2 new reissues from AMT !

[Mr mopar]

[av405]

They're really getting their money's worth out of the C-600 body and Coca Cola license.

[rattle can man]

If only we could get a B.J. and the Bear aerodyne.

[1972coronet]

I wanta put that 8V92-T into a Tesla or a Leaf or a Prius !

[Force]

5 hours ago, rattle can man said:

If only we could get a B.J. and the Bear aerodyne.

Same kit different decals and boxart...and it's not right for any of the BJ trucks used in the series.
But Modeltruckin.com has decals for the BJ truck if you want to build one...just be sure to order before August 31:st.
A more correct starting point for the BJ truck is the Revell Germany K100 Aerodyne kit as it has the right wheelbase, a Cummins engine and Fuller transmission.
The AMT kit has a Detroit 8V-92T, Allison automatic transmission and I belive the wheelbase is too long depending on what frame rails are in the kit, the Tyrone Malone transporters Papa Truck and Hideout Truck are based on this kit and have a very long frame.

Edited July 18, 2024 by Force

[Bennyg]

Even though I have a soft spot for the reissues, we need a fresh big rig kit. 1/32 re issues would be nice too. 

 

Ben

[rattle can man]

I just remember watching the show. I never dug deep into the details. I just remember it was a Kenworth Aerodyne.

[Force]

18 hours ago, rattle can man said:

I just remember watching the show. I never dug deep into the details. I just remember it was a Kenworth Aerodyne.

If you're not into get the details correct you can get this Kenworth K100 Aerodyne and get decals from Modeltruckin.com and you're on your way.

[stavanzer]

According to this Website there were a couple different years used as the Hero Truck. So close may be about as good as you can get, unless you are trying to duplicate an exact episode. And, even then, the Stunt Truck and the Hero Truck may not look the same.

 

[leafsprings]

On 7/18/2024 at 12:20 AM, Force said:

A more correct starting point for the BJ truck is the Revell Germany K100 Aerodyne kit as it has the right wheelbase, a Cummins engine and Fuller transmission.
 

Good advice, if you want to build the most accurate replica, start with the closest kit, and go from there. Question, did the B.J. KW have 24.5" wheels? If, so, did any kits ever come with 24.5" wheels? 

Edited July 20, 2024 by leafsprings

[Force]

On 7/20/2024 at 12:44 AM, stavanzer said:

According to this Website there were a couple different years used as the Hero Truck. So close may be about as good as you can get, unless you are trying to duplicate an exact episode. And, even then, the Stunt Truck and the Hero Truck may not look the same.

 

All the "facts" in the video are not correct and many of the so called BJ trucks in the video was not the ones used in the show, so don't go by that.
First of all, Kenworth did away with the different chassis designations way before the TV series, so they all are K100C's.
As far as I have found out there were appearently 5 trucks used for the TV series including the 2 stunt trucks used, 6 if you count the flat top used in the pilot show...not 3 as was said in the video, 2 were 1978 models, 1 was a 1979 model and 2 were 1980 model Aerodynes, and the flat top from the pilot show, I believe 3 of them has survived and Paul Sagehorn has one of the 1980 trucks serial #288162 wich is mentioned in the video, one is in Australia, and another wich is the sister truck to Pauls serial #288261 is under restoration somewhere in the US.
The trucks are similar but the 2 1980 trucks for season 3 were indentical at the time as they were bought new from the factory especially for the show and only 1 more was bought new, the other 2 was used trucks made up to look like the TV series truck.

On 7/20/2024 at 6:22 PM, leafsprings said:

Good advice, if you want to build the most accurate replica, start with the closest kit, and go from there. Question, did the B.J. KW have 24.5" wheels? If, so, did any kits ever come with 24.5" wheels? 

The BJ trucks should have had 24.5 inch wheels as it was very popular back in the day on highway trucks, the truck owned and restored  by Paul Sagehorn wich is one of the 1980 season 3 trucks does have that, Paul also found one of the original Brown trailers and restored that too.
1:25 24.5 inch wheels are not common in kits, the AMT Aerodyne kit has tubeless 10 hole Alcoas but they are not really correct as the rims on the outside to inside of the rear wheels are flat, they should have a "ditch" in the middle for mounting the tires, but they use the same 11.00-22 tires as the White-Freightliner and the parts pack tires...so the outer diameter is about the right size.
The Revell Germany wheels...well I don't know what to say abut them other than they are not good and not realistic.
The Revell Germany kit is the closest to the 1980 trucks, they have a twin turbo Cummins NTC475 that can be converted to a 400 if you take off one of the turbos, it has a Fuller transmission and the wheelbase is right, the interior is the correct VIT interior but the seats are wrong, it should be the VIT highback seats with diamond button tuck and KW bug emblems on the head rests, the interior of the BJ truck was speckled beige.

