mackinac359

Vacation to Peterbilt in Texas. I had a 50+ model truck display inside the factory as part of their open house. I took a "couple" of photos too.. I've uploaded the photos Here Thanks for looking. 3100 miles, 160+ miles of gas.. it is good to be home again. Tim

The engine detail looks great! Tim

Kurt I think BMF should just send me a monthly case of foil. I posted these pics on Hank's Truck Pictures forum and the owner of the truck has been determined.. Montana Express ordered this 378. The were running black/white roofed units with red and silver stripes. Tim

Looks good. I wouldn't use Duplicolor over Testors, you might end up with a crinkled paint disaster. Tim

Bitner Very nice! Your choice of colors look good. Tim

I spotted this interesting black, silver and white 378 while it was being built in September of 2005. The unique paint combination made me want to build it in scale. I started building it in mid '06, the cab was modified and the 70" sleeper was built, then I painted it in October of '06. 2 years later, I returned to it. Below - Apex Slotted mesh from www.planomodelproducts.com looks much better than the kit supplied screen. I rubbed silver Rub-n-Buff over the raised detail of the radiator, the detail shows up nicely behind the grille. I don't like the big gaping slots that the kit has for the bug deflector. I filled these in and covered the top of the crown with Bare Metal Foil Since taking these photos I've corrected several crooked items, including the left air cleaner, right mirror and right tool box. Things my eye doesn't see but the camera lens certainly does. The real truck was spec'd for a dealer installed roof air deflector. This would be painted white. More photos are on my site at TimsTrucks.com Thanks for looking! Tim

Arjan Now that is just drop dead nice! Tim

Unfortunately, no. You could take the upcoming Lindberg dry van kit and add a section from a 2nd kit and have a 50 foot trailer. Upgrade the suspension, lighting, etc and you'd have something that looked close. Tim

Kurt That is nice! Inspiring ! Tim

Scott Nice rebuild. The W900 looks perfect with the dump trailer. Tim

She's a beauty! Well, as far as beautiful as a Dodge L1000 could be! The NAVL colors are perfect. Tim

NICE! Tim

Jeff The basic cab shell (model wise) is the same. The difference is the roof cap (the real truck has all sorts of structural and material differences). The Italeri 378 or 377 cabs only need the roof cap (by the way, Matt at Monkeyclaw resin has the UltraCab roof option available in resin, his is slightly different and called the Magnaroof.) To make a newer post '05 truck, you will need to modify the door release handles, the passenger side peep window, the lower ledge of the door glass and the mirror mounts on the doors have to be sanded off. (this door panel is in resin from Spauldings, you'll have to email them directly, it isn't on their site). Tim

The center of hood fluted ribs was a styling treatment that was never chromed or polished from the factory. All 359's were built with this. It hides where the hood skin left-right pieces are connected. Even the fiberglass hood 359's had the fluted ribs. To remove it, place a piece of low-grit sandpaper (220 grit) on a flat surface and then carefully sand the center of the hood making sure you don't sand into the hood skin. Once the ribs are all gone, you'll need to sand with 400, 800 then 1000 to blend in the removed material to the rest of the hood. Tim

Here's a configuration I haven't built yet.. a car hauler. I started with the recently reissued Italeri Peterbilt 378. I stretched the frame, squared off the rear of the frame Kitbashed parts to build a 48" sleeper - sides and back from a 377, roof from a junked Revell of Germany 359 and front wall from the 378 kit with lots of sanding. The hood is scratchbuilt with 378 kit fenders grafted on. The car racks were build from various Evergreen square rod and tubes. The tread racks (is that the right name) are from the Revell of Germany car hauler trailer kit. My original plan was just the truck itself, looking factory fresh, but the more I got into it, the more I wanted to build the racks too. In progress pics and additional finished photos are on This Page Thanks for looking! Tim

Check www.kitformservices.com They have a north American decal sheet with KW, Peterbilt, Ford and Western Star logos as well as some slick company door signs. Tim quote name='wrenchbender' date='Sep 20 2008, 01:22 PM' post='122185'] Hi all, Does anyone make a Decal sheet that has assorted Truck manufacture Logo's, (Like Peterbuilt, Kenworth, Autocar, etc etc).

Nice! The 2-hole wheels and painted bumper are perfect. Tim

Wow! Very nice! Tim

Kurt Cool concept!! Can you detail/document more of what you did to the hood for others to follow? I really like the look of the daycab tractor, but a big multi-axle dumptruck would be cool too. The swapping of the Detroit Diesel is a perfect idea. Tim

Yes, the flatbed kit. The landing gear has an old look to it, as does the suspension. Tim

I think your best bet will be to get one of the Lindberg/Hawk/IMC/Testors trailers and use it as a starting point, then scratchbuild the trailer body. The 40's and 50's trailers were narrower, shorter in length and height. A well rounded nose was very common. Tim

Spauldings offered one at one time, have you checked their site www.stsmodeltrucks.com ? Tim

You're off to a good start! Tim

Looks good. Tim

Very clean build. Nice Tim