truckabilly

With the front upper part having the PE grille I had to paint the area behind it black real quick. The commercials on the sides was another challenge. First I wanted to cut the decals to smaller pieces and apply them one by one. But then I changed my mind and placed them as a whole. The crackers worked pretty well but the museum gave some hard times. The decal was slightly bigger then the area it was supposed to squeeze in. There were too many air bubbles trapped in. So I took a needle and jabbed the air pockets one by one to release the air and then I brushed the whole decal with hypersol which is one of the magic liquids to help set the decal and copy all the surface details like panel joints, grooves, rivets and such. The roof is just resting on top. I have to make up my mind if I should cement it and strengthen the body or just snap it in.

Thanks for your tips. I stripped off the yellow stripes and replaced them by decals. The edges are straight now but the decals do not cover the mess I left underneath them. I added yet another layer to make it look a little better. I hope it´ll be okay after weathering. I attached the body panels to the skeleton and it finally starts looking like a bus. I replaced the kit grab handles on both decks by pieces of stainless wire cut to length. My alclad chrome just didn´t look too well. Here is the upper deck with the original handles cut off. A peep look to the lower deck. I´ll be back in a minute...

Thank you all very much. My initial plan was to put the yellow one to KW, possibly a polished restored truck. And the white one to a hard working Pete. Assuming that both would go back in the snap kits. Or I may swap at least one oh the engines with Cummins from RoG kit. Everything is open at the moment. In any case, thank you for your tips and comments.

Looking pretty cool to me. Very nice job.

That´s a nice big rig to me. Why not to make a nice model out of it? Can´t wait to see it done.

That´s pretty interesting truck to me. Long frame COE with a drom, rear fenders covering just tops of the wheels, cool tail light rims... That must an eyecatcher once you build it.

As you can see the yellow engine is coupled to a detailed tranny and there´s no weathering at all. The reason is that I don´t know which model the power plant will go to. Might be a show truck, so I don´t want to mess with a messed up engine at the moment. The white engine, on the other hand, is already weathered and will probably be even more when it comes to a chassis. The transmission is still plain and unpainted except for the white base. Again, I have no idea what model the engine will go to. I built them kinda beforehand because I needed to take a break from my other projects. Till next time...

I had this idea the moment I bought the Revell USA snap kits, Kenworth W900 and Peterbilt 359. They share the same engines but I knew they would look different after I build them. But that required a little bit of study on my side since I don´t work in the field and never had a chance to explore these engines by myself. Here I want to thank all the guys who answered my questions in the Truck Stop section of the forum. With their help I was able to build two versions of Caterpillar 3406 engines. This yellow engine is pretty much the box version with only a slight modifications and a few details added. I followed the article in CM magazine by Ken Smith... http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/model_magazine_articles/car_modeller/cm08_july_1991_cate/cm_1991_07_jul_01.html Can´t be thankfull enough to this guy. He lead my hand on a number of projects already. This white engine is also a CAT 3406 but it´s changed a bit to represent the aftercooled B version. Some parts are modified and some are scratch-built. Like the aftercooler and lines, dip stick and valve cover breather tube. I also changed belts using a rubber line bought in craft store. Here is a couple of pics showing both engines. Note the differencies between them. The shape and location of the fuel pump, the aftercooler, the plumbing and timing governer cover in particular. More to come...

Very nice work. I like the hood bracing even with the clearance modification. And headlights too. The whole thing looks great. And I don´t mean the scale..... .

I like Renault Magnum very much and I am sorry its production has been cancled. It was a blast when it first showed up with its unusual cab design.But making it a bonneted version....? I tell you straight, it gives me the creeps. I like conventional trucks more than cabovers but making conventionals using COE cabs is not my cup of tea. Bonneted Scanias look pretty good, DAFs are just awful and Magnum with a hood....? Not for me, I am sorry. On the other hand it´s pretty challenging and I wish you nothing but the best of luck with this build. Might look interesting after all.

I never posted any comment on this but I am watching the progress closely and I like what I see. Prostar is a nice truck and your work on the model has been great so far. I like all the details you have inside the cab. Keep on the great work.

