mackinac359

Chris Very nice! Tim

Super nice! Tim

Wow! Really nice. Tim

Looks nice. Tim

Here's an update I cut out the solid plastic decking replacing it with metal mesh. Kurt: Color? I'm tempted to go with the white and gray scheme. Tim

Charles The real aluminum wheels? Goodness no! Resin.. but the real aluminum ones sure look tempting. The only bad thing I see is that I'd have to buy them for every build from now on. Tim

Dave Thanks. The NASA 351's... someday.. (interesting that the trucks in my oilfield pics for reference are the same colors..) A 383 and 387(construction) are on my list. Tim

Simon The KW is coming along nicely. I like the subtle weathering. Tim

I started this just after Christmas. The frame rails are Evergreen strip #383, the crossmembers are scratchbuilt. I scratchbuilt the hood in later November. The Italeri 378 cab will be modified into a daycab, the doors reworked for the newer windows, releases and mirrors. The decking is all from plastic sheet stock. The winch is from AITM (I think?). Here's the inspiration: Thanks for looking! Tim

Nice color choice. How are you fabricating the fender mirrors? Tim

Italeri's truck kits almost build themselves. The tricky part is the multi-piece cabs, something different when you are used to the 1 piece AMT/Ertl cabs. The Italeri kits typically have nice chrome plating, minimal flash to remove, and almost everything fits the first time. The Ford LTL9000 is a nice kit. The engine is a Cummins. Tim

Kurt Nice! Tim

The fiberglass hood first appeared as an option on the narrow-nose 358 tilt hood then available for the 359 (119" and 113" BBC) around '73. The fiberglass hoods were considered upgrades at the time. As for sanding rivets, the cab would keep all the rivet detail. Just the hood would be smooth. If memory serves, the dipstick door on the right side would be filled in too. Be sure to keep the fender corner marker lights, but eliminate the rear of fender steps. (if someone is using a Revell snap or Revell of Germany 359 and making it fiberglass hood, remove the front of fender bracket/steps too). No front brackets - like the AMT hood Tim

I'll go one step further.. Pre '76 (smaller back window than the '76+ cabs). Fiberglass hood (no step on fender, no panel seam and raised lip at the beltline, deeper grille crown). The best kit to build this: AMT 359. Sand off all the rivet and the panel seam detail. Leave the center of the top of the hood fluted ribs. OR.. the Revell of German 359. This kit has the correct grille crown/shell for a fiberglass hood, but has the aluminum hood in the kit. The truck looks like it might have originally been a Redwood Construction logger. Is the truck a single axle? If so, given the vintage it would be a 289. This also could have been an ex T&T tractor. Tim

Back in 2003 I acquired a collection of model kits and photographs from an estate. In the photographs was this unique looking 377. The 377 was intriguing enough to merit having a kit assigned to it for a future build. That was in the fall of '03. 5 years later the 377 called to me.. "build me." So I did. The Able 48" sleeper is a combination of the roof and doors from a Revell of Germany 359 sleeper, and the front/backwalls from the Italeri 378 sleeper. Since the truck will be dirty, I thought the interior should be as well. The above view shows the body on the frame ready for the drom box. Below - under the hood finished. The engine has had some mild plumbing installed as has the firewall. (Thanks to Kurt McLucas for the inspiration!) Not a lot of aftermarket parts on this one, only the decals (eagle, some lettering and the MIA/POW mudflaps from Kit Form Services). The headache rack, drom box, toolboxes, rear fenders and roof a/c were scratchbuilt. I modified the 377 side fairings, cutting them at the cab line. I filled in the left exhaust cut out using parts from another side fairing. The mirrors brackets were fabricated from plastic coated wire and mounted to the cab cowl. All the chrome was dulled with either Testors Dullcoat or painted with Duplicolor Bumper Chrome and slightly rubbed, then covered with Dullcoat. The headache rack was painted with Testors aluminum metalizer and slightly buffed. Bare Metal Foil was used on the door jambs, door releases and some small items. Additional photos are on the recent builds/in progress page on my site Timstrucks.com Thanks for looking! Tim

Travis Wow! That looks great so far. Tim

The market was city delivery, short hauls, etc. 376 was available as a straight truck or a tractor. The 330 platform was later developed for this market. The tandem axle version of a 376 was a 375. There were many more 375's built than 376. Tim

An updated L700! Neat. Tim

To add to what Jim said, you'd have better results cutting all new side panels for the Short Hauler van body than trying to add on to the ribbed panels from the kit. Check your local hobby shop for sheets of Evergreen or Plastruct styrene. Tim

Back in 1988 through 1991, Peterbilt offered the model 376, a lightweight plain-Jane truck or tractor. Nearly 2 years ago I decided to build a 376. I modified the hood back then, then never did a thing with it since. Until recently. Starting with bare-bones parts from an Italeri PB 377A/E that was missing most everything (I had used all the good parts for other models), I scratchbuilt the bumper, fabricated frame rails from Evergreen strip plastic #391, reworked the cab eliminating the molded on fenders, filled in and eliminated the visible seam above the windshield and made a daycab backwall. Here's the finished 376 beside a 377 for comparison. Here is the real truck - with an unpainted grille screen (optional) and no passenger peep window). More pics are on the Recent Builds and on the workbench page of my site at www.timstrucks.com Thanks for looking! Tim

Kurt I'm just going to send all my engines to you to build. Wow! Nice work. Tim

The automatic shifter is mounted on a bracket that extends out from the firewall. The line is for the shifter base. All of the AMT Ford L-series kits had the Allison automatic. Tim

Where is the line?

The Lindberg (IMC-Testors) tanker might be a good starting point. Tim

Neat idea. Tim