Duel Peterbilt

[Bugatti Fan]

A few pictures of my Duel Rig. 

AMT California Hauler modified and scratch built tanker trailer.

Imagine seeing this in your rear view mirror !

Hope you like them.

Edited January 10 by Bugatti Fan

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Pete68]

I like it and a nice base too. 

[Old Buckaroo]

I really like this - the trailer really impresses me.  Did you use the old SAE article for reference on the trailer? 

Your base needs a rattlesnake somewhere !  🐍

Those snakes at the fuel station terrorized me more than the truck did !!!

Edited January 10 by Old Buckaroo

[Jürgen M.]

The weathering is great! Good job!

The whole package is perfect!

[yh70]

Awesome Build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim B]

Excellent job.  Very well done.

[PappyD340]

Very nice build!!

[Bugatti Fan]

Thanks to the likes guys.

Sean.  My build was done using sketches I drew up to scale after constantly watching rewinds of an old VHS tape (remember them?).  Living in England it was all I had to go by at the time. I built the model in the mid 80's I think using the tape to get a sense of scale. I converted the tractor unit first getting the extended chassis and nose looking right and sort of worked it out from there for the trailer. Accuracy therefore is probably not 100 per cent, but it looked visually ok eventually. Since building the model I have found out that the front wheels from the kit are incorrect. Over this last couple of years I found a set of the Duel rig licence plates on the web to print off and replace my original hand painted ones.

Edited January 11 by Bugatti Fan

[Force]

On 1/11/2025 at 9:44 AM, Bugatti Fan said:

Thanks to the likes guys.

Sean.  My build was done using sketches I drew up to scale after constantly watching rewinds of an old VHS tape (remember them?).  Living in England it was all I had to go by at the time. I built the model in the mid 80's I think using the tape to get a sense of scale. I converted the tractor unit first getting the extended chassis and nose looking right and sort of worked it out from there for the trailer. Accuracy therefore is probably not 100 per cent, but it looked visually ok eventually. Since building the model I have found out that the front wheels from the kit are incorrect. Over this last couple of years I found a set of the Duel rig licence plates on the web to print off and replace my original hand painted ones.

It's a nice model anyway keeping in mind of when it was built and how it was done, it's easier to do one today with all the aftermarket parts around and lots and lots of reference pictures.

If you're being picky all the wheels are incorrect on your model, the wheels on the original truck were missmatched all around, the fronts were 5 diamond shaped hole wheels, one black and one white, the drivers side outer drive wheel was a 5-hole Alcoa aluminum (aluminium) wheel and the tag axle outer was a 6-hole steel wheel, the passenger side outer drive wheel was a 5-hole steel wheel and the tag axle a 5-hole Alcoa, the trailer had 6-hole steel wheels on the forward axle and 5-hole steel wheels on the rear axle both sides, all of the wheels on the rig were tube style lock ring wheels.
One thing I see on oyur model is the frame behind the truck suspension is a bit too long and the tank trailer is too short, the trailer on the original rig was 38-40 feet long so the proportions doesn't look right.
Don't take this as critisism of your build, it's not meant to be, I just observed this.
As plan to do one myself I have researched this rig for a long time and have watched the movie (I have it on Blue-Ray) many many times to see details.
They used two different rigs in the longer theatrical version of the movie, the extended laundromat/gas station scene, the school bus push scene and the railroad crossing push scene was shot about a year after the release of the original movie was shot with a different truck as the original one was destroyed in the final crash, the original was a 1957 281 single drive with a tag axle on Page & Page 60/40 spring suspension and the one in the extended scenes was a mid 60's 351 dual drive on what looks like a Reyco 4 spring suspension with 5-hole tubeless style steel wheels, the tank trailer on the 351 was a different make and shorter than the original one.

Here is a decent picture of the original rig used in the main shoot of the movie where you can see where the frame ends and how long the trailer is.

[Bugatti Fan]

That made really interesting reading Hakan.

As you have demonstrated, you know far more about the rig than I do. Looking at that side view of the real thing that you posted I can see what you mean about both the length of the tractor frame and the length of the trailer. That view will certainly help other model makers looking to build the Duel Rig.

All the different wheels used is something I learned about from your post. Much easier for someone to produce as 3D prints now. Actually, with the advent of 3D Printing the Duel Rig cries out for someone to develop conversion parts as no manufacturer ever made a full kit in polystyrene of it.

