KJ790

Thanks Justin!

I modified the interior a bit to try to make it a more modern shape. Not great, but by the time it is inside the truck you won't really be able to see it anyways. I want to make a small kenworth emblem to put in the center of the steering wheel.

Spent a few hours painting the name on the door and some pin striping. I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

Thanks! I started with a white base, then painted a layer of brown over it leaving it streaky. I kept the streaky brush strokes all in one direction to get a wood grain look. Then I painted a clear orange layer over top to give it a lacquered look. You are right, I wasn't thinking at all! I think I'm going to have to change that when I get a chance.

Got some of the interior done tonight. I think I'm still going to add a few minor details to the inside though.

Got some paint on. Once that is nice and dry I will paint the name on the door and a little pin striping. I need to work on the interior a bit now.

I've been making slow progress, but I got the engine in today.

Nice! I have been to that plant many times, looks just like one of their fleet. Good job!

Haha you got it Justin. I'm building it from memory, so that's why I say loosely based. I just hope I can find a color that is close, otherwise I may be changing plans a bit.

Thanks for the input guys. I am loosely basing this build on a truck that that I used to see about once a week. It was a late 90's W900L with a split windshield, fairing on top of the sleeper, and it still had the vertical bars on the sleeper windows and the actual cab windows. I'm planning on a dark red for this one as long as I can find the color that I have in my head. If I had to do this over again I think there would be a few things I would change, but I am still learning this whole model building thing. Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Looking good Justin!

Like Jim said, the Aerodyne cab came out in 1976. I believe it was 1985 when the K100 was redesigned with square headlights and some other changes. This model would have to be somewhere between a 76-84 model.

I have also bought a couple of those in the $50-$70 range over the last 2 years. I would say that is pretty typical going rate.

I scratchbuilt some mudflaps and hangers from some scrap styrene I had laying around. I also completed the frame stretch. I think this wheelbase looks a little more natural.

Scratch built air cleaner. I used styrene tube, some thin styrene strips for the straps, some photo-etched mesh from plano, and some bare metal foil.

The series 60 is also resin from Auslowe, but it is a replica of the one that comes with the Italeri peterbilts, so it is actually 1:24 scale. It doesn't look like the scale difference will me a problem with this build, I guess I will see.

The fuel caps are resin pieces from Auslowe. I got some more progress yesterday, only to discover a huge oversight on my part. I never measured from the back of the cab to the drive axles on the snap-kit frame, and the frame is too short to pull most trailers. Here is the current mock-up: So this morning I pulled it all apart, cut the frame up and lengthened it 24 scale inches behind the back of the sleeper. Now I'm going to have to repaint it and redo the warning decals, but luckily I was able to salvage most of the other parts.

It's been slow progress, but I've gotten a little more done. I got some exhaust pipes made out of styrene tube: I made some battery boxes out of styrene sheet with some perforated brass as the steps: After painting: I modified the snap kit fuel tanks to look a little better. I sanded off the molded in straps, used bare metal foil as tank straps with black vinyl underneath, then added some fuel caps:

That is so cool! Can't wait to see the rest of this one!

I forgot to answer your question. I got the sleeper from an AMT T600 kit and then modified the front corners of it. I'm going to keep the windsield as a two piece, and I am leaving the old style windows in the doors, as the truck I am using as a reference is like this. I should curve the windshield a little, but that may be a little difficult for my skill set at the moment. I should have used a cab from a T600 kit to get the curved windshield. I do have plans for a T800 in the future that will have the one piece curved windshield and "daylight" door windows.

Made some more progress today. I used hex stock styrene rod to make extended nut covers on the front wheel. Sprayed it with a little silver paint and it doesn't look too bad for being a snap-tite wheel: The rear wheels on the snap-tite models always seemed too shallow to me. I found that gluing the ring from an AMT white freightliner DD kit onto the outside of the snap-tite wheel it makes it a little deeper and more real looking. I still need to spay these silver to dull the look down a bit: I had this Detroit Diesel series 60 engine set aside for another project, but I think I'm going to use it in this build. It seems to fit into the frame alright: I also sprayed some primer on the whole cab so that it is easier to see where I need to sand. The primer really makes the defects pop.

Got a little more work done. Here's a quick mock up:

Started a new project. This is my first real attempt at scratch building, so we will see how it goes. So far I have made the basic hood shape using styrene sheet. I am planning on modifying a snap kit W900 to update the cab and sleeper to a modern style one. I have the basic shape roughed out right now:

Kenworth also had white engines up through 1985. The only exception that I know of were trucks built with Detroit silver series engines (6V92 and 8V92), these had silver engines.

Pretty much what Jum said. The kit is very simple, but pretty good for the price. The front wheels are decent, the rear wheels are a little off. Kenworths of that era all came with white engines regardless of the engine maker. In later years they started coming with the engine manufacturer's colors. You can paint the engine white or caterpillar yellow (since it is possible for the engine to have been replaced at somepoint, or painted during a rebuild). This kit fits together well, my biggest complaint is the lack of brake detail.