Recent Builds and on the workbench

The Italeri 378 kit is the base - the hood and sleeper are scratchbuilt using sheet plastic from Evergreen. The frame is extended using Evergreen strip stock. Started 8/8/08

Also on the workbench.. I finally found a rattle-can paint that is close to the color I need for "Stacks." The paint is Duplicolor engine enamel "Torque and Teal." 8/16/2008

Now that the Italeri Peterbilt 378 kit (#746) has been reissued (thank you Model Rectifier Corp.!), I set out to convert one into a 2008 model 388. While working on the hood and cab, I also built a 36" Peterbilt style sleeper for another 378 kit. 7/23/2008

Okay, I wasn't happy with how my modified kit hood looked, so I made an entirely new hood from Evergreen plastic. Only the fenders come from the kit hood.

Scratchbuilding the 388 hood lead me to build a second for a future project. That hood lead me to try a 2008 367 SFFA hood, which lead to another. So now I have 4 '08+ hoods for future builds. 7/29/08

Peterbilt 384 - started July 4, 2008. I heavily reworked an AITM resin 386 hood, removing 10" inches in length, resloping the hood, changing the fender shape slightly. The donor kit is an Italeri Peterbilt 377. The cab has been modified to daycab, the 377 molded on fenders removed and the doors converted to current year style. The forward fuel tanks are kit items cut down. The fuel tank steps are made from Plastruct. The battery box is resin from AITM. (www.aitruckmodels.com). The door lettering (what a royal pain!) is dry-transfer lettering. My inspiration was the cover of the Peterbilt magazine First Class Volume 27 Number 2, Winter 2007. My 384 is not an exact replica, although it does wear the doorsigns for Evans Oil Co of Naples, Florida as does the truck on the cover.

I'm still debating if I should finally build the Revell Beall chrome plated tanker to go with this. Stay tuned.

With Italeri reissuing the Peterbilt 378 kit (summer '08), I was anxious to build one - or two. Here are two examples. Both metallic blue, (one a brighter blue), one built straight out of the box as a 378, the other modified and reworked into a 379-119 with 70" sleeper.

The 379 was inspired by a real truck seen at the International Bridge at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 2006. The truck was hauling windmill parts along with 2 other PB's (a black 379X and a blue 359). I had planned to weather my version as the real truck looked in the photo, but recalled that the driver of the 379 was commenting on how dirty the truck was at the time I was taking the photos. I'm glad I kept it gleaming.

The kit air cleaners have the mesh recessed too much. I wrapped them with round hole mesh from www.planomodelproducts.com The grille screen is mesh from Plano. These two metal items really change the looks of the model. The Landstar Ranger door signs are from Kit Form Services.

Note the tiny bee that was captured in flight. The little bee was really interested in the amber marker lights!

1946 Peterbilt 344 tractor based on a 1948 Peterbilt 344 owned by Teresi Trucking of Lodi, California. The real truck is featured in the book Peterbilt:The Class of the Industry by Henry Rasmussen. There is a photo spread on pages 55-60. The truck is also seen on www.hankstruckpictures and on www.teresitrucking.com The 344 cab and hood are resin cast from the old Silver State Specialties company. This is a "blem"- a casting with flaws - in this case the hood and fenders were badly warped and the cab was full of pin holes. I only had the older style of 344 with the vents in the side of the hood, so I decided to make a fictional older version of the Teresi '48 Pete. Stated on 6/1/2008.

This little Ford C900 was built box-stock. The only modifications made were to strip most of the chrome. The U.S.Forest Service logo was made from a photo and printed on decal paper. 6/1/2008

AMT Mack R600 modified to a sleeper cab tractor based on a photo seen on www.hankstruckpictures.com. I stretched the Mack's frame to accomodate the sleeper. The rear window of the cab was enlarged to accept the molded front of the sleeper. The sleeper is from American Industrial Truck Models #SB-4 36" Able Body. The 2 hole wheels are also from AITM. The Mack kit is lends itself nicely to making a fleet tractor. I also bobbed the bumper and added dual exhaust. The kit comes with two bumpers, an unpainted and a chromed bumper. Two styles of roof lights are also included. Thanks go to Stevens International and AITM! 5/25/08

I started this Peterbilt 379 as an experiment to see if I could convert a couple of junk Revell of Germany 359 cabs into a 379. I widened the cab, reworked the roof shape and the windshield leans back more. I scratchbuilt the hood to match the now wider cab and used the kit grille. The fenders were modified by removing the molded on rear step and marker light. The inner fender was shaved to match the wider hood. The bumper was scratchbuilt. Aircleaners come from Jamie at Mo'Luminum. The headlamps are from an AMT Peterbilt 359. The sleeper is from the Revell-USA 359 kit, it has been widened slightly and the right hand door filled in. I lengthened the frame buy about 2 inches.