This thread just goes to show that you cannot have enough reference material !

Edited January 12 by Bugatti Fan

[Old Buckaroo]

On 1/11/2025 at 1:44 AM, Bugatti Fan said:

Thanks to the likes guys.

Sean.  My build was done using sketches I drew up to scale after constantly watching rewinds of an old VHS tape (remember them?).  Living in England it was all I had to go by at the time. I built the model in the mid 80's I think using the tape to get a sense of scale. I converted the tractor unit first getting the extended chassis and nose looking right and sort of worked it out from there for the trailer. Accuracy therefore is probably not 100 per cent, but it looked visually ok eventually. Since building the model I have found out that the front wheels from the kit are incorrect. Over this last couple of years I found a set of the Duel rig licence plates on the web to print off and replace my original hand painted ones.

I'm even more impressed that's how you figured you're dimensions.  I'm guilty of the same old tech methods - although I stepped a bit into the future.  For example I'm building a Grumpy toy Monza, I needed a template for the rear wheel wells.  I found a pic online, saved it to my laptop and then made the picture the same size of the model body on the screen. Grabbed a piece of paper and lightly traced the outline to make a pattern.

We actually have a vhs in our bedroom, I think the quality of movies are better, no pixilation and the sound isn't off like so many dvd's

When I build my models - they are for my entertainment, they may not be prototypical , have sand scratches or paint flaws , but they are built for my own entertainment.

Your Duel model would definitely be a front shelf item in my collection.

[spencer1984]

Impressive work on this, I think you really captured the feel of the rig!

[Force]

On 1/12/2025 at 11:36 AM, Bugatti Fan said:

That made really interesting reading Hakan.

As you have demonstrated, you know far more about the rig than I do. Looking at that side view of the real thing that you posted I can see what you mean about both the length of the tractor frame and the length of the trailer. That view will certainly help other model makers looking to build the Duel Rig.

All the different wheels used is something I learned about from your post. Much easier for someone to produce as 3D prints now. Actually, with the advent of 3D Printing the Duel Rig cries out for someone to develop conversion parts as no manufacturer ever made a full kit in polystyrene of it.

This thread just goes to show that you cannot have enough reference material !

As I said, I have researched the Duel rig for quite some time and I save every picture I can find, and a man called Cam Lavin who knows even more than I do about this rig has been very helpful with what he knows, so I'm very grateful to him for that.
There are some things available to do the Duel rig, both 3D printed and resin cast, but much of it are not correct unfortunately and even the diecast models available now are wrong, some of these things are based on Brad Wike's rig wich often are refered to be "the survivor rig built as a backup", but that's not true as it was built in the late 1990's and has nothing to do with the movie, so you can call it a tribute but it's far from correct, it's even not the correct color as it is painted red oxide primer...the main truck used in the movie was painted gold with a lot of dirt, grease, smear and grime.
I have gathered parts for my build for quite some time and some are hard to find, I bought a 3D printed trailer body from Keystone Aluminum Miniatures (now defunct) wich looks decent, but this trailer body is also too short and the cabinets on the sides are the same length, the drivers side cabinet should be longer than the passenger side cabinet wich can be seen in the final crash scene if you look closely, so these things have to be addressed.
The cab and hood for the truck I found at American Industrial Truck Models wich is not operational at the moment as the owner Dave Natale passed away some time ago, but it looks like AITM will be back with a new owner very soon, they had two different versions of the hood and grille for the needle nose Pete's, one with a single hinge on top and one with dual hinges, and the dual hinge is correct as the single hinge hood came later.
The correct suspensions for the truck and trailer are also available, the Page & Page suspension for the truck I bought from Pavel Behensky at Strato Models but it's also available at Czech Truck Models, the torsion bar suspension the original trailer had is available from Auslowe, it had a Kenworth torsion bar suspension wich I learned from Cam Lavin.
The wheels I have found from several sources, but I still look for the front wheels in correct size and I got a STL file for them but no printer, I belive I got the others covered.
The engine is another thing, there are no Caterpillar 1673B available in scale wich the engine in the main truck. and a guy I talked to on facebook started to do files for 3D prints of this engine, but it was a while since I heard from him, so we'll see how that developes...otherwise...most likely have to scratch build one.
Decals can be found at a few places, I got mine from modeltruckin.com but he recently sold the business to another guy and his website is modeltruckers.com, and I've seen the decals at other places too.