Edited July 21, 2024 by Force

[leafsprings]

Thanks for the info Hakan. IMO, the Ertl Transtar series of kits have the closest 1 piece type Alcoas, but they are in 22.5. The aftermarket, AFAIK, hasn't kicked in on 24.5" tires and wheels yet. Probably would be a good idea to add an oil type axle hub and drill out the rear hub covers on the rear wheels too.  

[stavanzer]

Hakan, I find the site I linked, to be interesting, but some of his other videos have been less than accurate. I think he copies what some other folks have said on the internet, and may not do as much research as he might need to do. But, he is fun and Cheerful, and digs up some neat pics.

[Force]

9 hours ago, leafsprings said:

Thanks for the info Hakan. IMO, the Ertl Transtar series of kits have the closest 1 piece type Alcoas, but they are in 22.5. The aftermarket, AFAIK, hasn't kicked in on 24.5" tires and wheels yet. Probably would be a good idea to add an oil type axle hub and drill out the rear hub covers on the rear wheels too.  

I know Mo'luminum has 10 hole wheels but his wheels are marked 20 and 22 inches, allthough they are tubeless wheels and there are no 20 inch tubeless tires for trucks on the market and the closest to 22 inch is 22.5.
I think he marked his wheels 20 and 22 as they fit the AMT tires and if you look at diameters on real tube tires and tubeless tires the 20 and 22.5 has close to the same outside diameter and 22 and 24.5 has close to the same outside diameter and the 20 tube tires was replaced with 22.5 tubeless and the 22 inch tube tires with 24.5 tubeless.
These are the ones I'm talking about.
http://moluminum-com.3dcartstores.com/22-inch-10-hole-truck-wheels-_p_42.html

8 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Hakan, I find the site I linked, to be interesting, but some of his other videos have been less than accurate. I think he copies what some other folks have said on the internet, and may not do as much research as he might need to do. But, he is fun and Cheerful, and digs up some neat pics.

Yes he can be entertaining...but he needs to research the subjects a bit more before he puts out such a video and call them facts, because much of the information he puts out is not accurate, you need to protect your back on this because there's allways someone who knows more and will slap your wrists if you don't have your facts right, so you have to be able to back up what you say with facts when you do something like this.
I have seen his 10 killer facts video about the Duel truck too, it's also full of inaccuracies, but less than the video of the BJ truck as some are correct.

The man who I know has researched the BJ and the Bear subject most is Lance Cormier, and it's from him I got most of the information about the BJ trucks together with some other information i found here and there, he has the serial numbers on at least three of the trucks used in the series and as far as I know he can back up his statements.
Same with Cam Lavin and the Duel truck, he knows mostly everything about it as he has researched the truck for a long time, he has the factory records and build sheets on the truck (and many other trucks) so I trust what he says to be correct information.
So what I try to share is the information I've got from reliable sources and what I've seen for myself watching the TV series or movies again and again looking for details.

Edited July 22, 2024 by Force

[stavanzer]

Did AMT ever tool up a Kenworth W900 Aerodyne?

If so, I'd rather have that back, rather than the Cabover truck.

[Force]

5 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Did AMT ever tool up a Kenworth W900 Aerodyne?

If so, I'd rather have that back, rather than the Cabover truck.

No, AMT did not do a W900 Aerodyne.
But Monogram did in 1/25 scale back in 1982 well before the Revell-Monogram merge in 1986, that's the snap kit we have today under Revell name.
I wonder why Revell Germany didn't do an Aerodyne roof section for the 1/25 full detail kit they did in 1992 wich is based on the old Monogram big scale 1/16 Kenworth W900 kits from 1981 and came in both a flat top and Aerodyne versions.
The 1/25 tooling looks to be a smaller but straight copy of the 1/16 tooling except for a few things as the parts layout and buildup of these kits are essentially the same, so adding a Aerodyne roof section wouldn't be that hard.

[stavanzer]

Thanks, Hakan.

I had wondered. I really like the W900 Aerodyne. Now that I know the the Monogram is the only one, I'll start looking for one to build.

[Force]

If you want to do a full detail model Auslowe has a 60 inch Aerodyne sleeper you can use on a Revell Germany W900 or the AMT kit with some updates.

[Chuck Most]

IMHO the Ford C Series is always nice to have in rotation. Not holding my breath but it would be nice to see the vent decals come back, and maybe throw in the five hole disc wheels from the garbage truck as a bonus. It's a shame AMT never got around to doing a medium duty F Series back then as a companion. Or any other medium duty conventional, really.