1/25 AMT Peterbilt 359 California Hauler

[cifenet]

 

18 hours ago, BK9300 said:

You pay great attention to parts detailing and to prepping your truck for paint - I'm certain it will turn out as you expect and will likely look amazing!

Hey Brian, thanks for checking in~

Unfortunately, I don't have the perseverance that you have with your build, I find myself losing motivation to complete lately. 

I am at the point where I need to get this built done one way or another, I hope it does end soon and with a decent quality... 😔

 

16 hours ago, Biggu said:

What a great up date , Steve. I’m thinking I need to get new glasses , as I sure don’t see the oddities you do, the whole build looks great to me and the improvements you are making is turning this into a spectacular build. 

Thank you, Jeff!  I see you are making a great progress now with Western Star!  Keep it up, your truck is beautiful!

 

4 hours ago, freightshaker2 said:

Steve,   Brilliant idea on the grille... and your bug screen/cold weather front looks great! The whole truck looks great and the burgundy color looks amazing too. What a gorgeous truck!! You're making great progress. I'll be standing at the finish line waiting to see this! 

Landon, I hope that grille can be corrected with the cover trim, but you know I am actually trying to hide a problem, not fixing it... 😃 

Thanks again for checking it out.  Appreciated your support!

 

3 hours ago, leafsprings2 said:

The front end looks great, never seen such painstaking work done to them, with your attention to fine details are really paying off. Really enjoy your build thread. One little comment on the wheels, I've been doing a Budd steel wheel thread pointing out differences in wheel design types, but, your running aluminum Alcoa type which I haven't covered in the thread. Your rear wheels represent modern solid 1 piece aluminum 22.5" wheels on tubeless tires, however, your front wheels represent the older 2 piece  Alcoas, (very common in most AMT kits) which are 20" and have those lock rings for tube type tires. Your 20" front wheels might be fitting a little loose in the larger scale 22.5" tires. You could use the AMT Freightliner 22" lock ring Alcoa's for a better fit or use 22.5" one piece Alcoa's, very nice versions are found in the Ertl IH cabover or conventional kits.

Tommy, I really appreciate your knowledge/info on various topics including the wheels/tires.

I think this is where I was short sighted.   Håkan was trying to point this out this before also, I just didn't think about the rim size, tubeless vs tube, locking ring type, and such.

I don't have the Freightliner kit yet, but I plan to build it someday so I will definitely check it out and compare the size in future.  Now I know what to look for if I want a larger set.

I must confess though, I envy some of the quality truck builders here, they have extensive spare part bin where they can find pretty much anything they like to replace.  

All seem to have various sets of different wheels/tires, exhaust stacks, different engines (does that means some trucks were built without the engines so they can have spare?), etc.  I am hoping I could build like that someday~

[leafsprings2]

On 3/16/2025 at 11:10 AM, cifenet said:

 

Tommy, I really appreciate your knowledge/info on various topics including the wheels/tires.

Your welcome. I have to take back the possibility of using the solid Alcoa's used on the front axle of present day Ertl IH cabovers and conventionals, they too were molded too small to fit your larger tires. Maybe someone will chime in on the size of Alcoa's used on the front axle of newer Revell or Italieri (now AMT) kits that might work for you. Another possibility are  3d printed front Alcoa wheels in the right size from aftermarket people. These appear to be the right size,  22 inch 10 hole truck wheels . Photo shows  Ertl solid  type Alcoa(left) and Keystone solid type Alcoa(right).  Ertl must be technically 22.5", the industry never made solid wheels in 20", even though it fits 20" kit tires. The Keystone must be 24.5", the industry never made solid wheels in 22", they fit aftermarket rubber tires once sold from Double Take and tires now sold by ST Supply.  I would ignore the tire size stamped into these larger aftermarket rubber tires, think of them as smaller size or larger size tires.

Edited March 22 by leafsprings2

[leafsprings2]

On 2/11/2025 at 8:07 AM, Force said:

The tubeless tires for 22.5 inch rims and the old tube tires for 20 inch rims are close in outside diameter for standard profile and the same goes for the 22 inch and the 24.5 inch.

I agree. I have discovered the truck hobby has settled on making 2 different size tires and wheels, not 4 different size tires and wheels. The 22.5" (solid wheels) will fit into the same size tire the 20" wheels fits into. Likewise the 24.5" (solid wheel) will fit into the same size tire the 22" wheel fits into. They are not marketed as 22.5" or 24.5" solid wheels, they are marketed as 20" and 22". In 1:1, the trucking industry pretty much made the 11.00-20 tire the same diameter as the 11-22.5, the 11.00-22 tire the same diameter as the 11-24.5 tire. The trick in the matchup is, one has more tire, less rim ( the case of the 20" and 22") and the other has more rim, less tire( the case of the 22.5" and 24.5"). There is a compromise in the truck hobby and have to accept what is readily available (unless your a 3d printer person) to try to make our models as realistic as possible.

