truckabilly

Great work on the tiny details, Sergey. It´s a pleasure to watch the progress of this build.

Yes, Bill Signs comes with the 60" sleeper. Both sets of rails are the same length, difference is in the rear tandem span and some molded on details. Besides the sleeper the kit also includes drive shafts for both versions, the exhaust tubing, the gas and air tanks, the air filters, the frame steps, the sleeper roof deflector, the headache rack and some other details. There might be some variations in the molds color for different markets. Here in central Europe I got the chassis parts in darkish grey, the engine and the sleeper parts in light grey. Not too sure about the cab and hood, I think they were white. Cheers, Jarda

A bit of a progress again. I connected the radiator to the engine. But first I made a little change to the shroud surface. The milliput putty that I used to reshape the shroud made a nice smooth surface. But it wasn´t the right thing for a laminate part. So, I applied a paper adhesive tape with a rougher surface and painted it black. Then I added the bolts and a drain tube. The engine - radiator joint is still a bit flexible. I hope it helps to position the assembly to the frame correctly.

I have taken a few close ups of the christmas candies string that used for plumbing the frame. The unpainted ends show the original color. The structure of the thread is well visible. I am just wondering if I can get something like this when Christmas is over. The idea came too late, the sweets were already eaten by my kids and papers with strings thrown away. I saved just a few pieces.

I plumbed the frame a bit. It is not meant to copy the real diagram. It is just a few wires here and there to make it look like real. Note the height control valve above the rear axle. It is not very well visible in these pictures but the thiner line representing the electric cable running from the rear lights is made of a string or thread from the sweets hanging on the christmas tree. Will try to take a better pic next time.

Thank you very much, guys. I scratch build yet another detail and that is the AC condenser (I believe it is, correct me if I´m wrong). I bended a copper wire 1mm, cut a piece of mesh that was supposed to go to the grill (will use something else) and crafted the frame out of plastic sheets. I also enlarged the radiator cowling with a help of milliput putty. Here is the radiator with the condenser and bigger cowling inserted in the frame with the engine behind. The belts are back in place. More to come in second...

Awesome work! Cool ideas! I like the combination of different materials. I was never keen of functional lighting on a model but this may change my mind.

Tony, the radiator hoses are these ducts http://www.mediamixhobby.com.sg/shop/t2m2002b.html Try to find them somewhere in your area. Mine were offered by one of the local e-shops. It is a coiled metal string that holds the shape and it is easy to bend. They are black, no need to paint them.

It is wonderful to see this wreck getting a new life as a true wrecker. This model deserves it. Not an easy starting point, though. I am glad if my pics are of any help. I look forward to seeing yours.

Thanks everyone for positive comments. One of the things on Clydes II that is not like any other highway tractor is the 5-th wheel. Go and check it out on http://www.truckin24...e1510fe103.html I extended the sides of the 5-th wheel with four pieces of plastic stripes that I cut to shape and glued them together to form two "L" channels. Then I glued them to the kit´s 5-th wheel. You can see some basic weathering made with Humbrol enamels. Also added is the locking jaw pin, the handle is still missing, as well as other details. I was critisized (in friendly way) on another forum for not having the AC compressor on my engine. I browsed some of my CAT 3408 pics and found that some engines have the AC compressor, some others do not. I am not sure if Clydes II has one but I scratch built one and added it to my engine. I had to put the belts down but they will be back. I took the pictures early in the morning when the sky was grey and the light bulb spoiled all the colors. Sorry for that.

This looks like a very good start. I like your attitude. A lot of poeple do not care about the seams but they always downgrade otherwise good model. And even a simple plumbing gets the model to a higher level. The old CM articles are great help. I usually spend hours searching the net and hount pictures of the engines to find out the way they are plumbed and how the things are attached. Truckpapaer is a good source of these pics but it takes time to find what you need. Good luck with your build.

Thank you, Barry, for sharing these pics with us. You have done a great job on your KW, which is very nice, but also an awesome job with the kids. Their builds are cool. Would be nice if they stuck with the hobby. I wish them best of luck. And my hat off to you. Jarda

I also fixed the hood stripe. Using a sand paper I grinded away the damaged stripe. I scribed the grooves to a plastic stripe and filled them with the Evergreen 0.5 mm rods. The rivet details are just holes. The plane modelers use this technique to make a row of rivets. I wonder how it is going to look on a truck.

I used a toothpick and a tube to "fix" the engine in the desired position. The longer hub of the new fan wheel also helped to get the engine closer to the cab. This is a mock up: This helped to move the transmission backwards just a little bit but it is better than nothing.

Best wishes for the 2012. Thank you Tony and Dave for your opinions. I really do appreciate it. I thought of your recomendations and considered my abilities and decided not to make any further cuts on the frame. The idea of modifying the radiator cowling seems to be more friendly to me. Also the breather pipe work and turbocharger alignment is the decisive factor. With the pipe routing used on Clydes II the engine definitely needs to be closer to the cab. Let me start with the radiator. I combined two radiators, the one from the kit and the other from my parts box. I cut off the fan wheels of both, plain wheel from one and wheel /w a part of the cowing from the other. This added a few milimiters of thickness to the radiator. Shaping the cowling is still in progress

A very nice truck & trailer. Nice job on the van. Some different hubs would make it look even better.

Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions. Now I found another problem. The CAT 3408 is shorter than the original in-line 6 Cummins and also the transmission is a lot shorter. The location of the transmission is now much too forwards. The end of the transmission is right under the shifter which is wrong, I believe. See the picture: Also the gap between the engine and the firewall is too big: The location of the cab is given by the mounts on the frame. The location of the engine is given by the position of the radiator. In a real truck with this type of the engine and the extended hood everything fits okay. What is wrong on the model? Can someone tell me? Jarda

Great job on this. I like the changed aftercooler and turbocharger. Jarda

Nice looking Lonestar. I like the changes you have made. Jarda

You are doing a great job on this. It is going to be an eye-catcher. Jarda

Thank you for your kind words. I will try to make some repair. Will have to figure out how. Meanwhile I am working on the interior items. Here are some of them... CB steering column with a lever and hoses added brush painted dashboard - the instrument rims are made of 0.4mm lead wire painted silver the dash compared with the decal The basic ochre shade is spray coated. I added the dark brown woodgrain with a small piece of a fine sponge. Then I made some minor retouch with a tip of modeling knife. After that I painted the scales and knobs. Then I made the "O" rings out of 0.4mm lead wire and glued them to the dash with sidolux (future floor in other areas). I painted the rings silver with the dry brush. The black dash surround is sprayed with matt black humbroll which I polished with a soft cloth to get a dull shine of the molded plastic. Jarda

Hello guys, I have a question. I wonder if the Bill Signs´ 359 with the spread drive axles is just one of the kind or if it was an option offered by Peterbilt. I tried to find a pic of this configuration 359 other than Bill Signs´ but had no luck. Just wondering, that´s all. Jarda

Very nice work on this. I like it a lot.

This is very nice rig. It does not matter what material is used for making a model as long as it looks this great. Using the die cast parts brings yet wider choice of model trucks that can be built. Nice build.

Some more pics: