspension on the AMT kit is a Hendrickson Walking Beam and I don't know how you can do to modify that to a Tri-Drive as the beam that holds the two drive axles are hanged from the center, the Revell kit has a KW AG 100 air ride wich is easier to do a Tri-Drive with...the AG 100 suspension from the AMT K100 Aerodyne is available in resin from Melbourne Model Truck Accessories wich is complete with drive axles and prop shaft but you'll need two sets to do a Tri-Drive...of course everything can be done but I don't know if it's worth it.

Another way to go is to base the build on the AMT K100 Aerodyne kit, in that case you only need one more suspension kit and some wheels, and you are close to done...you don't even have to lengthen the frame as it's probably long enough as it is.

But Revell AG has reissued some of their truck kits recently, the Peterbilt 359 Tractor and the 359 Wrecker, the KW W900/T900 Tractor and W900 Wrecker, so hopefully they will reissue the K100 kits soon....I have suggested that at their "Share Your Dreams" site a couple of days ago so you can go in there to vote for it. http://ideas.revell.de/ideas/item/4054/

Edited by Force
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have build the Oriental Express build and this one in stock (sorry guys not for sale) The base of this kit is the same as the K100 kits from Revell. You just need to cut the chassis and build in an extra axle. It is a nice kit though.

IMG_4900-vi.jpg

I put the front wheels that Revell used for their 'Can do' wrecker and 'Bill signs' Peterbilt on it.

Hessel

Edited by Hessel Hemstra
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

i recently bought this box of bits from  Ebay , so far so good

 

havnt built any kits for a few years and  this was my first time using superglue , think im going to try and "weather " this when finished

12289705_1058259344208210_1181660365683942113_n.jpg

12278775_1058259330874878_6307521520368296604_n.jpg

Edited by scottie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me personally, i dont care for the revell kits. Their cabs ar ok, but the frames lack in my opinion. And the tires are far from anything that resembles a real tire in my opinion. Plus the prices are outrageous. I would think you could use either cabover amt kit, lengthen the frame and use an aftermarket air suspension. Im sure someone here would cough up another axle and maybe even a cab. Even after buying the extra resin parts you could still build it way cheaper than the revell kits. Just my thoughts......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had one and sold it unbuilt 11 years ago. Oh well...The cab was the same as the Aerodyne. There was a flat top conversion offered in resin for the Aerodyne kits. Sean, with your building skills, I agree that a good option would be combining two AMT kits. You have already stretched the A model IH cab flawlessly. You may also consider modifying the AMT Aerodyne. The axles and suspension could be robbed from the parts box or sourced from resin. If you wanted the grill guard, you could scratch build it. I would like to have another one of these kits, but I can't pay what they usually sell for on Ebay, but I patrol Ebay on a regular basis in hopes of finding one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wheels and tires can be changed and I don't think the frame for the Revell AG K100 is that bad so what kit you want to start from is up to you,
Of course you can start from the AMT K100 Aerodyne kit...but they are starting to fetch quite a lot of money too nowadays, not as much as the Revell kits but not that far from it, just now I see a couple on the auction site with asking prices from $63 to $280, the more expensive ones are BJ & The Bear kits and Tyrone Malone Transporter kits.
The Revell kit has the normal 180" wheel base and the frame has to be lengthened to do a tri-drive, if you can't find the tri-drive kits, the AMT kit has a longer wheel base as the kit was the base for the Tyrone Malone transporters wich has a transporter body behind the cab, so they don't have to be stretched.
The Revell AG K100 has a Cummins NTC 475 Dual Turbo and a manual transmission so it's not the same as the Revell AG  W900/T900 wich have a Cat 3408 and a different frame, the AMT has a Detroit Diesel 8V-92T and an Allison automatic transmission.
 

Edited by Force
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian, thanks for the vote of confidence.  I had forgotten about this post until somebody quizzed me the other day and I had to backtrack to figure out "What the heck ?"

I am in the process right now of planning to build one similar without the kit.

Thanks for all the advice and tips on this truck.

Scottie - Beautiful save !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

I very much like these tri-drive kits. But do they represent something from the real world? I mean......

I´ve seen the tri-drives of this era only as day cabs, usually as tankers or dump trucks. I know that later Peterbilt or Kenworth model lines are bulit with set up like this. But I haven´t seen the 359 (or 353) tri-drive having a sleeper cab. As for the KW COE, I´ve seen just one pic of a real truck like this. So, I just wonder if those kits were inspired by something you could have seen on the road back then or of they are just great looking model trucks.  

Does anyone know? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

jaroslav , i know what you mean , but if you look at google [ tri-drive trucks ]

you see a lot of example,s of tri-drive , most are for oilfield service and a petroltruck,s with sleepercabs

cabover tri-drive you see more in australian

i now that looks rare ore funny if you see the upset of some winchtruck,s with a small sleeper

when i buy the tri-drive truck,s kit,s some years ago i have lookin for pictures so the looks like the real one,s

have stil 2 kenworth,s cabover tri-drive,s

and 4 peterbilts tri-drive,s

must building again one 

and i have building already 1 peterbilt and 1 kenworth

i have 2 different kenworth,s and from the peterbilt also 2 different kit,s

hope its helps

jacobus 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...