Old Albion

Tim, What a great update. These seem to get better and better. Superb trucks. Well done everyone! Keep it up and have a very Happy New Year. Best Wishes Dave Bates

Following a message from a discrete source I have been informed that the user name I chose (Snapper) is most unsuitable in the US. My new user name is "Old Albion". If I have offended anyone by my ignorance I appologise most sincerely. Merry Christmas every one! Dave Bates

If in doubt build them all!! That way you will get the truck you want! Have fun and Good Luck with the Project. Dave Bates

What a great looking truck, very impressive so far. Like the detail on the engine! Keep us posted on progress. Best Wishes Dave Bates

Hmm, I wondered about the accuracy of this kit. Having read the comments from others I,ve noticed one or two inaccuracies on other revell kits that I have. The "Can Do Wrecker" has a Cummins 475 twin turbo charged engine? But on the box it shows a Cat 3406? They don't seem to give much information on the make and type of engines, transmissions, axles etc. The same parts crop up time and again on Revell trucks, where as the old AMT ones have many different parts combinations. I,ve never seen inside the Marmon kit (except photo's on Ebay) but let me guess the engine is a Cummins twin turbo charged diesel??? The only other engine I've seen in the Revell trucks is a Cat 3408 in the W900 wrecker. (This kit looks very impressive!) In summary just my opinion. Although the kits are good they are sadly lacking in detail and information. More attention to detail and historical accuracy required! :roll: Dave Bates

Mike, These photo's are great!! An invaluable source of reference and ideas. Many Thanks for your time and trouble to make them available. Best Wishes Dave Bates

Kurt, Many Thanks I do appreciate the comments. Dave Bates

Tim, What a great truck! Liked the scatch built assemblies. All you need now is some snow! No doubt that won't be too far away. Superb!! Dave Bates

Hello Folks, I have made some progress with the 2 Cummins KTA 600 Diesels. these are starting to take shape. There is still a lot of work to do but I,m getting there. If anyone can help there are a few items of detail I,m struggling with? 1/ The cooling fan and drive belting arrangement. How is it configured? 2/ The starter Motor is it fitted on the left or right hand side? 3/ The engine oil filters are these fitted to the right or left? 4/ Where is the oil dip stick located? The engine looks as if it could be configured for many differant combinations. I suppose that it would depend if it is going to be used for a truck or generator or may be heavy earth moving plant. http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/cummins-kta-600-die/ Thanks for looking. Best Wishes Dave Bates

Ray, Following the suggestion of Jairus regarding the posibility of using the Model Car Garage Piano Hinges for your doors. I bought some myself. These are superb, very delicate though. They arrived today and are long enough and about the right size for my Pete 351 hood shown in the photo. http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/model-ca.../hinges001.html Good Luck with the build. Best Wishes Dave Bates

KW, This is very good. love the engine details. In your other post "I need help" Jairus recommended trying piano hinges from model car garage. I have been on there web site and ordered 6 sets. When they arrive I will post a photo so you can see what they are like. Your hinge design is very like the Revell hinge type, simple and practical. This will be a great model when its done. Keep up the good work and good luck with the rest of the project. Best Wishes Dave Bates

KW, My estimate for the engine weight is around 2 1/2 to 3 tons, which tells me that trucks fitted with this engine probably have heavy duty front suspensions and axle fitted. Maybe wide steer tyres? Mike, The hood on that Dodge is huge probably enough space for 2 KTA's. Many Thanks Best Wishes Dave Bates.

