Force

ERTL does mostly diecasts in different scales except 1:24 and toys nowadays, no model kits. But I believe they still have the molds for the farm equipment.

Yes the rectangular thing on the side of the chassis is the exhaust, it's the muffler, particle filter and other invironmental friendly economy unfriendly stuff in there together with a lot of other stuff like sensors and thingamagigs on the engine that only gives hassle and are troublesome, that's the Euro 6 rating for you, EPA for the US. Now to your problem. If you are able to swing open the grille section on the front of the cab with some kind of hinge instead of glue it in in a fixed position you will be able to tilt the cab up and down as you wish, that's how it's done in the real world, first swing the grille open because it is in the way, then tilt the cab...otherwise some plastic will for sure break when the cab tilts up. 😉 It seems like Italeri have done the same on more kits like the recent Volvo FH4 Globetrotter XL and Scania S730 Highline where it's the same way...on the Scania you have to decide if you want to have the door open or closed also, so you have to come up with something to be able to swing open the grille section if you want to be able to tilt the cab and show it both ways. Italeri took the easy way out and didn't do anything about it to make it work both ways, but I'm sure it can be done because the pivot points for the cab are there, it's just a matter of getting the grille section out of the way so it woun't interfere with the bumper when you tilt the cab.

Yes it's has been hard on the race legends lately.

The ERTL International Transtar F-4270 is the second truck kit ERTL did themselves back in 1972-73 together with the International Transtar CO-4070A so it's fairly old and the F-4270 was altered to the 4300 Transtar Eagle and can't be reissued again in original form. The CO-4070A was changed to the CO-4070B Transtar II Eagle so it could not be reissued, but Round 2 has done a new tool of the CO-4070A so that's available, the CO-4070B Transtar II Eagle on the other hand will most likely not be reissued, ERTL owned by Tomy appearently still have the molds for it but I don't think we will see it again as they are out of the model kit business. So The Transtar II Eagle kit is not likely to be reissued, especially with the original air ride as it was changed to walking beam early in production...that is if not Round 2 can manage to get the molds from ERTL-Tomy who kept them when Round 2 got the tool bank from Tomy. Here is another that most likely woun't be reissued in this state, the regular DM 600 and DM 800 has been tho'. The farm tractor and accessory kits will most likely not be reissued either as I believe ERTL/Tomy still has the molds for them. And this one.

Well my head is filled with useless information and some comes out from time to time. 😉😁

I just read Cale Yarborough passed today 84 years old. RIP.

Nothing wrong with that build...nice.

Just an observation. This is not exhaust, it's the fresh air intake ducting to the turbo. The exhaust goes from the opposit side of the turbo down to a large square muffler on the side of the frame behind the front wheel/fender. And yes, the AMT kit instructions are often vague on correct placements too...very vague. 😁

Yes as far as I know.

Several racers used Pirelli front tires back in the day but there were lots of options with similar sizes.

Coming along nice Steve. I wouldn't mind multipiece cabs either if you can build the cab separate and install the interior afterwards, that would work just fine for me. But all the inaccuracies I find hard to deal with as I want to build accurate models if I can, and no engine at all is not for me as I find the mechanical bits interesting and you learn a lot from them, so if there is no engine I don't buy if I can't get something to put in there...the Italeri and Revell Volvo VN kits are one of the kits without engine. I'm most familiar with Volvo and Scania as I'm Swede, and the first kits of them Italeri did, the Volvo F12 and Scania T142H and R142H, was near to accurate, but the later versions of Volvo's and Scanias was not. The later Volvo F16 kit still had the TD120 engine and the complete chassis the F12 had but should have had a TD162 engine wich is a totally different beast, the cab was correct but the rest wasn't, the only thing the TD120 and TD162 have in common is they are inline 6 engines, Volvo also updated the drive hubs and other things. The Scania 3 series 143 and 4 series 144 still had the old DS14 from the 142 kits but should have had a DSC14 with intercooler up to the later R series kits but didn't. Later in the 2000's both Volvo and Scania did totally new engines but Italeri still used the old outdated engines for a long time in newer kits wich should have had the new D12, D13, D16 engines for Volvo and DC 13 and DC16 for Scania, all wich looks totally different from the erlier engines, sometimes they did small updates that was never enough...the recent Volvo FH4 kit does look reasonably correct tho'. A couple of Italeri kits that's intriguing is the "Club Of Four" cab kits where I don't know what they were thinking about, this was a cab made in Volvo's factory in Gent Belgium and this cab was shared with 4 different manufacturers wich were Volvo, DAF, Magirus- Deutz (Iveco) and Saviem (Renault), thus the "Club Of Four" name, the cab was also used by Mack then owned by Renault, these were distribution or lighter duty trucks. Italeri did the DAF F1300, the Volvo F6, the Iveco MK and the Renault J-G-series as fire ladder trucks, all with the same kit number 784, all had the same Magirus-Deutz (Iveco) air cooled engine chassis and driveline wich they certainly did not in real life as it was only the basic cab that was the same and the chassis and driveline was different between the 4 makes, the only difference between the different model kits was the grille, the front bumper and decals...that's the pinnacle of inaccuracy if you ask me. Well lets leave it with that and go back to your build.