I can't decide if I should install roof positioning lamps, horns or leave the roof clean. I also can't decide on company name door signs either, so now the green 379 is stalled.

I built these two tractors in the colors for the British Columbia fleet Arrow Transportation. I'd like to thank Hank Suderman and Wes Bergman for the inspiration.

My 386 is a 2008, 192" wheelbase, daycab, roof air dam, cab extenders, single exhaust. The 378 SBFA is a tri-drive, daycab, forward fuel tanks. 6/22/08 UPDATE: I finished the B-train trailers. ARROW B-Train photos.



I couldn't decide if the 386 bumper should be black like one of the trucks in Hank's photos, or yellow like all the others. Yellow was the final choice.

		Grille screen for the 378 is stainless steel from www.planomodelproducts.com

	Special thanks to Doug Walker who made the Arrow logos for me. Doug had originally made the logos for his KW Arrow project.

The inspiration for the 386 is courtesty of Hank Suderman. www.hankstruckpictures.com

The inspiration for the 378 comes from Wes Bergman

"Hank view" of my 386.

Finished 4/27/2008

1984 Peterbilt 362 daycab lowboy tractor. I started this in 2004 when I received the resin cab from Griffen Designs. I modified the cab for the RH recessed exhaust then painted it. I put it back in the box. There is sat for nearly 4 years until a "cabin fever" weekend in late March '08 was the perfect setting for model building.

I started working on the 362, constructing the interior, modifying the AMT 359 frame and engine for a COE set-up. When I originally planned the 362 I had purchased wheels tool boxes and a cab guard from RNK (now available from AITM). I swapped in fuel tanks and muffler from an Italeri Peterbilt 377. The rear tires are larger AMT Goodyears. The Michigan Tractor decals are ink-jet copies of the original issue of the AMT Cat dozer kit.

The Oversize Load banner was found on Google, then printed to size on paper and crinkled to look like a vinyl banner. I weathered the truck with a wash of acrylic beige and grey for a dirty/dusty but not abused look.

3/29/08

Thanks to Hector for the line drawing.

A real 320, this one an '06 with the older exhaust and air cleaner set up.

2008 Peterbilt 320 Low Cab Forward COE. The cab, fenders, bumper and back of cab components were scratchbuilt. The frame and drivetrain is from an Italeri Peterbilt 377 A/E kit. I cut the frame and removed 1 inch from the wheelbase then added the 1 inch to the rear of the frame. The front wheels and tires are from Kit Form Services. The grille mesh is from Plano Model Products. The headlamps are cut from the Revell of Germany Peterbilt 353 kit. Bare Metal Foil was used on the AMT Peterbilt 352 fuel tank, and cab trim. Color is Duplicolor Bright White and black. With my building this 320, that leaves the 330 and the import cabbed PB's yet to grace my shelves.

My cab is slightly too tall, if I build another 320 the mid section of the cab will be reduced about a quarter of an inch.

An '06 320 tandem steer destined to be a concrete pump.

3/16/08

3/20/08 update. I scratchbuilt a flatbed body for the 320. The mudflap logos are from www.whitefangmodel.com

Using some tips from Klaus Clever I added some dip stick and mirror wire detail. The dipsticks are made from Plastruct plastic coated wire with bits of plastic on the ends. The tiewraps are painted on with a sharpie marker.

The mirror wiring is thin copper wire painted black.

Kenworth stopped using their own K-series COE cab for its heavy duty cabovers in 2007. They now use the DAF XF series cab. I thought I'd try my hand at a PACCAR relative and attempt a K500. Using an Italeri DAF XF Space Cab, resin from the old RNK, a couple of junk and fresh Paystar frames and plenty of scratchbuilding are called for here. I really enjoyed this project. 2/22/08.