Hello Folks, The Old Pete was a very interesting challenge! I had seen some photo's and pictures on Hank's Truck Pictures Web Site of 380 Pete's and Tim had built a 380 as a heavy hauler. This truck fascinated me so I decided to build my own heavy hauler. The basis for the build was a truck that had been fully restored. Having been found a complete wreck, the rear half of the frame and axles having been cut off with the burning torch, missing engine transmission and front axle. All that was remaining was the cab, hood, fenders and the front half of the frame rails. The truck has been fully restored upgraded and ready for work. The basis for the truck was the the RNK CAB 307 Peterbilt 380 1952 to 1954. Tim did a tutorial for this kit which I found on the internet and saved. http://www.silverstatespecialties.com/down...nstructions.pdf Here is a list of the where the parts came from. TRUCK 1. Parts from RNK Conversions: RNK CAB 307 Peterbilt 380 1952 to 1954. Note: the width of the truck over the fenders was increase by approximately 3/8" to allow the wide steer front tyres to sit underneath. The hood was cut up to allow it to open. 2. Parts from wrecked Kenworth from ebay: Mirrors, Air Horn, Air Cleaner, Cummins NTA 370, Transmission and Sliding 5th Wheel. 3. Parts from wrecked Pete 359 from ebay: Front Springs, Diesel Tanks and Air Tanks. 4. Parts from International Paystar: Batteries. 5. Parts from KFS: All raw materials for the frame etc, Heavy Duty Rear Suspensions and axles (I inserted a piece of 4mm silver steel through the centre of each axle for strength and to allow the hubs to turn. The hubs are made of brass.) Front Axle, Winch, Auxillary Transmission with PTO, Tools, Chains and all wheels 6. Parts from AMT 38167 1928 Lincoln: Head lights, (These are excellent) Makes the truck look very vintage. 7. Parts from Heller 1:24 Citroen CV. Wind Shield Wipers. (The head lights on this are superb and will look great on my Pete 351 when I build it). TRAILER 8. Parts from KFS. All raw materials, rear suspension, wheels (The rear axles are all steel with brass hubs), Lashing Chains tools, straps etc. 9. Parts from Revell 7530 Heavy Duty Flat Bed Trailer. Diesel Generator. This truck and trailer combination looks impressive and gave me a lot of pleasure. So much so that I decided to buy another kit. But when I checked the RNK web site they had gone out of business. Luckily a couple of weeks later I found a kit on ebay and snapped it up. This Pete 380 will be a logging truck. Thanks for looking. Best Wishes Dave Bates

Hello Folks, I have created a new album for the Pete 380 and drop deck trailer I built earlier this year. http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/peterbilt-380-heavy/ Hope you enjoy. Best Wishes Dave Bates

Hello Folks, I have made a start to the engines. No 1 engine is starting to take shape. No 2 engine has been washed in soapy water ready for starting. I have taken some photo's. Casey was right an extended hood is a definate. On one of the photo's it shows a Griffin Extended 359 Hood. I think I will still need a shoe horn to get it in. Both engines will be beige and will be weathered! http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/cummins-kta-600-die/ Best Wishes Dave Bates

Mike, The Kenworth looks a great truck well looked after. You would never know what was under the hood!! "A Wolf in Sheeps clothing." I,m thinking of building both engines together ready for future projects. Casey mentioned the transmission. Does anyone have details of the transmissions that were factory fitted with the engines into trucks? I can imagine that all drive line components will be of a robust nature and the frame will be substantial to handle the torque. Great response folks. Many Thanks Dave Bates

Mike, The photos are brilliant, just the sort of detail I need! Is the twin turbo charger a "factory fitted" item or is it a later custom installed unit? Casey, Thanks for the background information. I had an hour or so last night messing around with the engine getting some ideas together. This engine will be planned for a 359 Pete. 950HP Wow!! thats a lot of horses. The construction and Use Regulations here in the UK recommends 10HP per Tonne for engines (10Hp every 2200lbs). So a truck plated for 40 tonnes will typically have an engine 400HP plus. Most new semi trucks are 420 Hp up to 520 HP. Volvo have a new 660HP engine available. I suppose the ideas behind the big engines are less gear changes, Slower revving, less driver fatigue, better fuel economy. Fuel economy is a big thing here in the UK. Diesel is £ 0.89 to £ 0.98 per litre so you can see why fuel economy is important. John, I will start to post photo's soon. Many Thanks guys, Best Wishes Dave Bates

