Old Albion

Albert, That little Freightliner looks great. I really think these little work horses are undervalued and under represented. They don't have the chrome bits and the prestige that goes with a 379 Pete or a Kenworth. Also drivers can probably earn more on long haul operations. Probably the sort of truck that many drivers started their careers in (Sort of an apprentice piece). The responsibility on the drivers shoulders of any kind of heavy truck is immense. It is a Proffessional Job and its hard work. I remember my Driving Instructor telling me that when you pass your test in a truck you have tremendous responsibility. When you become a Proffessional Driver you not only have to look out for yourself but you have to look out for other road users, because they don't know how to look after themselves and they are going to do "strange things". Learning to drive a truck was the hardest thing I have ever done!! I have tremendous respect for all truck drivers who pound the highways all day every day irrespective whether they drive a little day cab truck or a Top of the Range long haul truck. I look forward to seeing this truck complete and seeing the Photo's of the truck show. Good Luck with both. PS Isn't St Ignace MI where Tim lives?

Has anyone seen this. The the price at the moment is $355.00 for the four kits. Not much use to me they only sells to USA. If your thinking of buying Good Luck!!! http://cgi.ebay.com/Peterbilt-378-Italeri-...1QQcmdZViewItem PS In case the link don't work the item is number 190152090633

This looks great. Very impressive. Look forward to seeing it finished.

This looks good. I like the colours to.

I like the look of this and will certainly be looking out for the updates.

This looks great!! It would suit a drop deck flat bed trailer with a spread axle.

Dan, I had a look through the site earlier today. Looks good. I read your comments on truck companies requesting you to remove decals from your site. How times have changed. At one time companies would have been proud to have people wanting to put their logo's on models, a great little marketing tool. Its a sad sign of the times.

Does anyone know what horsepower the 3208 was rated at? Also did Ford offer their own diesel engines?

Looks good so far. Sometimes its easy to forget the invaluable contribution these little day cab tractors and their drivers make to economies around the world. Great to see these little Kenworths'. Its not all long frames, chrome and extended hoods.

Tim, What a great looking truck and trailer combination. I like your idea of building the truck as it left the factory and then building it with its working clothes on. I have an idea for building an old truck as found in the weeds and then building it in the restored condition. Maybe one day?? The colour combination looks great in the sunlight. Especially the green on the fenders. Superb!!!

Scott, What a great project!! That low boy looks very impressive and helps develop some ideas. Definately a future project. Thanks for posting the trailer pics. It really does look great.

This looks really good so far. I like the scratch building and the weathered engine looks very convincing. Great Work!

This is coming on well. I bought an original about 2 1/2 years ago. When I was a kid it was one of those kits that I saw advertised on the ertl kit boxes but never saw the actual kit for sale. So when I got back into building model trucks as soon as I saw it I bought it. It is a very good kit. There is a lot of plastic, its big a quite heavy. There are lots of interesting details it even has brake shoes!! For those who like earthmoving equipment this is a must! The only problem with it is, all that yellow. Your eyes start to go blurred after a while. Anyone who wants a V16 Detroit for a heavy hauler then this kit is the one and what a great load for a low boy! I have another Payhauler awaiting build some time in the distant future. Enjoy the kit. Keep us posted with updates. Good Luck with the build.

I agree these trucks look great. Ray's right about the covered wagon it does look good. This would make a great build subject on the forum. Its a trailer I would love to build sometime in the future.

Blue or green. It don't seem to matter much on the Paystar. The kit builds well, is extremely versatile and as yet is still readily available. What ever colour scheme you choose I'm sure it will turn out well. Good Luck.