Very nice dumper. I like these short WB dump trucks with no lift axles added. I have a plan of my own for something like this.

Yes, that´s what I had in mind. The 3400 refers to the whole engine family. No matter the application, the basics of the engines are the same. They can be adjusted and equipped to meet the customer´s needs. It´s a sort of kit. You take parts of this or that specification and place them where a customer wants them to have. The product label should state the exact model number. The label I have in the photo is for maintenance. And that can be applied to any engine of the 3400 family, be it 3406,3408 or 3412. That´s how I understand the thing.

Another cool explanation, thanks Force. I got a few pics of in-line 6 diesel CAT engine mounted in a locomotive. The label reads 3400 even though it´s obvious 3406. Could it be a generic label added to all CAT engines of 34XX family?

Just a few pics of the painted parts. I used CAT Equipment Yellow which I did not applied straight from the rattle can but through the airbrush. The Spray Work to be exact. There is no weathering applied yet. The paint is glossy but it won´t stay that way. Still a long run before I see the finish line. But I´m getting there...

Thanks a lot everone and especially Richard Markle. This is the info that I needed. I observed a lot of details in the internet pics myself but this info helps me get the things into the right context. Like I never knew that some of the turbocharged engines were not "aftercooled". That´s why I had been puzzeled by different "shapes" of aftercoolers. In reality the thing is, either there is an aftercooler or there is none. Thanks again, this really helps.

Nice job on modifications. Is the valve cover scratch-built or aftermarket item? Looks great. Are you making it the "E" version?

Very nice.

You´re doing pretty good on the cement truck. Wish you the best of luck for further progress. Nice thing, Dave.

Tim, I am in the middle of Europe, in the Czech Republic. The home country of CTM, the Czech Truck Model Team. They produce and sell these PE parts. You can order straight from them or through the Model Maker Shop.

I guess I´ve just killed this project. I forgot to paint the yellow stripe beforehand, so I did over the red coat. I had to run the masking tape over the rivets and other surface details and decals. I was afraid of bleeding colour under the masking tape. So, the first layer was clear. Then the white base to kill the red. And finally the yellow. Unfortunatelly, I´ve never done this before and when I peeled the tape off, I got this: I should have used decal instead. Now, I don´t know. I don´t think I´m able to fix it unless I strip the coat completely off. Suggestions are welcome.

Ha-ha... Look who´s here. Welcome buddy. Have you found the lost mirror? I hope you will present also the other builds of yours here. There are some nice and unusual model trucks in your collection. Would be fine to see them.

Cool builds. Great work.

Can somebody tell me what version of CAT 3406 engine is in the Revell USA snap kits? I would say 3406 A but I´m not sure. Some say that A´s started life as PCTA and then changed to DITA. The others say that PCTA was just the plain 3406 and they were marked A only after DITA came out. Not that it matter to me that much but I wonder what visible changes should I make to the engine to make it a B. Probably a different shape and location of the fuel pump, the conus cover in front, maybe a different shape of the aftercooler... by the way, why there are different shapes of aftercoolers anyway? And what about the turbo side of the engine? Is it the same for A and B or are there any differencies too? There are heaps of pictures on the net but I´m kinda confused. Need some educadion on that. Can somebody shed some light in it for me, please? Thanks, Jarda

Hey there, London doubledecker bus is back. And I had to go pretty far way back in history of this forum to find my thread. I left the project resting for a while. Somehow I was not able to come up with a decent quality of the paint job. I won´t go in details. Nothing seemed to work for me while I tried to get a nice and shiny coat. So, I took a few months off but I couldn´t stand the shame anymore. I said, one last shot and let´s keep on riding no matter what. So, here I am with the best coat I could get and determined to finish this London pride. The "Piccadilly Circus" sign in the back is not quite straight but I´ve noticed it too late. The front part with the grille broke into three parts the other day and it needs some more treatment. Here it is with the PE details. And the tail part with lights and license plate. That´s all I got for now. This and the hope in a smooth ride.