KJ790

The wider grill was only an option on the K models until '79 or '80 (I can't remember the exact year now), then it became standard after that.

You can make it work. The K123 model is a shorter cab than the AMT aerodyne model (though you could get the aersodyne in the 86" cab as well). The K123 is also an older cab (early 70's vs. early 80's for the aerodyne model). If you change the door handles and vent windows you can update the cab pretty easily if you are really that picky though.

Yup, that is on my "to-do" list. I need to make some custom decals for the Great Dane name plates for the top front corners and the rear door.

Thanks guys! The trailer is a bit of a work in progress, but it is getting closer to being done. For that I started with two glue bombs, one a Great Dane reefer and the other a Fruehauf van trailer. I cut both trailers apart and used the front, rear, top/bottom rails from the Great Dane, and swapped in the ribbed sides from the Fruehauf to get the "stainless steel" ribbed sides. Then I painted the top and bottom ribs "aluminum" grey, and covered the "stainless steel" parts with bare metal foil to get the look right.

Thanks guys! Here is a side shot with a whole trailer. I think I will make a new trailer for this truck to pull soon though.

I think I'm close enough to finished to post pictures in this section. I have a build thread going over in the "on the work bench" section. If you want to check that out, here it is: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=79409 Still have a couple details to finish like adding the air hoses for the trailer, but it is pretty much done now. I started with an AMT K123 kit, added 22" spoke wheels, torsion bar suspension, Detriot Diesel 8V92T engine, rear cab window, slamlocks on the doors, scratch built air intake and the exhaust from a snap kit W900 (both more to scale than the original kit pieces).

I did the dash by painting the whole thing black, then painting the "wood" areas brown. I drybrushed some black on the wood grain to get a better wood look, then I used a silver sharpie to highlight each gauge. It took a while, but I'm pretty happy with it. Once in the truck you can't really see it anyways.

And with the air shield placed on top: Still have a few more details to work out, but it is getting closer to finished!

Did some more cab details tonight: Even got the cab mounted on the frame:

It's been a little while, but I have finally made a little more progress with the cab:

Anybody know where I could find a freightliner FLA or FLB cab conversion? I found a resin FLB from Aussie Resin Models, but when I contacted them they said it was not in production anymore. Anybody seen these from somewhere else? Thanks!

Well I had a bit of a disater tonight that will set me back a bit. While trying to get the lettering on the doors, I found that my cleacoat over the stripe decals was not the best, and part of the stripes pulled off. I wound up taking sticky tape and trying to pull all of the stripes and clear coat off to get it back down to the base coat of paint. I have ordered more stripes, but I will have to wait for them to come now. I guess I will try to put the lettering on before the stripes this time around.

I did a little work to the cab over the last few days. I filled the top door handles and cast my own slam locks (to be added later). I shrunk the vent windows down to update the cab to a late 70's model. I got the paint sprayed and tonight I put on the stripes from modeltruckin.com. I ruined the first set of stripes before I got the hang of it, but by the time I was done I was a pro Here is the cab as of now: Here is a picture of one of the real trucks, kinda crappy quality I know. I will try to get some better pics of the real thing soon. Next on the list is to clear coat the cab, then put the lettering on the door, then add the slam locks and step ladders.

I agree, the RoG stuff looks more accurate.

Got the engine and transmission in place. Also did a little work on the interior, still need to clean it up a little.

Right now the best price I have gotten is $25 per pair, which is pretty steep. I will keep contacting people to see what I can find.

I drew a set up in CAD based off of a set I have from an AMT aerodyne kit. I am trying to get quotes from a few different 3D printing places. One place said if the quantity is large enough then the price goes down a little. Maybe we could get a group buy and get the price down a bit.

The 8V92 is from the AMT aerodyne kit. I got the torsion bar suspension from P&P resin works and the spoke wheels are from a diamond reo kit. My family ran a trucking business for about 50 years before selling it a few years back. Through the 60's and early 70's they primarily ran K123's with cummins engines, then switched over to 8V92's in the mid to late 70's. In 1978 they bought a few matching green and white K123's with 8V92's. For this model I am trying to replicate one of these as best I can. These still had the skinny grille (they went to the wider grille a year or two later it seems) with the oil door in the front of the cab, a window on the back of the cab, larger diameter air intake tube (cab mounted) with a cab mounted single exhaust. I just cast some slam locks to put in the bottom corner of the doors, but I still need to come up with something for the side step ladders from the late 70's.

Thanks! The sleeper is a slightly modified resin 36" restrite sleeper from AITM.

I started this guy a long time ago. This started life as a Revell snap kit. I have gotten it close to finished now. I still have a few details to do. I am going to add a bug deflector to the hood and an air sheild on the roof of the sleeper.

I decided to start a new Kenworth K123 a few days ago. So far I have the frame together with a torsion bar suspension on. I'm going with spoke wheels and a Detriot Diesel 8V92 engine. Progress will likely be slow and steady, but I will try to keep this updated.

When do we get to see the finished product with the steps and everything? I can't wait to see it!

I would buy a few sets for sure! I'm in the process of building a K100 and will be making my own handles/side steps. I have a few K100 builds planned and would need to make handles for each one.

That looks great! how did you get the red in the KW logo on the grille?

Beautiful build! How did you do the pinstriping?