Resin hoods cast from my pattern of a 2008 389 hood. The cab sides are resin also. 2/5/08

I started with an Italeri Peterbilt 377 kit, scratchbuilt the hood, bumper and battery boxes, had them cast in resin (available from www.aitruckmodels.com) and reworked the 1996 vintage 377 into a 2008 386

Plenty of Bare Metal Foil chrome foil was used for the 386 including the grille, headlamps, battery and tool boxes, door sill trim, door release handles, fuel tank ends and fog lamps. For those building their own 386 using the AITM resin version, The outer "shoulders" of the hood need to be rounded a bit more from the cab/cowl, and the lower edge of the bumper should have more of a radius. (I'm always my own worst critic). Feel free to email me if you are building your own if you have questions. Check out This page for photos of several Peterbilt 386's.1/31/2008

Picker - old hood

Picker - new hood

I built the blue Peterbilt 378 SBFA Michigan Logger back in 2004. The white Canadian picker was built in January of '07 out of pieces-parts and resin. The hoods are resin copies from Bobby Griffen from a hood that I made. I made the hood slope incorrectly and never was pleased with the look, so in mid '07 I made a new hood. I decided to replace the wrong sloped hoods with new hoods.

I started at 5PM on 1/19/08 by first dismantling both trucks. Then removing the hoods. Luckily I still had the same paint that both trucks were painted with.

The paint gods were smiling on me for this quickie project as I painted in the garage with the temp in the garage at 15 degrees. All paint curing was done in the house. Less than 24 hours later the hoods were ready to install.

Logger - old hood

Logger - new hood

I swapped cabs for these pics

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I finished the hood redux at 9:00PM on 1/20/2008.


2008 Peterbilt 389 long hood conventional. I started this by scratchbuilding the hood in 2006 using photographs for reference. I started with an Italeri Peterbilt 377 kit and reworked the suspension and frame to fit the long hood and SFFA. Completed 1/16/2008

The headlamps were carved and shaped from a chunk of plastic rod. The bull bar is from the parts box and modified. The battery box, DPF box and piping was scratchbuilt. I cut the 63" raised roof sleeper down to a 36" low roof (see Truckers Corner - Model Cars magazine for more info).	Paint is Duplicolor Light Driftwood Metallic with Toreador red.

Short and long hood Road Bosses in fleet dress for Transcon and Roadway.

The Roadway Boss is dirtied with a wash of acrylic and chalk along with specks of white, grey, black and red to simulate bug splats.

White Road Boss wearing Roadway colors. Stock AMT kit with scratchbuilt bumper, reworked panels and omitted air cleaner/Luberfiner. Resin 2 hole fronts from Ben Wicker. The Roadway logos are from the ModelKing Mack DM600 kit. This is the last build of 2007, completed at 8:45pm on 12/31/07. I started this White in October of '06.

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Here are test shots of the AMT Fruehauf Flatbed trailer and the long awaited Mack Cruiseliner COE. I modified the Cruiseliner slightly by lengthening the frame rail 2 inches for a 1970's west-coast look.

The kit was originally produced by AMT around 1977-78 and hasn't been since in over 25 years. The kit has a few quirks that are easily fixed, first, the rear cab mounts interfere with the cab. I shaved off a wedge shaped section of the backside of the mount. Second, the front bumper sits a bit too far back giving the truck a "buck toothed" look. I added small blocks of plastic to bring the bumper forward. Third, the rear track places the tires a bit too wide for 1/25th scale (this is the same issue the original MPC Mack DM800 and 600 had). I removed a small amount of axle from each side of the axle bringing the tires in closer to the frame rail. The kit is challenging as the AMT instructions are typical for the time - vague in exact placement of components. Aside from the items mentioned, detail is nice, the kit builds into a great representation of a 1970's cabover! A must have !

