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Posted

Not sure if this is the correct spot to post or not. Been building cars for about a year and decided I wanted to try a semi, so I picked up my first truck kit as title shows. Is there anything to look out for with this kit? Bad fit? aftermarket accessories? I've been looking around the interwebs for pictures but I am not sure what year range this truck represents. Any and all advice and ideas are wanted!

Thanks in advance for your time.

Posted

Welcome to semi trucks! The Revell-USA snap Kenworth W900 is a decent kit. The engine is well detailed, and the truck itself builds out nicely. The frame is a little simplified, the tires are too skinney & fit poorly, and there is no brake detail. With a little effort it can be a well detailed model. The model represents a 1976-82 W900. So you know, the engine is a Caterpiller 3406 and should be Equipment Yellow, not tan per the instructions.

Posted

Pretty much what Jum said. The kit is very simple, but pretty good for the price. The front wheels are decent, the rear wheels are a little off. Kenworths of that era all came with white engines regardless of the engine maker. In later years they started coming with the engine manufacturer's colors. You can paint the engine white or caterpillar yellow (since it is possible for the engine to have been replaced at somepoint, or painted during a rebuild).

This kit fits together well, my biggest complaint is the lack of brake detail.

Posted

Oh, who needs brakes!

I thought Kenworth had petty much stopped the white engines by 1976. I know Peterbilt had white engines until about 1986 (give it take a little).

Posted

Kenworth also had white engines up through 1985. The only exception that I know of were trucks built with Detroit silver series engines (6V92 and 8V92), these had silver engines.

Posted

You've picked a good kit to "get your feet wet", so to speak, with......If you've built cars, this should be a good transition.....Keep in mind, though....Most Big rig kits will not be this easy.....And most big rig kits will have much better rims and tires.....And they'll be easier to assemble, too....But, overall, it will build into a great kit....Clayton's rig is just a sample of what you can do with this thing.....Nice build, by the way, Clayton..... :)

Posted (edited)

Most likely. Did all of the Bicentennial W900 have KTA600? What about the Bicentennial K100?

No you could get the W 900 and K 100 VIT 200 Bicentennial trucks with the same Cummins, Caterpillar and Detroit Diesel engine options as the regular KW trucks.

When this kit was first introduced in the Monogram 1980 catalog it had the Bicentennial graphics on the picture...but I don't remember if any kits were released with them.

Edited by Force
Posted

I looked at the instructions on Revell's site. Do I assume the colors are fairly accurate? I'm not sure what color I'm going to paint it, but I assume leaving chassis black would be "normal". Thanks for all the feedback, its greatly appreciated!

Posted (edited)

If you're talking "fleet truck", then, yes, a black frame is pretty standard now a days. Not so much back in the 1970 & 1980, though. Now, it you're talking an owner/operator (O/O) truck, then the sky's the limit. You can pretty much paint the frame whatever color you want. You can even do black! :)

Snoop around on Hank's Truck Pictures ( http://hankstruckpictures.com/trucks.htm ). You'll get lots of ideas. Becareful though! It's a realy blackhole of time.

Edited by Jim B
Posted

You've picked a good kit to "get your feet wet", so to speak, with......If you've built cars, this should be a good transition.....Keep in mind, though....Most Big rig kits will not be this easy.....And most big rig kits will have much better rims and tires.....And they'll be easier to assemble, too....But, overall, it will build into a great kit....Clayton's rig is just a sample of what you can do with this thing.....Nice build, by the way, Clayton..... :)

Thanks!!

poor thing is now sitting in the back lot.

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