 

Edited March 20 by leafsprings2

[cifenet]

First of all, I must say that the aftermarket aluminum wheels look super sweet. 

Yeah, those do look quite bigger in size, and they look good! 

At the end, as you said, some compromising effort is needed based on what we can get. 

I try not to get "too" involved with accurate as it can really make you to suffer through the building process (and nothing wrong with that, I know many of you enjoy that kind of effort).   

again, did I mention those tires/wheels do look nice?  

8 hours ago, leafsprings2 said:

I agree. I have discovered the truck hobby has settled on making 2 different size tires and wheels, not 4 different size tires and wheels. The 22.5" (solid wheels) will fit into the same size tire the 20" wheels fits into. Likewise the 24.5" (solid wheel) will fit into the same size tire the 22" wheel fits into. They are not marketed as 22.5" or 24.5" solid wheels, they are marketed as 20" and 22". In 1:1, the trucking industry pretty much made the 11.00-20 tire the same diameter as the 11-22.5, the 11.00-22 tire the same diameter as the 11-24.5 tire. The trick in the matchup is, one has more tire, less rim ( the case of the 20" and 22") and the other has more rim, less tire( the case of the 22.5" and 24.5"). There is a compromise in the truck hobby and have to accept what is readily available (unless your a 3d printer person) to try to make our models as realistic as possible.

 

 

[cifenet]

This is going to be one of the disappointing updates for me.  Not satisfying with how I got here today especially with the paint job.

It doesn't happen often for me, but it just did.  I struggled to decide the main body color till the last minute and when I thought what I want and painted the body, I am not liking it the outcome.

 

The body has received enough white paint coats and now I am ready here.  Things were going well at this stage, my planned activities were happening as expected.  Unfortunately, this is where good things stopped.

 

The visor is painted.  I wanted to be more shining, so may be I will have to re-do. 

 

The air canister is also ready.   I trashed the one from the kit and made this with aluminum pipes. 

I wanted one with slightly bigger in size and longer hoping that it can increase the truck's presence. 

The problem is that it is just toooo heavy right now to attach using the kit's  side mount piece.  

 

I also built the storage floor panel thinking this kind would allow to see through the bottom.  Mesh will be added to the openings later.

 

My rear mud guards are painted and decals have been applied.  I am going with white color for the mud guards. 

These decals from AMT are quite thick, I realize they require decent time in decal solution soaking.

 

I also added button details for the front grille cover trim. 

Micro Kristal Clear is used to attach them where I can clean up the glue residue with water without damaging the painted surface.

 

This is the simple painting template design I came up with and now I am thinking that perhaps I should have further improve the curves... 

The curve doesn't "hug" the front fender nicely. I never thought about to be an issue till I painted the car two-tone.

One of my several regrets.

 

I must have measured the masking tapes so many times to align the line and such...  But after the painting session, I always find issues that could have been avoidable. 

 

I gave total three layers of red paint and I regret that I went with "silk red" (name of the color) color here.  I should have added some pearl finish to it...

I also regret that the area painted in white doesn't wrap around the sleeper.  Luckily, one exhaust stakes are mounted, the disconnected area will be hidden...

Regretting more that I couldn't prep the surface better, there are some areas where I experienced paint blemish.

I can't go back now, I am going to move forward and continue with the build. 

Next several days, I am going to do my best to clean all the paint spills and also refine the paint job (somehow). 

If that doesn't work out, then maybe it will go back to the dreadful lacquer bath and start over (I am ready to commit that also).

 

Edited March 24 by cifenet

[Rockford]

I know it's no comfort to you but I think it looks fantastic! Beyond my abilities. 

[Biggu]

1 hour ago, Rockford said:

I know it's no comfort to you but I think it looks fantastic! Beyond my abilities. 

I totally agree, Steve …..  this sure looks good to me as well , its beautiful. 

[Gary Chastain]

I agree guys, it looks good. We are our own worse critics and we see everything that’s not perfect. 

[freightshaker2]

Steve that is an amazing job! And this truck is going to be show quality. Fantastic job on the paint! 

