New project - 9/20/06

[mackinac359]

Here comes a(yeah, another) Peterbilt. This one started as the Revell of Germany Peterbilt 377 A/E kit.

Here is my idea.. a doodle. A work truck owned by a steel fabricator or a specialty equipment builder.

Here are the cab, hood and fenders. I cut the top off the 377 hood, made new side panels from Evergreen plastic, scribed in the panel seams, added a piano hinge to the center of the hood. I cut off the cowl/cab side panels replacing them with flat plastic. Dual aircleaners will grace the cab. The fenders are scratchbuilt.

The daycab panel replaced the kit sleeper opening. I used an AMT 359 cab for rearwindow opening, tracing the opening and cutting larger than the trace.

Here I've mocked up the pieces.

The frame was stretched 1-3/4 inches.

At this point I became stumped on the final direction to take. Then a friend who used to work on the real 357s came to the rescue with this photo from Texas

I really like the blue cab, black fender with red chassis scheme on these (above) units. So I went with that concept.

Now the hard part.. waiting for the paint to cure. I noticed that after clearing the blue that the clear softened the blue pulling it away from some detail exposing the primer. I will have to do some careful touch up on the piano hinge and the hood panel seams.

I have to fabricate the under-the-cab exhaust piping, make mounts for the air cleaners other components.

Thanks for looking!

Tim

[Mr. Can Am Garage]

Me like. BIG time!

[mackinac359]

Thanks John!

Tim

[Casey429]

Tim, I think some of your build re define the term Michigan special. You are truly talented, and a Peterbilt nut to boot. Keep up the good work.

[mrglubaum]

Looks good, tim! Coming right along!

[Old Albion]

Tim,

The Pete looks good so far. Will you be buiding a matching tractor unit as in the photo?

Dave Bates

[mackinac359]

I finished up early this morning, just in time for the sun to make an appearance for photographs.

Here it is ready to leave the assembly line.

Rear view of the flatbed. The bed is made from sheet plastic.

The finished 357.

The air cleaners are polished aluminum units made by Jamie at Mo'Luminum. I added the support straps, made from chrome vinyl tape.

The fuel tanks are from a Revell of Germany Peterbilt 359. I removed the chrome plating, sanded the ugly seam and painted the tanks with Duplicolor Bumper Chrome paint for an aluminum finish.

View of the right fuel tank. The step on the real truck would have a strap and bracket extending from the frame rail.

Thanks to Gary at MAG decals in Hawaii for making the door signs for me.

The door sill/jamb is Bare Metal Foil. To tone down the brightness, I coated the BMF for the door and hinges only with Testors Dullcoat giving the more realistic dull natural aluminum look.

More pics at www.timstrucks.com

Thanks for looking.

Tim

[BIGTRUCK]

Thats awesome Tim , the bed , the cab , color all looks super . Are you sure thats a kit? Great photos.....

[mackinac359]

Thanks Ken!

This just goes to show you what you can do with a Italeri or Revell 377 kit.. just about anything.

Tim

[Old Albion]

Tim,

How do you fit the bare metal foil to the door sills and other tricky areas. I,ve never used it before but might do so on a future truck. Is there any particular type of foil more suited to this intricate type of detail work?

Best Wishes

Dave Bates

PS. Like the Pete!

[SpreadAxle]

Another beauty Tim.