PettyKW43

I would love to see the Imperial in kit form , as a matter of fact I would love to see anything else that we have not seen yet. With all the raw materials at our disposal there is no reason to not be able to make any of these kits near perfect in accuracy! Looking at the Olds front suspension and within an hour it’s changed up , even as a shelf piece, trim away the torsion bars and it looks GM/Ford.

For all the years I’ve been building NASCAR models , there has never been a single kit of any given car that was perfect! I do give these guys credit for their efforts not only in tackling subjects never touched but also acknowledging that mistakes were made and they are striving to improve. Not only that , with the recent acquisition of the older Monogram tools we as small niche market are only to benefit! I won’t say that the Olds kit was great but I did buy a couple and will buy a couple more to cover the cars I want to do and I will fix what needs fixing at a cost that is still cheaper than any of the resin bodies that I have ever looked at! Let’s go build some plastic boys and girls! Keep em coming Salvinos!

As Casey pointed out that kit came with 11:00x22 although the upcoming reissue I haven’t seen yet, it will have 22 inch rims in it as did all White Motor Corp based kits. However Round 2 has put MPC tooled 11:00x20 tires in a lot of the reissues regardless of rim size . But I would guess it will be the Uniroyal 11:00x22.

With the extended cowl panel you would definitely see the the widenose hood , the purpose of the extended cowl was to accommodate the larger higher horse engine which would require a larger radiator. With the short hood you could still see a narrow nose although by the early 70’s they were slowly phased out. I haven’t been able to figure out when the narrow nose was dropped as of yet.

It’s nothing but a good thing that the molds for these kits have moved on to people who have an interest in the subject and the imagination to do more with them than straight reissues! Looking forward to Salvino JR kits as a whole including their own tooled kits( they will only get better and the first one wasn’t all that bad despite what’s been said) ! It’s good to be a NASCAR modeller once again!

A simple measurement to use is a tape measure that has metric measure. I/25 scale is very close to 1 inch equals 1 millimeter the difference is so small that you won’t be able to see the difference in the finished product.

The long hood W900 began production in the 1970 manufacturing year , in prior years, If you ordered the higher horse large engines predominantly 12v71 Detroit or the 1693 Cat diesels, to accommodate these larger engine and cooling packages Kenworth came up with a simple cowl extension , the hood was the same length but without the cutouts for the air cleaner piping. Then in 1970 at some point the long hood ( as found in the Revell/Monogram) kits was put into production and the cowl extension was done away with! The model designation was always W9.. with the last numbers indicating suspension, eg W923 (AMT current reissue).

The Lindberg tanker dates back to the late 60’s when IMC ( Industro Motive Corp) released the first of modern commercial truck kits so yes the kits are somewhat different in execution but they do build up well with a little effort. To get the look of the movie trucks sand flush the molded on rubber gasket around the perimeter of the windshield and replace with a slightly larger gasket easily made using evergreen 1/2 round styrene strip. The drip rail on the roof also extends all the way around the rear of the cab instead of stopping at the door tops. Looking forward to seeing your progress Rick

I have never built anything that is weathered but after reading your technique I think it’s time to give it a try! Thanks for sharing. Is the 4 banger Detroit resin or did you scratch it?

So agree with this , been building since 66’ and couldn’t agree more! Everyone needs to drop the negative about the old, current and future kits coming and just build what you want with what is available to you to whatever level you capable of!

To add in regarding the 1 ton components the rear differential should be a GM corporate 14 bolt 8 lug for a 73 and later and the early units had a drop out carrier style that surprisingly a really good likeness can be found under the Petty Dart kit car! AMT kinda missed the mark with the what was supposed to be an 8 3/4 Chrysler differential in that kit!

What an absolutely fabulous old school wrecker!!! And a Dodge to boot ?

Fabulous build , love the 104 cab and period paint ! The steps on the old style Freightliners mount inside. ( I absolutely am not criticizing your work, huge fan of your builds ) just wanting to let those who look for references.

Really love the Dodge tractor, looks period correct for so many car carriers from the early 70’s! Now a load of 71 Mopars!

Now this looks interesting! Can’t wait!

As a huge Kenworth fan I actually hope that this is slated for production, I find the design quite interesting, and I also agree we need a couple more modern truck models on the market and would love to see maybe even this one in kit form . As for the truck’s design you knew that sooner or later that the old w900 cab was going to go by the wayside! Considering that it was designed in the late 50’s and been on the market since 63 in various formats it’s time is coming to an end, although I have to say it is still my favourite!

If the decals are not going to be used let me know I have a bad set from that trailer kit. Looking forward to seeing your build! Rick

I really like this build, as a suggestion for the trailer, look at the AMT exterior post Fruehauf, while not exactly what you have pictured it can easily be cut and modified to get something reasonably close to as pictured without scratching it totally.

Good to hear! I will follow you progress on this one , I watched the movie for years , freeze framed thousands of times, built one back in 78 when the movie came out before the awful ERTL kit ( I did end up buying it for the decals and bumper guard and hood ornament). I just started cleaning up the old build , l am leaving it as is though , if I started to correct it I would end up building it from scratch so I will just build a new one and have the old build to show how far I have progressed in my building skills!

Also you will need the 10 speed trans out of a Freightliner or Kenworth K123 to be driveline accurate for the first unit truck.

For accurate fuel tanks I would suggest that you get a set from the AMT Mack Cruiseliner kit and shorten them . If you are going full detail with an engine the kit will also gain you the correct engine and air cleaner as well.

Great build ! Can’t go wrong with a Mercury box on a 60’s 70’s rig!

You would have to shorten the hood by 11mm to be 100% accurate.

Of all the truck builds I have followed, this is my favourite build!

Nice work! I am glad to see the reissue of this kit coming as well .