Yes indeed, I have built a few Italeri kits over the years and the mulit piece cabs are not an easy task to paint. Personally I don't like Italeri's way of doing their kits, it's not just the cabs but all the short takes they take wich doesn't make many of their kits accurate. For instance they often use outdated engines and drive trains, some with a few updates wich isn't enough, I also don't like their wheels and how you attach them. They also only have two different chassis and drive trains for all of their US truck kits, one for the Peterbilt kits with a Detroit Series 60 and Peterbilt Airl Leaf suspension, and one for the rest of them wich in fact is a Freightliner chassis with a Cummins NTC inline 6 and a FAS Airliner earlier used by Peterbilt then called Stabilaire, one exception...the Italeri Freightliner FLD has a FAS II Airliner suspension wich came after 1990. It was a long time since I bought a Italeri kit just for that.

Looks mean.

The flathead 4 was either black or dark green depending on year. Here is a list of paint colors of Flathead Engines 1932 to 1953: Year Ford Mercury Truck Commercial 1932 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1933 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1934 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1935 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1936 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1937 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1938 Dark Green N/A Dark Green Dark Green 1939 Dark Green Dark Green Dark Green Dark Green 1940 Dark Green Dark Green Dark Green Dark Green 1941 Dark Green or Dark Blue Dark Blue Dark Green Dark Blue 1942 Dark Green Dark Blue Dark Green or Dark Blue Dark Blue 1943 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1944 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1945 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 1946 Dark Blue Dark Blue Dark Blue Dark Blue 1947 Dark Blue Dark Blue Dark Blue Dark Blue 1948 Dark Blue Dark Blue Dark Blue Deep Red 1949 Dark Blue Green Dark Blue or Green Deep Red 1949½ Bronze Green Bronze or Green Deep Red 1950 Bronze Green Bronze or Green Deep Red 1951 Bronze Green Bronze or Green Deep Red 1952 Tangerine or Green Tangerine or Green Green Green 1953 Tangerine or Green Tangerine or Green Green Green

I was on vacation on the west coast in the US two months ago on Tuesday and I saw Cascadias everywhere on the highways...so I would like to see one of them as a model kit. They are also popular with different racing teams....so a Freightliner Cascadia and a Featherlite style race transport trailer for me please.

The Revell Germany Peterbilt 353 is not accurate at all, they are way off as it's a regular 359 with different fenders...much like the bad Marmon they did wich was a Peterbilt 359 with a different grille. So they are not worth it if you want to do a correct 353. But I agree with you, Paul is a great guy to shop from.

Cragar did a similar wheel named Superlite II

Looks like a AMT 1963 Galaxie with custom parts.

Well that's at least better than Salvinos JR who use the complete Chevrolet R07 engine for all three makes. The heads and valve covers are the things that are most different in outside appearence between the three engines if you look at the Rousch-Yates built Ford FR-9, the Hendricks and Childress built Chevrolet R07 and the Toyota TRD.

I also saw that the other day. Sad for us truck modelers.

You nailed it.

Yeah the price can be the problem with 3D prints. As for the hood, I don't think it will be a big problem, if you don't want it to be functional you can do it as a lift off. Here is a link to the hood modification Tim did. https://public.fotki.com/mackinac359/peterbilt-model-gal-3/tandem-steer-353-ca/353-tandem-steer.html

I don't know if I like Salvinos JR's approach to these new Next Gen NASCAR Gereration 7 kits. Yes the 3 different makes share a lot of components chassis wise but some are brand related and that's no problem as Salvinos JR have addressed that, likewise with the bodies. But the engines are different and that doesn't Salvinos JR care about because there are Chevrolet R07 engines in all of the kits regardless of make, even Revell didn't do that on their last Ford and Chevrolet NASCAR Generation 6 kits, the Ford FR-9, the Chevrolet R07 and the Toyota TRD NASCAR engines doesn't look the same at all and Salvinos JR could at least have made new top ends with heads and valve covers that look tight for the Toyota's and Ford's. I know it doesn't show much but I like to be able to build correct models.

1. If you look at the pictures on Tim's page for the 353 you will see that the 353 front fenders aren't the same shape as the Kenworth fenders, the Alaskan Hauler fenders are also diamond plate wich the 353 fenders aren't, maybe the Kenworth fenders can be modified but It's most likely easier to make them from scratch. 2. The butterfly hood on the Kenworth Alaskan Hauler is not right for a Peterbilt 353, it's a different shape as the Kenworth hood is more pointed at the top and the Peterbilt hood top is flatter, the layout is not the same, the 353 butterfly hood looks the same as the 351 hood but it's wider at the front, study the pictures and compare and you will see what I mean. I know Tim himself had modified a 359 tilt hood to look like a 353 butterfly hood on one of his builds, it's in his Fotki albums of Peterbilt builds if you look around. If you don't care about functionality it's a quite easy job with some sanding, filling in the cutout for the air cleaner and scribing in some new panel lines.

I don't think the flat angeled fenders of the 353 would be a problem to scratch build from sheet stock, but the 353 also has a butterfly hood like the 351 has but with a wider radiator and grille. The Revell Germany 353 is not right as the fenders are attached to the flip hood, the fenders on a real 353 are not as they are separate and attached to the chassis, the fenders in the Revell Germany 353 kit also is wrong shape and in diamond plate, but after what I can see the fenders should be smooth on the surface. Here is a link to our friend and Peterbilt guru Tim Ahlborn's Fotki site with lots of pictures of 353's. https://public.fotki.com/mackinac359/peterbilt-motors-cl/peterbilt-353/