Scott, This trailer is very impressive. I like it. Have you any other designs or ideas for scratch building trailers? I am planning to scratch build a low boy with a goose neck, but I don't know what maker I will base it on. I really liked the one Anthony Oteri built this was superb. Its interesting to see the differances between North American Trailers and European ones. The main differance as far as I can see is where the axles are placed. No doubt this will be for load distribution and stability. Here in UK the tractors are typically single axle drive. We have a maximum overall length of semi truck and trailer of just over 54 ft (16.5M) with a maximum length of trailer of just short of 45ft (13.6M). This means that the three axles on the trailer carry most of the weight. This is why they are much further forward than in the US and Canada. The forward axles and single axle drive can cause some problems though with traction. Many a truck gets stuck on a steep gradient because all the weight is on the rear of the trailer (Especially Tank Trailers) even in summer when the weather is fine. If the truck is an older one it might not have the differential lock like the modern ones. This happened to my brother in law once and he had to reverse all the way back down the hill and take a different route. A good job it wasn't very busy at the time.

Yes I agree, the weathering is very convincing. Its not just the dirty well used look but it helps to show the age of the truck. When the sun comes out you need to get some photo's in the natural light. Great Work!

This will be interesting!! I'm definately looking forward to seeing the outcome of this one. Good Luck.

Wow!! Natural light really brings out the detail. Looks like its ready to pull away any moment.

Dominique, This looks good. I like the extended hood and the walk in sleeper and the blue colour looks right at home. Reminds me of Tim's photo's of his trip to the Peterbilt factory. Is the engine the Detroit?

Kurt, Shame about the axle. I'm sure a man of your skills will soon overcome the difficulty. I was interested to read the comments about Clint Freeman Components. I wondered what happend to him. Now I know. I agree with the others his standards were superb. I recently bought a batch of 3 12V71T Detroit Diesels of ebay, price was reasonable. I was lucky with these not many people were bidding. However some of the other Clint Freeman products are difficult to get hold of and are becoming as rare as Hen's Teeth. I keep looking out for a Pete 358 hood conversion kit. But the only ones I've seen on ebay are available to US only and go for a tidy sum of money. Still I keep on looking but might have a go at making my own. One question though. What happened to the moulds? Good Luck with the paint Kurt and look forward to seeing the Pete finished.

These are great. My favourite is the Orange Pete 359.

Scott, The first letter looks like an L or B, not sure. I had a look through the trailers on Truckpaper.com. There was one or two makes that looked similar Lufkin http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/detail....A07E4FB7CCD5D19 http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/detail....A07E4FB7CCD5D19 Benson http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/detail....A07E4FB7CCD5D19 I was amazed by the number of manufacturers in North America I counted 137 makers. Good Luck with the project.

Chris and Uwe, Rather than write the same things on all your truck topics I thought I would combine all my comments in one new topic. OUTSTANDING!! Great ideas, superb builds, great skills and above all wonderful trucks. If the trucks were photographed outside with your diorama these would look real. There,s something about the older trucks that really appeals to me. I don't know if its the fact that the older trucks had to be driven? The drivers were highly skilled in the old days, life was much harder then. No "Hocus Pocus" electronics to keep breaking down. Maybe its just the pure nostalgia the world seemed a better place back then. Your trucks are like looking at an old photograph and capture a differant world long since gone. I will certainly be looking out for your next builds. Good Luck!

Tim, As with so many of the other guys it was Plastic Cowboy and your own site that got me back into truck modeling and boy have I enjoyed it. I always looked forward to the next update of Plastic Cowboy to have a look at the great Trucks and Trailers everyone was building. I have to say after looking at Dan's Web site today that enthusiasm for the next updates will continue. Plastic Cowboy/Truckmodeler.com has been responsible for bringing many people together from all parts of the world with a common interest. In doing so you've probably done more for International Relations than any of our Politicians. As with all things in life I believe we are caretakers. There comes a time when we have to let go of all things and pass on the reins to the next one. Thanks for all your hard work and effort to make mine and everyones favourite hobby the pleasure that it is. Good Luck with Truckmodeler.com Dan. I like your enthusiasm and the site looks great Best Wishes to all