[BK9300]

I agree with the others on your paint - it looks very good.  And like Gary said, "...own worst critics".  Given all we've seen of your approach to this build so far, you'll likely resolve the issues you don't like!

[Force]

On 3/20/2025 at 3:39 PM, leafsprings2 said:

I agree. I have discovered the truck hobby has settled on making 2 different size tires and wheels, not 4 different size tires and wheels. The 22.5" (solid wheels) will fit into the same size tire the 20" wheels fits into. Likewise the 24.5" (solid wheel) will fit into the same size tire the 22" wheel fits into. They are not marketed as 22.5" or 24.5" solid wheels, they are marketed as 20" and 22". In 1:1, the trucking industry pretty much made the 11.00-20 tire the same diameter as the 11-22.5, the 11.00-22 tire the same diameter as the 11-24.5 tire. The trick in the matchup is, one has more tire, less rim ( the case of the 20" and 22") and the other has more rim, less tire( the case of the 22.5" and 24.5"). There is a compromise in the truck hobby and have to accept what is readily available (unless your a 3d printer person) to try to make our models as realistic as possible.

 

When it comes to AMT I'm intrigued that they used 20 inch wheels and tires on most of their truck kits when lots and lots of real trucks used the larger 22 inch wheels wich were very popular back in the day, it's just a few kits like the White Freightliner, the White Road Boss, the Diamond-REO and the Autocar kits that have the larger 22 inch wheels and I believe it's only the White Freightliner kits that have 10-hole drive wheels.
The AMT Kenworth K100 Aerodyne kits use the same 22 inch tires as the kits I listed above but the rims are one piece tubeless style although the rears doesn't look right as they have no "ditch" in the middle of the rim.
 

[titino]

Excellent!!!

[cifenet]

On 3/21/2025 at 7:00 AM, Rockford said:

I know it's no comfort to you but I think it looks fantastic! Beyond my abilities. 

Steve, you are a such gentleman, I have seen your phenomenal work.  Let's not lie.

 

On 3/21/2025 at 8:58 AM, Biggu said:

I totally agree, Steve …..  this sure looks good to me as well , its beautiful. 

On 3/21/2025 at 9:18 AM, Gary Chastain said:

I agree guys, it looks good. We are our own worse critics and we see everything that’s not perfect. 

Jeff and Gary, you are guys kind. 👍

I think every each build, we all try to better the previous build, but this time, it could be that my expectation was being too high for what I thought I can realistically achieve...  Bad me, I thought I should get better, but still making silly mistakes and such...

 

On 3/21/2025 at 9:28 AM, freightshaker2 said:

Steve that is an amazing job! And this truck is going to be show quality. Fantastic job on the paint! 

Landon, thanks for making me feel better!

I can go through some of the mistakes I made in the next update and share~

 

On 3/21/2025 at 11:42 AM, BK9300 said:

I agree with the others on your paint - it looks very good.  And like Gary said, "...own worst critics".  Given all we've seen of your approach to this build so far, you'll likely resolve the issues you don't like!

Thanks Brian, I just wasn't happy at all with the paint work when I was quite confident how it will turn out..  

Now I must work the double amount to just fix things..

 

On 3/22/2025 at 1:44 AM, Force said:

When it comes to AMT I'm intrigued that they used 20 inch wheels and tires on most of their truck kits when lots and lots of real trucks used the larger 22 inch wheels wich were very popular back in the day, it's just a few kits like the White Freightliner, the White Road Boss, the Diamond-REO and the Autocar kits that have the larger 22 inch wheels and I believe it's only the White Freightliner kits that have 10-hole drive wheels.
The AMT Kenworth K100 Aerodyne kits use the same 22 inch tires as the kits I listed above but the rims are one piece tubeless style although the rears doesn't look right as they have no "ditch" in the middle of the rim.
 

Understood, Håkan!  I hope to acquire some of these kits mentioned someday and also check them out per your info.   

In general, I do prefer bigger tires/wheels on any vehicle just because they simply look better.  But that is just my taste.

BTW, you and Tommy need to draft a sheet or chart on this type of info and post up in info section so we all can bookmark it.

After 3 months from now, I don't think I would remember any of these (unless I remember to come back revisit). 

 

On 3/22/2025 at 6:30 AM, titino said:

Excellent!!!

Thanks, Germán!  Appreciate your positive word! 

Edited March 24 by cifenet

[cifenet]

My storage bin/floor is complete.  I can probably throw some chain or hoses on top (or/and any other common items used by truck drivers).

 

Some kind of headache/rack is needed now.   I screwed up the paint work on the back of the sleeper so this rack is going to hide it.   More on this later.