Edited January 16 by Force

[Bugatti Fan]

Haken. From your very last post you have shared a great deal of information to would be builders of the Duel rig about various items so  that they can source the parts and make a model for more correct and accurate than my ancient old build ! 

You mentioned having difficulty in obtaining front wheels. I read somewhere that someone else building the Duel Rig obtained them from an AMT Fire Engine kit. You will have to check if that info is correct or not.

I look forward to seeing your Duel rig some time in the future. With all the information and parts you have sourced it will probably be the definitive scale model of this subject.

Funnily enough, this thread reminded me of a Disney attraction in Florida named Catastrophe Canyon I took the kids over to Florida when they were still at school in the late nineties and saw that attraction.There was a full sized tanker trailer pained black that tilted over amongst a lot of flames etc. It actually looked like one of the Duel rigs, a needle nose Pete with that distinctive trailer. Maybe pure coincidence ! Or did Disney deliberately put a replica of the Duel rig up as it would be recognisable as a movie prop ?  Things change at Disney, so maybe that attraction has  been replaced since.

Anyone on here remember that attraction and have a photo of the rig used? I am only going by memory !

 

Edited January 14 by Bugatti Fan

[slusher]

Great build!

[Force]

On 1/13/2025 at 6:15 PM, Bugatti Fan said:

Haken. From your very last post you have shared a great deal of information to would be builders of the Duel rig about various items so  that they can source the parts and make a model for more correct and accurate than my ancient old build ! 

You mentioned having difficulty in obtaining front wheels. I read somewhere that someone else building the Duel Rig obtained them from an AMT Fire Engine kit. You will have to check if that info is correct or not.

I look forward to seeing your Duel rig some time in the future. With all the information and parts you have sourced it will probably be the definitive scale model of this subject.

Funnily enough, this thread reminded me of a Disney attraction in Florida named Catastrophe Canyon I took the kids over to Florida when they were still at school in the late nineties and saw that attraction.There was a full sized tanker trailer pained black that tilted over amongst a lot of flames etc. It actually looked like one of the Duel rigs, a needle nose Pete with that distinctive trailer. Maybe pure coincidence ! Or did Disney deliberately put a replica of the Duel rig up as it would be recognisable as a movie prop ?  Things change at Disney, so maybe that attraction has  been replaced since.

Anyone on here remember that attraction and have a photo of the rig used? I am only going by memory !

 

The wheels in the AMT fire trucks are not correct, they should look like this.
No kit I know of has this style...but as I said, I have a STL file of them for printing a member here made and it will work out somehow.

[Bugatti Fan]

More good info from you about the rig wheels Hakan.

I see you are in Sweden.   

 Visited Stockholm once some years ago and as my other interest is historical ships so I made sure I visited the Vasa Museum.  An incredible experience !

[leafsprings]

Great job on difficult subject matter, scratch building movie trucks is as hard as it gets.

[Force]

23 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

More good info from you about the rig wheels Hakan.

I see you are in Sweden.   

 Visited Stockholm once some years ago and as my other interest is historical ships so I made sure I visited the Vasa Museum.  An incredible experience !

I gladly share what I have found out during my research on the Duel rig...and all other TV and movie trucks I have researched for that matter., so if you or any other member here want to know anything about this, the Movin' On rigs, the Smokey And The Bandit rigs, the Convoy rigs,  the BJ and the Bear rigs and the Big Trouble In Little China rig, and the Tyrone Malone race trucks and transporters, you all are welcome to it as I have lots of information and references, just ask.

Yes I'm from Sweden, about 650 km/400 miles north of Stockholm, and I have also been to the Vasa museum some years ago and it's neat.

[RoninUtah]

Great build, especially considering what you had to work with at the time. Hakan's comments are spot-on. AITM had both versions of the Peterbilt needlenose (fortunately I was able to get both from Dave before he passed). The butterfly hood was a conversion kit for a 351/281; the AITM version had a pre-1960 cab. The single-hinge hood was a hood conversion for the AMT kit to represent a '60s tilt-hood (dual drive Model 358, I forgot what the single drive model # was); I used it with an old Unilite cab I had in my stash to create a ca. 1965 needlenose. The tilt hood version came out in the 60s, but the butterfly hood was still available at the time as well. 

Now there are plenty of resources for the Duel rig, as Hakan pointed out, but most of them ae not accurate and it will still take a lot of work and imagination to do it correctly.