Inspired by photographs of several different style of Schlumberger trucks I built this hybrid late '80s Peterbilt 357-123 butterfly hood. I started with the Italeri Peterbilt 377 A/E kit. I scratchbuilt the hood, fenders, bumper, frame rails and the pump equipment box from flat plastic. The wheels and tires are resin from Aitruckmodels.com. The headlights are resin from Spaulding Trading and Shipping. The RH fuel tank steps are from a Revell of Germany Peterbilt 359. The LF tank is from an Italeri Freightliner FLD. Yves at White Fang Enterprises made the mudflap logos. The orange color is Allis-Chalmers orange from Krylon. The Schlumberger door logos were made on the computer and printed on Bare Metal Foil decal paper. The white portion of the logo is white vinyl.

The inspiration - photos courtesy of Mark Reitz. My SLB unit is a "hybrid" truck. (a fancy term for I made it up).

These photos show the 357-123 and the 377 for comparison. I sanded and recontoured the shape of the crown and grille shell to "harden" the look that the softer 377 grille and crown.

Started in late November 2007 to fill time while the paint on the Schlumberger pump truck was curing. I started with an Italeri Western Star Constellation kit, shortened the sleeper, shortened the hood, modified the fenders, shortened the wheelbase. I got the idea from a late model Western Star that I saw on US-2 near St.Ignace hauling for Howes & Howes. 11/28/07

Here are the in progress photos My inspiration was a photo of a Freightliner FLD I found on www.truckpaper.com.

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Thanks to George Maffey for the inspiration and information to build the "before" version.

Old Number One as it might have looked when in service for Earle M.Jorgensen hauling steel. I built this version from the AMT 359 with a few parts from the Revell snap 359 including the dash, air cleaner, front wheels and tires and rear tires from Revell of Germany. The EMJ doors signs were hand drawn and printed on Bare Metal Foil decal paper.

I weathered everything with chalk and acrylic paints including the carpet, engine, drivetrain and frame.

10/14/2007

I couldn't get the hood stripes too look right so I left them straight.

I don't like how the fuel tanks turned out. BMF with Dullcote didn't give the effect I wanted. I should have painted them silver.

Old Number One. The real truck is the first unit built at the Denton, Texas Peterbilt plant in 1980. The truck was eventually sold to a Houston area company and then bought back by Peterbilt and restored for the the plants 20th anniversary. The truck now resides inside the plant in the welcome area beside the 1939 first-year Peterbilt 334.

I built my version of Old Number One starting with the AMT Peterbilt 359 wrecker kit. I used the fenders out of a Revell USA snap 359 kit. These fenders have the proper shape, length, rolled fender lip and front bracket that the AMT fenders are lacking. Note that I shaved off the rear step and relocated it further up the fender skin. All the model companies missed this and molded the step at the bottom of the fender.

The Revell USA kit also was sourced for the air cleaner tank, air horn and instrument panel. The Revell of Germany 359 provided the interior door panels. The quarter fenders and exhaust came from an Italeri 377 kit.

Paint is Duplicolor Bright White clear coat over Duplicolor primer and BIN sealer primter. The frame is Duplicolor black. Wheels and tires came from Kit Form Services.

Body modifications include removing the mold seams on the back of the cab, top corners of the hood and reworking the panel seam for the roof cap. AMT has the seam and rivets in the wrong location. I also sanded flat the grille/crown sides and scribed in the panel seam. The grille/crown, fuel tanks and battery boxes are covered with Bare Metal Foil.

I built two of this truck, which was enjoyable and challenging knowing that both had to be matching.

9/24/2007

10/19/07 Update: I am extremely proud that a series of photos of my truck models is on display at Peterbilt Motors. The photo below is of the Welcome Center at the Denton, Texas plant with Old Number One and my model on the monitor.

See the cream and burgundy cab? I painted that as an experiment. Just to see how the paint would react on a bare cab. No prep, no special primers, just paint. I didn't even clean up any flash on the cab. I ended up with an perfect (almost) paint job. This inspired me to try another, so I painted the red and black cab, then the red and white cab. All three turned out nicely. So I tried one more, this time with decals that Paul Kittle made for me several years ago. I had coated the decals with clear paint 3 years ago and the clear was too thick, so the decals haven't snuggled down as well as they should have. Anymore I use Micromark decal film instead of clear coat eliminating the "globby" look that clear coat can add to decals.

The red and white cab is based on a model I built in 1974 for the AMT-Owner Operator Magazine model contest.

8/11/2007

The above photo shows my row of 'modern' Peterbilt kits, each assigned a model number, and proposed build. Obsessed? You bet!