 

I don't want anything fancy, I just want something boxy with three doors.  And shiny.  I made this using thin plastic sheet and the hardest part was to cut things straight. 

I have a problem with measuring for some reason, I am always off by little, my pieces often do not line up perfectly... 

I had to fill the gap and putty the end plates multiple times.

 

I made a simple paint sample part (metallic finish) where I can look and pick the finish I want by comparing them together.

They were painted and cleared (gloss/semi gloss/flat) using various shades.  I think for my headache, I want the finish pictured as #5. 

 

The rear brake lights and the license plate were assembled.  I picked a Michigan plate for this truck and I cleared the plate to make it look also "shiny".

This is probably the theme for this truck, being "bright red and shiny"...

 

Here are the paint problems I was facing and you will understand why I was disappointed. 

First, on the hood, some unknown chemical reaction made the painted surface to wrinkle.  Keeping the surface clean is important, but I failed to do so here.

This type of the problems is somewhat easy to fix, it must be sanded down smooth and repaint the surface carefully.

 

A common masking tape mistake, looks like they weren't sealed completely especially the raised area. 

I really should have painted the back by wrapping the white around, but I didn't. 

This looked very inconsistent with the paint scheme, hence I am hiding the back with a large headache rack...

 

 

When fixing these problems, I am going to focus one thing at a time and work slow. 

To fix all of the mistakes, I will likely need to do three passes where I mask and re-paint each time.

 

This is after my first repair session. 

You can see from the over-sprayed areas on masking tapes (indicated by arrows), I tried to use very little paint and apply thin layers to perform the repair.

 

  Getting better than before, I will do two more passes to repair over-spray spots on several areas.  

 

Temporarily attached the floor bin (mesh) and the headache rack to see how everything lines up. 

The floor bin is hitting my quarter fender guards, so I will need to further adjust the location,but shouldn't cause any issue. 

 

Once the paint correction session is finished, I will apply three coats of gloss clear and let it dry for several days.  I want the truck to have decent shine, so I will polish the clear also.

After that, I will start installing all of the external components such as mirrors, air filter/luberfiner, exhaust stakes, etc...   Fun stuff!

 

Edited March 24 by cifenet

[BK9300]

Your paint repairs look to be well underway, Steve - the truck will look fabulous, no doubt (it already does!)

[gotnitro?]

Looks fantastic 

Nice touch ups 

[freightshaker2]

This is such an impressive build. The work you're putting in will definitely yield the reward. Fantastic job!

[cifenet]

On 3/24/2025 at 1:28 AM, BK9300 said:

Your paint repairs look to be well underway, Steve - the truck will look fabulous, no doubt (it already does!)

Your faith is appreciated, Brian! 😃

 

On 3/24/2025 at 1:37 AM, gotnitro? said:

Looks fantastic 

Nice touch ups 

Thank you, Jeff! I haven't seen your work posting here lately, hope things are well with you!

 

On 3/24/2025 at 11:10 AM, freightshaker2 said:

This is such an impressive build. The work you're putting in will definitely yield the reward. Fantastic job!

Thanks Landon for the motivating words!

[cifenet]

First, am I in trouble for getting this kit? 

I have heard many challenging stories especially with chrome plated tanker kits, I decided to pick this one up as this one was on sale. 

I glanced the contents inside and it looked quite okay.   Nonetheless, I may chicken-out and not build this next... 

 

I also completed the luberfiner assembly and it is bigger in diameter as I wrapped around using thin metal straps.  Added return oil hoses also.  

Since I knew I had to handle the luberfinder multiple times with hands while attaching the straps and oil hoses, I protected the metal surface using Tamiya's X-22 acrylic clear. 

 

As you can see, you don't lose the metal shine and it does prevent its finish rubbing off when handled. 

 

Are these tow hooks?  I tried to mimic these using various plastic materials.     

 

I finally made the matching mirror mount after I made the driver's side.  I usually avoid difficult and hard tasks and this was one was one of them. 

It was tricky for me dealing with thin aluminum tubes and bending them to match both sides. 

I used slow curing CA glue so I could adjust the positions till I was satisfied with the look.

 

Also completed the second session for touching up paint spills.  I made sure I don't spray wet trying to avoid another paint spill. 

 

For the hood piece, I got a head start, I began applying gloss clear coat on it. 

I usually apply three clear coats and polish between the sessions in several days.

My polish work started with #4000 polishing pad (sandpaper with thick foam backing).  I will wait a day and apply my second clear coat.  For the final polishing session, I will go all the way to #12,000. 