Hello Folks, A couple of weeks ago I was looking through the STS web site and was amazed to see that they have a Griffin Cummins KTA 600 Diesel Engine in the aftermarket parts. I promptly contacted Sharon at STS and ordered 2 plus a couple of other items. I recieved all items within a working week, which I thought was brilliant. The detail in the resin parts is really very good and I am very pleased. There is no photo or assembly details with the kit so I carried out some research on the internet and found some good photographs. But these are all of KTA 600's fitted to generator sets. The kit also comes without Fuel injection pump, fan, power steering pump and has two pulleys. Having looked at the generator sets I wonder if the engine is modelled of a generator unit rather than an over the road truck. I have the following questions and would really appreciate any help anyone can give. 1. Does anyone have any good photo's of the engine fitted to an over the road truck? (Or Video) 2. What year was it available from and to? 3. What weight was the engine? 4. In relation to question 2, did Peterbilt ever factory fit them to 359s (Little Window or Big or both)? or indeed any other model. 5. Again in relation to question 2 and 4 what colour where they? Would the truck require twin air intakes or would single be OK. The missing parts I can manufacture from raw materials. This is a very unusual engine and bears no likeness to other Cummins Diesels I have seen and appears to be a rarity. I will start to add photo's of the progress when I get around to starting it. Best Wishes and Thanks for reading. Dave Bates PS This engine is a monster!!!

Tim, This is a great idea. The photo's look very realistic. Keep up the good work! Best Wishes Dave Bates

Kurt, The Mack was excellent, paint finish and attention to detail superb. I will watch for updates to the trailer build. Good luck with the project! Hope you enjoy it. Best Wishes Dave Bates. PS The trailer would look good with a John Deere Back Hoe Loader. Just a thought.

Tim, Thanks I've sent some pics to truckmodeler.com. Let me know if you have any problems. John, With regards to the numerous problems that I encountered, where to start? I think the planning stage of the project was critical. I struggled to find individual parts to suit what I was looking for. For example the auxillary transfer transmission I scatch built myself. All the axles have steel rod right through them. All the wheel hubs are brass. The front stub axles are steel and numerous other things. I worked out a general concept around the parts I could reasonably make myself and parts that were available from model kits and of course aftermarket parts. I have added some photo's of the detail drawings I did for the hubs etc. They haven't come out to well, but are good to emphasis the point of planning. The overall cost is obviously to be considered. The conversion kit for the cab and hood is $ 50.00 to start with. Scratch building can be expensive. But where as a kit would normally take me 2 weeks maybe a month. It took me 4 months to build the Oshkosh. Certainly no production line. So maybe the costs balance themselves out per month? This is the 2nd truck I've scratch built and quite enjoy doing some thing a bit out of the ordinary. The most important aspect is that when it is finished it has to look right it must be balanced and look practical. Otherwise for me it just isn't right! I will be posting another album on Fotki for my first scratch built truck a Pete 380 heavy hauler complete with scratch built drop deck heavy trailer. Very differant from the Oshkosh. Best regards to all Dave Bates

Hello Folks, I recently was bidding on an AMT Autocar A64B (T526) in original unbuilt condition. This seams to be one of the most sort after trucks along side the Kenworth Challenge Mixer and one or two others. It was one of those trucks I had to have in my collection!! I entered the bidding late on when it was already around $ 100.00 I put my maximum to $ 150.00 but was immediately outbid. So I thought what the hell I'll bet $ 250.00 and again was immediately outbid. That was enough for me. A day or two later the seller E-mailed me saying that he had another Autocar A64B for sale and I could have it for $ 250.00. I did not reply. The next day there was another A64B for sale from a differant seller. He had set the "Buy it now" tag at $ 107.95. So I bought it. The lesson for me is do'nt jump in be patient and wait. Best regards Dave Bates

Hello Folks, After 4 months the big Oshkosh is finished at last. Wow! what a project! I spent as much time on the generator, crane and other items as i did the truck. First real attempt at weathering, quite like the effect. It's no where near the same standard as Tim and many others, but I like it and have to say really enjoyed building it. I eventually decided to use the KFS crane since it was of a heavier build in keeping with the truck. Enjoy the photos Time to start planning my next truck! Best Wishes Dave Bates PS I will send some photos to tim at Truckmodeler.com. Hope I'm not too late for the next up date. http://public.fotki.com/oldalbion/6-x-6-oshkosh/page4.html

Wow!! What a great up date. Great work by everyone. Makes me feel inspired! Tim loved the green Little Window 359 8) Best Wishes and keep up the good work everyone. Dave Bates

Casey, Great progress so far. Like the colours. The cab will look good in the green combined with the black frame. What do you use to strip the chrome from the parts? I normally use wire wool but this is very time consuming. Best Wishes Dave Bates