 

These clear parts seem too clean and clear to me.  I would want tinted windshield and windows for this truck, I thought.

Slowly applied clear blue paint using my airbrush just enough to tell it has bluish hue.

 

These clear parts appear to have fitting issues.  The glass pieces have round corners while the windows themselves do not.

They need to have straight lines not round lines in the molds...  Oh boy. 

I think I could replace them with clear plastic sheet (maybe)...

 

Once I finish applying clear coat and polishing, I should be able to complete the build as I attach all these small parts...

Edited March 28 by cifenet

[gotnitro?]

I'm doing okay, got burned out on a few projects. We started up another saltwater aquarium in the house, and been enjoying that. I'll get drawn back soon, too many projects nearly finished lol

[freightshaker2]

I have been watching this all along and it's amazing the tips I have picked up from you. The paint is looking better than a factory finish! Thanks for the detailed build and explaining how you have been building!

[BK9300]

Your paint repairs are coming along as expected!  Looking at your collection of chrome parts, I'm hoping my mirrors and and other chrome bits I have yet to do, turn out as well as yours.  Great work, Steve!

[Scott Eriksen]

Looking good ! Nice job on the mirrors!

[cifenet]

On 3/28/2025 at 6:18 PM, freightshaker2 said:

I have been watching this all along and it's amazing the tips I have picked up from you. The paint is looking better than a factory finish! Thanks for the detailed build and explaining how you have been building!

Landon, thanks for checking on this thread so far and being very supportive! 

I just hope to not screw up anything serious at this late stage.   🤞 

 

23 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Your paint repairs are coming along as expected!  Looking at your collection of chrome parts, I'm hoping my mirrors and and other chrome bits I have yet to do, turn out as well as yours.  Great work, Steve!

Thanks, Brian!

My chrome parts are basically painted with metallic silver/aluminum based paints (not really chrome, i.e. silver-chrome) which is much easier to paint/handle (but not quite reflective). 

I hope to try some of those "mirror"-like chrome finishes though.  I know that Revell now has a spray can version which I think fantastic (but pricey) and should be easier to get the quality result. 

 

19 hours ago, Scott Eriksen said:

Looking good ! Nice job on the mirrors!

Thank you, Scott!  Appreciated!

[cifenet]

My painting activities continue today and they are all about laying out clearcoat and polishing them out.

 

Just going through steps of applying clearcoat and polishing.  Then repeating the whole cycle again.

 

The hood piece just received the second layer of clearcoat here.

Starting to see deeper surface shine and I think one more session is going to complete this.

 

This is after the first clearcoat and first polishing session on the sleeper. 

You can see from the photo, I took some paint off while polishing.  This happens often for me. 

I just need to perform touch up on these spots and be more careful next time.

 

Again, the same story goes for the cab.  During the polishing stage, I took too much paint off.

 

This is after applying the second clearcoat and waiting to dry.  Then I will repeat the polishing work again. 

You can see I repaired the paint issues here. 

 

The cabin also received two layers of clear here and waiting the paint to completely dry.

Then I will polish the surface for even and deeper shine. 

Unfortunately, I won't be able to attach anything and anything external till the end of polishing process and this makes everything difficult. 

I must rely heavily on the use of CA glue/epoxy and no mistake is allowed at this point (otherwise I need to rollback what I did including painting and start over).

 

While my second clearcoat is being dried, I resume my work on exhaust pipes.

The exhaust pipes pictured here are from the kit and while they are absolutely usable, I decided to build my own.

 

Working with various aluminum tubes, it was quite easy to construct exactly what I was looking for. 

 

I made my own exhaust using the aluminum pipes here.

The photo-etched detail kit includes mounting brackets for the exhaust as well as the exhaust shield. 

Spent some time studying on how to put these together and found out they are quite tricky to attach and assemble…

 

The exhaust shield wasn't helping me either, I had to keep it rolled up for sometime before I can use epoxy glue to set its position.  

 

The one advantage of using aluminum pipes is that you can polish them with sandpaper.   They produce very convincing metal shine.

 

I tried to quickly build one, but this took some time...  I also de-burred the pipe ends using a sharp hobby knife which made them look...sharp!

 

I built the exhaust using my own fabricated parts knowing what I had to do to hold the screen.   I made sure the exhaust is positioned in the center of the shielding screen. CA glue wouldn't work well, I had to use epoxy glue for attaching all of these.  

Now I just need to figure out how to attach these onto the cab...

 

Edited March 31 by cifenet